Book Review- Lovlier than Daylight

Lovelier than Daylight by Rosalyn Elliot is the third book in "The Saddler's Legacy". The whole series is cool, because it is based on actual history.
   The book is about Susanna, a niece to Anne, the original character in the first saddler's legacy novel. Susanna's sister, Rachel, has gone missing and all of her children put into orphanages. Susanna blames Rachel's alcoholic husband. Susanna searches for answers and a way to save her nieces and nephews with the help of Johann Giere, the son of a German beer-maker. Susanna despises any type of alcohol, and at first they clash due to their differing opinions. After time, Susanna sees Johann's kindness, and learns to give up her judgmental prejudices.
    This book was OK, though I"ll admit I liked the first two better. Susanna was a bit judgmental, and mixed her sappy softness, I found it annoying. And I didn't really know Johann's character that well. But it was still an interesting read, and there are very few books that go into temperance issues.

Tidewater Inn Book Review

Tidewater Inn- by Colleen Coble

    Once again Colleen Coble has made another great thriller-meets-romance novel. The story is about Libby, who inherits a beautiful old Inn from her long-lost and thought-dead father. As if trying to bond with her not-so-friendly half brother and sister, and trying to figure out if she has feelings for Alec, a coast guard who lives in Hope Island, has feelings for her, there is also the fact that she saw her business partner kidnapped right before her eyes.
    So as Libby struggles with threats, secrets and trying to figure out whether she should sell the Inn or not, she is also under suspicion for the kidnapping of her friend.
    Now, the book was really gripping. Colleen Coble always delivers a novel to keep you interested. Yet there were some things that just didn't click. Such as the detective's constant suspicion of Libby- it seemed to kind of lag along in the book. It also seemed that some of the "family secrets" were vague, and not explained well enough.
   But altogether, the book is a great read and worth reading.  

The "K Stew" Thing

So I want to chime in on the "K Stew" arguments.

Point 1 : K Stew is about the most moronic nickname I've heard. Ever. Come on fans, if you don't want her being made fun of, give her a nickname that doesn't invited mocking.(I was thinking of making a pun about how she was "roasted" because of this nickname....but...hmmm...seems kinda corny, ya know?).
Point 2: I am not one of those girls who is like OMG!! HOW DARE SHE LIKE ROBERT PATTINSON!!!!! HE IS THE EPITOME OF HOT-NESS. I DON'T EVEN CARE WHO SHE IS, I THINK HER ACTING STINKS JUST BECAUSE OF THE SOLE FACT THAT SHE DARES TO DATE SOMEONE I NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL MEET.

Hmmm....a-ctrac-tive. Not

. not Just thought I would get that out there. Because (1) Go find a real boyfriend. Nothing wrong with having a celebrity obsession(like mine with Chris Hemsworth), but you can't go around hating anyone just because of who they're dating(other than Selena Gomez. I thought she was a slut before she started dating Justin Bieber though, so that doesn't TOTALLY count). (2) I don't think Robert Pattinson is even that hot or that good of an actor. I can remember mocking him for his brain-dead version of Edward Cullen after the midnight showing of the first Twilight movie.
Point 3: Look at the way Kristen Stewart acts in all of her movies. Maybe she doesn't have different personalities....but you have to focus to remember that. "Great Actresses" can be in dozens of different roles and it's like they are different people! I've seen Scarlett Johansson do it, Rachel Mcadams, Johnny Depp(who, yes, is an actor not an actress, but I feel like he's so amazing he deserves to be thrown in). Heck, I've even seen Miley Cyrus and one of the Olsen twins do it, and we all know how mind-boggling that is. And I know, some people are saying "Her acting could improve over time". But I saw Dakota Fanning act wonderfully at a much younger age. But we all thought that Hilary Duff''s acting would improve with age and look what happened there....
   I will concede that there are some actors/ actresses that are put in the same roles. Like Catherine Heigl ( I'm always an independent, witty, slightly klutzy person in my movies), and Angelina Jolie( sexy/action woman with a mysterious aura and the same freaking way of walking). The characters they play pretty much seem the same, with a few minor adjustments. Difference: They are actually good at the roles they act. They make the characters seem LIKABLE and fresh in every movie, whereas you feel like you're watching a mini-series on "K Stews" lack of facial expressions in any of her movies.

