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Showing posts with label wondrous strange. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wondrous strange. Show all posts

Top Ten Tuesday (3)

Well, well, well, look who decided to stop in for Top Ten Tuesday here at PI..It's about dang time!

The Broke and the Bookish host this lovely little Triple T feature and.. blah, blah, I don't want to bore you with anymore nonsense. If you want to know why B&B started this meme, go see for yourself (here).

Now, on to how this meme works. Make a list of your top ten choices of whatever the theme is for the week. This week's theme is Villains, Criminals, and Degenerates, hence my nasty demeanor--and if you don't like it, well, that's just too darn bad!

Want to participate? How nice for you...*rolls eyes* I suppose if you want to, you can head over to The Broke and the Bookish and sign up using their Mr. Linky. And if you don't link back to them...Well, let's just say my buddies over at the jail have been feeling a little restless...

If you're interested in my post for this week, just scroll down already. If not...*shrugs* I've got better things to do, like steal some books from B&N.

Top Ten Tuesday -11.16.10
Theme: Villains, Criminals, and Degenerates

"In the old days villains had mustaches and kicked the dog. Audiences are smarter today. They don't want their villain to be thrown at them with green limelight on his face. They want an ordinary human being with failings." --Alfred Hitchcock

Name: Kalona
From: House of Night by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Most recent crime? The murder of adorable Heath Luck, Zoey Redbird's human consort. 
My thoughts: I'm sorry, but I lurrv Kalona and all his dark glory. He's freaking hot, and he's so terribly misunderstood. 

Next..

Name: Valentine Morgenstern
From: Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
Responsible for? The Uprising; the experimentation on shadow hunter children with various types of blood; the attack on Idris, home of the shadow hunters; many shadow hunter deaths; murder of several downworlders; and the list goes on and on..
My thoughts: As a villain with the name Valentine, the guy's bound to be cool. And because he's so twisted, hateful, obsessed, and crazy smart, the guy makes a perfect bad guy.

Third, we have...

Name: Cameron "Cam" Briel
From: Fallen series by Lauren Kate
Species/Position? Fallen Angel on the 'bad side'
My thoughts: Initially, I thought Cam annoying and too persistent, but when I realized his intentions and all that he stood for, I completely fell for the guy. I mean, who didn't love all that weird symbolic stuff he was doing: the snake's skin, the snake necklace, the deviled eggs and the apples. Although he's not necessarily THE villain, he is definitely a bad ass antagonist.

Fourth...

Name: Queen Mab/Mabh
From: Iron Fey series, Wondrous Strange
Court? Winter and Darkness
My thoughts: In Wondrous Strange she seemed manaical, insane almost, but completely dark and dangerous nonetheless. But, I much preferred her in the Iron Fey series. I loved how Julie Kagawa described her entrance into the Summer Court's home in the Iron King... The spill of ink-black hair that rippled down her back and the temperature of the room dropping down to an eerie cold chill...So, so awesome!

Halfway there..

Name: Madeline "Mimi" Force
From: Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Reincarnation of? Azrael, the Angel of Death
My thoughts: I hated Mimi at first, but my love grew for her character. She's a mass of contradictions and completely self-centered. She stands out among all the other Blue Bloods characters.

Choice six...

Name: Vivian
From: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Significance? A soul stealer (don't wanna say TOO much)
My thoughts: Vivian succeeded in freaking me the heck out, while making me sympathize with her. I felt that at her core she's sickly sweet and just lonely. But, at the same time she's totally...strange, for lack of a better word.

Next, a combo:

Name: Quinn/Evil Henry
From: The Devouring series by Simon Holt
Who are they? Two ordinary human boys whose minds and bodies were possessed by two very nasty Vours. 
My thoughts: Insanely creepy! They sort of make the novel. I say that because, these two are the ones that keep you up at night, force you to check in your closet or under your bed...They're the biggest scare factor, which, to me, the frightening stuff is the best aspect of the book.

Numero ocho...

Name: Sarafine
From: Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Family? The Ravenwoods/Duchannes
My thoughts: Sarafine should have 'bad chick' tattooed across her forehead with a capital 'BC'! If you're ever looking for the embodiment of evil, check out Beautiful Creatures, and you'll find this very evil gal to be precisely that.

Ooo, approaching the end...

