Sight

Adrienne Maria Vrettos

Published 2007

254 Pages

Rating: B-

Synopsis:

Fifteen year old Dylan has horrific visions of the last moments of a child’s life – a child who has been abducted, kidnapped, or worse. Dylan gives the police valuable clues that help them to find children’s bodies, but she keeps the most personal information about these young victims to herself. Dylan has become used to withholding her sight abilities – even from her best friend, Pilar – but the weight of that secret is becoming almost more than she can bear.

Then Cates moves into Dylan’s mountain town. Enthusiastic and friendly, Cate seems genuinely interested in Dylan, who begins to reveal a bit about herself. But is Cate all that she seems to be? Its not entirely clear… and it takes the disappearance of Pilar’s little sister to finally open Dylan’s eyes. In a race against time to save a life, and desperate to focus her abilities so that she herself can survive, Dylan is forced to see more clearly than she ever has before.

(taken from inside flap)

This book was definitely not what I was expecting. The cover was the reason I bought the book in the first place. It has a cool picture of an eye, that is a very cool color, and its white. I’m sure you see the picture some where on this review. So that is the reason I bought it, I didn’t read the synopsis or even have it recommended by a friend, which was probably a good thing. It wasn’t a bad book at all, hence the B- rating, it was just very different.

This story involves a girl, Dylan, who is fifteen and psychic. She has visions of young children being kidnapped, hurt by people and then left to die in some remote place. The visions are haunting and they come at her at the most random times. Her first vision was when she was five, and they haven’t gotten better since. Her mom is the only one that knows of her “problem”. Her father left her and her mother after he found out she was psychic, he didn’t want to deal with it, and that hurt Dylan.

When Cate arrives in her small town, Dylan and her become friends quickly. And Dylan tells Cate her dark secret. Cate is automatically intrigued and wants to learn more, but Dylan is less enthusiastic about it and wishes she had never told Cate. Her relationships with her other friends is falling and she doesn’t know who to turn to when she needs help the most.

Dylan may not have been able to save the kids she has had visions about over the last ten years, but this time, when it happens to her best friends little sister, she is determined to find a way to save her.

This is a pretty scary book, mostly because child abductions and kidnapping happen ever day without anyone knowing, and they are usually done by those who you would never suspect. This is an interesting book, and a fairly quick read.

-A.

Lack of Reviews

We're so sorry guys! Arielle and Marisa have both been pretty busy and to be quite frank, I just haven't been in the mood to read lately. Once in a while I get in this reading rut and I promise I'll get some reviews up by the end of this week. I'm considering actually participating in the 48 Hour Book Challenge to try and get out of this rut. Do you guys have any suggestions for how to get out of a reading rut? If so, please comment or even email me.

-B

In My Mailbox (1)

I always love reading the fabulous (created by The Story Siren) "In My Mailbox" posts so I figured we would start it up!

Briana:

For Review (Simon Pulse):

Pure by Terra Elan McVoy

Tabitha and her four best friends all wear purity rings, symbols of the virginity-until-marriage pledge they made years ago. Now Tab is fifteen, and her ring has come to mean so much more. It's a symbol of who she is and what she believes — a reminder of her promises to herself, and her bond to her friends.
But when Tab meets a boy whose kisses make her knees go weak, everything suddenly seems a lot more complicated. Tab's best friend, Morgan, is far from supportive, and for the first time, Tabitha is forced to keep secrets from the one person with whom she's always shared everything. When one of those secrets breaks to the surface, Tab finds herself at the center of an unthinkable betrayal that splits her friends apart. As Tab's entire world comes crashing down around her, she's forced to re-examine her friendships, her faith, and what exactly it means to be pure.

I can't wait to read this book mostly because I have decided to make the pledge to stay pure until marriage. It seems like I might be able to relate to the characters and I would love to learn what's going on in their heads while resisting the temptation.

Bought:

The Vampire Diaries (The Awakening & The Struggle) by L.J. Smith

Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her.

Collected here in one volume for the first time, volumes one and two of The Vampire Diaries, the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.

I am very excited to read this book. I've heard so much great stuff about the series from Marisa, and there's a TV series coming out in the Fall! After I read it, I'll let you know and give you the link to Marisa's review, which I will add mine to.

