Book Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

I was expecting a lot more. 

Sometimes, we read those books that change our lives and sometimes we read a book that is just that - reading.
Stiefvater has a very peculiar writing style that is difficult to get into - I got that and that is the very first book that I am reading of hers. I have to say that the book didn't transport me to its world; I felt that I was just reading pages with lots of details and no action. I read it on my Kindle so I am perfectly capable to admit that I only showed a fling of interest when I was in 80%. That isn't a good sign.

Blue is from a family of psychics and her power works as a battery to other people's powers. Very interesting this ability, I was interested in that. Gansey is going to be very important for the narrative too but this book didn't show that - even though the beginning is clearly clarifying about his future in the series.
The other characters were also interesting, specially Blue's family but I don't think that we are going to see more of them; Gansey's friends are mysterious, with lots of problems but we don't know what half of it.

Am I going to read the next book? Yes, because the end showed a closure but gave that me the feeling of "is it over yet?" I am not sure when I am going to read the next book, but I want to see what is going to happen to Gansey and Blue.

Book Review Video: The Night Manager

Book Review: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare keeps surprising with surprising cliffhangers that you only see on TV.

I have to admit: I am not the number 1 fan of Cassandra Clare and her series (The Mortal Instruments, I havent read The Infernal Devices yet.) However, I am still astonished when she writes amazing cliffhangers that makes you forget how to breath and make you want to buy the next book right away.

The fourth book of the series starts in New York. New characters gain more book time, like Simon, Alec and Izzie. I love this three more than I love Jace. Actually, Jace is not even close my favourite character. I liked the fact that now the story is so well maintained by the author that all these characters are essential to the narrative. Absolutely brilliant, keep going Cassandra, you're doing well.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Do I want to read the next? Yes. It not my favourite series but I like the characters and I believe that this book was a turning point when it comes to secondary characters. Besides, the cliffhanger was divine! I could definitely imagine it as a season finale which is amazing.

About the new characters: well introduced, there was no rush and even though there wasn't much written detail about their personalities, it was possible to understand them in a way that I am almost positive that I haven't seen the last of them yet.

The storyline didn't evolve as it did on the previous book but I liked the way that things were happening, with no rush. Well written, with detail and simplicity, it made my journey to London very pleasant. Also, it is possible to see that the characters are evolving in their personalities, not only in age. One of the reasons that I like series so much is because it gives us the opportunity to see a certain character grow and shape his/her personality. Cassandra does that brilliantly with this book. I have only two more left and I hope I will be able to finish this series this year.

American Invasion: Meeting Sarah J. Maas

British Invasion: Day 365

1 year ago it was raining in Lisbon and my mom and I were ready to fly to London. Today, she is working and I am studying Translation. When we arrived, it was sunny like today, with good weather, birds singing, everything perfect. The house was not what we expected but we are now much more aware that here we really need to see the place because people don't always say what it is.

I am studying but I haven't found a job yet, so my plans for the next fortnight is to find a room in London, where I can find a job (that is my second plan). I hope I can find it and then travel to university - 1:30/2 hours journey by train next academic year.
I don't have big plans for my second year here in the UK: I just hope that I can find a job, a good home and keep studying and having good grades, like I am having.

Thank you so much for following my blog, it is unbelievable that it's been an year.

Ebooks on sale = TROUBLE TROUBLE TROUBLE

Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Celaena is an assassin with soul.

I am going to meet Sarah J. Maas this week. Therefore, last Friday I bought two of her books (the other one was A Court of Thorns and Roses) and dedicated my weekend to read in order to go to the event with a little gist of her work. This book worked perfectly well for my purpose.

Celaena is invited to fight in a tournament that it would look like The Hunger Games except for the fact that the other opponents are being killed by something that's lurking in the dark and no one knows what. The perfect writing style invites to dive into Celaena's adventures with attention to details. The writing is simple, easy to understand and it should be: in a world where magic remains but it is abolished and the users of such thing are sentenced to death, there is no way that the writing can be complex and give you a headache with the amount of new vocabulary.

The final chapters are heartbreaking: the final duel results in pain, broken bones and deaths - even from other worlds. Usually, there is a need to rush this events because the book is about to finish, but I didn't feel that with this book, which was extraordinary. Flying from Celaena's point of view, to Chaol's and to Dorian's, the final scenes were amazingly well-written.

The mythology is introduced to us with small details here and there, which allows the reader the opportunity to understand what it is about but without further explanations of the characters: they do it and then we understand what happened.

