Home    Reviews    Review Policy    About BAM    Double Dose

Friday, June 12, 2009

Night World No.2: Dark Angel, The Chosen and Soulmate


L.J. Smith
Published 2008
662 pages
Rating: A

Well obviously this book was amazing just like the first one. Actually this one just might be even better. I loved all three books but my favorite was by far The Chosen. It was absolutely fantastic. L.J. Smith just cannot write a boring book. She is amazing. This book was full of romance and action. Full of everything you would want in a book! I know I repeat the same thing about every book of L.J. Smith's but it's true. All her books are full of suspense, betrayal, forbidden love, jealousy and so much more. The girl on the cover is Rashel from The Chosen.

Synopsis (as seen on back of book)

Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters — they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World.

In Dark Angel, Gillian is saved from drowning by her guardian angel. Only visible to Gillian, Angel will fulfill her heart's every desire. But when Angel starts making strange and sinister requests, Gillian must question who he truly is and where he came from.

Armed with a wooden stake, martial arts, and the will to resist a vampire's mind control, Rashel struggles to avenge her mother's death in The Chosen. Then she meets Quinn, her soulmate, who is part of the world she has vowed to destroy.

Hannah receives notes warning her of incredible danger in Soulmate. But if death is her destiny, is the Lord of the Night World's love strong enough to save her?

My Synopsis

In Dark Angel, Gillian is a social outcast. She has childlike features and clothes. She just wishes she could have real friends, that she could hang out with the popular kids. One day, as she is walking home, Gillian hears a cry in the woods. Thinking it is somebody in trouble, Gillian trudges into the wintry forest searching for the person. After a while Gillian happens upon a strong river/stream in the woods. Gillian falls in and gets caught by the current. The water is freezing and is trapping her underwater. Gillian knows she will die. But she manages to survive, waking on the river bank. She's soaking wet, covered in snow and freezing to death. What had saved Gillian from death was her "guardian angel". He leads her through the woods to the road where Gillian gets picked up by her crush from school.

From then on Gillian has her angel with her everywhere, guiding her and helping her gain respect and popularity at school. He isn't visible to anybody but Gillian and can speak to her through her mind but he can still do physical things. Soon Gillian falls in love with her angel but she also loves her crush from school, David. Which should she stick to? She especially is unsure when her angel starts asking her to do weird things and does things that are unacceptable. Gillian doesn't know if she should trust Angel anymore and has to figure who or what he really is before he asks her to do something really terrible. And Gillian must decide... David or Angel? This book was very interesting and different. It's a very good read but not the best.

In The Chosen, Rashel is a trained vampire hunter. She's one of the best. She has no pity for vampires and despises them more than anything. She's a vampire hunter because she seeks revenge against a vampire that killed her mother and cousin at a carnival one day when she was just a little girl. Rashel was lucky to get away but the vampire who murdered her family threatened to find her and kill her too. Rashel decided to find him and kill him instead to avenge her mother and cousin.

When Rashel goes on a vampire hunt with a few other vampire hunters, they capture Quinn, who is known for being cruel, powerful, dangerous and most of all hates all humans. He also happens to be Rashel's soul mate. They both feel the powerful connection that sparks between them when they touch but they are both repulsed by the thought of each other. Still, Rashel sets Quinn free but they both promise to kill each other the next time they meet. When Rashel returns to their initial meeting place, she stumbles upon a girl who was captured by vampires. She spoke of a secret club where vampires lure girls to meet them somewhere, put them to sleep and then put them in a warehouse to be shipped off somewhere like captives. Rashel investigates and realizes that Quinn is a part of everything. She pretends to be like any other girl so she can be caught and shipped off with the other girls in hopes of finding tons of vampires to kill. Which puts Rashel in grave danger. Will Rashel succeed and survive the captivation? Will Quinn and Rashel keep ignoring their love for each other or will they rejoice? Will Quinn save Rashel from her disastrous fate or will he let her get hurt or worse.. killed? This book was so engrossing! I loved every part of it. Absolutely amazing.

In Soulmate, Hannah writes down warnings about herself and finds them later without remembering that she wrote them herself. She goes to a shrink but while there gets attacked by a werewolf. Another werewolf comes to save her under the order of Lord Thierry, who is a Lord of the Night World, one of the first vampires. He's lived for a looooong time. But so has Hannah, his soul mate. Hannah gets reincarnated after everytime she dies but she never remembers how she loved Lord Thierry in all of her past lives. Lord Thierry keeps coming back to her, trying to make her fall in love with him over and over again, not wanting to give up on their love for each other. But someone just doesn't want the couple to live together happily and just keeps murdering Hannah, making it seem as though it was Lord Thierry killing her. Will Lord Thierry and Hannah be able to live together in this lifetime or will Hannah die again? Will Lord Thierry finally kill Hannah's murderer or will the person live on? This book was breathtaking. It was so sad but so wonderful too. It's definitely romantic and I loved everything about it.

