If I Stay Movie Review

So I totally botched my plans on Saturday for a day of movie marathoning. I was supposed to do some homework, but it had been a long week so I allowed myself that day of relaxation. Not the wisest decision, especially with finals a week away, but #noragrats (high-five if you got that movie reference).

If you don't know, If I Stay is about a girl, Mia, who is a cellist in a rocker family and falls in love. You see her make plans for her future and struggle with her first relationship and then, "just like that", her world gets torn apart. I suggest you watch the trailer because it will do more justice than I would.

This movie was special to me in that the trailer was so good and gave me chills (still does) that the trailer was the reason why I picked up the book. And let me tell you, the books are amazing. There are two really short books so that together, it feels like one book that wraps up nicely - it really is wrapped up nicely by the end of the second and final book which is why I hope they make a second movie. Nonetheless, the ending of book one and the movie are both great and make pretty good stand-alones.

For the movie, oh gosh, it was great. The format of the book and movie were different but I honestly did not mind which is saying something. The parents were the coolest parents ever and the alternating between flashbacks and present were nicely placed, I think. The soundtrack was amazing and I've been listening to it before I had even watch the movie. The last 20 minutes bring on the waterworks, I'm warning you. You may not think you'll cry or your not the type to cry but grandfathers' talking about loosing their children and grandchildren will make you "get something in your eye".

It was a great movie for me and I suggest it as a nice watch if you have to destress for a bit this week. And if you cry, I hear that relieves some stress too, so its a win-win: good story, less stress!

Mockingjay Part 1 Movie Review

I got to see Mockingjay Part 1 yesterday and it was a $15 dollars well spent. I, personally, didn't like the last book of the Hunger Games trilogy because the ending was not my cup of tea but that is something else entirely. I actually think that if the next movie is as well done as this one, I might like the books better because of the movie and that's a great feat for a book film adaption.

The acting was amazing. The emotional parts were definitely conveyed well and there were even some funny parts. I really cannot recall ever laughing at any of the previous movies or while reading the books, but there were at least 2 parts where the entire theater laughed. I think that was a nice improvement and that actually made the sad moments more deep.

The actual book - to - film quality was great. They split the movies at a great point and it leaves the audience desperate for the next one, but not in a teasing way. The movie ended at a point where everything has changed and now we need to see how the characters are going to react to it and adapt.

This is my favorite movie out of all of the movies so far despite the fact that the last movie, Catching Fire, was my favorite book. If you haven't read the books, I can tell you that the next movie is going to action packed and will definitely get crazy. I totally recommend this movie, but watch it on a Tuesday so you save money (but it's worth the money even if you dont!).

The Darkest Minds Trilogy by Alexandra Bracken

I spent my long weekend bumming it at home with this trilogy and I just finished it an hour ago. It's been so long since I finished a book series, the aftershocks of finishing it are whooping me. I feel so warm and content but lonely and sad at the same time. Yikes, that sounds odd - I hope you don't think I feel sad and lonely because I spent my weekend with a couple books. It was a good weekend, definitely. #noragrets (high-five if you got that movie reference)

I'm nice and content because it was such an amazing trilogy. It was just so intense and entertaining and wrapped up so well and completely. It's kind of hard to find a good compilation of words that can get your heart thumping something fierce and worried over fictional characters which is why I'm so glad this series did it right. Anddd,  that is also why I'm so sad and lonely. Its over. Its done. Why. I'm in the first stages of grief: denial. I was on such a crazy ride with these amazing people and now I'm not and I'm laying in my bed left with the lingering feelings of adrenaline and separation. Pretty depressing, huh? I guess it's the feeling you get after a long, amazing trip and you have to get back to your life and accept reality. That melancholy feeling as you replay memories in your head. Ahh, I'm getting sad again. The loneliess, if it wasn't apparent, comes from the characters. If you ever had a really good friend that moved away and you lost all contact with for some reason but had videos and past conversations to reminisce on, I'd expect that's the kind of feeling I have now. I have the book to look back on if I really needed to relive some scenes, but it's gonna hurt a little more than a little, ifyaknowmsayin'. I'm so glad that everyone is together and happy and it's all good in the hood, but - it's like I went through hell with them and now that everything is finally fixed and resovled, I can't see them live their lives happily even though I want to (this is why epilogs are important, y'all). It is very sad and everything hurts.