1001 Things Every College Student Needs to Know: (Like Buying Your Books Before Exams Start) by Harry H. Harrison

Students entering college may think they know just about everything, but…

Whether it's their first year or fourth, college students (who think they already know everything) can always use powerful and proven tips on how to make the most of their experience. In 1001 Things Every College Student Needs to Know, Harry H. Harrison Jr.'s latest dose of trademark wit and wisdom provides practical advice ranging from class enrollment, living on campus, study habits and more, that every student-and parent-will benefit from...like buying their books before exams start!

Well, I'm going away to college in the fall and since I'm shaking in my boots, I was looking for online tips. I came across this book and decided to go to Barnes and Noble and pick it up. I read a few tips already and some are helpful, but then some are obvious. I hope it's helpful!

Beautiful Disaster (Privilege Series #2) by Kate Brian

She's Back....

After wasting away in a mental institution for a year and a half, Ariana Osgood is finally back where she belongs. She has a new look, a new name, and a new life — all thanks to her former friend Briana Leigh Covington.

Now enrolled as a junior at the exclusive Atherton-Pryce boarding school just outside of D.C., Ariana sleeps in Frette sheets, flirts with the captain of the crew team, and gossips with the most beautiful girls on campus. She killed to get back her life of privilege. Just how far will she go to keep it?

I received the first book, Privilege, from Simon Pulse and wasn't extremely excited about reading it, but then I opened it. I could not put it down! It was absolutely amazing, so when I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up 1001 Things Every College Student Needs to Know: (Like Buying Your Books Before Exams Start), of course I had to check out the New Releases in the Young Adult section. That's when I saw it! I didn't even think about picking it up. I just grabbed it and rushed to the register to pay! Basically, I'm extremely excited to read this!

DVDS (for New Movie Monday):

Based on an extraordinary true story, DEFIANCE is an epic tale of family, honour, vengeance and salvation in World War II. The year is 1941 and the Jews of Eastern Europe are being massacred by the thousands. Managing to escape certain death, three brothers take refuge in the dense surrounding woods they have known since childhood. There they begin their desperate battle against the Nazis. Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell star as brothers who turn a primitive struggle to survive into something far more consequential – a way to avenge the deaths of their loved ones by saving thousands of others.
At first it is all they can do to stay alive. But gradually, as whispers of their daring spreads, they begin to attract others – men and women, young and old – willing to risk everything for the sake of even a moment’s freedom. Tuvia (CRAIG) is a reluctant leader and his decisions are challenged by his brother, Zus (SCHREIBER) who worries that Tuvia’s idealistic plans will doom them all. Asael (BELL) is the youngest – caught between his brothers’ fierce rivalry. As a brutal winter descends, they work to create a community, and to keep faith alive when all humanity appeared to be lost.

You guys may know by now that I love learning about the Holocaust, if not, now you know. I already watched this and all I can say for now is ... WOW. You'll definitely hear everything I have to say about this movie on Monday.

It’s a classic single-woman scenario: you really like this guy, but he’s giving mixed messages. You make excuses, decide he’s confused, afraid of commitment. Behrendt, a former executive story editor for Sex and the City—and a formerly single (now happily married) guy who knows all the excuses—provides a simple answer: he’s just not that into you. Stop kidding yourself, let go and look for someone else who will be. After all, as Behrendt sensibly puts it, "if a (sane) guy really likes you, there ain’t nothing that’s going to get in his way." If you’re not convinced yet, by all means read this smart, funny and surprisingly upbeat little book, full of q’s and a’s covering every excuse woman has ever made to avoid admitting to herself that a man just wasn’t that smitten with her.

Just so you know, I took the synopsis from the book since movie summaries are usually so ridiculously long!

I'm going to be honest, this movie doesn't appeal to me that much. I really hope it proves me wrong, but for now, it just looks like a regular, forgettable chick flick.

Arielle and Marisa may post later.

Wishlist Wednesday (1)

Briana:

Something Happened by Greg Logsted

"All around me I see people laughing, joking, and walking around with these huge, goofy smiles plastered on their faces. I've begun to wonder how they do it, and more important, will I ever be able to be like that again?"

