Frozen: Review

Synopsis:

The Heists were only the beginning.

Gray Weathersby escaped from the primitive town of Claysoot expecting to find answers, but what he discovered shook him to the core: A ruthless dictator with absolute power. An army of young soldiers blinded by lies. And a growing rebellion determined to fight back.

Now Gray has joined a team of rebels on a harsh, icy journey in search of allies who can help them set things right. But in a world built on lies, Gray must constantly question whether any ally—or enemy—is truly what they seem…

***

Taken is straightforward. Saving, joining the rebellion, finding answers, fighting. Frozen is more complicated than that. Suspense is high in the air. The group doesn't know whether their enemies are actually their enemies, or their allies really their allies. After they discovered the Forged soldiers Frank made in Taken, the group is taken aback by shock multiple times because of betrayal. As much as the whole thing irritates me because the rebellion group is damaged, I'm impressed by how well Erin Bowman hide all those Forged soldiers. But then again, Gray is quite a bighead when it comes to observing other people, and it's no wonder that he doesn't discover those people in a short time.

Speaking of Gray, we have to talk about the characters. The relationship between them is more messed-up then in Taken. It's so freaking annoying because I'm tired of them fighting each other out of reasons that I can't even begin to imagine. I don't hate fighting, personally. But the arguments in Frozen makes my head hurt and exhausted. Their personality is also a big problem. It is not significant in Taken but now it's as bright as a beacon. They're so cranky and stiff that I just can't help but groan. I hate to say it, because the plot is so much better, but the characters are a big letdown.

And actually, now I remember to mention one flaw in the plot. Despite those betrayals, the mission to find people in AmWest is actually very easy. Almost too easy. I'm not sure whether this is a set-up for later events in the third book, but it makes me agape, like how the heck can this be so easy? I wish this is not all of the story, because I'm sure I will not be impressed.

Generally, Frozen is a better story than Taken. But I guess character improvement is needed. Imminently. 

Rating: 6.5/10

TBR #12: April 2014

This April, surprisingly, is quite uneventful comparing to the last April. But still, there are good books!

1. Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1) by Danielle Paige

Synopsis:

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened?
Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

Expected Publication: April 1, 2014

2. Gilded Ashes (Cruel Beauty) by Rosamund Hodge

Synopsis:

A romantic and fantastical reimagining of the classic Cinderella tale, Gilded Ashes is a novella by Rosamund Hodge set in the same world as the author's debut novel, Cruel Beauty.

Orphan Maia doesn't see the point of love when it only brings pain: Her dying mother made a bargain with the evil, all-powerful ruler of their world that anyone who hurt her beloved daughter would be punished; her new stepmother went mad with grief when Maia's father died; and her stepsisters are desperate for their mother's approval, yet she always spurns them. And though her family has turned her into a despised servant, Maia must always pretend to be happy, or else they'll all be struck dead by the curse.

Anax, heir to the Duke of Sardis, doesn't believe in love either—not since he discovered that his childhood sweetheart was only using him for his noble title. What's the point of pretending to fall in love with a girl just so she'll pretend to fall in love with him back? But when his father invites all the suitable girls in the kingdom to a masked ball, Anax must finally give in and select a wife.

As fate would have it, the preparations for the masquerade bring him Maia, who was asked by her eldest stepsister to deliver letters to Anax. Despite a prickly first encounter, he is charmed and intrigued by this mysterious girl who doesn't believe in love. Anax can't help wishing to see her again—and when he does, he can't help falling in love with her. Against her will, Maia starts to fall in love with him too. But how can she be with him when every moment his life is in danger from her mother's deadly bargain?

HarperTeen Impulse is a digital imprint focused on young adult short stories and novellas, with new releases the first Tuesday of each month.

Expected Publication: April 1, 2014

3. Rebel Belle (Rebel Belle #1) by Rachel Hawkins

Synopsis:

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him--and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

With snappy banter, cotillion dresses, non-stop action and a touch of magic, this new young adult series from bestseller Rachel Hawkins is going to make y'all beg for more.

Expected Publication: April 8, 2014

4. Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3) by Laini Taylor

Synopsis:

By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

Common enemy, common cause.

When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.

And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

What power can bruise the sky?

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.

At the very barriers of space and time, what do gods and monsters dream of? And does anything else matter?

Expected Publication: April 8, 2014

5. Frozen (Taken #2) by Erin Bowman

Synopsis:

The Heists were only the beginning.

Gray Weathersby escaped from the primitive town of Claysoot expecting to find answers, but what he discovered shook him to the core: A ruthless dictator with absolute power. An army of young soldiers blinded by lies. And a growing rebellion determined to fight back.

Now Gray has joined a team of rebels on a harsh, icy journey in search of allies who can help them set things right. But in a world built on lies, Gray must constantly question whether any ally—or enemy—is truly what they seem…

Expected Publication: April 15, 2014

6. Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Synopsis:

Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.

Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.