-M

Beastly Movie News! (Cast List)


Okay, so I've been dying to read this book for a while. A lot of people on the Barnes and Noble Book Club forum talked about it and now it's becoming a movie.
They haven't listed everyone that has been cast but here's a few!
Vanessa Hudgens - Linda
Neil Patrick Harris - (character not confirmed)
Mary-Kate Olsen - (not confirmed but maybe) Kendra
Alex Pettyfer - Kyle Kingsbury/Adrian
Since I haven't read the book, I can't say who I like and don't like for the parts. What do you think?

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Contest! Enter to win Perfect Chemistry by Elkeles.


Yay! I really want to read this book and since it looks so good, I suggest you enter here!
Summary:
Tough guy Alex is primarily known by his classmates as a dangerous member of the Latino Bloods gang. He’s not exactly thrilled when Brittany Ellis, the school’s seemingly perfect beauty queen, is assigned as his lab partner—and the feeling is more than mutual. But Alex’s bravado works against him when he impulsively accepts a bet that he can get Brittany in the sack. The romance that follows will not surprise any reader, yet Elkeles gives it heart by constantly switching point of view from Alex to Brittany to provide dual running commentaries on their minute-by-minute insecurities and urges. Brittany’s controlling parents and sister with cerebral palsy are well drawn, but it is Elkeles’ rendition of Alex and his life that is particularly vivid. Sprinkling his speech with Spanish, his gruff but tender interactions with his family and friends feel completely genuine. An idealized epilogue drains away some of the book’s realism, but if the “romance” angle isn’t pushed too hard, this is a novel that could be embraced by male and female readers in equal measure.
-B

Night World No.1: Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness and Spellbinder



L.J. Smith
Published 2008
752 pages
Rating: A

Wow. Night World was fantastic! I really loved this series. I love all of L.J. Smith's books so far. There wasn't one part of the book where I was bored. In this book you get three different stories. Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness and Spellbinder. Three books in one! And all three were amazing. My favorite was Daughters of Darkness though. In these three stories you get love, action, heart break, betrayal, murders, jealousy and a whole lot more! Oh and Poppy is on the front cover.


Synopsis (on back of book)

Vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters — they live among us without our knowledge. Night World is their secret society, a secret society with very strict rules. And falling in love breaks all the laws of the Night World.


In Secret Vampire, Poppy thought the summer would last forever. Then she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Now Poppy's only hope for survival is James, her friend and secret love. A vampire in the Night World, James can make Poppy immortal. But first they both must risk everything to go against the laws of Night World.


Fugitives from Night World, three vampire sisters leave their isolated home to live among humans in Daughters of Darkness. Their brother, Ash, is sent to bring the girls back, but he falls in love with their beautiful friend.

Two witch cousins fight over their high school crush. It's a battle between black magic and white magic in Spellbinder.

My Synopsis

In Secret Vampire, Poppy is a human who is in love with a vampire. Which is forbidden by Night World law. When she gets diagnosed with cancer, James is her only hope. He must choose to either change Poppy in to a vampire or let her die of cancer. But is Poppy ready to turn in to a creature of the night? Or would she rather die? If you love books about forbidden love, jealousy, awesome characters and more, then this is the book for you.

In Daughters of Darkness, three vampire sister want to get away from the Night World. They run away but only to be pursued by their cruel, dangerous and handsome brother Ash. He despises humans and doesn't care about anybody but himself. He fully intends to bring his sisters back whether they like it or not. But then he meets his soul mate, Mary-Lynette. He denies his feelings about her, not wanting to become "good". Meanwhile, someone is killing in their town. Everybody is in danger. Mary-Lynette, her brother Mark, Ash and the three sisters must find out who this merciless killer is. Will Mary-Lynette and Ash be able to refuse their love for each other forever? Will Ash and his sisters leave Mary-Lynette and Mark and return to the Night World? And most importantly will they be able to find the murderer.... before one of them is killed? I loved this story more than the other two. It was action filled, mysterious, romantic, witty and was overall excellent.

In Spellbinder, Thea and Blaise are with cousins. Blaise is the gorgeous and dangerous one who gets any boy she desires. Thea is the beautiful and sweet one who always keeps Blaise out of real trouble. When they arrive at their new high school, Thea falls in love with Eric and Eric with her. But Blaise has chosen Eric as her new toy, and Blaise always gets what she wants. She and Thea challenge each other with different powerful spells to win over Eric. While doing one of the spells, Thea and Blaise release an evil, revengeful spirit, who kills humans grotesquely. Thea, Blaise and Eric have to capture the spirit and put her back where she belongs before more humans are murdered. But will Thea and Eric's love last or will Eric fall for Blaise under her powerful spells? Will Blaise and Thea ever be the same again? Will the spirit be stopped or will more and more people die? Find out in this magical, captivating and dark book.