The next book is Crown of Midnight. I can't wait to see what happens to Celaena.

Book Review Video: Lola and The Boy Next Door

Book Review: The Night Manager by John le Carré

The bureaucracies of our lives.

John Le Carré is known for his spy books. Personally, I wasn't very interested in this genre, until I heard that the BBC was adapting this book in a six episode series. I immediately grabbed it because I am the kind of person who likes to read the books before seeing the adaptations (and complain about how the movie/series doesn't caption the soul of the book.)

We follow a night manager, Jonathan Pine, who volunteers to spy on Roper, a very powerful man with dark deals that the police is incapable of catch because every single thing that he signs isn't his signature, but someone else's. Jonathan always encounters beautiful women; two of them have more emphasis: Sophie and Jed. They are both very different and very similar. Sophie is a wise woman while Jed has a sparkle that it is impossible to ignore.

The story is fervent with very intense moments when you think that there is no way out of it. It is never boring but it becomes frustrating when you see that politics and bureaucracies are what make this world so wild. The sarcasm and ironies makes you laugh but also reflect about the society that you live in - it made me remember José Saramago because he also wrote with sarcasm and irony - and the conclusion is that most of the time it is ridiculous.

It won't be just a dream

Yesterday, I told you about my dream. Today, I am here to tell you about my reality: I am going to meet Sarah J. Maas!

Still thinking about the fact that I dreamt about her, I went to the Waterstones website and clicked on "Events." The page is now very organised and I appreciate it very much because I was able to look for invents that involved Sarah.

And there it was: she is going on tour next week in the UK to promote her new book: A Court of Thorns and Roses. I have already booked my ticket to see her. That day will be very special: besides the fact that I am going to meet her, it will also be a very special date to me, because that was the first day that I stepped in the UK to live and study here.

I have "clicked and collected" two of her books: Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses. I am looking forward to read them. I am thinking about reading at least one of them before the meeting.

It was only just a dream

This time, I'm not here to talk about books. It was something that I was reluctant to share because it is very personal, but I also thought that it might make you smile like it did to me. Two nights ago, I had a dream. I was leaving my old home when Veronica Roth and Sarah J. Maas show up. Veronica hands in a draft of Divergent with an address on it - her office. She tells me "When you finish your book, give it to me so I can read it." I smile, the happiest person on Earth. "Sure. But, if I finish a script, would you still read it?" That's when Sarah smiles at me and says "Veronica doesn't have time, but I do. Sure, send it to me."

Now, I have so many things to say about this: a) I wish to be a writer - a scriptwriter but somehow (many years writing fanfiction) I am only capable of writing prose; b) I've met Veronica Roth in person, I know what she looks like and I've read her books. However, I had never seen a photo of Sarah. I had only heard of her books. So you will find me quite surprised when I got check if she's on Twitter and the photo looks exactly like the person who was in my dream.

I told about this to my mom. She looked as astonished as I was when I saw Sarah's photo. She then told me that our souls are old and they are able to travel further then our physical bodies can go. Apparently, mine crossed the Atlantic to meet an author that I admire very much and another who I am looking forward to meet and tell her "Hi. I met you even before I knew you." I will sound like a lunatic, but it was my dream.

Book Review Video: Moriarty

Book Review: Lola and The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Once again, Stephanie Perkins makes me laugh and nostalgic.

I was looking forward to read another Stephanie Perkins' book. And I got a chance to buy this book and read it after a disappointment (Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz). I needed a book that would make me laugh and get over the sorrow that I had. Lola is a funny and unsual character, with many adventures and a terrific balance between wonderful worlds that she lives in. She made me laugh and forget the previous book. For four days I was living an utopian happiness.

Lola has homosexual parents - no big deal according to her and a big slap in everyone's face who think that gay marriage and gay adoption is imoral. They are perfect parents - overprotective, concerned and truthful parents - I absolutely loved them. I loved even more the fact that they made pies at home and had a bakery. Please, I want to work for them.

She is dating this super rockstar guy called Max. He's between a rockstar and a nerd. I still don't know how to define him with other word besides untrustworthy. Even though Lola loves him and talkes about all of the good things she sees in him, I wasn't convinced. Even less when he insulted Lindsey.

On the other hand, we have Cricket. He broke her heart before and I didn't trust him at the beginning even though it was obvious that he would be "the boy next door." However, he starts showing his sweet and thoughful side and suddenly I want Lola and Cricket to be together. Awn.

