Sister Assassin by Kiersten White

About the book

Sister Assassin (aka Mind Games) is the first book in a young adult series by Kiersten White. It was published by Harper Collins on 19^th February and the book is 302 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Plot Synopsis

After an accident that killed their parents, Fia and Annie are left in the care of their aunt. However, with Annie being blind and Fia having a very unique ability, they’re just too much to handle. That’s when the Kessler School for Exceptional Girls shows an interest in Annie and offers both girls a place to go where they can be themselves.

No one knew about Fia’s ability though and they only really wanted Annie. Fia never chose her deadly gift but now she’s forced to use it. Although Fia would do anything to keep Annie safe, her conscience begins to act up and the blood already on her hands makes her question what she is doing. If she doesn’t do what the school says though she knows her sister will be put in terrible danger, but will Fia be able to keep it up?

What I thought

I have had this book sitting on my review pile for months now and I don’t know why it took me so long to get around to reading it. Now that I finally have though, I wish I had picked it up a lot sooner. 

Sister Assassin has one hell of an opening. It starts seven years ago with the death of main character’s Fia and Annie’s parents but it quickly changes to the lives they live now. Fia is sent on a mission to kill a guy she doesn’t know but her conscience changes quickly and she finds she can’t go through with it. She knows her sister is in danger if she doesn’t kill this guy and she knows she’s risking everything. The opening was so exciting and mysterious and it immediately had me hooked.

Kiersten White tells the story in multiple flashbacks which was something I really enjoyed. Sometimes she goes back seven years, sometimes four, two or even eighteen months but she also uses the present time to bring everything back. For me, the flashbacks helped to give the characters a great backstory. They also made me understand the characters and what they have been through in their lives and how those events made them who they are in the present. There is a great history in this book and a very exciting one too.

My only real niggle with this book is the lack of distinction between the two main characters. Although Fia and Annie narrate their own chapters, if the headings hadn’t have been there, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between the two. Okay, they are sisters so they can be kind of similar but I wanted them to have their own voices instead of sharing one for the most part. Even with the characters being a bit samey at times, they did have some differences. Annie isn’t quite what she seems to be and Fia is a badass who is such a fighter.

Characters aside, Sister Assassin has a fantastic plot. Annie has a very special gift and is initially ‘recruited’ by a school for children with other special gifts. What the school doesn’t know is that sister Fia has a special ability too and one that is seen to be better than Annie’s. The book is set in a world full of secrets and mystery and I was never quite sure who the good guys were and who the bad guys were. There are twists and turns all over the place that constantly kept me guessing. I thought that the ending was quite rushed though and it could have been drawn out a little more. However, there is more to come in this series and with there being plenty of unanswered questions, I’m looking forward to seeing what is in store next.

Sister Assassin is exciting, tense and so different! I thoroughly enjoyed this one. 

Film Review: Only God Forgives

About the film

Only God Forgives is a French/ Danish crime thriller film that was released at the cinema on 2^nd August 2013. The film has a run time of 90 minutes and is rated 18 due to language and violence.

Plot

Living in Bangkok, Julian is a successful drug smuggler in the criminal underworld. While respected he feels little inside. When his brother commits a terrible crime by raping and killing a teenage prostitute, his world changes dramatically. Retired policeman Chang is called to provide justice. Known as the Angel of Vengeance, he allows some terrible things to happen and Julian’s brother ends up dead. After learning of her son’s death, Julian’s criminal mother is determined to make people pay. As she arrives in Bangkok to collect her son’s body, she orders Julian to find and kill his murderer, causing him to question his family and himself.

Cast

Ryan Gosling as Julian

Kristin Scott Thomas as Crystal

Vithaya Pansringarm as Lt. Chang/ "The Angel of Vengeance

Rhatha Phongam as Mai

Gordon Brown as Gordon

Tom Burke as Billy

Byron Gibson as Byron

What I thought

As soon as I saw the trailer for this film, I was extremely excited. It is no secret that I’m a huge fan of Ryan Gosling and I’ll generally watch anything he’s in but I thought the plot/ idea behind this one was really interesting and different.

