Book-2-Movie?!

So as we know there are so many books out there which have been converted to movies. Some really good and others... not so good (lets leave it to that). It's common that those who have first read the book and then watched the movie have a very strong and sometimes biased opinion on the movie's outcome... and yes I am definitely one of them!

Were it the characters that made you boil inside with disagreement? The order in which the movie went forward or how they unmistakably skipped the most important part of the book!!! 

Well if your are one of these strong opinionated and hard headed people like me, I think you will enjoy this post and I hope to see your agreements and disagreement to which movies you though we're a complete failure or massive success in comparison to the book.

My top three's are in no particular order.

Book Review: Catalyst (The Passage of Hellsfire #1)

 

My Rating: 

Book: Catalyst (The Passage of Hellsfire #1)

Author: Marc Johnson

Publication date: March 19th, 2011

Synopsis:
For centuries, the kingdom of Alexandria has protected Northern Shala from the monstrous creatures lurking in the Wastelands. Now, a dark force threatens that fragile peace.

Far from home, Alexandria’s princess is abducted. When a young villager named Hellsfire stumbles upon her and her captors, he rushes in to rescue her, alone and unarmed. His fear and fury unleash an uncontrollable magical force that grants him the power to save the princess—and change the world.

Hellsfire has never craved nor dreamed of power. But such magic as he now possesses has not been seen in Northern Shala for a thousand years, since the devastation of the War of the Wizards and the creation of the Wastelands.

Now Hellsfire must leave all he’s ever known, and make a dangerous journey to learn to master this wild, ferocious power—power he knows he is not ready to wield. More difficult still, he needs to master his emotions. If he can’t, the power will consume him, Alexandria will fall, and darkness will eclipse the land, destroying everyone he loves.

In the dead of cold, the spark shall burn...

Book Review: Sophia Within by Jordana Lizama

My Rating:  

Book: Sophia Within

Author: Jordana Lizama

Page Numbers: 476 pages

Publication date: February 17th, 2013

Synopsis:
Only time will tell if Sophia, Alec and the world are ready to accept the mission that has been passed down for many generations. This is more than a story of reincarnation. This is a story that never ended following the reign of the Greek gods.

What has been hidden for thousands of years is about to surface in a small New England town. The impact on this rural village is ageless, but only the chosen time travelers know what is happening, the reason it is happening and how to control the outcome.

The Men of Ages have walked the Earth unnoticed since the time of Greek mythology and have kept their ancient war alive by transporting the lead warrior in a most unusual time machine. There is only one way to stop the cataclysmic demise of the human race and Sophia is the answer. But, Sophia is a teenage girl faced with many human and nonhuman desires that create a tortuous path from antiquity to the present day. Love conquers all; or, so it seems.

Book Review: The Forgotten Queen by Annette Mackey

"She said to tell you that Excalibur would fall silent once Avalon reaches the age of magic: her twenty-fifth birthday."

"Great," he shivered beneath the needle's prick. "Now she tells me."
My Rating: 
Book: The Forgotten Queen
Author: Annette Mackey
Page Numbers: 296 pages
Publication date: February 23rd, 2013

Synopsis:
Retelling Camelot. As an infant Avalon is stripped of beauty so that all that remains are her dra­matic green eyes. She is taught from birth that Arthur is her des­tiny. Out of curios­ity she watches him in the lake and finds it impos­si­ble not to fall in love—and yet he is the king. It’s not until a love tri­an­gle between Guin­e­vere, Lancelot, and Arthur forces Camelot to the brink of destruc­tion that Arthur real­izes what a fool he has been. Raised in the shad­ows, sub­servient to the Lady of the Lake, Avalon rises above it all to become the true queen of Camelot. She is the for­got­ten queen … and the sole bearer of Arthur’s heart. Genre: his­tor­i­cal fan­tasy, folk­lore, fantasy

The Participants by Brian Blose Book Review

"The decision to kill registered in the gunman's eyes. Zack just had time to notice the shift of intent before a tidal wave of thunder hit him. He felt himself hit the floor. His vision was gone, leaving a claustrophobic darkness in its place. Fear and confusion struggles in vain against the encroaching tide of oblivion. Thoughts dimmed and Zack was free..."

My Rating: 
Book: The Participants

Author: Brian Blose
Page Numbers: 120 pages
Publication date: February 5th, 2013
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My Review:

When I first read the synopsis of The Participant, I had somewhat of an idea of what to expect from this short novel. Well that was totally thrown out of the window once I got through the first few chapters. This novel is full of surprises and is so much more than just what the synopsis reveals. Despite the complete contradiction of my presumed thoughts, this book was a very pleasant surprise and it was so fast paced that it did not fail in maintaining my attention. Not only due to the fact that this such a quick read, but also because it was a bundle of non stop excitement, I flew through the pages and finished the book in no time. 

The novel starts out with Zack Vernon, a very interesting and unpredictable character. He is an Observer, placed in the world by the Creator. Observers do not know who or what the Creator is, they solely know that it is their job to Observe humans and the world they live in. Zack's task is to look at how humans experience certain thing ( feelings, reactions, experiences, moods, etc) in conjunction with the type of world they live in. Once an Observer's duty is done the 'Sky will Open' and bring them to their creator, or place them in another type of world where they will need to continue Observing. This task and rule to only Observe is supposedly embedded into the brains of Observers. They are given fake memories, background stories and civilization statuses which they will have to adhere to with while Observing. Despite the fact that this is supposed to be innate for each Observer, Zack is different as he cannot stand an eternal life where he is only allowed to Observe and not Participate.