But Cassie is still missing, and the facts about what happened to her that night isn't just buried deep inside of Sam's memory-someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

Expected Publication: April 15, 2014

7. The Forever Song (Blood of Eden #3) by Julie Kagawa

Synopsis:

VENGEANCE WILL BE HERS

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster?

With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.

MONSTER

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions—her creator, Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost—the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie.

In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

Expected Publication: April 15, 2014

Check out my review here:  http://smoking-hot-books.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-forever-song-review_17.html

8. Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy #3) by Wendy Higgins

Synopsis:

It’s time.

Evil is running rampant and sweet Anna Whitt is its target. Nobody knows when or how the Dukes will strike, but Anna and her Nephilim allies will do anything necessary to rid the earth of the demons and their oppressive ways.

The stakes are higher than ever, and Anna is determined that the love she feels will be her strength, not a liability. But trying to protect the ones she loves while running for her life and battling demonic forces proves to be perilous—especially as faces are changing and trust is fleeting. When the Duke of Lust sends Anna’s great love, Kaidan Rowe, to work against her, Anna must decide how much she’s prepared to risk.

In the most sensual and fast-paced installment yet, Sweet Reckoning brings all the beloved Neph together one last time to fight for their freedom.

Expected Publication: April 29, 2014

9. The Treatment (The Program #2) by Suzanne Young

Synopsis:

Can Sloane and James survive the lies and secrets surrounding them, or will The Program claim them in the end? Find out in this sequel to The Program, which Publishers Weekly called “chilling and suspenseful.”

How do you stop an epidemic?

Sloane and James are on the run after barely surviving the suicide epidemic and The Program. But they’re not out of danger. Huge pieces of their memories are still missing, and although Sloane and James have found their way back to each other, The Program isn’t ready to let them go.

Escaping with a group of troubled rebels, Sloane and James will have to figure out who they can trust, and how to take down The Program. But for as far as they’ve come, there’s still a lot Sloane and James can’t remember. The key to unlocking their past lies with the Treatment—a pill that can bring back forgotten memories, but at a high cost. And there’s only one dose.

Ultimately when the stakes are at their highest, can Sloane and James survive the many lies and secrets surrounding them, or will The Program claim them in the end?

Expected Publication: April 29, 2014

Check out my review here: http://smoking-hot-books.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-treatment-arc-review.html

10. The Taking (The Taking #1) by Kimberly Derting

Synopsis:

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.

When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.

Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.

Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

Expected Publication: April 29, 2014

Check out my review here: http://smoking-hot-books.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-taking-arc-review.html

Movie Review: Frozen

Synopsis:

Fearless optimist Anna teams up with Kristoff in an epic journey, encountering Everest-like conditions, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf in a race to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.

***

Okay, I don't normally do movie reviews, as you know. And even if I do movie reviews, it's usually about adaptations from a book. But... well, let's see. Frozen has a high rating on IMDb, which is kind of rare. So I'm pretty curious. And I think I need to give a review, even it might not be a proper one.

Let's do a gif pic review first, shall we? Beware spoilers, by the way: (And I hope that you will not get angry during the process)

At first I was like this: 

When little Anna's solo begins:

When Anna meets Prince Hans:

When Anna meets Kristoff:

When Elsa freaks out on Anna once again and sent her a god... um ice bolt:

When Hans confesses to Anna that he's just screwing with her:

When Anna freezes into an ice staute (I mean an ice FREAKING statue):

The ending: 

Okay, let's be reminded that I'm a fifteen-year-old girl and I'm very realistic towards everything (well... except books, but even that I'm usually more realistic than others). So please don't judge me.

Maybe I should start with the good parts first. It's obvious that the animation is pretty beautiful. I always love snow (one of the reason is that I never ever EVER see snow here. And I probably never will). And I love the fact that it's set in snow. When ice formed under Elsa's fingers (or toes, depending on the situation), it's more realistic than I've ever seen. I appreciate that the creators have done a good job on making those animations. The special effects are pretty great. The sound effects are cool too. They're not as realistic as I first anticipated, but they're definitely more than good enough. So, yeah, I'm totally down with that.

And the characters are pretty likable (except maybe the bad guys. But normally no one likes the bad guys. So let's skip it). Like Kristoff. Finally he's not too much of a romantic or some sort of guy like that, because I'm FREAKING SICK OF THAT KIND. He's not dreamy. He's definitely not that handsome. He's (finally) normal. Anna is also likable as well, except maybe a little bit awkward and very reckless. But the characters... I can't say they're all good. But I'm down with them.

Now to the lecture. Before launching into any of it. I must say: I'm sorry. I'm just saying what I feel.

First is the plot. There's actually nothing wrong with the plot, because the Disney animation (the kind with romance, of course) is always like this: The boy and the girl encounters romantically or awkwardly (you pick one). And then there's either instant like or instant not-like (hate is too strong). And then the boy or the girl (usually the boy) did something pretty epic and he (or she, though rarely)steals the girl's heart and all the stuff. And then the girl either has to save the boy or vice versa, and then they succeed because of true love or all kinds of good reasons, and they live happily ever after, blah blah blah. Look I know Disney is working hard on making a change of the plots of their animation, and I really, truly appreciate that. But that's exactly the plot of Frozen. Yes, there's nothing wrong. But it's exactly why I don't like it. Because I want something different. I want something that doesn't solely focus on saving each other with true love as a cure or something like that. That's why I like Wreck-it Ralph. Okay, the message is more or less the same. All about sacrifice and stuff. But at least, for once, the romance isn't the main point. And well, if you watched Frozen, you know what I mean. All I can say is that I don't despise the plot, but I definitely don't like it.