Set in Bangkok (and actually filmed there) Julian is part of an underground drug smuggler who hides behind a boxing club business. His brother Billy is an extremely shady character and ends up raping and murdering a teenage prostitute and leaving a blood bath behind him. Crazy ex-cop Chang gets called to sort things out which results in Julian’s brother being murdered and his mother wanting the person who did it to die themselves. The whole plot is extremely seedy, dark and twisted but coming from the director of Drive, I wouldn’t expect anything less.

While an absolutely fantastic plot, there wasn’t really anything shocking about it. By that, I mean that there weren’t really any big surprises and I found it to be a bit predictable the whole way through. That being said, I didn’t mind this at all. The plot was still exciting, interesting and gripping even without the shocks being thrown in. Set in Bangkok’s criminal underworld, some things are never quite as they seem in this film and sometimes, more importantly, people aren’t quite who they seem to be either.

Due to the nature of the characters involved in this film, there is also something different going on and there are plenty of new people introduced throughout to help keep things interesting. Although a part of a drug smuggling business, Julian is not at all like his brother. Julian’s character is an interesting one mostly because he barely says anything throughout the film. There are no long conversations between him and other characters and never do we really get to hear his thoughts about what is going on. It is only when he mother arrives in town to pick up Billy’s body that we get to see more of who Julian really is. When his mother barks orders at Julian to murder the man responsible for Billy’s death, he’s clearly torn between family loyalties and his own idea of right and wrong. Unlike in other films where Gosling is known for using his body/ looks to please the audience, that isn’t the case here. Gosling’s performance, for me, was very understated and quiet but one that I will remember for a long time.

Other characters are just as good, if not better, for the most part. Playing the part of the Angel of Vengeance, ex-cop Chang is Vithaya Pansringarm. By looking at this guy, you would never expect him to do the things he does in this film. Although retired, Chang is a character that will go to any length to get justice or revenge. His character was extremely creepy and mixes torture techniques with strange karaoke scenes of him singing love songs. By looking at Chang you would expect a well-respected and quite ‘proper’ policeman but that is far from what you get. He doesn’t follow rules and he doesn’t care how he gets his results – he just gets them!

Julian’s mother is just as bad. Crystal is played by Kristin Scott Thomas and what a different role this is for her. If anyone thought they had a bad mother, they are sorely mistaken. Crystal is a bitch and a half and is very outspoken. As part of her own criminal business, she is used to having the final say and she works the same way with her sons. As soon as she arrives in Bangkok, Crystal is giving orders left, right and centre and expects things to be done immediately. I absolutely loved Kristin Scott Thomas in this role. Not only did she scare the hell out of me but she also made me very thankful for having such a lovely mum.

I had heard rumours about how gory/ sick this film was but I don’t think I was prepared for it at all. I don’t have a weak stomach and can generally sit through quite a lot but there were some scenes that I winced at. With the gore obviously comes a lot of violence. I can see people not wanting to sit and watch the whole thing after seeing some of the scenes involved. However, I do think that these scenes were extremely well done and they did fit in with the rest of the film really well. Also, I didn’t think they were too much even though some of the scenes were a little hard to watch at times.

Overall, I think people will either love this film or hate it. Personally, I loved it. Only God Forgives is stunning to watch while also making me look away at times. A must for Ryan Gosling fans with a strong stomach! 

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

About the book

Crown of Midnight is the second book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. It was published by Bloomsbury on 15^th August and the book is 432 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Plot Synopsis

After suffering a terrible year in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen year old Calaena Sardothien has come a long way. By winning the King’s contest, she is now the royal assassin and must do whatever missions the King sets for her. Even though she is ordered to kill in cold blood and go against everything that she believes in, Calaena is far from loyal to the crown and has an agenda of her very own. Calaena must decide whether following her heart is worth the risk, because she may just lose everything if she does.

What I thought

Throne of Glass was one of my favourite books of last year and I have been dying to read the sequel ever since finishing the first book.  