-M

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Briana's Birthday!


Hey everyone!

I just thought I'd do a post since today it is Briana's Birthday! And I would like to wish her a Happy Birthday! She does a lot for this site, basically everything.. from the background, to posting fun things like the Wish List Wednesday and Movie Monday. She started this website up a few months back and I think she has done a great job with it so far and I am happy that she invited me (Arielle) to help her with adding some more reviews.

So thank you Briana and HAPPY [18th] BIRTHDAY!!! :)
[if you guys want, you can leavher a nice comment for her birthday!]

I hope you have a wonderful day Briana (even though you have to work).
:)
-A.

Wishlist Wednesday (2)


Briana:

How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simon Elkeles

Moshav? What’s a moshav? Is it “shopping mall” in Hebrew? I mean, from what Jessica was telling me, Israeli stores have the latest fashions from Europe. That black dress Jessica has is really awesome. I know I’d be selling out if I go with the Sperm Donor to a mall, but I keep thinking about all the great stuff I could bring back home.

Unfortunately for 16-year-old Amy Nelson, “moshav” is not Hebrew for “shopping mall.” Not even close. Think goats, not Gucci.

Going to Israel with her estranged Israeli father is the last thing Amy wants to do this summer. She’s got a serious grudge against her dad, a.k.a. “Sperm Donor,” for showing up so rarely in her life. Now he’s dragging her to a war zone to meet a family she’s never known, where she’ll probably be drafted into the army. At the very least, she’ll be stuck in a house with no AC and only one bathroom for seven people all summer—no best friend, no boyfriend, no shopping, no cell phone…

Goodbye pride—hello Israel.

I wasn't sure whether or not to put this on "Wishlist Wednesday" but the storyline seems different and I think I would enjoy reading about a spoiled girl that goes away to Israel.

Also, I really love the cover! It's white but then it has Amy on the front and she's wearing all pink. I love girly covers, dont you?

What's on your wishlist? I'd love to know!

What's on Your Desk Wednesday (1) will be coming up later. I have to get going to work though, and it's my birthday :/. Who works on their birthday? Actually, I have a little dilemma that you guys may be able to help me out with. My aunt and my two cousins are going to the New Kids on the Block concert tonight and they have an extra VIP ticket so they asked me to go. I already made plans with my mom, dad and brother though. I'd feel really bad just blowing them off, and I don't even listen to New Kids on the Block. But it sounds like it'd be fun. Thoughts?


Monday, June 8, 2009

Pre-production Books-to-Movies:

I totally stole this list from Simply Nerdy Book Reviews and you should go check out her blog since I'm just copying and pasting part of the list.

Books whose film rights have been bought, are in pre-production, or are in the process of being fimed right now (in alphabetical order by title since most of these don't have release dates--if it has 'a' or 'the' before it, look for the first letter of the second word):

A
Airborn (Kenneth Oppel)
Airman (Eoin Colfer)
Alchemyst, The (Michael Scott)
Amulet of Samarkand, The (Jonathan Stroud)
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (Louise Rennison)
An Abundance of Katherines (John Green)

B
Beastly (Alex Flinn)
Boggart, The (Susan Cooper)
Book Thief, The (Marcus Zusak)
Burning Time, The (Carol Matas)

C
Certain Slant of Light, A (Laura Whitcomb)
Chasing Vermeer (Blue Balliett)
City of the Beasts (Isabel Allende)
Cry of the Icemark, The (Stuart Hill)

D
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Jeff Kinney)
Dragonfire (Donita K. Paul)
Dragonriders of Pern (Anne McCaffrey)

E
Eclipse (Stephenie Meyer)
Eddie Dickens and the Awful End (Phillip Ardagh)
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
Everlost (Neal Shusterman)
Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, The (Rick Yancey)

F
Flipped (Wendelin Van Draanen)
Fly Girl (Omar Tyree)

G
Giver, The (Lois Lowry)
Great and Terrible Beauty, A (Libba Bray)
Great Gilly Hopkins, The (Katherine Paterson)
Guardians of Ga'Hoole (Kathryn Lasky)

H
Here Be Monsters (Alan Snow)
Here, There Be Dragons (James A. Owen)
Highest Tide, The (Jim Lynch)
Hobbit, The (J.R.R. Tolkien)
House of the Scorpion, The (Nancy Farmer)
Hunger Games, The (Suzanne Collins)

