Harry Potter Tag

Thanks for tagging me, Emily! I kinda forgot you did…until today…xD But whooo! Harry Potter stuff!

 

1. Favorite book.
Gah. This is a hard one. I’m going to be that person and say The Sorcerer’s Stone. I mean, all of the books are amazing but I’ve definitely reread the first one the most and it’s where everything began so it never gets old (to me at least). Kind of cliche answer but, oh well.

2. Favorite movie.
I’m going to go with The Chamber of Secrets. Honestly, I like the actors better when they’re younger. The basilisk fight at the end is awesome, as well as the flying car. The only part I don’t like is the forest of spiders…*shudders*. I hate spiders.

3. Least favorite book.
Another hard one. The Order of the Phoenix. Only because I hate Professor Umbridge.

4. Parts of the books/movies that made you cry.
SPOILS! (Though why would anyone read this tag who has not read Harry Potter?) I’m going to copy Emily’s answer. Because yeah, obviously whenever anyone dies I’m going to cry. I even teared up when I thought they were going to kill Buckbeak!

5. If you could hook up with any HP character who would it be?
I don’t think I would actually hook up with anyone in the series. I was never really attracted to any of the characters in that way.

6. Favorite character.
I’m going to add an ‘s’ onto character and say Fred and George Weasley. I’m always drawn to the comic relief characters. Always.

7.What would your Patronus be?
I’d like to think it’d be a wolf or dog…or any other canine. Because a dragon might be a bit much…xD

8. If you could have the Resurrection Stone, Invisibility Cloak or the Elder Wand which one would you choose?
Invisibility Cloak. Then no one could bug me while I’m reading.

9. What House would you be in?
I’m not sure which one I would actually fall under, but I’d like to be in Gryffindor.

10. If you could meet any member of the cast who would it be?
Once again I’m going to copy Emily’s answer and say Emma Watson. She seems pretty cool.

11. Have you played any of the video games?
Yes, I actually own the PC version of The Sorcerer’s Stone. I haven’t played it in a very long time and never actually beat Voldemort at the end…*shame*. I also rented one of the games on the Playstation 2 before…but I can’t remember which one. Prisoner of Azkaban maybe?

12. If you were on the Quidditch team which position would you play?
Probably a Beater, since hitting balls at other players sounds like something I would enjoy.

13. Were you happy with the ending?
Let’s just say I have mixed feelings about the ending and leave it at that.

14. How much does Harry Potter mean to you?
Too much to really put into words. Cheesy answer, but ’tis true.

 

I really need to reread these books again. I tag anyone who loves Harry Potter!

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Book Review – Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck

Goodreads summary:

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

 

My Rating: 4/5 stars

This book seems to get a lot of mixed reviews. People tend to love it or greatly dislike it. I, for one, enjoyed it. The plot was interesting, adventure-filled, and fast-paced. It started off a bit slow, for me at least, but took little time picking up the pace. There weren’t many dull points where the characters were just milling about. There was usually always a specific goal to the main character’s actions. Which brings me to my next topic. Characters.

WARNING! Minor spoilers ahead. Nothing major, but for those people who don’t like any type of spoiler whatsoever, I would skip…probably the rest of the review. I try not to give away too many things but I tend to ramble about stuff…so yeah.

A lot of people seem to have a problem with Kelsey, the main character. I tend to get easily annoyed with certain characters but I honestly didn’t think Kelsey was all the bad. Sure, some of her phrases and references seem like they should come from someone much older than seventeen, but I mostly enjoyed her inner-dialogue. She was definitely in the ‘damsel in distress’ category, however, you really shouldn’t expect much from a normal teenager with little to no world experience. But she is also realistic and contributes her share of ideas throughout the story.

As a tiger, Ren is pretty freakin’ adorable. If not a bit aloof at the beginning. As a human, (come on now, that’s not a spoiler. If you really thought this entire book was about some girl having one-sided conversations with a tiger you are silly. Just sayin’…) he is stubborn, charming, and quick-witted. He’s also described as extremely sexy. Just thought I’d throw that out there. Having been stuck as a tiger for 300 years, he’s still learning the ways of the 21st century.

Kishan, Ren’s brother, isn’t in the book all that much but he is definitely your typical womanizer. There’s more going on with him than it seems, but I have a feeling whatever that is, it’ll be revealed in the second book.

