THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD TRAILER

As most of you know I've been following Dakota Fanning's career since Taken (2002) and she's also one of my favourite actresses. So when I heard about this upcoming film, The Last Of Robin Hood, I've been keeping a look out for the release of the trailer, which finally came out earlier this week.

The last days in the life of legendary Hollywood actor Errol Flynn.

FURY TRAILER

The latest trailer for Fury has been released, another film that is on my most highly anticipated film of the year list. I remember when they filmed this near my area and they had a lot of problems with the locals because of noise complaints, but anyway this sure does look good. As you can probably tell I like historical films, so hopefully this might be able to join my list of historical favourites. It stars Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña, Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal, Xavier Samuel, and Scott Eastwood.

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

LIFE AFTER BETH TRAILER

The first official trailer for the highly anticipated indie film of the year, Life After Beth, was released earlier yesterday. After hearing rave reviews about this film the trailer shows that this is definitely a one of a kind film. It stars Dane Dehaan, John C. Reilly, Anna Kendrick, and Aubrey Plaza.

Zach is devastated after his girlfriend, Beth, unexpectedly dies. When she suddenly rises from the dead, he sees it as a second chance and decides to do and say every thing he wishes he had while she was still alive.

SUMMER SHOW RECOMMENDATIONS

Lots of new TV shows are starting this week and I have picked my highly anticipated shows of the summer season, so lets see what they are!

Teen Wolf
I only just got into Teen Wolf last summer and boy had I been missing out on this show! It improves with each season, with season four out this week. The cast is amazing, especially Dylan O'Brien in season three, so check out the below to see what you could potentially be missing out on!

A somewhat awkward teen is attacked by a werewolf and inherits the curse itself, as well as the enemies that come with it.

Falling Skies
I've been following this TV show ever since its debut, yes the CGI is pretty bad in its first season because of budgetary reasons, but again with each season the effects have more of a realistic feel. Steven Spielberg is one of the masterminds behind this show, so if you like his work watch the trailer!

Survivors of an alien attack on earth gather together to fight for their lives and fight back.

Defiance 
This is a relatively new show as it debut last year and with this second season the budget certainly has increased, meaning we get to see various sets other than Defiance. This show is set in the distant future with humans living alongside aliens, though they don't always see eye to eye, so its definitely a one of a kind show out there at the moment. The most intriguing thing about the show is that you can watch and play along with it on your gaming console, though I'm not technically sure which gaming platforms you can get the game on so check it out if your interested!

The series is set in the near future, where aliens known collectively as Votans have come to Earth seeking a new home after their solar system was destroyed...

Selling my books on eBay | UK Only #2

Again here is another post about eBay! I'm currently selling these ones pictured above, click here to check them out!

ZOE SUGG ANNOUNCES BOOK DEAL

Zoe Sugg announced today on her official Twitter that she has signed a book deal with Penguin UK, which she also talks about in further detail on her most recent daily vlog. The book that she is currently writing is titled Girl Online, which is aimed for a November 25th release date.

I’VE SIGNED A BOOK DEAL WITH @PenguinUKBooks and I am releasing a novel! ASADKHGKLFD So happy and excited :)

The Fault In Our Stars | Advanced UK Screening

I was lucky enough to pre-book tickets for the UK exclusive advanced screening for The Fault In Our Stars, along with the purchase of our tickets we also get a limited edition poster and a lanyard. The poster I believe is the Spanish version, so thats pretty cool and plus I prefer it to the promotional one it just seems more ethereal looking.

At the beginning of the day I read the last couple of chapters of TFIOS because I had to yet to complete it, though it didn't bring on the water works as I was already spoiled a long time ago about the ending, so yeah that was fun. After I finished it I counted down the hours to the screening that has a 6.30pm start time at my local cinema, so my sister and I made sure we left with plenty of time!

When we arrived at the cinema a booth for the merchandise was set up along with a line formation so we ran as fast as we could to join the line, which luckily got us to the front. It's a good thing to as masses of girls came through the doors and joined the line right away, the line ended all the way down the cinema! After a few minutes each person in the line was called to go up to the booth to collect their freebies, the only bad thing was that they didn't give us bags to put our posters in. So by the time we got called into the screening we had to prop them somewhere that wasn't the floor, we don't want our posters to get dirt now do we?