Five months after his dad's unexpected death, Billy Romero is still struggling with the loss. Billy's mom spends more time talking to her Bluetooth than to him, and his best friend, Ziggy, just doesn't get it. There's no one who understands how alone Billy feels...except his new English teacher, the young and beautiful Miss Gate.

Miss Gate offers support and friendship, even giving Billy extra help with his writing outside of school. Billy isn't really sure how he feels about spending so much time with his teacher. It's a little weird, but it's also kind of exciting that someone like Miss Gate wants to hang out with him. But the closer they get, the more Billy wonders what kind of friendship this really is....


I've seen the Lifetime movie The Mary Kay Letourneau Story and I really found it quite fascinating. So, when I saw this book with the teacher and the student, I got the feeling that it would be similar to The Mary Kay Letourneau Story and it would be cool to learn more about the subject.

Just in case you noticed, this book is already available in book stores so I didn't think this post really qualifies under the title, "Waiting on Wednesday", so I changed the post title to "Wishlist Wednesday". I'm not really sure if I should put the person's name that created "Waiting on Wednesday", since some people do and some people don't. I'll just leave that out there for you guys to answer. I'd appreciate it :)

Arielle and Marisa may post books from their wishlist later on.

Contest! Enter to win One Lonely Degree by C.K. Kelly Martin

Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf is hosting a contest to give away One Lonely Degree by C.K. Kelly Martin. This book looks really interesting so I suggest you enter!

You can enter

here

Summary:

Anything is possible....

Finn has always felt out of place, but suddenly her world is unraveling. It started with The Party. And Adam Porter. And the night in September that changed everything. The only person who knows about that night is Audrey—Finn’s best friend, her witness to everything, and the one person Finn trusts implicitly. So when Finn’s childhood friend Jersy moves back to town—reckless, beautiful Jersy, all lips and eyes and hair so soft you’d want to dip your fingers into it if you weren’t careful—Finn gives her blessing for Audrey to date him. How could she possibly say no to Audrey? With Audrey gone for the summer, though, Finn finds herself spending more and more time with Jersy, and for the first time in her life, something feels right. But Finn can’t be the girl who does this to her best friend...can she?

-B

New Movie Monday (1)

Every week I go to the Movie Gallery to take out 2 of some newer DVDs to watch during the week. This week I took out the True Blood TV Series and Taken. I liked them both so much that I got inspired to blog about the movies I get every week! I hope you guys like the idea, especially since this is supposed to be a book review blog and not a movie review blog.


Director: Pierre Morel

Starring: Liam Neeson; Famke Janssen; Maggie Grace

Genre: Action

MPAA: PG-13

Rating: A


Let's be honest, I really didn't want to rent this movie. But, I felt pretty guilty for never getting anything that my dad might like to watch, so I rented it. He watched it before I did and completely loved it so since he's really picky, I knew it couldn't be that bad of a movie.

The seventeen year-old Kim is the pride and joy of her father, the retired agent Bryan Mills that left the secret service to stay near Kim in California. Kim lives with her mother Lenore and her wealthy stepfather Stuart; she convinces the reluctant Bryan to sign an authorization to travel to Paris with her friend Amanda. When they arrive, they share a cab with the stranger Peter and Amanda tells to him that they are alone in Paris. When Bryan succeeds in contacting his daughter, she tells that criminals have just break in the spot and they are kidnapped by an Albanese gang of human trafficking. Bryan promises in the phone to kill the kidnapper of his daughter and immediately travels to Paris to find Kim and chase the criminals.

I did not want this movie to end. There was so much action in it and the plot really scared me. Human trafficking does exist and it's a very serious, scary issue that I wish would somehow disapear. I was literally moving in my seat with my heart beating so nervous to find out what would happen next. If you like the type of movie that I just described, definitely pick this up. I highly recommend it.


Director: Michael Lehmann

Starring: Anna Paquin; Stephen Moyer; Sam Trammell

Genre: Drama

MPAA: NC-17 (I'm pretty sure MPAA only applies to movies but I think my guess for the True Blood MPAA rating would be correct.)


