Music and Their Theme Songs - Volume 16

FIRST MUSIC AND THEIR THEME SONGS BLOG POST OF 2013! Are you excited? And if not, why not? I have music to share with you! I do hope you enjoy these songs choices! So, here you go. Enjoy!

NIGHT SCHOOL: LEGACY by C J Daugherty
"Speak Up" by POP ETC & "1957" by Milo Greene



ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll
"You Are Old, Father William" by They Might Be Giants


CALLUM by Malorie Blackman
"Flaws and Ceilings" by Frank Hamilton


FUSE by Julianna Baggott
"Fire In The Water" by Feist, "Machines in Love" by Ben Munson, "Monkeybirds" by Iain Bellamy (Unable to Share This Song, I'm afraid) & "We Are Broken" by Paramore




UNDONE by Cat Clarke
"Autumn Tree" by Milo Greene


PANTOMIME by Laura Lam
"Little Dreams" by Ellie Goulding

GoodRead - Pantomime

I have ACTUALLY no idea how to review this for you guys. Absolutely none! Will explain why in a tick, but let me tell you how I got my copy. I got it from Vivenne from Serendipity Reviews who was my UKYABB Secret Santa. She gave me this (and a hardback of The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross) and I actually got excited. I have been drooling over this book since I first heard of it. It just sounded right up my street! Fantasy? In a circus? PERFECT!

So, Pantomime. In Ellada, R.H. Ragona's Circus of Magic is the circus. Nestled within the blue Penglass - remnants of a civilisation that has long since vanished - the circus is the place where anything is possible. And the perfect place to hide...

Gene is uncomfortable with her life in corsets and dances. She would rather prefer climbing a tree. Micah Grey is a runaway. He joins the circus to escape the dangers of the street. Both have secrets. Both have a balancing act to perform, and one wrong move could spell the end...

Now, I see you guys reading that and go "and your problem in reviewing this book is...?". Well, Pantomine is a book of secrets. There are so many secrets in here - and there's one that I'm pretty certain will shock/surprise/have you rereading the previous paragraphs going "What? What?! Where did THAT come from?!". And because of this, writing this review with spoilers is going to be a nightmare! I always let something slip when I write reviews so this is gonna be interesting challenge for me.

Anyway, the book. I loved it! I loved how Laura wrote the life of the circus and all the characters within the Big Top. How she made each character have layers that, when you first meet them, you didn't think they had. Laura write circus life as hard word (like any other job) but she adds depth to this gaslight fantasy/steampunk world that she's writing (and the fact there is a sequel makes me very happy!).

Though this is very fantasy, you read about relationships and sexuality, and Laura writes these moments well. There were times I wondered (and still do) if I thought I saw moments of a bisexual love triangle (something which I haven't read in YA ever!) and that's what makes this book so brilliant.

This book is unlike anything I have ever read. It is so different and so unique, I don't think I can do it justice in a review without spoilers. So, am going to stop this review now and just say the following: I want the sequel. I want the sequel now!

James Dawson and Neil Gaiman News!

You never thought I would EVER write a blog post with THAT title, did ya? 

I have news from the world of James Dawson and Neil Gaiman. First, let's tackle James Dawson. Today, James and his UK publishers, Indigo, unveiled the cover to his second novel, Cruel Summer. And here it is...

You like? It's so different from his cover of Hollow Pike. But I love Hollow Pike so am super excited for this book! And here, to wet your appetites, is a short summary of the book:

Ryan is looking forward to spending the summer with his old school friends at Katie’s luxurious Spanish villa. He hasn’t seen the gang since their friend, Janey, committed suicide a year ago. He hopes this summer they’ll be able to put the past behind them and move on – until someone else arrives, claiming to have proof that Janey’s suicide was murder – and it’s only a matter of time until her killer strikes again…

Ryan was hoping for sun, sea and sand. Suddenly, he’s facing a long, hot summer of death, drama and deceit . . .

(The Cover and the summary were taken from the author's website of jamesdawsonbooks.com)

And now, to the world of Neil Gaiman. And he's a busy man, is Mr Gaiman. Not only has he written his second episode for Doctor Who (which is entitled The Last Cyberman), an adult novel coming out in May (The Ocean At The End of the Lane), and he's published a picture book (Chu's Day), but Neil has written a book for younger readers. But why am I telling you this: let's the author tell you himself. 



Fortunately, the Milk will be out in September (so FAR AWAY!!!) but it looks to be as mad as a box of frogs. I can not WAIT to read this, even though I am suppose to be a grown up (when has that ever stopped me?). Also, Neil is introducing and having a story featured in a collection of beastly tales called Unnatural Creatures (it's not about book bloggers, I have been informed...) so, if you are a Neil Gaiman fan, this is your lucky year!

SMILE - They Should Remake The Lord Of The Rings Like This...!

Source: themetapicture.com via Andrew on Pinterest

I have no idea who uploaded this onto Pinterest, but thank you whoever you are!