And there's the whole almost-musical thing. The whole Anna-is-always-singing thing and stuff. I'm not here to judge the singers' voices or anything. In fact those are quite good. My point is that there's way too freaking much song in this movie (in a mere... I don't know, twenty to thirty minutes or so?) that it sounds like it's a musical rather than animation. I'm not saying a musical is not good, but the songs... they're kind of pissing me off. For once, CAN'T YOU JUST SAY SOMETHING WITH A NORMAL VOICE AND NOT A SINGING VOICE?! Because I really don't see the point of it. 

I mentioned the message. And before I whine (or whatever you call it), I want to say this: I know there's a lot of kindness and bravery and love in the movie, and I know these are the messages that Disney's trying to demonstrate, and I really, really appreciate that because they're good for children. And I also get that message and I think it's pretty good. But... well, I don't want to say too much on it because I know that I will have foot marks on my butt later. Let's just say I want something different other than love, bravery, kindness. And I'm not trying to be a downer or something. But even with all the messages delivered straight from Disney, there are still so much hatred, betrayal, cowardice, cruelty... you name it, swirling in every corner of the world. I appreciate that Disney is trying to make the world better (if that's truly their intention...). But... well, the world is not going to change unless something drastic happens, so in a way this is kind of pointless.

If I try to judge it in a technical way, Frozen is a pretty good animation movie because the effects are pretty awesome. But if I try to judge in a... spiritual way, let's just say the movie is not for me. Sure, I think this is good for the kids. But Frozen... it's just not my cup of tea.

And once again, I'm very sorry that I judged so harshly above. But this is how I truly feel about it. I hope you guys understand.

Rating: 5/10

P.S. Every time Kristoff's name appears in any way, all I can think of is: his name sounds like "piss off". No offense intended, seriously. :p

Cover Reveal: Frozen by Erin Bowman

Yep, the cover is here. I plan on reading the whole series even though this is not one of my favorite dystopian series.

Here's the cover:

Synopsis:

The Heists were only the beginning.

Gray Weathersby escaped from the primitive town of Claysoot expecting to find answers, but what he discovered shook him to the core: A ruthless dictator with absolute power. An army of young soldiers blinded by lies. And a growing rebellion determined to fight back.

Now Gray has joined a team of rebels on a harsh, icy journey in search of allies who can help them set things right. But in a world built on lies, Gray must constantly question whether any ally—or enemy—is truly what they seem…

***

Well, um, the cover is real nice just like the first one. I wonder if the book is as nice as the cover...

Frozen will be released on April 15, 2014 

Name, Cover Reveal

Names and covers. Always and forever my favorite. And we have a bunch of awesome things here:

1. Cover Reveal: The Runaway Queen (The Bane Chronicles Part 2) by Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson

Now I know what Cassie means by "The Bane Chronicles' cover will be a combination of a little bit of each cover"! And really gorgeous hand... for a warlock XD

 Synopsis:

Magnus Bane has a royal role in the French Revolution—if the angry mobs don’t spoil his spells. One of ten adventures in The Bane Chronicles.

While in France, immortal warlock Magnus Bane finds himself attempting to rescue the royal family from the horrors of the French Revolution—after being roped into this mess by a most attractive count. Naturally, the daring escape calls for invisible air balloons…

This standalone e-only short story illuminates the life of the enigmatic Magnus Bane, whose alluring personality populates the pages of the #1 New York Times bestselling series, The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices series. This story in The Bane Chronicles, The Runaway Queen, is written by Maureen Johnson and Cassandra Clare.

The Runaway Queen will be released on May 21, 2013

***

2. Name Reveal: Taken #2 by Erin Bowman

Actually I just see the name by accident. But then, it's a nice name. Although I wonder what that means... here's it:

Frozen

Interesting...
 
Frozen will be released in 2014 (no more accurate information about the release day, sorry)

***

3. Name Reveal: Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3 by Laini Taylor

The popular sequel of Days of Blood and Starlight finally has a name. Truth to be told, I'm quite pissed when I found out this book isn't released until April 2014. But finally the name is here and... aww, it is a beautiful name:

Dreams of Gods and Monsters

See that? This is surely one of my favorite book names in this year! Does that mean angels and demons can co-exist without constantly irking each other? Because that will be the best news for not just Karou and Akiva, but also us!

And just for a tease, here's the not-so-much-of-a-cover cover with the book's name on it:

I have a feeling this will be a gorgeous cover! I wonder who will be behind the words (probably Karou) and how he/she will dress...

***

The nicest part of hell breaks loose today...