Point 4: I'm serious. She doesn't have many facial expressions. It amazes me. She either looks high or upset. And sometimes she kind of wiggles her eyebrows around and it's like a mix of both. Whenever she smiles, it's basically a half smile and it never gets to her eyes. So either she never gets into her characters, and feels joy when they do, or she just...doesn't feel joy period. Also, her habit of sighing loudly and looking to the side all nervously...that's not called acting. It's called forgetting what the heck you're character is supposed to feel in that moment, so you avoid eye contact.
Point 5: She does seem just a little stuck up. I know, she does have a reason to being as she somehow managed to become a millionaire. But she has to remember, it's only because the people who are still claiming she can act.
Point 6: Even if I DID like her acting, I think she was seriously miss-cast in "Snow White and the Huntsman". Just look at her, do you really think she's the fairest in the land? I'm not saying she isn't mildly pretty. But she definitely has a different look about her that isn't described as mainstream beauty.
      I am still planning on seeing 'Snow White and the Huntsman"(but mostly because Chris Hemsworth). I will probably see Kristen Stewart in other movies. But I will probably see Lindsay Lohan in other movies too, so it's not like I'm saying either will get any better.

Through Rushing Water

Through Rushing Waters- by Catherine Richmond

   This is the story of Sophia, a refined young woman with a painful and tremulous past from Russia. Her journey begins after being jilted by her "dream man". Without even knowing how it happened, she ends up as a missionary for the ponca Indians, something she never planned.
   Sophia, while being a real character, is hard to connect too.It's not that she's unlikeable really- she has some good qualities like being quick-witted and loyal-it's just very hard to not feel indifferent towards her character. Because despite being in her head, you feel like you don;t know her because her actions and habits totally don;t fit the way her character is seen by others. Honestly, it seems like she should be stuck up. it creates both confusion and relief when she ends up not being a snob.
   In the same way, it's hard to feel a connection with the character Will. You get the sense that he's meant to be good natured, but the author somehow doesn't capture it and he seems incomplete and his personality in pieces all over the pages, unable to form a complete picture of who he is. The relationship between Will and Sophia is also in pieces. Sometimes they seem immensely close, other times it's like they don't even like each other- or know each other as friends! It's all very confusing, and not in the good, love-struck way.
   The supporting characters are unique, but completely unlikeable and not described- physically or emotionally- very well. The book is dry, but strangely easy to get into. From the historical aspect it's very interesting- it's a time and people not written about much, and you see a very clear and heart-wrenching picture of what it was like for Native Americans on American reserves.
  

Poca and John

Can I just say that Pocahontas is just about the most unfulfilling Disney Princess movie ever?
First, Poca (I'm just going to give her that nickname from now on. Pocahontas is way too long to spell out ten times and now I've done it twice. Yay.) won't marry the wonder-boy of the Indians, Kocoum-who is pretty hot in my eyes- because he is too "serious".
 Um, first point: He was "so serious" as apposed to John Smith, who was like, what, a clown or something?? Second point: If he hadn't serious, A BEAR WOULD HAVE EATEN HIM.
   So then Poca and John Smith meet and fall in love( even though he had been about to shoot her. It was good luck for Poca that she wasn't an ugly Indian girl, or he would have just shot right through her. Nice message to kids btw). Then John Smith is just like "Oh, a talking tree. That's nice."
   I guess in every movie when there is a talking tree/ animal, people aren't quite as shocked as they should be(I mean, c'mon, I get scared when my phone vibrates and I'm not expecting it to). But John Smith looks at it for five seconds and just acts like he is meeting Poca's mom or something(which would also have been shocking since her mother is dead.... But I'm sure John would have handled it just fine!!).
    So now we are just going to skip ahead to when John and Poca kiss(on their 3rd or 4th meeting no less) and Kocoum freaks out. As children, we are taught to believe that this is wrong(and kissing someone you've known for 3 days is right...?)
   Um, HELLO! The white guy(who comes from the group of people he thinks is going to kill his whole village) just kissed the girl he's planning on marrying, the girl he's tried several times to protect(a good quality in a guy I think). Romeo never gets any grief for attacking Juliet's cousin that day after they were married, so why can't Kocoum get a little mad?
   And then, it all ends with John Smith being sent home because he, also, was shot. That's great. I guess the "happy ending" was the fact that the Indians and English didn't kill each other, but still! That was a lot of emotional turmoil you went through just to send the love interest home.
   And here's the real kicker: John Smith was never in love with Pocahontas.
   So BASICALLY all Disney did here was lie to children and make them more historically challenged than they already were.
   Yet, I still love this movie... I guess we can complain on and on about the stupid messages/ characters in Disney movies(especially the Princess movies)...but they just ARE. Plus John Smith is really hot, even if he and Pocahontas never fell in love in real life, and the art work is gorgeous.