GoodRead - Undone

As you guys are probably aware, I am a a bit of a Cat Clarke fan. So, if you are expecting a non-bias review... er... you might want to go somewhere else.

Actually, I nearly didn't review Undone. Alice from Quercus tried to send me Undone several times before I got it (third times the charm!). I think either the previous parcel got lost in the post, the postman's a Cat Clarke fan too or my family and other half bribed the postman to "lose" my mail if it looks booky.

Anyway, Undone. Jem has been in love with her best friend, Kai, since she first met him. The fact he's gay makes things kinda difficult, but she's getting over that. And then something unspeakable happens: Kai's outed on the internet. And Kai kills himself.

Jem is beside herself. Her best friend died. She can't see a way forward. Until she decides to find out who posted that video, and make them pay in the cruelest way possible...

I feel like I've been saying this a lot about this book: this is Cat's most powerful book to date. She doesn't flinch away from the subject matter - grief, homophobia, bullying, discrimination, suicide, the damages of lies just to name a few - so if you don't like reading about these, stay away from this book. But Cat seems to get under Jem's skin while writing and, though she does things in her act of revenge I can't forgive for (not gonna spoil), you kinda understood what drove Jem to do the things she did in the extreme ways she did.

Jem's grief speaks volumes and when you get to read Kai's letters to Jem... I know book bloggers who have read this book and have sobbed while reading Kai's letters. I got kinda choked up over Kai's March and July. So, yeah... unless you have a heart made of stone or sold your emotions on eBay, you will probably cry or feel on the verge of crying. You have been warned.

There is something that might bother some of you guys (apart from the possible crying) is the language. While swear words don't bother me (and I think Cat gets wayward teens better than anyone - maybe Hollyoaks should hire her as head scriptwriter...), I sense it might bother some of you. So, if you have issues on swearing and underage sex (amongs other things), you might want to avoid.

While I guessed one twist early on, Cat nails it with the twists that follow at a stupid pace.

Unflinching, uncomfortable at times yet unputdownable. This is Cat Clarke's best novel to date.




PS - I don't normally do this, but as this book deals with issues that I think need addressing, I feel have to write this. So, if any of the issues in this book affect you, please contact one of the following as I think these are very helpful:

The Samaritians (UK) - http://www.samaritans.org/
Childline (UK) - http://www.childline.org.uk/
Stonewall (UK) - http://www.stonewall.org.uk/
The Trevor Project (US) - http://www.thetrevorproject.org/

GoodRead - Beautiful Creatures Movie Companion

You must think I'm a little weird, seeing as I've recently enjoy reading movie-related books. It's only been in the last few years that I've got into the "How is a movie made" (here are my reviews of Harry Potter: Page to Screen & The Art of the Avengers) and I have two more lurking in my stacks that I am SUPER excited to read as I ADORE THE MOVIES (am going to keep them secret but I have tweeted them so if you follow me on Twitter, you should know...)

Anyway, Beautiful Creatures: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion is basically what it says on the tin. This is the illustrated book, talking about how the movie (based on the novel by Kami Gracia and Margaret Stohl - and yes, I have read that and its sequel. Will be reading the third and fourth book in the series sometime this year!) was made. From design, make-up, editing and special effects. With quotes from both the authors, the director, the actors, and other people behind the screens.

And it was interesting. I am a geek to this side of movies so to read about how the authors felt when they walked onto site the first day and hearing from make-up and SFX team made the famous "Dining Room" and Casters Ball was interesting and fascinating.

Although, it was missing things. It missed how the actor who played Ethan, Alden Ehrenreich, got the role (the original actor couldn't get a visa for filming, if I remember) or how Alice Englert (Lena) actually refused the role a few times before accepting it. Or how the screenwriter decided what was going to be in the movie and what wouldn't. It's the little things, I know, but it would have been interesting to hear how/why this happened.

This is a fan book. If you are a fan of the Beautiful Creatures series or the movie, you are going to love this as this explains how the movie was created, this is gonna be perfect for you. If not, you might read this and find it a bit lacking.

Ok, I can talk about my reactions to the movie now as I saw it a few days ago (with my other half who I dragged and who had to watch me go "This movie!" while having an annoying couple whispering behind us and a couple several seats away eating VERY LOUD food). So, reactions: I am really surprised how much I enjoyed watching the movie. It was fun. It took the book and made a movie out of it. And you didn't have to have read the book before you watch the movie to get it. You could watch the movie without any knowledge and you would get what's going on. Things happened in the movie that didn't happen in the book and things happened in the book that wasn't in the movie, but these are two very different media. There are faults (the accents was one and a few things were a bit predictable), but it was fun and enjoyable. My opinion, but have you seen the movie? Do you agree or not? LET ME KNOW!!! 

SMILE - Was Giving Her A Library Such A Good Idea?

My thanks to the lovely SisterSpooky. Your tumblr rocks! 

Love is Magic...

To those in love, Happy Valentine's Day. To those who are single, Happy Me Day. 

The images are taken from **** Yes, Once Upon A Time tumblr.