Welcome to my very first blog hop! Just A Girl Geek is excited to be a part of the Small Blogs, Big Dreams hop!
This hop is hosted by Walking On Bookshelves and is specifically for smaller blogs! Hooray for small blogs! The hop takes place from April 16- April 21, 2012.
Because this is my first hop, I'm giving away some VERY awesome stuff!
You might remember me gushing about the AMAZING new book, Starters...But if not, you can read my review here.
A few weeks ago, I won a bunch of awesome swag from the author, (Thanks, Lissa!) and this hop is the perfect opportunity to give it away!
Winner #1 will receive a brand new paperback copy of Starters by Lissa Price (from Book Depository), two rubber bracelets, two bookmarks and one pin!
Winner #2 will receive two Starters bookmarks, one rubber bracelet and one pin.
This is probably going to be the weirdest review you've ever read because I'm going to tell you pretty much NOTHING about this movie.
Those of you that are on the bubble about seeing it, or are already planning to see it--Stay off Twitter. Stay off Facebook. Don't read ANYMORE reviews. Don't talk to friends who have seen it. Don't even watch the trailer again.
You NEED to walk into this movie knowing NOTHING.
I'd heard that from people who were able to attend advanced screenings and I didn't understand why. I GET IT NOW!
To hear about this movie secondhand will just completely mess you up. You won't understand its brilliance, it WON'T do the story justice and you'll be missing out on an amazing, fun, thrilling experience.
I promise you that this is like no other horror movie you've ever seen, and for you Whedon fans, this is PURE Joss at his absolute best.
This is like Hush x a million.
What I WILL tell you about the actual movie itself is this:
The cast is brilliant. I fell in love with Fran Kranz all over again.
Amy Acker is...well, She's frickin' Amy Acker! And I missed her and she's perfect in this movie.
Tom Lenk is and always will be adorable.
There IS gore, and lots of it. Cover your eyes for those parts if you have to, but don't let that deter you from seeing the movie!
And there are scares. Some great ones. ;)
And, in true Joss form, he pays homage to some of our favourite Joss moments. (At least that's what I'M reading into it). ;)
I went to see The Cabin in the Woods alone, and it was SO worth it. I don't think I'll ever look at horror movies the same again, and nothing, NOTHING will ever compare to The Cabin in the Woods.
And PLEASE, if you see it, tell me! I MUST talk about this movie with someone!! I'm DYING here! :P
eBook Expected Release Date: April 10, 2012 Publisher: Cedar Fort (Sweetwater Books) Thank you to Net Galley and Cedar Fort for allowing me to read this eARC.
Olivia Tate is a broken shell of a girl haunted by the tragic events that fill her past. She has closed herself off from the world, each day grasping at something—anything—to live for. Convinced there will never be a way out, she seeks solace in the depths of her medicine cabinet.
When she wakes up days later in the hospital she is introduced to Jude, the quiet stranger responsible for saving her life. She never could have guessed then that her mysterious rescuer would end up saving her life a second time, while simultaneously turning her world upside down.
This book deals with some dark, dark stuff. Olivia's life has been...well, rough doesn't really even cover it. The girl has seen things no one should ever see and because of that, she's quickly spinning in a downward spiral.
Luckily, Jude is there to step in and save her from herself.
Being honest, until about halfway through this book I was comparing Olivia to Bella from Twilight (did I really even need to explain who Bella is?).
Thank GOD the author went in a completely different and better way!
I connected with Olivia from page one. I definitely sympathized with her struggles. I was impressed with the way Ms. Leppert wrote Olivia in the first-person, bringing the reader into her pain.
Jude was....cute. That's really the only word I can use to describe him. I didn't fall in love with him, but he didn't drive me crazy either. I just felt very distanced from him, probably because of how 'mysterious' he is.
The first half of Emerald City is a bit slow. The 'supernatural' element isn't even mentioned until you're well over halfway through the book.