I need a nice, sweet rebound book but I also have one or two essays I have to start that are due tomorrow. To take care of my emotional needs or to prioritize school? The struggle is real but I can wait a day before reading another book, I guess. It'll kill me, but due dates are due dates.

A Book That Makes You Happy

*click me for more info*

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

"People who meet in airports are seventy-two percent more likely to fall for each other than people who meet anywhere else."

Summary:

Hadley is going to her father’s second wedding, and she missed her original flight. While she’s stuck at JFK, she meets Oliver. He’s beautiful and British.

After they lose each other before the flight, but they find each other sitting next to each other on the next flight to London. They spent the whole flight together, but it doesn’t last forever. They soon find themselves in London, and away from each other again.

Throughout the 24 hours, the find each other and lose each other about four times. Sometimes, fate works its magic.

My Thoughts:

This is a contemporary romance novel and its so light and fluffy. It's a situation all of us at one point in time have probably fantasized about: an airplane spontaneous romance. I know, I know, the title alone sounds cliche and cheesy but its not. I mean it is, but when you read it, its just so sweet and cute and you just have to read it. Plus, its set in London. This is a sweet and short read that can get you out of a sad slump! I recommend it to anyone who needs a little innocent love and spontaneity in their life. Oh! And there's a movie adaption in the works! I was so surprised when I found out but almost every book is getting a film adaption nowadays. I'm excited to see this one - I hope it turns out well~

Book Hangover: When The Words Stop

It's not easy to read a book. A lot of times, people don't understand how the reader can become so attached to words on a paper, I mean, it's not like they're real people (at least in fictional books). This is something a lot of people say for books and even show or movie characters, "why are you so upset, they're not even real. Why are you so happy, they're just words."And it's hard to explain how these "words" can mean so much to them, but it's like what they said in the video: for a moment you become a part of something bigger than yourself, you join an uprising, you save the world, solve a murder. A book lets you do that. A book is a journey.

If you aren't a reader or have a good imagination, then the words of a book are just words. But if you try, just try, to see them as more than just words - to build the world in your mind and put a face to the characters, those words become so much more.

"Immature people falling in love destroy each other’s freedom, create a bondage, make a prison. Mature persons in love help each other to be free; they help each other to destroy all sorts of bondages. And when love flows with freedom there is beauty. When love flows with dependence there is ugliness.

A mature person does not fall in love, he or she rises in love. Only immature people fall; they stumble and fall down in love. Somehow they were managing and standing. Now they cannot manage and they cannot stand. They were always ready to fall on the ground and to creep. They don’t have the backbone, the spine; they don’t have the integrity to stand alone.

A mature person has the integrity to stand alone. And when a mature person gives love, he or she gives without any strings attached to it. When two mature persons are in love, one of the great paradoxes of life happens, one of the most beautiful phenomena: they are together and yet tremendously alone. They are together so much that they are almost one. Two mature persons in love help each other to become more free. There is no politics involved, no diplomacy, no effort to dominate. Only freedom and love."

Osho

You want to start reading but don't know what to read

Fear not, everyone has this problem. I got you.

I'm gonna give you some books I think would really get you hooked on reading so don't say I didn't warn you when you're up at 2 in the morning, dying to find out what happens next.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

• I would recommend this to everyone. Seriously, if the first sentence of Chapter 1 doesn't grab your attention, then I am very curious as to what kind of life you have. And don't worry, this book is not as heavy as the title suggests, trust me. I don't want to give anything away for this book - it's a gem.
• Female protagonist that kicks butt and a plot that keeps you on your toes
• Action? Yes
• Romance? Yes
• Suspense? Yes
• Crazy government cover up? Yes
• Ragtag bunch on the run? Yes
• Should I read this? Yessss