Calaena is a character that I loved from the very beginning and that feeling only got stronger in this sequel. As an assassin, she really does kick ass… literally. Calaena is strong, fierce and completely bad ass but she still manages to show her softer, more feminine characteristics throughout the book. In Crown of Midnight we get to find out a hell of a lot more about her background and where she comes from. I truly enjoyed these aspects of the book as it gave Calaena more depth and also made her more interesting at the same time. There has been so much mystery surrounding her up until this point so it was nice to have some things explained.

The plot follows Calaena in her new role as King’s Champion after beating all of the competition in the previous book. She’s quickly learning that she doesn’t want to do what the king is telling her to and that her new job is very different from what she was expecting. As Calaena decides to defy the King and go against his wishes, she’s is more danger than ever before because she knows that being found out could mean her death. There is a lot in this book about deception and figuring out who Calaena can really trust and who she can’t. This also includes some people who she thought she was extremely close to and there are some shocks throughout.

Speaking of people who Calaena is close to… oh Chaol Westfall, the Captain of the Guard. He and Calaena have a growing relationship through this book and the plot expands upon feelings explored slightly in book one. I absolutely adored the relationship and friendship between these two characters. Both are very headstrong and stubborn but also passionate about what they do. I wanted to see more of Chaol in the first book and I definitely got that here. There isn’t much time where he isn’t with Calaena or doing something to do with her. Their relationship is quite complicated due to the positions they hold but it is also extremely sweet and lovely as it develops. However, there are some twists in this department but I loved them!

Something that I loved about the first book was the action and excitement that surrounded the competition to become King’s Champion and I missed that in Crown of Midnight. That isn’t to say that there isn’t action and excitement though, because there is, but there is a lot more mystery to the plot this time. There are secrets and lies all over the place and not nearly as much fighting and killing as I would have liked. There are some pretty gory scenes though which I did really enjoy as they fit perfectly into the world Sarah J. Maas has created.

I didn’t quite love this book as much as the first but it was still really good. There were some great developments in regards to characters and plot but I missed the fighting to be honest. Still, a great sequel and I can’t wait to see what is in store next. 

What to do when you have too many books?

Up until now I have been absolutely terrible for keeping books. Although I have been better recently in regards to taking books for review, I used to get a lot more and pretty much hoarded them. I knew when John and I moved in together that I had too many and did give some to my mother and sister in law which got rid of a large amount. 

But, recently we have been thinking about moving and the type of place we will be renting next. I know I will never have a house big enough to keep everything and this resulted in me really thinking about which books I want to keep and which I wouldn't mind not having any more. Also, at the minute, the books have been taking over our spare room as they were stored in cardboard boxes. I've been worrying a little about the weight of the boxes and so last weekend decided to invest in some huge plastic storage boxes to keep my books in. I managed to get 4 huge boxes for £24 which was a great deal!

So as I bought new boxes, I figured it was time I went through the books again with a strict head on. Even though I only went through them about 6 or 8 weeks ago, I was surprised at how many I put into separate boxes for not keeping. I hardly spent any time deciding which I was going to keep and which I was going to get rid of and even John was surprised at how many I was prepared to part with. 

My biggest problem at the minute is not having bookcases. We do have 3 at theminute but 2 are taken up with DVDs and the other is my whole TBR pile (which scares the hell out of me). I hate having the books in boxes and not on show but there isn't much else I can do at the minute. 

As most of us bloggers receive a large amount of books every year I was wondering what everyone else does with theirs. I know we can't keep every single book we get (unless you live in a mansion) but where do they go after you've read them?! Do you pass them on to family and friends or give them to a local library or school etc?

Book to Film Review: Marley and Me

About the film

Marley and Me is a comedy/ drama film that was released in 2008. It has a run time of 121 minutes and is rated PG. The film is also based on the book of the same name by John Grogan.

Plot

After getting married, John and Jennifer Grogan decide to move to Florida. With the couple’s jobs as newspaper writers not being as good as they could be, Jennifer decides that she wants a baby. Instead of giving Jennifer what she wants, husband John gets her a puppy instead. Marley, a cute and cuddly golden Labrador seems to be a great addition to the family until he grows into a 100 pound, fully grown dog. Marley’s antics provide great writing for John’s column but when he and Jennifer finally do have a family on their own, they realise an un-trainable dog might not be the best thing for them.