I
Inkspell (Cornelia Funke)
Interworld (Neil Gaiman and Michael Reeves)
If I Stay (Gayle Forman)

K
Killing Sea, The (Richard Lewis)
King Dork (Frank Portman)

L
Larklight (Philip Reeve
Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
Little Girl Lost (Charles de Lint)
Looking Glass Wars, The (Frank Beddor)
Looking for Alaska (John Green)
Lost Years of Merlin, The (T.A. Barron)
Lovely Bones, The (Alice Seabold)

M
Magyk (Angie Sage)
Marked (P.C. + Kristen Cast)
Maximum Ride (James Patterson)
Monster Blood Tattoo (D.M. Cornish)

N
Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan)
New Moon (Stephenie Meyer)

P
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (Rick Riordan)
Peter and the Starcatchers (Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson)
Peter Pan in Scarlet (Geraldine McCaughrean)

R
Ramona and Beezus (Beverly Cleary)

S
Sisters Grimm, The (Michael Buckley)
Skellig (David Almond)
Spook's Apprentice, The (Joseph Delaney)
Stargirl (Jerry Spinelli)
Stoneheart (Charlie Fletcher)
Subtle Knife, The (Phillip Pullman)

T
Teen Idol (Meg Cabot)
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (Holly Black)
Tomorrow, When the War Began (John Marsden)
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, The (Avi)
Tunnels (Roderick Gordon)

U
Uglies (Scott Westerfeld)

V
Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie (Holly Black)
Varjak Paw (S.F. Said)

W
Wee Free Men, The (Terry Prachet)
When the Wind Blows (James Patterson)

PS; Thanks to Bookworm for giving me the link to this post (since I forgot who posted it)!

-B

New Movie Monday (2)

Okay, so the movies this week were pretty good. Atleast the one was. There wasn't a huge selection of DVDs that I really wanted to see this week except for Defiance. It's finally out and I got the second to last copy of it at the rental store! The other DVD I rented is He's Just Not That Into You.


Director: Edward Zwick

Starring: Daniel Craig; Liev Schreiber; Jamie Bell

Genre: Drama

MPAA: R (for violence and language)

Rating: A+

Since I love learning about the Holocaust, I was really excited to see this movie. Ever since it came to theaters I was begging everyone to go see it with me, but unfortunately no one was interested. I've only went to the movies by myself one time, and that was to see Twilight. Everyone was so sick of seeing it with me so I went by myself and made some friends. It's easy to make friends there since it's basically Twilight fans everywhere. But with this movie, well, not so much. So anyways I had to wait for it to come out on DVD.

Three Jewish brothers (Craig, Schreiber and Bell) escape from Nazi-occupied Poland into the Belarussian forest, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and others in danger.

This movie was so worth the wait. I guess I might have liked it more than others would, considering I'm such Holocaust-history-buff. It was very eye-opening to what happened outside of the concentration camps. There were people that hid and there were people that really survived from running away, and that makes me so happy to know that. That probably came out wrong since they shouldn't have had to run away at all, but I hope you understand what I mean. There were some parts of the movie that my mom (who doesn't care as much about the Holocaust as I) got bored, which may mean you might have gotten bored. But, I honestly enjoyed every single second of it. I didn't want it to end.




Director: Ken Kwapis

Starring: Justin Long; Drew Barrymore; Jennifer Aniston

Genre: Comedy

MPAA: PG-13

Rating: C


Honestly, going into this movie I wasn't expecting much. I mainly got it because my mom was dying to see it. She just adores those chick flicks that are so predictable ... and that's just not for me.

Ken Kwapis' adaptation of Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo's best-selling self-help book He's Just Not That Into You follows the love lives of a dozen or so characters. Ginnifer Goodwin stars as Gigi, a young women attempting to understand the mixed signals she gets from the men she's dating. She gets advice from a bar owner (Justin Long) who prides himself on understanding the ins and outs of the dating scene. Gigi's co-worker Janine (Jennifer Connelly) finds herself involved in a major redecorating project with her husband, Ben (Bradley Cooper). Unbeknownst to Janine, Ben contemplates an affair with Anna (Scarlett Johansson), an attractive woman trying to make a career as a singer. Another of Gigi's friends at work, Beth (Jennifer Aniston), enjoys a successful, healthy relationship with Neil (Ben Affleck), but storm clouds hover over them as he has no interest in getting married.

I guess the movie had good tips for women that don't have a clue. Maybe it's because I'm a reader, but I kept saying to the TV, "You're caling him again? He's NOT interested!" That was pretty annoying but other than that it was an average film. I'm sure other women would love it and rarely, but maybe some men. But it just wasn't my cup of tea.


-B