This is such a cool picture- I love pretty much all the art work during the "Colors of the Wind" song

                                     I don't even remember this pic from the movie but it's beautiful!                                                    

Why Comfort Food and Romance Movies are Needed

This may seem random now, but just wait.

I never wanted to be one of those girls who went on and on about how guys are horrible. I can't say that's what I really think-they can't all be horrible. And yet none of them are going to be perfect either. I don't expect them to be, but couldn't we at least expect them to treat us like we are human? Because some guys just won't accept the fact that they should at least be POLITE to the girls they apparently "like"(and yes, that is the oh-so-poetic phrasing they come up with for their feelings), I feel like I just have to rant a bit. And what I'm talking about isn't even just what has happened to me, it's stories I've heard(or seen) from girls around me.
   Why is it that a guy can't understand that you can't claim to love one girl, and like another. If you love someone, you shouldn't need another girl to take up your spare time. A girl will feel betrayed by this; why isn't she enough to love? Why is it that you can't stay committed? A guy may say that it's not big deal, that he can have feelings for two girls at the same time. But the truth is, if a guy can like a girl while he says he loves you, it shows that he won't stay with only you, that his feelings aren't very deep, and he'll screw around on you.
   Also, how come it seems that guys move on so easy? Maybe they don't; but they sure know how to fake it. You can feel so close to a guy, really become his friend, and then they suddenly drop you... and how is a girl supposed to just turn off all the caring she felt? Forget that she ever listened to him for hours, would have listened to him for even more.

   This is why girls need chocolate. And many, many hours watching Kate Winslet in Titanic- if you're feeling in a particularly bad mood and just want everyone to die- or- if your in a slightly better mood- "Sense and Sensibility". Then, after feeling like you've had enough chcocolate to last a lifetime(even though we all know, we will end up having more) and crying/ sqealing over sappy movies, we can move onto better things. Like watching the Hunger Games just to get a good look at Josh Hutcherson's god-like jaw line.

  

Angel Eyes

Angel Eyes 

by Shannon Dittemore

   Angel Eyes is about a ballerina- Brielle- who moves back to her hometown after the death of a friend. It is here that she meets Jake- the new kid with mysterious powers. Tradegy is in the past, and destiny is in the future. Both of them are drawn to each other and brought into a struggle between demonic forces and celestial powers.
   Angel Eyes is kind of like a cross between Twilight- the woods, the cold, the small town high school and mis-placed characters who don't melt into the social scene- and the Immortal Instrument series by Cassandra Clare- there are demons. Only this book is Christian fiction.
  Brielle is a pretty likable character, as well as a believable teenager. Some authors seem to have trouble getting the "lingo" (and that's the first sign that they aren't going to actually sound like a teenager....they use words like "Lingo") of a teen and there characters are annoying and either too young or too old for their age. But Shannon Dittemore made a very believable, eighteen year old girl.
   Jake is easy to like well, what with his witty comebacks and protective appeal. He manages to be mysterious without coming off as a total jerk, which is what most authors do to make you interested in their male characters. Jake was actually nice and attractive at the same time, which was refreshing.
   The different tenses between character was a little confusing.  Not only would the chapters switch from Brielle to Dominic( the demon) or Canaan(the angel), but suddenly it would be third person (as in: Dominic flew, Dominic saw) from first person( I saw, I cried). This made the chapters where Brielle wasn't "narrator" very confusing and slow-moving.
   The ending is just- wow. It is happy, but suddenly all these questions are raised and you can just see the second book's plot developing. Shannon Dittemore did a really good job of making you want to read the sequel- Broken Wings which comes out in early 2013.
   So altogether I really liked the book. It was different- not many books deal with angels and demons in a truly biblical way. It was funny and kept me reading.