Now here's where my annoyance began, so after all the fangirls battled it out for the seats, which fortunately I nagged the back row seats, they began to settle down. I was quite surprised that my local cinema was packed to the brim of teenage girls and a few boys too but obviously not as many! As the lights began to dim, the screen lit up with John Green but there was no audio, it was completely mute, I can only assume he was announcing the film to us. After that the film began... still no sound, we saw  Hazel looking to the stars again assuming she's introducing us to her heartache and then we get a few flashback scenes of Hazel and Gus. Then the title, The Fault In Our Stars, appears and the next scene is of Hazel in the hospital but still no sound, there were a few other scenes and I was contemplating complaining to restart the film again because we essentially aren't getting our moneys worth, these advanced screening tickets are pricey! But the audio suddenly came back on halfway through the scene where Hazel's doctor suggested that she should attend some support groups. Okay, so thats my rant over with, I'm just annoyed that someone didn't do their job properly and no one apologised.

Due to these unfortunate events I was very disengaged towards the film, I mean I still enjoyed it but because of that fiasco it ruined the event for me. But now lets get on with this review before I get any more miserable.

It was weird seeing the book I had literary just finished reading come to life, some of the lines were exactly referencing the book. So a very surreal experience seeing this book come to life, though it isn't the first for me! Of course some scenes were added into others but I won't go into detail about it because everyone in Hollywood has seen this and read the book by now, so I would just be repeating the same old same old...

But what I will say is that I loved the movie, everything was perfect, the script, cast, cinematography, everything, and thats hard to pull off with an indie seeing as how many things that could possibly go wrong. Though there was definitely something that it was lacking, maybe because it was just so fast paced or I couldn't connect to it, its still a thought provoking movie. But one thing that may shock you is that like many others in the audience I failed to cry, it just takes a lot for a film to break me, the last film I watched recently, well the only film of the year that made me cry was The Normal Heart. So yeah, there's that, but as soon as the credits rolled on the whole audience broke down, literary crying right, left, and centre! I was quite surprised by the amount that left, which was half the audience I'd say, missing the Q&A session after the film which began straight after the credits.

The Q&A was about fifteen minutes in length maybe longer and of course the audience were only concerned about Shailene, due to the fact she was crying through the beginning of the Q&A. The one thing I noticed throughout the Q&A was that Shailene clearly had her Tris tattoos from Divergent on, which meant they filmed this pre-recording very recently as they're currently filming Insurgent.

After the session had ended we were shown a deleted scene from TFIOS, a scene including John Green! So some of you may have to wait like me (so I can fully re-watch it this time) to see the full features of the DVD, which probably won't be released until Christmas time!

****

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I saw TFIOS on Thursday 12th June at my local cinema.
As always this is an honest review.

Selling my books on eBay | UK Only

As I mentioned in a previous post I said I would later include a post of my eBay link, so I have finally listed some of the books I will be selling on eBay. The only downside is that you can only list ten items a month, but in the picture above I have a wide selection of books that will take your fancy. Of course I will only be selling my books to the UK only as international shipping is quite pricey, so sorry about that if your from across the sea!

My link... ebay.co.uk/usr/dauntlessshadowhunter 

Once I have sold these I will list the rest up at a later date along with some clothing I no longer wear, so again keep an eye out for a new eBay post or follow me on eBay. 

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

With the hype surrounding this book I wanted to be in on the secret everyone was in on, the description is very vague about what this book is actually about other that there's a big twist and the less you know the more shocking it will be.

Be prepared for a ton of spoilers...

Cadence Sinclair is among the elitist Sinclair's, three generations and Cady is the eldest of her generation. Cady's grandparents own an island that her aunts and cousins visit every summer, having the most marvellous time catching up and having debates. Cady is part of the Liars, consisting of her two cousins, Johnny and Mirren, along with their best friend Gat a non Sinclair who has been visiting the island along with Johnny's family for years. But on the fifteenth summer Cady ends up in an accident which causes her to become amnesiac. No one is allowed to tell her what happened that fateful day of the accident, only the Liars know and they aren't forthcoming.