Cast

Owen Wilson as Johnny "John" Grogan

Jennifer Aniston as Jennifer "Jenny" "Jen" Grogan

Eric Dane as Sebastian Tunney

Alan Arkin as Arnie Klein

Haley Hudson as Debbie

Haley Bennett as Lisa

Kathleen Turner as Ms. Kornblut

What I thought

For so long I have been putting off watching this film because I already knew how it ended. A few weeks ago though it was on TV and there wasn’t really anything else to watch.

Playing the lead roles of John and Jennifer are Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. At the beginning of the film we get to know them as a couple and also what each of them wants separately. John wants to be taken seriously as a journalist at some point while Jennifer is getting broody soon after the wedding and wants to start a family. Wilson and Aniston are really great together on screen and make a fun and cute couple. I wouldn’t say there is an awful lot of chemistry between them in the romance department though but this is a family film so it doesn’t matter too much. They do make good best friends though and it is clear how much they rely on each other.

Out of the two main leads, it would be hard to say which one was better. While Owen shows a love and friendship with Marley, Aniston has some quite big issues to deal with throughout the film. Both actors do much better than I thought they would in regards to really emotional scenes or topics which is why I can’t decide who I liked the most in this film. Also, over the course of their relationship, both characters change a lot so we get to see a lot of growth and development in the characters which both actors portrayed really well.

Marley and Me doesn’t have the most exciting plot but instead, it tells the story of a young couple and their family. John has a wonderful relationship with Marley from the moment he buys the dog for Jennifer. It isn’t long after the couple get Marley that they realise he is going to be a handful. He’s impossible to train, doesn’t listen and pretty much does whatever he wants and eats whatever he wants. As a columnist, John uses all of the bad and funny things Marley does in his writing - which proves to be very popular with his readers. While Jennifer wants Marley to be a more well behaved dog, John accepts that Marley will always be a bit unruly. I really loved watching the relationships between John/ Jennifer and Marley. It was also really interesting to see how feelings changed after the couple started a family and how having children as well as a crazy dog affected the couple’s relationship.

Marley and Me is a great family film which is fun for everyone but it also has more serious aspects to it for the adults watching. There is plenty of comedy moments throughout this film due to the way in which Marley acts and the things he gets up to. Marley and Me was extremely heart-warming and I loved (nearly) every minute of it.

Friday Night Alibi by Cassie Mae

About the book

Friday Night Alibi is a contemporary new adult novel by Cassie Mae. The book was published as a Kindle e-book on 29^th July and it is 241 pages long. I received this book for review through NetGalley.

Plot Synopsis

In Sundale everyone has appearances to keep if they wish to keep the trust-funds promised by their parents. That’s where Kelli Pinkins and her perfect reputation come in – she’s everybody’s Friday night alibi as either girlfriend or best friend that parents love! Kelli’s job means that she has a pretty non-existent social life apart from the one that is made up. On a very rare Friday night off though, Kelli meets Chase, the boy no girl’s parents would approve of. He isn’t part of the Sundale elite, he’s older than Kelli but he can also give the one liners as good as she can. As hard as Kelli may try to ignore Chase, she knows the attraction is there but can she fight it? If she can’t, will her having a social life mean ruining everyone else’s?

What I thought

To start with, I absolutely loved the idea of this book because it was so fun and different. Kelli is a really sweet girl who combines helping out her friends while making a large pile of cash at the same time. Sundale is a town where the kids are supposed to behave properly, date the right people and generally have a perfect reputation. If they don’t, they’ll lose their trust funds. So, Kelli becomes everyone’s Friday night alibi so they can all do what they really want. Poor Kelli though ends up staying home every Friday playing X Box and pigging out on snacks (which doesn’t sound all bad!).