I did see the 'secret' coming, but it was a nice secret nonetheless.
I feel pretty neutral toward this book. I didn't love it, but it was a nice little read.
I would recommend this book to teens 14+, and for you parents, reading this with (or before) your teen would be a great way to broach the difficult subjects discussed in Emerald City.
eBook Release Date: April 10, 2012 Publisher: Chizine Publications Author: Rio Youers Thank you to Net Galley and Chizine for providing an Advance Copy for review.
All superheroes get their powers from somewhere. A radioactive spider bite. A science experiment gone awry.
I got mine from a surfing accident in Tofino. The ultimate wipeout. I woke up with the most powerful mind on the planet, but a "body like a wet paper bag..."
Meet Westlake Soul, a twenty-three-year-old former surfing champion. A loving son and brother. But if you think he's just a regular dude, think again; Westlake is in a permanent vegetative state. He can't move, has no response to stimuli, and can only communicate with Hub, the faithful family dog. And like all superheroes, Westlake has an archenemy: Dr. Quietus - a nightmarish embodiment of Death itself.
Westlake dreams of a normal life - of surfing and loving again. But time is running out; Dr. Quietus is getting closer, and stronger. Can Westlake use his superbrain to recover... to slip his enemy's cold embrace before it's too late?
Sometimes--it happens very rarely--but sometimes you are privileged enough to read a book that touches your soul.
A book that makes you feel blessed to have experienced it. A book that makes you look at life in a completely different way.
Westlake Soul is the story of a man--named Westlake Soul--trapped in his own mind.
After a surfing accident, Westlake's brain suffers too much trauma. He goes into a permanant vegetative state.
Unknown to his loved ones, Westlake is very aware of his surroundings--and he's developed a superpower.
He can leave his body and go anywhere. Anywhere in the universe. The moon? He's been there. The ocean floor? He's seen it.
But the one thing Westlake desperately wants to do is the one thing that alludes him. He wants to show his family that he is still here.
Rio Youers has a way with words that awed me.
The battles Westlake has with his nemesis, Dr. Quietus, are epic and wonderful.
The writing in these scenes is especially brilliant.
This book also has some very emotional scenes and, because of the fabulous writing, you'll feel like you're right there with Westlake--and you WILL need tissues. Possibly a whole box of them.
And the end? Wow. Just...wow.
I truly hope that the publishers of Westlake Soul do everything they can to get the word out about this amazing book.
This is something that NEEDS to be read by as many people as possible.
Thank you, Rio, for writing such a touching, awesome, heartbreaking story.
I went to my first book signing today! It was at Indigo in Yorkdale Mall in Toronto.
The signing started at 2pm and the line-up wasn't too bad, considering I slept in and didn't arrive until after noon!
Luckily, the girls in line behind me, Csilla and Shanelle were friendly and fun! We talked books (of course), TV, and they told me about Hot Subway Guy. Thanks, girls! ;)
Finally, after a 3.5 hour wait, it was my turn to meet Kelley! SO EXCITING!
I said hello and told her I was originally from Sudbury, where Kelley was born.
She noticed my True Blood tee-shirt and she told me she'd seen the cast at SDCC! Of course, I HAD to geek out and we talked Comic Con!
She's making another appearance this year, so if you go, be sure to say hi to her! She's really sweet!
I then got my photo taken with her...and a HUGE thanks to the staff member who was taking the photos for the fans! She took ALL of these pics with my own phone while I was talking to Kelley!
Of course, I HAVE to mention that she signed my copy of The Calling, and I squeed a little bit. You guys, this is the FIRST book I've ever gotten signed IN PERSON! How amazing is that for lil old me?!
Of course, I didn't forget YOU all, so look what else I picked up!
That's right! BOTH books in Kelley's YA series, Darkness Rising! The Gathering and her brand new book, The Calling!
Oh, but that's not all...