Even though this book is very short it took me quite awhile to get through it, only after when we were introduced to Cady's amnesiac state that I started to lose interest, I just wanted to put it down and read something else. But I managed to read it all in the end and I'm still disappointed at how the events turned out, I was expecting something a little darker, stranger, more twisted, definitely not something like this.

To me the middle of the book was a waste of time, the beginning and end had structure, but the middle had none, it was very missed matched, I just got bored very easily with all these characters and their conservations. I had many theories from the beginning of the book of what could happen as we reach the end but none of them even came close.

I was intrigued with the writing style it is very metaphoric, so its something that you have to get used to or you may literary believe word for word its true, only really its just a metaphor!

The only characters I liked in the book were Johnny and Mirren, they were so close at the beginning of the book that I thought the dark twist is that their friendship would evolve into a romantic relationship, but no I was wrong, it wasn't even that sinister.

Gat became a very annoying character, I just didn't find him very likeable though he did make some good points about certain subject areas. At times I found myself asking did he cause the accident because of his shady movements, but no I was wrong again. Cady on the other hand is a very unreliable protagonist considering she's has amnesia, which is why we got fragmented memories. But I'm glad finally had the idea to write them all down to create a mind map. I questioned why Cady gave away her belongings and I guess it makes sense after reading that she gave away all her possessions because of her subconscious guilt, only she found out about that too late after she had literary given everything she once loved away.

However I liked for a fact it includes a copy of a map of the island and a family tree of the family, that way you can get to know the family before you begin to read and also use it as a reference.

I'm definitely not going to be reading this one again, this will be added to my unhaul pile, maybe its because I haven't read anything else like this before that it took me a long time to get into or that I just didn't like it in general. I just don't get the point of what this story was trying to tell, other than Cady unknowingly killed her best friends on their fifteenth summer all because they wanted to burn down the symbolic Sinclair house down. As their grandfather was so power driven that it was tearing their family apart and there was nothing they could do about it other than burn down their grandfather's pride to hurt him. Only it hurt him a lot more since it killed them, his grandchildren, and the power he hungers for still continues to this day. Maybe the message of the story is that people don't change, even after a huge catastrophe...

**

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You can buy We Were Liars online or at your nearest available bookstore.
I brought my copy for £3.99 at The Book People.

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

It has been a year since I read the previous books in the Vampire Academy series, and I have been hoping to complete the series this summer starting with Shadow Kiss. As the case with books in a series each one prompts your memory through the course of the book reminding you of what had happened in the previous books, so I was glad that Shadow Kiss gave prompts otherwise I would of have to reread Vampire Academy and Frostbite again!

Its been weeks since Mason's death and Rose carries on with her daily routine, though she also bears the wait of her guilt for causing Mason's death. Leading Rose to have visions of him, surely these are hallucinations? Without pressing this new found issue further she also has to deal with her latest assignment where all the novice guardians have to pass the field experience and of course Rose without a doubt knows that she will be positioned with guarding Lissa. But that is not the case, she is actually paired with Lissa's boyfriend, Christian, not the best of choices but she goes along with it. As the course of her field experience goes on Rose also becomes more aggressive and has sporadic episodes of rage towards people, could Rose be losing her mind, is the guilt consuming her, only time will tell.

Shadow Kiss was kind of slow paced to begin with, so it was difficult to grab my attention, but once I kept pushing through I was back into the swing of things, i.e. the Vampire Academy world! Along with Rose I kept thinking of what could possibly be wrong with her, due to the ghost sightings and that it maybe connected to her bond with Lissa. At times I began to get frustrated with Rose because she didn't tell anyone about these sightings she was visualising, but of course nothing can secret for to long in the Academy!

The pace started to take a turn at almost halfway through the book which keep me gripped, I could not put the book down! Especially the scene with with Dimitri and Rose, which I must say was pretty steamy, as I was not expecting that in any of the books to be honest, I always thought Dmitri would stick to his words, but no I was wrong.

The epic battle with Rose and Christian was pretty bad ass, I loved their team up, which I guess is the beginning of a new revolution where Moroi and guardian team ups can be just as effective. Even though there's a very mixed opinion about it being a taboo subject but I can only guess it will most definitely come into play in the next books.