Reluctant to solely Observing, he confronts a dangerous situation at his work where two armed men decide to rob his gas station store. He undoubtedly knows that this can mean the end of his life, which is what he actually hopes for so that he will finally remain dead and be released from his immortal life as an Observer. When Zack confronts and provokes the robbers, he is shot directly in his head which is not gone unnoticed by his co-workers and the National News. This in turn lands him into a vicious cycle of unthinkable, merciless, and horrendous consequences where other Observers want to punish him for his ignorant acts of exposing himself. 

The story is written in such a unique way. Each chapter switches a point of view between Zack and Elza, another immortal Observer, who we get to know quickly in the beginning of the book. We start in the 'present', reading through Zack's eyes and experiences, and in the following chapter the reader is pulled back into the past and starts developing a story on how Zack began as an Observer and how he came to meet Elza. Not only do we get to see the development of their relationship, but the reader also slowly connects the dots between the present and the past.

Each character is so distinct from one other. Their characterization is so well formed that it is impossible to not understand or imagine what kind of person they are. I could not help but feel pity but also love for Zack. He wants to break free from his role as an Observer, and instead of standing by and letting horrible things happen to humans, he decides to Participate in the humans' lives in order to bring change and help them.

Elza is a complete different character on her own. She is also an Observer, who primarily shares completely different values and perceptions than Zack about the role of being an immortal Observer. She praised the Creator and found it sinful to go against the Creator's rules. But slowly throughout the story she cannot help but draw herself into seeing the world through Zack's eyes. They evolve into couple which defines love on a whole other level. Each of their life time can last hundreds of years, and the moment the 'Sky Opens' to engulf them into a new world, they are placed in different bodies in different locations. But despite this inevitability, they never give up on trying to find each other in the next life time and in the new world created by the Creator (can't get more romantic than that, huh??)!

This book was a extremely original in its concept and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire story, its development, and all the characters (may they be brutally evil, or heart warming good).

I must warn you, if you are squeamish to violence and thorough depictions of horror and torture scenes, then please be aware that this book does contain some violent and Rated R parts! 

Moonlight Dancer by Deb Atwood Review

My Rating: 

Book: Moonlight Dancer 

Author: Deb Atwoods
Page Numbers: 283 pages
Publication date: August 13th, 2012
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My Review:

** Disclaimer: I was privileged to receive a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. My review is not biased and it is written as my personal opinion**

This was truly a very intriguing book and something entirely different than what I have read before. Not only is the essence of the story so captivating, but also the entire contents including the characters, the writing style, and the vast amount history put in to this book, so very fascinating! The story goes into so much thoughtful detail and there is no end to the unpredictable happenings throughout, that as a reader you don't have one moment to be bored. I  never knew what would happen next and this really kept my interest and curiosity at a peak throughout the entire book!

The characters were enjoyable to follow throughout. The main character, Kendra is primarily known to be a strong young Korean woman, who normally does not falter, let men hinder her in any way, or physically does not seem bothered by what others think. You would at first sight (or should I say at first 'read') perceive that she is throughout emotionally and physically grounded. This however changes drastically when she purchases a very expensive Korean doll which encases an ancient Korean ghost that slowly changes and possesses her life.

The characters surrounding Kendra were sincere, however sometimes I felt that not all the relationships she shared with other characters were put into much detail or depth as the relationship she had with Hiro, her lover. The connection between Kendra and Hiro was realistic to me as in how there was no 'love at first sight' and that it had its genuine ups and downs as usual relationship do. However I could not fathom how Hiro had developed (so instantly) a deep passion for Kendra that he would literally leap head over heals to make sure that she is safe and well treated.

I almost wished that Kendra's relationship with Hunter, her housemate, was more developed and pressed on more to really create a stronger 'love triangle'. But this was unfortunately for me not too much explored throughout the story. This is a downside for me, as you readers know by now how much I adore love triangles, but my downside could be strong positive for another depending on their preference in the existence of love triangles ;)

I want to emphasize on the doll and what kind of impact it had on me as a reader. Mrs. Atwood is so good at describing the doll's appearance, its effects on Kendra, and what it represents in totality, that the ghost within the doll truly frightened me and tugged at all my emotions. The doll physically is only a doll, but slowly throughout the story you realize there is much more beyond is physicality. I love how the doll was the instigator of the connection between Kendra and Hiro. Their relationship only grew stronger through the experiences they had with the doll.

The way Mrs. Atwood pulled the reader into the past of the Doll's ghost was very unique. I found it so creative how physically Kendra stayed in the present, but was pulled during her sleep, drugging, or other ways, into the 16th-Century in Korean history. You can really tell that Mrs. Atwood dug up a lot of dusty books and sought out for loads of expertise on Korean history to create such a in-depth and realistic portrayal of how times were back in that century. Due to my childhood friend who was from South Korea, I have always been very curious about their history and this book exceedingly fed that curiosity well.

I most definitely recommend this book to readers who love a bone thrilling story which is oh-so-much-more than just your usual ghost story. The present and past are so symbolically mingled together that it makes this book different than your every other paranormal, historical romance,  and action packed book.

Would you also like to read and review Moonlight Dancer by Deb Atwood? Please fill out the contact form below and receive a copy for FREE!

Please don't forget to mention which e-book format you prefer (ePUB or .Mobi).

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Also have a look at my big Giveaway sponsored by Deb Atwood herself! This includes a $20 Gift Card from Amazon or Barnes & Nobles and 6 Moonlight Dancer mugs (perfect for while your snuggling on the couch with your favorite drink while reading Moonlight Dancer)!! Click HERE to go directly to the Giveaway!