Although this is Kelli’s usual routine for a weekend, there is the one rare night that she sneaks out with the best friend. But, when this happens, Kelli worries about being caught out and panics when she sees someone she knows. This causes a hilarious scene of her hiding under a pool table, getting gum caught in her hair and being chatted up by the extremely sexy but older, Chase. The pair have a fun banter between them from the very beginning but Kelli decides that Chase is more annoying than anything else.

Both main characters were great on their own as they had so much going for them but they were even better when together. Kelli and Chase don’t always get along in this book and their relationship takes a lot of building before we get to the good stuff. However, although some may say it was drawn out, I loved the build-up and the tension between the two characters. Kelli and Chase begin as friends, kind of, and it takes time for them to get together which is much more realistic than them falling in love after such a short period of time.

For me, the strangest aspect of this book was the religion. Although not forced onto the reader, Kelli has strong feelings about religion, hers especially. The reason I say strange is because I have never been brought up as religious and I don’t really believe in the idea of it in general. So, for me, a character having such strong views on the subject and being a weekly church-goer was something quite new for me to read about. Although I don’t have the same beliefs as Kelli, I loved her strength to stick to certain things and not let anyone change what she believed.

Overall, the plot has such a lot going for it. There are great characters put into really fun situations as well as a slow and sweet romance. Cassie Mae is a fresh and fun voice in the new adult genre and one I will be looking forward to reading more of. 

Film Review: A Good Day to Die Hard

About the film

A Good Day to Die Hard is a 2013 action film and the fifth instalment in the Die Hard series. The film was released in the UK on 14^th February, is rated 12A and has a run time of 98 minutes.

Plot

When police officer and detective John McClane finds out there is something going on with his son, Jack, he heads off on the first flight to Russia to figure out exactly what is going on. While believing his son is in some kind of trouble, Jack is actually a CIA agent undercover. In the midst of discovering his son’s secret life, John McClane finds himself knee deep in Russian mobsters and nuclear weapons.

What I thought

So far, I have been a big fan of Bruce Willis and the Die Hard series. There hasn’t been a film I disliked… up until now.

The film starts off with a pretty big bang. John McClane, played by Bruce Willis heads off to sort out his troublesome son is Russia. He gets on a plane and lands in a place he has never been before but seems to quickly be able to locate Jack. After an explosion at the courthouse where Jack is part of a trial, an extremely long car chase takes place. While there is plenty of action going on, and a pretty good car chase, this part of the film was so long! Don’t get me wrong, I love a good car scene but this one seemed to go on forever. I think I was about 40 minutes in when I looked at the clock and this part of the film had only just finished.

In regards to the rest of the plot, A Good Day to Die Hard is pretty disappointing. I was expecting something quite interesting and complex, with some really good bad guys (like in the fourth film) but that wasn’t what I got at all. I found the plot to be very average, at best, and it did little to hold my interest. To add to a quite boring plot, there is the terrible writing. In previous films in this series, there have been some great one liners, some witty remarks from both Willis and the bad guys and just some generally great dialogue but this film didn’t really have any of that. The one liners given to John McClane were nothing new, they were predictable and they weren’t funny like they have been before.

However, while the plot and dialogue were disappointing, Bruce Willis was not. Although he gets a script not up to the standards of previous films, he does the best he can with it. Also, he is far from being the age he was at the beginning of this series but he still plays McClane extremely well. Age does not seem to be a weakening factor for Willis as he is still a great action film actor. There were some especially great scenes of him and Jai Courtney who plays his son Jack being the action heroes and kicking some arse. Speaking of Courtney, I had first seen him in Jack Reacher and instantly liked him and this film only strengthened those feelings.

As an action film, those scenes are the best things about this one. There are plenty of chases, gun fights and stunts to keep fans happy. Although I previously said that the long car chase annoyed me, it was spectacularly shot and I can see a lot of people loving the drama and excitement of it. I would have loved for this to have been cut short, even by just a little bit, in order to make time for a better plot. The pacing of this film was also very erratic and I didn’t like this. At times, there are extremely long action scenes and then a very long time without anything at all.

Overall, A Good Day to Die Hard just wasn’t for me and I really hate saying that. While the acting was spot on, there was just too much that annoyed me about it.