When Rose decided it was time to put herself first instead of the Moroi I was glad for her, even though it was sad to say goodbye to Lissa she must carry on her own mission, a promise that she made to Dimitri a long time ago.

I do agree that with book after book in the Vampire Academy series they become more and more enthralling, its going to be such a shame when I eventually finish this series. Of course if your reading this you've already read the previous two books, so what are you waiting for? Pick up this book or if you've already read it pick up the next one (which I'm currently reading as I type this review up) because you won't want to miss out on all the action and witty comebacks this series has to offer!

*****

________________________________________________________________

You can buy Shadow Kiss online or at your nearest available bookstore.
I borrowed my copy from my sister!

DUMB AND DUMBER TO TRAILER

The official trailer for Dumb and Dumber To has been released with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprising their roles as Lloyd and Harry embarking on a new adventure.

20 years after the dimwits set out on their first adventure, they head out in search of one of their long lost children in the hope of gaining a new kidney.

LANA DEL REY ULTRAVIOLENCE

I must have missed the online release for this track but boy is it magical, its definitely another favourite from Lana Del Rey's latest album Ultraviolence, which comes out next week.

TOP 10 TV SHOWS

Here I have compiled a list of my top ten favourite TV shows that I recommend you must see once in your life, so lets begin...

1. Taken (2002)

2. Lost (2004)

3. Gossip Girl (2007)

4. Game Of Thrones (2011)

5. The Pillars Of The Earth (2010)

6. The White Queen (2013)

7. The Pacific (2010)

8. World Without End (2012)
9. Teen Wolf (2011)
10. Orphan Black (2013)

COHF UK TOUR | LONDON

This event came around pretty quickly as it only seemed like a couple of weeks ago that I actually brought the tickets! I was fortunate enough to get the tickets for the London event due to the early warning and it was the only local one I could attend. I had previously gone to last years summer signing for Clockwork Princess and also the promotion for the film adaptation for City Of Bones, with Jamie Campbell Bower as the guest.

The signing didn't start until 11am, so I had an early morning ahead of me, I woke up at 6am to get ready in time to catch the 8am train. I applied a rune, as it was forecasted to rain that morning, and put on my Herondale necklace/ring, I wore the appropriate shadowhunter gear with my black leggings,  black leather biker boots, grey 3/4 length sleeve and my black beanie hat.

So it took me slightly over an hour, travelling on the train to London and the various tubes I had to get to the destination. After that it was about another five or ten minutes walk to find the place of the event, so I'm glad I had an app for that or I would of had to of asked for directions!

When I started walking up to the place of the event there was already a line forming, but I was quite surprised that there weren't that many people there. As the line for last years one went through many streets! So I took my place in line, I estimated that about fifteen people were in front of me, I heard that some had been there since 4am! I should also mention the time we got there was 9.30am! As the time went by more and more people where joining the line, some had rune tops on and some had started to draw on runes while waiting. I think I recognised a few booktubers and even some people I follow on Twitter, but I was too shy to say hi, so sorry about that! And as previously predicted it did eventually rain, a lot actually, the organisers actually came out to apologise for the wait in the rain and that we would soon be allowed in the venue soon. So I think everyone was relieved by then, knowing that we would be inside soon, it wasn't until 11.30am that the doors were opened and we were let in one by one. Sarah Rees Brennan waited in the foyer to apologise for the rain, I didn't actually recognise it was her until she came up on the stage later... oops!

It was like a maze in the venue, we went down many flights of stairs and handed in our tickets to the ticket lady, on full view was a book display for Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan's books available to purchase. But I wanted to claim my seats before looking, so we entered the cinema and managed to get seats on the third row, this was a surprise indeed! The seats were very comfy though maybe they weren't ideal for this event as we couldn't see the stage, but we were still thankful to gets seats closer to the stage, so I guess it all worked out!

After that I went back out of the cinema and went to the book stall, I was unsure of purchasing any books at all, as I had most of Cassandra Clare's books but none of Sarah Rees Brennan's. I decided after browsing for quite some time to hold off buying anymore books, due to the fact that Waterstones  sell their books for full price, so back into the cinema I went and waited for the event to begin.