Name: Drina Poverina
From: Evermore by Alyson Noel
Relation? The vindictive ex-wife of Damien.
My thoughts: Her name may sound funny, and it may have been a long time since I read the first in the Immortals Series, but, hey, I remember her. And that's for a good reason. You don't wanna mess with this woman. I thought she was super, super cool. I love how she nearly got Ever towards the end of this book. If you've read Evermore you know what I mean.

And finally...

Name: Uncle Bosque
From: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Who is he? Head of the Keepers, at least I believe so. Also Shay Doran's "uncle".
My thoughts: Ookay, if you think the baddies above Uncle Bosque are scary or menacing, then you're just going to love this guy. Intensely frightening, mysterious Bosque has weird, inhuman eyes and a very creepy, malicious smile (at least in my head). He's at the top of the food chain so to speak, and he can pop open a can of whoop-ass in 2.5 secs. Trust me, I would know; I did read Nightshade.

That's all I've got this week for Top Ten Tuesday. What about you guys? Who did you pick? Let me know...
By the way, here are the aforementioned books from today's meme:



 


 

Review: Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Wondrous Strange (Book 1)
Author: Lesley Livingston (Website)
Release Date:9/22/09
Publisher: Harper Teen
Age Group: Young Adult (14+)
Source: Borrowed (Public Library)
Overall Feelings: Very good!

"17 year-old Kelley Winslow doesn’t believe in Faeries. Not unless they’re the kind that you find in a theatre, spouting Shakespeare—the kind that Kelley so desperately wishes she could be: onstage, under lights, with a pair of sparkly wings strapped to her shoulders. But as the understudy in a two-bit, hopelessly off-off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, wishing is probably the closest she’s going to get to becoming a Faerie Queen. At least, that’s what she thinks... In this fun, urban fantasy, Kelley's off-stage life suddenly becomes as complicated as one of Shakespeare’s plot twists when a nighttime trip to Central Park holds more than meets the mortal eye." (Goodreads)

Plot & Ending: So, this passed Sunday I participated in In My Mailbox and one of the books I picked up was this one and it's sequel, Darklight. I started Sunday afternoon and it took me a little long to finish this one. Why? Because the plot was a little too slow for me in the beginning.


But, it was pretty cool. The story behind Wondrous Strange revolves around the Fae, and this dangerous power, The Wild Hunt. It's centered in New York, more specifically Central Park. In fact one of the four gates designed to restrain the Fae from entering the mortal realm, Samhain, is disguised in Central Park. Pretty neat, right?


Kelley Winslow (a rad name, by the way) is the heroine. A seventeen year old actress chasing a big dream, accidentally starring in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, playing the role of Queen Titania. Turns out that she isn't just playing a role. While she may not be Queen Titania, she's definitely not human. But, her secret was totally unexpected, at least in the beginning.


In comes Sonny Flannery. Oh, how I love knights in shining armor! Not that he actually does have armor, but he is one of the thirteen Janus. Guardians of the Samhain gate. 


As I mentioned before, the plot went a little too slow for me, at least in the beginning. Once I got halfway through, things started to pick up speed, and  my interest piqued. BUT, this wasn't one of my most loved reads, though it was good.


The ending was actually my favorite part. If you've ever read it, you may be wondering why due to Sonny's predicament. For me, it was a very emotional scene. *this may be a tiny little bit spoilerish, so skip over this part if you don't want to know* Being that Sonny and Emma were basically reunited, the whole "I love thee", and Bob's dedication to Kelly all add up to a really great ending, one that pulled and tugged on a lot of warm emotions. 


All and all it was a pretty good read and you'll probably like it, so go pick up a copy!


Characters: While I wouldn't say these characters are necessarily flat, they aren't exactly all that memorable, if that makes sense? I don't feel like there's any real depth to them. I loved Kelley's fiery temper, gift of being raised by the Irish. Sonny didn't turn out to be one of my favorite characters, but I fell in love with the romance that blooms between the both of them. It's so very tender and heart-felt, you can't help but love it. The humor brought to the book comes from Tyff, Kelley's roommate. Hilarious as hell would be the best was to describe her. Another cool character was Bob, aka Puck in this novel, who is very dedicated to Kelley, and is sort of funny too. 


I was a little disappointed by the fact that there isn't too much revealed about the Janus guards. I felt like there was a lot more to them than what is revealed in the book. Other than that I liked the whole cast. (:

Cover: I adore the cover! She is so beautiful, the reddish hair, the lipstick color, the pale skin, and then the dark background. Very nice. 


Stay tuned for a review on the sequel, Darklight...