ANOTHER WARNING! That’s it for minor spoilers, the content below contains fairly decent spoilers. Well, kinda. If you’re interested in the book just go read it then come back and read what else I have written. But I have to rant a tiny bit.

There are two main things I didn’t care for in this book.

The first was how Kelsey ended up in India. She works with a circus for two weeks, barely doing any actual work with the tiger, then all of a sudden she’s qualified to help care for and transport said tiger to a country half way across the world? I understand they needed to get her to India without telling her about the curse, but that was too big of a stretch for me.

The second was the romance. After it is revealed that Ren can transform into a sexy, twenty-something year old Indian prince, I knew there was going to be romance. Obviously. There’s nothing wrong with romance. However, I’m the type of person that likes it when characters take it more on the slow side. So I was happy at first, since Kelsey was more wary of Ren’s human form in the beginning. And he didn’t try to kiss her until halfway through the book. But after that the romance was just more…annoying than anything. It was like being on a roller coaster (I don’t like roller coasters, btw). She liked him and they would make out, then she decided she didn’t like him anymore because she didn’t want to get hurt…until they made out again and then she liked him again, and so on and so forth. She explains her reasons about her different feelings throughout the rest of the book, but I would have liked it better if she at least decided on something. Either take the plunge and see how the relationship unfolds or put the whole thing on hold (which she keeps saying she was going to do, but fails to follow through simply because he touches or kisses her). I understand she has problems due to her past…but still. We’ll see exactly where it all goes in the next book.

But yeah, despite those few things, Tiger’s Curse was an enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Book Review – Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge

Whoo, my second book review! Unfortunately it isn’t a very positive one.

This review is on the first book of Caitlin Kittredge’s Nocturne City series, Night Life. Here’s a quick summary from Goodreads.

The first book in a thrilling, addictive new series by a talented new voice in dark fantasy. Welcome to Nocturne City, where werewolves, black magicians, and witches prowl the streets at night…

Among them is Luna Wilder, a tough-as-nails police officer whose job is to keep the peace. As an Insoli werewolf, Luna travels without a pack and must rely on instinct alone. And she’s just been assigned to find the ruthless killer behind a string of ritualistic murders—a killer with ties to an escaped demon found only in legend…until now.
But when she investigates prime suspect Dmitri Sandovsky, she can’t resist his wolfish charms. Pack leader of a dangerous clan of Redbacks, Dmitri sends her animal instincts into overdrive and threatens her fiercely-guarded independence. But Luna and Dmitri will need to rely on each other as they’re plunged into an ancient demon underworld and pitted against an expert black magician with the power to enslave them for eternity…

My Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Alrighty then, I first picked up this book because I read a short story by Kittredge based on the characters of her Black London series and enjoyed it. I have yet to read the Black London series because I was unsure if it is completed or not. I saw that this was Kittredge’s first series so I decided to go ahead and give it a try. Honestly, I hope the Black London series is a whole lot better.

From the summary I figured this book would be enjoyable. I tend to steer toward urban fantasy so if murder and werewolves are thrown in, it sounded good to me. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

I struggled through this book. By the end, I’m sad to say, I was skimming rather than reading. The plot was actually fairly decent. It was the characters that I didn’t care for.

Luna had her moments, but she was just too aggressive and ‘in everyone’s face’. I usually don’t mind a stubborn female lead, but she was just a bit too bitchy for me. Dmitri was just…eh. He wasn’t all that charming and for half of the book he was just sitting around wallowing in grief while chugging down beer. Plus, he is supposed to be an alpha but Kittredge doesn’t really have him actually do anything alpha-like throughout the entire book. He basically just follows Luna around. Their relationship doesn’t really go anywhere either. Half of the book Luna mentally scolds herself for finding a pimp/thug/biker/potential murderer sexy and Dmitri thinks she is just a bitchy police officer with no pack (which she is…). When they do start working together they get along a tad better but then it’s mostly him trying to get in her pants. Minor spoiler alert! HE DOES! And it’s at the most inconvenient time. Seriously. They’re in the middle of going to fight the bad guy and decide to just stop and go at each other. I’m not a prude, I don’t mind sex scenes in books, but this one was just so poorly placed. And the banter between them was also…ugh. Dmitri made dumb, flirty(?) one-liners while Luna tried to not flirt back (and failed).