We didn't have to wait that long until the organiser announced Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan to the stage. First and foremost they asked the audience who had read City Of Heavenly Fire, a mixture of hands went up and explained they wouldn't talk about any of the spoilers but instead would read unpublished work of voicemails left on Magnus Bane's phone from Alec, Isabelle, Simon, and Clary. The timeline of the voicemails happens between City Of Lost Souls and City Of Heavenly Fire and by the angel were they funny, they had the audience completely entranced and in awe.

The voicemails took about half an hour to read back and fourth from Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan, afterwards they said they now would be open to questions and however asked first would get a Morgenstern ring! Now what was shocking about the first question was that this particular fan out right announced a major spoiler, which caused a major gasp in the audience! I, for one didn't mind as I had already read it, however the answer I was most shocked about was for the City Of Ashes script, as all the fans know the production for COA had been postponed due to the disappointing box office numbers for City Of Bones. Anyway the script included Clary splitting into two people, I know I'm like what the hell read the books, then she said Magnus was running for mayor, err isn't the point of the shadowhunter world being secret Magnus would never do that, and then here comes the finale Jace riding mermaids, I mean stick to the source material! I'm so glad they're reworking the script, I hope they've read the book this time round, but hopefully Cassandra should get news about it in the next couple of weeks, so lets hope she tells us! The Q&A went on for about half an hour, once the last question had been answered Cassandra and Sarah left the stage to take a break and also so the organisers could set up the signing on the stage. The wait again wasn't so bad, row after row was taken to join the line, while in line we had to make sure are post it notes were on the right page, I fortunately was able to get both of my books personalised. This was due to the fact that I buy all my books and share them with my sister, so she took one and I took the other. The books I decided on bringing were City Of Heavenly Fire and The Shadowhunter Codex, I would of liked to bring all my books but there was a two book limit.

Again, the wait in line wasn't long, I'd say it took about five minutes from the line to the signing stall, my sister went before me and got my copy of The Shadowhunter Codex signed, this allowed her to tell Cassandra that these books are the reason why she got back into reading again. Cassandra then asked how did she find out about the books, to which my sister replied me! This allowed me to speak to Cassandra, it was kind of a haze, I think I said something along the lines Tumblr got me to read the books and that there awesome. Once we were moved along we were handed some swag which includes of a bookmark, postcard, and a promotional flyer for The Bane Chronicles, I did notice from Instagram and Twitter that some people were handed T-Shirts as well so I don't know how they got them!

Then just like that it was all over, I think we came out of the venue about some time after 1pm, we grabbed a pizza from PizzaHut, did some window shopping and got some books! The weather surprisingly took a turn because it had become so hot and humid, we were definitely dressed wrong for the afternoon, so we decided to head home. By the time I got home it was 5pm or sometime after, I couldn't believe the day had gone so quickly it felt like two days in one!

A great big thank you is in order for Waterstones for organising such a successful event and to Cassandra and Sarah for taking the time out of their day to come talk to their fans and sign books!

TOP 10 FILMS

Here I have compiled a list of my top ten favourite films that I recommend you must see once in your life, so lets begin...

1. Gladiator (2000)
2. The Bourne Trilogy (2002-2007)
3. Lawless (2012)
4. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
5. The Patriot (2000)
6. The Island (2005)
7. The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)
8. Defiance (2008)
9. Dumb & Dumber (1994)
10. Blazing Saddles (1974)

Books I Want To See As TV Shows

The reason why I've chosen TV and not films is that a lot can go wrong with films, changes always occur, fans get angry, and it becomes a flop. However with a TV series you can build up your following and also start off with a smaller budget, though I do realise that TV shows also curve away from the source material, I do prefer this opted platform.

So here I begin with all the books, well mostly series, that I would like to see as TV shows...

The Airhead Trilogy by Meg Cabot
I had initially thought this series would make a great film franchise, but then again the films would most likely leave out all the vital information to condense it down into a two hour movie. Once I did some rethinking I'd definitely prefer this as a TV series because it would be awesome to watch, each book could fit into one or two seasons. I'd just love this story to be brought to life because it is one of my favourite trilogies of all time, though it has been awhile since I've last read it so I don't have any fan cast's, but definitely go check it out.

EM WATTS IS GONE. 