Yup! I asked her to sign book 1, The Gathering, just for YOU! Pretty awesome, right?!
eBook Publisher: ECW Press Release Date: April 1, 2012 ISBN 1550229737 (ISBN13: 9781550229738) Source: Net Galley Author: Christopher Meades
Set in 1930s Russia, this darkly humorous, tragic, and ultimately heroic novel tells the tale of Vladimir, an eight-year-old Russian boy suddenly stricken with a chronic case of the hiccups. He soon finds himself spirited away to a Moscow hospital by the famous physician Sergei Namestikov, who puts him through a series of extraordinary--and often bizarre--treatments in an effort to find a cure. When Sergei's chief medical rival, the brilliant Alexander Afiniganov, discovers that beneath Vladimir's blank eyes lurks a pure, unbridled evil, he takes steps to remove the child from polite society. Abandoned by everyone but his hiccups, Vladimir decides to return to the world he once knew, encountering many strange people and situations along the way. Funny, poignant, and surreal, this is a close look at the nature of good and evil filled with a dazzling cast of characters.
I went way out of my comfort zone when I snagged this book. WAY out. As you can see from the blurb, this is far from the usual novel I review.
To be honest, I only grabbed it because, aside from sounding intreguing, it's Canadian and, as a Canadian, I want to have at least a BIT of CanCon on my blog!
But, I really enjoyed this book!
Little Vladimir sucked me in at once, and the humour, while subtle at times, had me laughing out loud during some parts. Without being spoilery, I can say that the scene in the barn and the killer cat had me giggling with glee.
Christopher Meades's writing feels like an artform in itself, with the way it flows and paints beautiful pictures in your mind.
His characters are wonderfully endearing and this story almost has a folktale feel to it.
Of course, with the good must come the bad, and in The Last Hiccup, sadly, there IS some bad.
It's just not long enough. Mr. Meades skips full years that I would have LOVED to have read about.
I also found there was too much detail in the beginning about Valdimir's Doctors and not enough about Valdimir himself.
But the ending...Ah, the ending. That completely makes up for any faults or shortcomings this book may have.
It's beautiful and touching and almost serene. The perfect ending for such a wonderful novel.
If you enjoy dark-ish humour, Canadian literature or books that are just different, this is the book for you.
And how absolutely perfect was Bailee Madison as young Snow? The similarities between her and Ginny are uncanny! She knocked it out of the park in this episode!
And Barbara Hershey? She's so good at being so evil!
I also have a confession to make. It appears that I'm not as observant as I thought I was! Am I the only person who never noticed that Once Upon A Time has a different opening every week?
I only noticed it because I remember it being the dwarfs during 'Dreamy' and it was a running horse with a female rider for this episode. Looking back, I also remember a wolf, a spinning wheel and a person wearing a cloak.
So, I apologize for that! I promise from now on to pay more attention and mention the opening sequence here every week.
Now, lets begin, shall we?
In Fairytale Land, we meet a young Regina--and HOLY. They did an amazing job, making Lana look 25 years younger! Very impressive! I wonder if I can hire those make-up people to follow me around. Hmm..
Er, anyway!
We meet a young Regina who's NOTHING at all like the Regina we've come to know.
This girl is sweet and carefree and kind and fun. I found myself pretty much in love with THIS Regina.
Of course, we then meet her mother, who appears to be the Regina we DO know in all but physical appearance. Cora is mean and manipulative and conniving and just not at all nice.
After making Regina feel like dirt, Cora uses magic to lift Regina off the ground after Regina tries to walk away from her.
So...Mommy's got power. Interesting.
Regina runs back to the stable where we meet the stable boy in the title, Daniel, and the two share a steamy kiss.
Aww. Young love.
Later, the two lovebirds meet in a field and as they're talking about telling her mother about them, a runaway horse bolts by with a young girl clinging to its back, screaming for help.
Regina rides to the rescue and saves the girl, who's name is Snow White.
So...who else got goosebumps at that? Just me? Oh.