None of the other characters are really even worth mentioning. If you’ve read some of my earlier posts I mention that I adore villains. There wasn’t even a good one of those in this book…(*cry*).

The overall humor throughout the book seemed somewhat forced as well. I love love love(!) me some humor but the comments that were meant to be humorous were just…(*face palm*).

Like I mentioned before, the plot wasn’t half bad but this book would have been a much better read if the character’s were simply better developed. I usually get easily attached to characters, especially main ones, but none of the ones in this book really stood out to me. No connection to any characters = not caring about the rest of the book. It would have gotten two stars but the plot managed to bump it up half a star. So yeah, I don’t plan on reading the other four books in the series. I would still like to give Kittredge’s Black London series a go eventually. But for now a need a break from her.

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And done! Also, I know you tagged me in the ‘5 Books on a Deserted Island’ tag, Emmy, but I find that difficult to think about so I’ve been procrastinating…hehe xD

 

Anime Review – Hunter x Hunter

I mentioned in my first post that I may do an occasional TV show or anime review, so that’s what this is! So if you aren’t interested in this post because it’s not about books feel free to ignore it.

ANYWAY.

This is a review on the first 21 episodes of Hunter x Hunter. Instead of seasons it seems to go by arcs, so in other words this review focuses on the Hunter Exam arc.

A summary of the show:

The story begins with a young boy named Gon Freecss, who one day discovers that his father, whom he thought was dead, is in fact alive and well. He learns that his father, Ging, is a legendary “Hunter”, an individual who has proven themselves an elite member of humanity. Despite the fact that Ging left his son with his relatives in order to pursue his own dreams, Gon becomes determined to follow in his father’s footsteps, pass the rigorous “Hunter Examination”, and eventually find his father to become a Hunter in his own right. (wikipedia)

I’ve been meaning to watch this anime for awhile now but just never got around to it. I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN AROUND TO IT. I know I’m only twenty-one episodes in, but I really enjoyed those first twenty-one episodes. I’m crossing my fingers that it will only get better from here.

So this arc focuses on Gon taking the Hunter Exam. The exam contains multiple phases and each year they are completely different, giving no advantage to those who have taken it many times. I won’t go into detail about the phases, don’t want to spoil anything, but I would definitely not be able to pass the exam (though I suppose that’s not saying much…*lazy*).

This anime is full of action, humor, and fantasy. So far I love the story and all the different characters. It can be a bit cheesy at times, but what anime isn’t?

Make sure if you decide to watch it, watch the one with 148 episodes that began in 2011. There is an older version with 62 episodes, but it doesn’t stay faithful to the manga. This one does. The first 100 episodes can be found on Netflix, otherwise all 148 can be found on Crunchyroll.

I’ll write a little about the main characters. They include Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua.

Gon is a cheerful, energetic, and friendly kid. He’s a bit simple-minded but is determined to pass the exam so that he can become a Hunter like his father, who he knows pretty much nothing about. He’s extremely loyal to his friends, rather impulsive, and doesn’t always think things through.

While on his way to take the exam, Gon comes across Kurapika and Leorio.

Kurapika is a slightly more serious character. He’s intelligent and level-headed, not being one to rush into things without thinking it through first, unlike Gon. Due to his tragic past, however, he has a tendency to lose control of himself in emotional situations.

Leorio comes off as a narcissistic young man who appears to value money over everything else. He’s stubborn and easily riled up. He butts heads with Kurapika at first, but once he gets to know the others he is nothing but loyal. He is also the comic relief in most situations.

Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio meet Killua during the first phase.

Killua is a bit of a mystery in the beginning. He appears to be similar to Gon – cheerful, energetic, and mischievous. Later on it is revealed that he has a more sinister side. He takes an immediate interest in Gon due to the fact that they are the same age.

So far Gon and Killua are my favorite characters, along with the main antagonist thus far, Hisoka.

And that about wraps it up. If you’re in to anime and are looking for something to watch, check Hunter x Hunter out. I may write another review when I finish watching all 148 episodes, but then again I may not. Just depends on how lazy I’m feeling by then. Thanks for reading!