Emerson Watts didn’t even want to go to the new SoHo Stark Megastore grand opening. But someone needed to look out for her sister, Frida, whose crush, British heartthrob Gabriel Luna, would be singing and signing autographs there—along with the newly appointed Face of Stark, teen supermodel sensation Nikki Howard. 

How was Em to know that disaster would strike, changing her—and life as she’d known it—forever? One bizarre accident later, and Em Watts, always the tomboy, never the party princess, is no longer herself. Literally.

The Spy Girl Series by Carol Hedges
There are currently four books in this series and I'm still wishing for more, but its been years since the last one was published so its very unlikely. I'd love to see this brought to TV screens, there's so many action packed sequences and many mysteries within this series, I'd definitely say it has some similarities as Veronica Mars, however the setting is the UK instead of the sunny US.

Alex Rider meets Nancy Drew in a futuristic spy thriller full of adventure and suspense. Jazmin Dawson's alter ego, Jaz, is a gorgeous super-spy, and she doesn't have a serious snack habit, unlike Jazmin herself. In real life, the closest Jazmin gets to dangerous missions is waving goodbye to her mum, who works for secret intelligence.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
This is one of those life altering books where you put everything about life into perspective, this is also one of my first reads of the after life and I absolutely loved it, definitely a tearjerking book and it does take a lot for a book to break me. Gabrielle Zevin already has one of her books made into a movie, which is Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac, but I think Elsewhere would make a great series though it would have to be quite small, so maybe two or three seasons. But I would reconsider if it were optioned into a movie, it would just have to be handled right or people wouldn't understand the concept behind Elsewhere.

Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice.

Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

 Penryn & The End Of Days Series by Susan Ee
I love love love this angel series, it definitely falls behind the shadowhunter world in that department, I believe this series has five books though there could be more. I have heard this series has been optioned for film, but as of yet no one is attached to the project, so it could be many months or years before we hear of any developments. The reason why this would work out better as a TV show is that a lot of key information would be cut in order to produce a two hour film, and that key information connects to the later books in this series. It would be entirely lost on the audience, losing the shock factor of all the twists and turns we find along the way of this amazing series. Again, there isn't an existing series out there like this one, which will make it a unique TV show.

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. 

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel. 

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl. 

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

What do you think of my list? Should these books be adapted to TV or film? Are there any other books you want to see adapted for screen?

Shameless USA

I've heard about the American remake of the UK series, Shameless, for a while now, so when I watched Vampire Academy starring Cameron Monaghan I just had to start to series and also because of Noel Fisher who I've watched in previously in The Riches and Hatfield's & McCoy's, both of their acting performances are phenomenal.

Shameless follows the lives of the Gallagher family, Fiona, Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam, along with their friends Kev and V, and also some minor characters who work their way up to becoming regulars. Essentially the head of the Gallagher family is supported by big sister Fiona, she dropped out of school many years ago to work multiple jobs to keep the bills at bay and to feed all her other siblings. Since her mother, Monica, bailed and their dad Frank is an alcoholic who uses his persuasion to manipulate others into giving him what he wants and does nothing to support the family unless theres money involved. Episode by episode we see how the Gallagher's are affected by their somewhat alternative upbringing led by their drug addicted parents and its up to Fiona to set an example for the kids.

It stars William H. Macy as Frank, Emmy Rossum as Fiona, Jeremy Allen White as Lip, Cameron Monaghan as Ian, Emma Kenney as Debbie, Ethan Cutkosky as Carl, Brenden Sims as Liam, Steve Howey as Kev, Shanola Hamton as V, and many more notable actors.

It took me about just under two weeks to marathon series one to four, I'm now officially obsessed with this series and I'm sad along with the fans of the show that we have to wait until next year for series five. It's definitely something that I have not watched before so I can't really compare it to any existing shows that are similar to Shameless, but what I can suggest is that you watch the series one trailer to see if this is a show you would be interested in.

I've never shipped a couple more than I ship Ian and Mickey, their relationship goes from constants highs to lows, much like Ian's mental state. My other character favourites include more of the Gallagher kids which are Fiona and Lip, both of had a rough upbringing being the two eldest kids. Fiona has to inevitably take on the role as their mother, which is why she has been in so much trouble recently because she never had much of a childhood she had to grow up straight away. This has led to her getting into serious trouble and sometimes not making the best of choices which is where Lip comes in to ground Fiona and tell her the effects of her consequences without holding back. Lip is also one of the smartest Gallagher kids by getting the highest grades in school and also being accepted into a scholarship program for an elite science university.