Some time afterwards, Cora helps Regina dress because the King has decided to visit the person who saved his daughter, Snow.
The King has been looking for a wife and, because Regina was so nice to his daughter, he asks Regina to marry him. Cora accepts. Sheesh, controlling much, Cora?!
After she can get away, Regina flees to the stables and tells Daniel what's happened. The two decide to run away and get married, and Daniel gives Regina a simple ring he takes off a saddle.
Snow overhears and spies the two kissing, and she runs off with Regina close behind.
Regina catches up and explains true love to young Snow, who promises to keep the secret from Regina's mother.
Next we see Snow and Cora having a little chit chat. Cora manipulates Snow using the love Snow had for her deceased mother. And Snow, in her innocence, trusts and believes every word Cora says.
Snow tells Regina's mother everything. :(
That night, as Regina and Daniel are about to leave, Cora catches them in the act.
First, she's very angry. Then, being evil and all, she makes the couple think she understands their plight and that she believes that true love should win.
Of course, we all know she's a big fat liar and we yell at the TV for Regina to stop her fast...but it's too late. Cora pulls Daniel's heart right out of his chest and kills him.
What? Oh, none of you were yelling at the TV? Oh. Er, okay. Um, neither was I. Then. Wut?
The next we see Regina, she's standing in a wedding dress during a fitting. (And what a GORGEOUS wedding dress it is! LOVED!)
Snow happily gushes over Regina, telling her how happy she'll be with Daniel. Then Snow gushes over Cora and Regina puts two and two together.
Snow apologizes for telling Cora, but explains that she didn't want Regina to lose her mother.
And in that moment....in that very moment, we actually SEE Regina transform from the sweet, kind, caring girl she was into the mean, hateful, evil person she's become. What a powerful, amazing scene. Lana Parrilla did that wonderfully.
Regina tells Snow she's not mad and then lies to her. She tells the girl that Daniel was only an infatuation, that he ran away, and that the three would be a family now.
Cora overhears the exchange and seems to be proud of her daughters new-found evilness.
Regina confronts Cora about setting up everything...From the horse running away with Snow to the King coming to the castle. Cora denies it and Regina says bitterly, "I should've let her die on that horse."
Over in Storybrooke, it's one week ago. Regina is in her window, looking at a very plain ring.
From behind her, Mr. Gold asks if it's 'remembrances of things past'. Well now we know that it is, Gold. Thanks for the heads up! ;)
With a few Rumple-like hand gestures (Ha!), Gold makes a deal with Regina. She gets rid of his battery charges and he gets rid of her Mary Margaret problem.
Flash to present day Storybrooke, Emma brushes off David and heads to her office/the jail, where we see Regina is sitting, watching Mary sleep. Creepy.
Mary wakes and Regina tells her to confess. Mary refuses because she's innocent and asks what she ever did to Regina to make her hate her so much.
Gold arrives later that day and, while Emma is busy taking a pretty vase of flowers from Sidney (who is still playing secret agent for Regina and lying to Emma about it), convinces Mary to speak to the DA.
And who walks in at just that moment? Why, the DA himself, of course! Who is none other than King George's alter-personality! *gasp*
The DA presses Mary Margaret until, in a fit of anger, she blurts out that, yes, she did want Kathryn gone--"Is that what you want to hear?!"
Poor, poor Mary.
Next we see Emma, sitting on a bench in the rain, looking through Henry's story book.
August comes to say hello and assists her in realizing that she needs to think things through differently.
The two decide to go back to the t(r)oll bridge, where the first of a few weird things in this episode happens.
As they're walking down the hill, August seems to tweak his leg somehow. He says it's nothing...but NOTHING is never nothing in Once Upon A Time! Trust me, people! This is a clue! This is either a foreshadow to a future episode--perhaps the one where we finally find out WHO August is--or it's a clue from a previous episode that I'm somehow missing! Or perhaps it's a telltale for which Fairytale character August is!
More on this below, in the questions bit of this post!