Legend by Marie Lu

• This is a trilogy that was actually made with a movie contract so there will be films in the future. The action scenes in this book are some of the best I've ever read and I know you're thinking, how can a book have action scenes? This book just does it right and it's a lot more intense than films because you get to read the detail and thought of every move. If you want an adrenaline, action-packed book, then this is the one for you. 
• The book follows two characters, June who is in a elite military family and Day who is an outlaw, whose paths cross when June is assigned to track Day. Through her mission, she finds strange things that don't match up with what her superiors are telling her and Day's true identity and reasons slowly make June question her mission.
• Dual point of views from June, female protagonist, and Day, male protagonist 
• There is romance but it is very well balanced with the action, plot, and revelations
• Three books all completed
• Really skilled main characters that can do some serious damage both with their wit and their bodies

The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

• This is also a trilogy that is currently only on book two. Its about aliens. I know, I know. Aliens is kind of a weird subject for a lot of people because they think of grey slimy blobs that kill everything. This is not like that. The alien invasion came in waves, thus the title of the book, and they actually invaded using tiny biological means which in turn allowed them to take over the bodies of humans, so no gross blobs here - just some creepy, minuscule alien probing. 
• We follow Cassie, a girl trying to get to her brother who got separated from her during the mass panic and evacuations. She has a super entertaining voice and is very relatable because she reacts to the whole alien-apocalypse much like one of us would. 
• Wise-cracks and jokes will keep you laughing 
• A very realistic world and character reaction to an alien-apocalypse
• Again, super capable protagonist that can fend for herself

These are some books that I think would really get you interested in reading because they have great characters and crazy plots. 

How I started reading

Like most kids, I wasn't much of a reader. I only read when absolutely necessary and that was when there was an assigned book report I had to do in elementary or middle school before googling summaries was a thing. Even then, I'd only fully read two books, Esperanza Rising and The City Of Embers. The only book I had ever read for fun was The Series of Unfortunate Events which I have yet to finish btw. So yeah, not much reading done in my younger years. I would have never thought I'd be a "reader" but 2 years and 250+ books later, here I am making a blog for books.

So what started my immense thirst for books?

The Hunger Games. Yes, the trilogy that is making big bucks on shelves and movie screens. There was a lot of hype for The Hunger Games and after I watched the movie I was surprised that it ended without them doing much but waving to a crowd. So I was like, "What the- all this hype and it just ends like that? There's no way the first book ends like that." So I read the book thinking that I was missing something, but, alas, the first movie did, indeed, end in the same place the first book did so I was thinking, "I did not read that whole book to end where I started," so I read the next book and it was so intense that I read the third and I was just blown away that books could have so much detail and movies left out a lot of it because they couldn't accommodate them in all in a 2hr time-frame. It got me thinking what other hyped-up books were about and what details were I missing from the book-to-film movies that I thought I knew all about.

That curiosity led me to read Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Twilight Saga (which btw was pretty good, ok.), Harry Potter, Divergent, and just a massive amount of books I had no idea I was capable of reading. It's like I was addicted to this new drug and had all this supply. Seriously, I was going through one book a day and I went on like that for almost 4 months. From the beginning of senior year in high school 2012, to the end of 2012 I had read 104 books like I was so amazed by my progress that I kept track of how many books I read. It was insane. I went from not reading squat to reading all of Harry Potter within a week and then some.

I don't think that I'm superior for reading and I hope I don't come off as trying to boast, it's just that I'm so genuinely glad that I've developed a love and understanding to reading that most people do not. I tell you, reading is one of the most entertaining things in the world. I know that might sound lame but it really is. I can't describe it well, but books are just so... colorful. You meet people in them you never would meet in real life like assassins and dukes to aliens and superheros. You travel through time and to places that are impossible to travel to. You become a world builder and use descriptions to create a whole universe in your head that is at your disposal. Characters, words on paper, become near and dear to you because you do not fall for their looks and appearances, you make those yourself actually, but you fall for their wit, ideas, beliefs, their souls. In the words of J.K. Rowling, "If you don't like to read, you haven't found the right book." and if you do not know the joys and wonders of reading, then I hope that one day you find the right book.