THE HUNGER GAMES

So I've decided to start reviewing books, and I'm starting with THE HUNGER GAMES which, if you don't already know, is one of the most awesome books of ALL TIME! I am so addicted it is ridiculous. RIDICULOUS. It is so awesome words cannot possibly describe it.

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So this is how my book reviews are gonna go. First I'm going to explain how I was introduced to the book. Actually no, first comes the picture of the book. THEN goes how I was introduced to it. After this will be a quick synopsis (spoiler free of course), whether or not I liked the main character, and what makes it so AWESOME. Oh, and depending on the book, I may or may not throw stuff about the awesome romance, if there is awesome romance. And for the Hunger Games, there IS awesome romance. So yeah.

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1. To begin: The reason I read this book was because it was a book club book. Yes I am part of my school's book club. It is awesome. HOWEVER, the reason we were reading it in the first place was because I occasionally go on this cute little site called.....FOREVER YOUNG ADULT which is this amazing website dedicated to people who love YA literature and well, they're OBSESSED with the Hunger Games, so I had been dying to read it, just to see what the fuss was about. (By the way, here is the link: http://www.foreveryoungadult.com/)

2. Basically the Hunger Games is about a girl in the post-apocalyptic country of Panem, which is where the U.S. is now. In Panem, every year this event called the Hunger Games happens. Basically they throw two teenagers from each of their twelve districts into some crazy place and they all have to fight to survive. Last one standing is the winner. Our main character, Katniss, is from District 12, and she is one of the kids that goes to the Hunger Games.

3. The main character, Katniss, is awesome. She is like the epitome of BADASS. Every girl should want to be like Katniss, because she's just that cool. She's a little rough around the edges, but rightfully so, because she's basically had to feed/take care of her mother and little sister for years, ever since her father passed away. Katniss is strong, spirited, and smart (omigod alliteration!) and you know she's not gonna let ANYONE push her around. She's also really selfless.

4. The Hunger Games is so great I think because of three things. 1. The Suspense. Is Katniss going to make it out alive? What about Peeta? How can they both make it out alive? 2. The Main Character. Katniss is awesome, but you can just see above for my explanation of why. and 3. The Romance. Katniss + Peeta FOREVER! Peeta is the other tribute that was chosen to enter the Hunger Games, and they make me want to MELT!!!!!!

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All in all, the Hunger Games was amazing, and you should read it, though be warned, it is VERY ADDICTING. You shoulda seen how fast I moved to get the second one, and the insanity that took place trying to get the third. But that my friends is a story for another time!!!!

walking in a winter wonderland

This morning I woke up and for some reason I thought it was going to be a crazy snow storm, but it turned out that it was all over, and since we've had snow on the ground for weeks, I actually thought it hadn't snowed. And that would have made me laugh pretty hard, since my school's principal cancelled school in advance because he's "not a gambling man" as he put it. Which was pretty awesome, but I still say it would've been funny if it hadn't snowed. Because, then we would've gotten a snow day for nothing. But it did snow. And it looks very nice. Though, contrary to the title, I haven't actually been outside, not even to clear off my car, which my mom keeps telling me I should do. Eh, I say that I'm not gonna use it today or probably this week anyway, so I'll just count on the sun to melt it. Hopefully.

I looked for a good picture on google images to put in here, but I couldn't find one. Of course I could always take one myself, but I don't know where my camera is. Plus, my block doesn't exactly look like a winter wonderland. Is it still snowing? I can't even tell. I just looked out the window, and I don't know if that's just the wind carrying it or actual precipitation.

Random updates on my life: I need to get an agent to publish my book. I need to actually figure out what's happening in my next book, because although I started writing it, I'm not really sure where it's going. I need to pass calculus. I've decided I'm going to start writing little books summary things here because well I love the read and that would be awesome. And finally, though I don't like to cook, french cooking ftw. If I did like to cook, I'd blog about what I cook, but that's been done before (anyone see Julie&Julia? very good movie). Now I realized those aren't really updates on my life, they're just things to do.

*Sigh* I should go outside, but I won't. It's just too cold.

the road not taken

This is one of my favorite poems...(I especially love the last three lines!)

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

so awesome

I love him <3

anti-status quo

I hate people who feel like they have to be against the status quo. It's like, can't people make their own decisions anymore? For example, Twilight. I'm not saying Twilight is the best series of books in the universe, and although I've read the books and seen the movies, they aren't really my favorite. But is it necessary to hate them and make fun of them like you have nothing else better to do? If you didn't read the books then you can't hate them, or think they're stupid, or anything like that because YOU DIDN'T READ THEM. So stop saying "ew" when you hear the word Twilight, or refusing to read/watch anything vampire related, or making fun of Kristen Stewart because you don't know what you're talking about. And I'm not saying you have to like Twilight, or even read the books. But stop hating them just because a million people happen to like them, or because you think its somehow "cool" to not like them. Because that's stupid.

And it doesn't just go for Twilight. What about Justin Bieber? Now, I don't personally like Justin Bieber's songs, but give the kid a break for once. He didn't do anything to anyone. He's not like Miley Cyrus, who can't even sing, and smokes who knows what when she's supposed to be a role model for 10 year olds. I'm not saying I don't make fun of him occasionally, but why do people hate this kid so much?

I guess it just annoys me when people are so immature that they just don't like things because they're popular (especially when these things are popular with teenage girls). Just make your own opinions about things. Don't not watch the movie because Zac Efron is in it, or refuse to read a book because it stars vampires, and vampires are in Twilight. If you don't like vampires as a subject matter, that's fine, but I hope you've at least attempted to read a book about vampires before you make your judgments.