Rating: A+


Let me just start off by warning you: This series is very addicting and very dirty. If you don't like to watch movies with very revealing sex scenes and cussing every 1-2 minutes, then this is NOT for you. But as long as I don't have to watch it with my parents, I don't mind the promiscuity.

This TV series focuses primarily on a young telepathic waitress from Bon Temps, Louisiana named Sookie Stackhouse, who begins a romantic entanglement with her vampire neighbor amongst a series of murders of young women in town.

I actually rented all five discs of this season in one week. I was very surprised at my strong interest in this series to be honest. I kind of thought I would like it but I didn't think I would like it nearly as much as I do. This series is sexy, dramatic, sometimes funny and sometimes scary. It has a bunch of emotions for you to bring out and I can almost promise will not let you down.

I have not read the books but I do know that Season 1 was based off the first book of the series, which means if Charlaine Harris keeps writing, we should still have the pleasure of watching Sookie Stackhouse and her adventures that await her.

-B

NEW MOON TRAILER!

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer


Briana: WOW. After watching such a large amount of fan-made New Moon trailers, seeing this is incredible! First of all, I love how they show the cliff right in the beginning. That was one of my favorite parts from the book and I find it to be one of the most meaningful parts.

I think the vampires look amazing. The makeup is much better this time around!

The birthday scene, WOW. You can already tell how incredibly intense it will be!

The breakup scene, AH! I will not tell a lie, I cried. Seeing the pain in Bella's face and how she's just lying on the ground, it's perfect and so depressing.

Laurent! I was a little surprised to see him just because he wasn't one of the biggest parts of the movie, but then when I saw it, it fit in perfectly.

Jacob ... Or Taylor I should say, you look AMAZING. He really put on the weight and I'm so happy to see him as Jacob Black. THE CGI FOR THE WOLVES! It looks so incredible! I love how they ended the trailer with the growl from Jacob!

I would really like to hear your thoughts, especially from the people who didn't like the first movie. Do you think this one will be better?

__________________________________________________

Arielle:

Oh.My.Gosh!

This made my night.

And it left me absolutely speechless. I cant help but watch it over and over again.

This movie is going to be so amazing, I cant even explain how excited I am. New Moon was my favorite book from the Twilight series.. not because Edward left her, because that was horrible. But because I love Jacob. He is such a good guy and I love how he becomes Bella's other "protector".

Every part that they showed in the trailer looks like it will be so cool. The birthday scene looks very insane with Edward and Jasper. And omg, I was on the verge of tears when Edward left Bella. And that was only a few seconds of it, I cant even imagine how I will be when I actually see the whole scene.

Jacob turning into a werewolf... Perfect. Enough said. They did that sooooo well! And its going to be amazing.

I keep using the word amazing! But I think this is movie will be AMAZING! :)

haha.. I just love it.

__________________________________________________

Marisa:
Man.... I am speechless... or at least I was. During the entire trailer I was afraid to even blink in case I missed anything. The trailer was absolutely breathtaking! I am definitely glad Chris Weitz is the director. Not that I didn't like Catherine but Chris is doing excellent in my opinion.

The birthday scene was intense. Amazing. Exactly how I imagined it in the book. Everything was perfect and the Cullens looked great... especially Edward. Glad to see he's still sexy :) Ahhh the break up scene! That was devasting but also excellent. Broke more than just Bella's heart I'm sure.

Laurent scene now. Laurent looked so bad. Bad as in mean. He looked so scary that I couldn't believe it. His costume is stunning. OMG!! Taylor is so hot! His body is to die for. I loved it so much when Bella was running screaming "Run Jake!" and then BAM! Jacob bursts in to this gigantic wolf! He looked amazing. Exactly how I imagined in the book again. The transformation took about one second. As described in the book. Everything looks perfect. Squee!!!

There I just ranted myself out for you guys. Obviously New Moon is going to be fantastic and I can't wait to see it.

New Moon Footage Preview!

Oh boy! Even though this was only 15 seconds, it looks great! I can't wait to see the official trailer on the MTV Movie Awards, Sunday 9PM Eastern! Thoughts?