Emma digs around a bit where Ruby found the heart, and finds a piece of broken shovel. The two head to Regina's later that night and, with Henry's help, get into Regina's shed. And what's in that shed? Why, a broken shovel, of course! They've got her!
First thing in the morning, Emma shows back up at Regina's with a search warrant...and finds the old, broken shovel has been replaced with a brand spankin' new one.
D'oh! Foiled again!
Emma goes to August's room at Granny's and confronts him, thinking he was the one who told Regina.
And here's the second of the weird things that happens in the episode!
August says to Emma, "I would hope that you would have enough faith to know that I would never betray you.", and then he looks--first, completely stunned and then second--like he's almost let something slip by saying that to Emma. Did you all notice that?! (And that was some GREAT face acting by Eion Bailey, by the way!)
Again, more on this below in the questions bit of this post!
Back at the jail, Mary is in tears when Regina walks in. Again.
Regina is at her bitchy best and Mary finally realizes that the Mayor IS indeed out to get her for reasons unknown.
Back at Regina's house, she's once again standing in her window, clutching her ring. She whispers, "We got her Daniel. We got her."
The police take Mary away in cuffs and Emma and Gold have words.
After Gold leaves, Emma throws the flower vase (remember the flower vase I mentioned above?) in her anger and, lo and behold, among the shattered pieces she finds a bug! Darn that Sidney!
Emma finds August at the diner and apologizes, showing him the bug.
Suddenly the two hear screams. They run around the corner, where Ruby is pointing to someone lying on the ground in the alley.
Emma turns the person over.........and it's KATHRYN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And there was much yelling and cursing in my house at that!
GREAT episode! Loved it! LOVED!
Highlights:
-Bailee Madison as young Snow. Did she study Ginny beforehand?! Is that how she got Snow White down so perfectly?! Amazing!
-Barbara Hershey! Evil never looked so good!
-The costumes (again!). The wedding dress! Regina's riding coat! Young Snow's costumes!
-Gold's little Rumple flourish!
-Lana Parrilla's amazing acting as she changes from sweet Regina into the Evil Queen.
Questions:
-WHO IS AUGUST?!
-What was with the scene where he tweaks his leg? Is there a fairytale character I can't remember who had a hurt leg? Or who couldn't use his legs? At first, he was acting a bit wooden after he'd 'hurt' it, so of course I though Pinocchio....but I don't think that's who he is.
What about Baelfire, my theory on who August is. Did Baelfire have a hurt leg? Or will he? Argh!
-Why did August say what he did to Emma? Why would he think she should 'have enough faith to know he would never betray her'? That sounds like she's supposed to KNOW him, doesn't it? If she is, why doesn't she remember him? Double ARGH!
-What is Gold/Rumple doing? He's playing all sides of the coin. What is his end game?
-How did Kathryn get back? (Rumple?)
-How is she alive?! She has no heart!
-Will Mary be released now?
-Will Regina be charged?
-Where WAS Kathryn??
-Cora was a miller's daughter...In the Rumple fairytale, didn't the MILLER'S DAUGHTER have to guess his name? Is she THAT miller's daughter? If so, was Regina the first born she would have had to give up? Or maybe Jefferson?! (Remember how I said it seemed like they were related?!)
-How did Cora get magic? (Rumple?)
-What deals did Cora have to make to get them out of poverty...and with who? (Rumple?)
-What happened to Cora? She went to live with Snow, Regina and the King, I assume...but she was no longer around when the Evil Queen cursed Fairytale Land.
-Is Regina's grudge against something a child did 40 years ago the whole reason she cursed a WHOLE WORLD?!
No new episodes for THREE MORE WEEKS! Blah!
Here's the promo for 'The Return':
Looks AMAZING!! Was I right? IS August, Baelfire?! I can't wait to find out!
And what did you think of The Stable Boy? What are your thoughts on the many questions we have after this episode?
Comment are VERY welcome! I must debate this show! ;)
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