And stop saying hating Abercrombie & Fitch. Unless you have a specific reason for hating it. If you hate the clothes, fine. But don't hate it just because it's "cool."

So that is my conclusion. Stop trying to be anti-status quo because it's stupid and immature.

harry potter review continued

This is the continuation of my review of the newest Harry Potter movie. If you haven't already, I suggest reading the first Harry Potter post before this one. As I said before, there are spoilers.

There was one thing I left out in the other post that I didn't like, something that they had left out. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to visit Xenophilius Lovegood, he is supposed to mention that Luna is out in the garden. However in the movie, they don't have him do this, and its altogether too suspicious to begin with. In the book its much more dramatic: Luna seems to be taking a very long time in the garden, which strikes both the trio and the reader as odd, and then when they go up to her room, they notice the thick layer of dust and lack of clothing. When they go back downstairs, they find Lovegood's newest Quibbler edition, with "Undesirable Number 1" on its front cover, a completely wtf moment when they realize that he had sent an owl to tell the Death Eaters. I just thought it wasn't a surprise at all in the movie because of the creepiness from the beginning. Also, I had wanted to see Luna's pictures of everyone, because I thought it was very touching.

Now for the things I liked/loved about the movie. There were two specific changes that they made that I actually really liked. The first was Hedwig. Hedwig's death was just so heartbreaking, and I think it made it so much better how in the movie she wasn't helpless in her cage, she had been flying out of it, alongside Harry, and had tried to help him by attacking one of the Death Eaters. Of course the Death Eater just sent a quick spell her way and she was gone, but I actually really loved how they had made her help Harry in her final hour. Funny how Hedwig's death drove me to tears just as easily as Dobby's. The second change they made that I liked was in the very beginning of the movie, where they actually showed Hermione putting the memory charm on her parents. It was definitely a tear-jerker, especially when Hermione disappeared from all of the pictures in the house.

Other things I liked about the movie were mostly the things that they kept the same. All of the moving around was pretty realistic, especially how they showed the passage of time, which reinforces the fact that Ron and Hermione were just waiting for something to happen, and how none of them really knew what to do. The scene where Harry dove into the lake to retrieve Gryffindor's sword was almost exactly how I pictured it, although the Horcrux "fighting back" was a whole lot more dramatic than I personally had pictured. Even the scene when Ron got splinched was somewhat how I had pictured it, and speaking of Ron, the sexual tension between Ron and Hermione was ridiculous (in a very good way). Through the whole movie I was just waiting for them to stop everything and start making out, though I had to remind myself that that particular scene will happen towards the end of the next movie. I also loved how they showed a bit of what would be happening at Hogwarts when the Death Eaters stopped the train, especially when Neville mouthed off to them, and I wish that I could remember the line or find it on youtube, but I can't. Either way, it was awesome.

Basically it was a really good movie. Of course they had to take out some scenes and change some things, but for once the scenes they took out weren't THAT overwhelmingly important, and the things they changed actually made the movie better. It could not have been exactly like the book, but for the things they kept the same, I think they did an extremely good job. I think I might actually want it on DVD now haha. So go see it cuz its awesome!!!!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1!!!!

So yesterday, after a very long time of waiting, I finally got around to seeing the newest Harry Potter movie, and with great joy I tell you all that it was great! Honestly, it was probably one of the best since the first two. Prior to this movie, I always had the basic belief that after the second movie, the movies got progressively worse, and I am very glad to say, that the seventh movie broke this trend. It definitely wasn't exactly how I had imagined it, and they did alter a few things, but other than that, it stuck to the book better than any of the others, except maybe the first or the second.

Right now I'm going to go over a few things that I liked/did not like about the movie, specifically the scenes I wish they hadn't taken out, the changes that I actually did like, and just other random things I may have liked and disliked. Therefore, there are likely to be spoilers for people who either read the books but haven't seen the movie, and don't want to know what changes have been made, or those who have not read the books and have not seen the movie, so this stuff would REALLY spoil everything. If you are either of these people, I would suggest not reading any further, at least until you've seen the movie.

Okay so first off is things that I did not like, which basically is scenes they took out. I noticed that they took out three scenes that kind of bothered me. The first was in the beginning of the book, when the Durselys are leaving, and Harry and Dudley share a sort of moment. I had totally loved this scene in the book just because it made Dudley seem like not such a jerk after all! The whole thing was kind of touching, actually, and they took it out! :( The second scene that they took out was when they were in the dungeon or whatever at Malfoy Manor. Dobby had just appeared in the dungeon, so Peter Pettigrew was sent to investigate, since Dobby's apparating had made a loud crack. Harry and Ron immediately jump on Pettigrew, but Pettigrew is able to grab Harry's throat and begins to choke him. Harry reminds Pettrigrew that he once saved his life, causing Pettigrew to hesitate. This hesitation is seen as mercy by the silvery hand Pettigrew was granted by his master, Voldemort, so the hand strangles Pettigrew and kills him. In the movie none of this even happened, so those who haven't read the books don't know that Pettigrew is supposed to be dead. The final scene that I was upset that they left out was also in Malfoy Manor. When Bellatrix and etc. call up Griphook to deem if the sword is fake, in the book, Harry begs Griphook to tell them that the sword is a fake, even though they know it is not. This sets up what will happen later on in the book, and would have set up what will happen in the next movie, when Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook rob a Gringotts vault.

This review seems to be taking much longer than I thought it would so I've decided I'll include the rest, which is mostly the good stuff, in another post, so goodbye for now. :)