The Maze Runner (Movie Review)

Release Date: September 19, 2014

Genre: Thriller/Sci-Fi

Synopsis: Thomas (Dylan O'Brien), a teenager, arrives in a glade at the center of a giant labyrinth. Like the other youths dumped there before him, he has no memory of his previous life. Thomas quickly becomes part of the group and soon after demonstrates a unique perspective that scores him a promotion to Runner status -- those who patrol the always-changing maze to find an escape route. Together with Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), the only female, Thomas tries to convince his cohorts that he knows a way out.

With no memories and being thrown into what seems like paradise, The Glades. Filled with greens, greens, and more greens and surrounded by stone walls. Protected and peaceful is what I call it. Other than the things that go bump and crawling in the night. 

Mapping out the area, Thomas tries to work out the labyrinth with allies by his side. 

Though some do not want to leave the safety of the glades and they will do anything and everything to stop anyone from leaving. Even resorting to those Salem witch trials by tying them to a post. Just saying, they don't seem like it is a big deal so maybe not everyone died from the things that go bump in the night. 

The whole concept was messed up and it kind of reminded me of Divergent, double time. Or maybe the other way around. I don't know which one came first. 

En route to escape, the struggle and the will to survive has never been more real. I actually cried when some of the minor characters were gone from the movie because although they were considered minor, I found them rather major to my heart. They took up space and that is definitely not fair at all.. 

So I will rate it a good 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Blog you later, awesome nerds. 

ARC: Fallen Prince - Amalie Howard (The Riven Chronicles #2)

   

We hope you're ready to be transported by Amalie Howard's THE FALLEN PRINCE, a Young Adult Science Fiction novel and the sequel to THE ALMOST GIRL! Publishers Weekly calls the first in the series “a high-octane thriller.” Grab your copy of this amazing novel today!

Published Date: April 5, 2016 

Genre: Science Fiction / Dystopian

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Synopsis: Riven has fought for a hard-won peace in her world, and has come to shaky terms with who and what she is—a human with cyborg DNA. Now that the rightful ruler of Neospes has been reinstated, Riven is on the hunt for her father in the Otherworld to bring him to justice for his crimes against her people.

But when she receives an unwelcome visit from two former allies, she knows that trouble is brewing once again in Neospes. The army has been decimated and there are precious few left to fight this mysterious new threat.

To muster a first line of defense, her people need help from the one person Riven loathes most—her father. But what he wants in return is her complete surrender.

And now Riven must choose: save Neospes or save herself.

Review: Ah, here is the problem with signing up to review this book. One, I should have done more research and realized that this book was not the first in the series.

Not to say that I didn't enjoy the book but it was exactly a rave considering I had no idea what the hell was going on and I just jumped right into things.

This book included a fast plot that was well-developed right along with the characters. Can you read this as a stand-alone? Probably not considering that it is a continuation of the first. If anything, this book reminded me a lot of Rescued by Tordin minus the hot aliens rescuing the human women. But hey, very similar plots.

I can easily rate this a 3.5 and most likely, it will be treated higher once I get the first book into my hands.

Blog you later, awesome book nerds.

Praise for THE FALLEN PRINCE:

"[P]acked with action . . . Imagery is the highlight of this book."—VOYA

“A parallel-dimension–jumping cyborg soldier must make questionable alliances to save her country from an existential threat in this sequel to The Almost Girl. [O]ffers a solid conclusion.” —Kirkus Reviews “This sequel to The Almost Girl was everything I wanted: non-stop action, smart science, new and intriguing characters, and a satisfying romance. I couldn’t put it down!” —Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed

“[T]he next step in a dark, clever and thrilling scorched-earth, world-hopping adventure.” —Jet Black Ink

 

And don’t miss the first book in The Riven Chronicles Series!

THE ALMOST GIRL

About Amalie Howard: AMALIE HOWARD grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. 25 countries, surfing with sharks and several tattoos later, she has traded in bungee jumping in China for writing the adventures she imagines instead. She isn't entirely convinced which takes more guts. She is the award-winning author of several young adult novels critically acclaimed by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, VOYA, and Booklist, including Waterfell, The Almost Girl, and Alpha Goddess, a Spring 2014 Kid's INDIE NEXT title. Her debut novel, Bloodspell, was a #1 Amazon bestseller, and the sequel, Bloodcraft, was a national silver IPPY medalist. She is also the co-author of the adult historical romance series, THE LORDS OF ESSEX. As an author of color and a proud supporter of diversity in fiction, her articles on multicultural fiction have appeared in The Portland Book Review and on the popular Diversity in YA blog. She currently resides in Colorado with her husband and three children.    

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Amalie Howard Goodreads ** THE FALLEN PRINCE Goodreads

   

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The Martian (Movie Review)

Release Date: October 2, 2015

Genre: Science Fiction

Synopsis: 

When astronauts blast off from the planet Mars, they leave behind Mark Watney (Matt Damon), presumed dead after a fierce storm. With only a meager amount of supplies, the stranded visitor must utilize his wits and spirit to find a way to survive on the hostile planet. Meanwhile, back on Earth, members of NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring him home, while his crew mates hatch their own plan for a daring rescue mission. 

America has damn well spent a good amount of money to constantly bring Matt Damon home. So knock it off.

I mean Saving Private Ryan, The Martian. Like we should be done and Damon should just stay home. 

This movie was long as hell but there were some parts where you just enjoyed thoroughly and other parts, it had you questioning as to why they would put that in there... The movie was just so long and it was obvious they could have cut out some of the stuff. 

I don't know if I would add this into my movie collection nor watch it ever again but I did like it in theaters. Matt Damon was a fantastic actor and made me actually want to visit Mars... Not that I could do what he did because I'd probably be dead before my colleagues /friends got back to me. 

I rate this movie a good 3.5 stars out of 5. Something you should catch in theaters while it is still in there.