One of the things that I loved the most about the book was St. Clair and Anna's appearances. I thought I had seen the last of them in Anna and The French Kiss but I was wrong (thankfully). I want to read the next book of the trilogy and fall in love again with the characters and the beautiful writing style that makes me laugh.

Binge watching Grey's Anatomy

Binge watching Grey’s Anatomy was an adventure. It took me three months to be up to date with this amazing series created by Shonda Rhimes. Never have I ever binged watched an 11 seasons series! It is crazy! I dived in to this amazing series with zero expectations. Eleven seasons later, I think that was the best thing I could have ever done.

Apart from Saving Hope, I had never watched a series that has medical terminology on it. It was frightening watching hearts, livers and kidneys. On the other hand, you get used to it and in the end that’s not what it matters. What it matters are the characters, so rich and complex, magnificently multidimensional. So when a kidney shows on your screen, you’re not thinking about the organ itself but the story that it represents and that helps a lot to not get disgusted by it. Seriously, I couldn’t live a doctor’s life – it requires touching organs and veins and the only thing that I like to touch are books. And my keyboard.

After season 8 I thought: wait a minute, I can actually keep up with this series! I’ll finish binge watching it while it is still airing. Of course, I couldn’t have done worse, especially after what happens in season 11 (you know what I’m talking about). However, I’ll never stop watching it because Grey’s Anatomy has been with me through this past 3 months and it’s not just because of the fact that one character left the series that the show will ruin itself.

The series has 11 years. We also need to look at the actors who have been playing this characters since the first episode – it is totally understandable if they wish to leave the series or if the character’s journey has come to an end. I’m not disappointed by that – if we take a look at our lives we see that people are always coming and going. It is sad but that doesn’t mean that they’ll be forgotten. 

Book Review: Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz

I had high hopes for this book. I was disappointed.

House of Silk was extraordinary. I wasn't expecting anything less from Moriarty. However, my hopes were utterly destroyed right at the beginning of the book - John Watson isn't the narrator, but some American detective who doesn't know Sherlock's methods. Then, we are introduced to a Scotland Yard detective (way better than Lestrade) but he has a Sherlock complex that is difficult to explain: he follows Holmes' methods but he also wants to be Holmes. Very difficult to create affection towards both characters. And you know what happens: if you don't like the characters you'll stop reading the book.
But I didn't for several reasons, one of them was the fact that I loved House of Silk very much and I was hoping that the plot would eventually lead to a terrifying twist. Which it did, three chapters before the end.
I wasn't happy with that. The book is named Moriarty but he never shows his face to us until the end, when we understand what happened and I still have some questions.
I am not aware if this is a duology of if it has more books ahead, but if it has and they are not narrated by John Watson I will not read them.

Book Review Video: Dragonfly in Amber

Movie Review: Cinderella (2015)

A beautiful movie with beautiful actors.

Yesterday, I wasn't planning on going to watch a movie. But there I was, standing in the middle of Leicester Square with a massive poster of Cinderella. I decided to give it  go. In the end, I had a huge smile on my face and couldn't stop talikng about the movie.
Hayley Artwell (you might know her as Agent Carter) plays Cinderella's mother and she was stunning.I was quite surprised, I wasn't aware that she was in the movie, but she was beautiful. The beginning was full of sugar and smiles, which gave context to Cinderella's personality. Then, her Mother dies.
And that is when her step-mother arrives, with a cat by her side, her stupid daughers and a massive black hat. I believe that Cate Blanchett was perfect for the role, she totally gave it style and personality. However, I believe that I would love to see her with a purple gown more often than a green one.
Lily James does a beautiful, wonderful job as Cinderella and there were some shots where I could see some resemblance with Miss Artwell. The hair was so beautiful and her acting was so sweet and full of personality. The blue dress (yes, I am talking about that one) was stunning. That dress was made to fly above the clouds.
Richard Madden is Prince Charming and let's admit, he's been a charm since Game of Thrones. He wanted to be king, George RR Martin said no, but Disney said yes. He was perfect for the role, with a few more scenes than in the animated version, he gave character to Charming. Sorry, Kit. I'm confused now.


The special effects were wonderful, made me forget how to breathe several times. After all, it's Disney that we're talking about. The costumes were wonderful and they certainly add a lot to the storyline. The small changes that hey made were okay, even though I still am very loyal to the animated version. It really was a fairy tale movie.