I can't wait to see what happens next for the Gallagher family in series five considering all the drama they went through in series four.

A NEW ACTOR JOINS THE CAST OF INSURGENT

Empire Online are reporting that the actress Naomi Watts has secured the role of Evelyn, Tobias Eaton's mother. Evelyn appears in both Insurgent and Allegiant, she plays a very pivotal role that determines the outcome in both books. The casting choice of Watts isn't someone I would of thought of as she doesn't fit the description, however her acting is incredible, especially in The Impossible. I can't wait to see how she will transform into the role of Evelyn, bringing her character to life.

Watts, who will soon head to the Atlanta set to start work, has scored the role of Evelyn, leader of the Factionless. They’re the people in the future society who weren’t selected for any of the various factions, or were dismissed from those they were sorted into originally.

LOVE ROSIE TRAILER #3

Another trailer for Love, Rosie has been released and this time it features more screen time between Lily Collins and Sam Claflin, who play best friends Rosie and Alex.

Rosie and Alex are best friends. They are suddenly separated when Alex and his family move from Dublin to America. Can their friendship survive years and miles? Will they gamble everything for true love?

City Of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Many of us in the shadowhunter fandom have been highly anticipating the outcome of the final book of The Mortal Instruments series, City Of Heavenly Fire, I've been waiting two years, well slightly under two years for the release of this epic conclusion and boy was I surprised when it turned up four days before the UK initial release date. So here begins my breakdown of CoHF, I'm probably going to spoilerfy this review so don't read on unless you've already read it or if you just want to know what happens knowing spoilers will be visible.

Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, and Alec must prepare to reclaim the shadowhunters victory by defeating Sebastian, Clary's own brother, and his Dark Army before the world starts to turn to ash. 

People will die, alliances will be made, other will be betrayed.

It's been awhile since I've been in the shadow hunter world, the last book I've read being Clockwork Princess, but luckily I was prompted by Cassandra Clare with her quick recaps over what had happened previously. Like the two previous books, City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls, we were given other point of views other than Clary, these consisted of chapters from the eyes of Emma Carstairs, Jordan, Maia, Magnus, Sebastian, and the Seelie Queen, a very large variation of characters giving us the insight of what they're up to knowing that the other characters will be totally unaware of each others actions. All these point of views are vital to the reader to follow each and every character and how their decisions will affect the epic conclusion, if you look closely you'll be able to see what's going to happen a mile away but if you let your guard down you won't see it coming at all.

At first I found the prologue to be quite slow paced, this was probably due to being introduced to another new character, one that is very important, Emma Carstairs, and the Blackthorn family are the new characters we will be following in the next shadowhunter series, The Dark Artifices, set five years from the events in The Mortal Instruments. So it's no wonder that we were introduced to them early on and see there younger selves and how these events will affect there day to day life in The Dark Artifices. At times I did want to skip these parts but as I mentioned before these point of views are very vital in the story telling process and how they connect to each other.

We were also introduced to old characters, and I mean really really old characters, yes thats right you guessed it... Brother Zachariah, aka Jem, and not forgetting Tessa. I was so happy to find out that these two would be appearing in CoHF, I just love how these characters are constantly crossing over into all the shadowhunter series and how they react to some certain characters. I especially can't wait to read about their upcoming adventures, though I was sad to learn my copy of CoHF didn't have the exclusive comic of Jem and Tessa's wedding, so it looks like I'm going to have to find a copy in a bookstore and just read it in there!

I've read quite a few reviews already about this topic, which is about how the characters react to other character deaths, and that is simply because they have no time to mourn the dead. They've been through so much already that they need to pull all their strength together to beat Sebastian and his Dark Army before their emotions consume them. Though it is evident they struggle to contain their emotions throughout, which causes arguments to break out and not seeing eye to eye over tactics. 

Something that the Clave tended to overlook was Clary's relationship with Sebastian and that she is the key over defeating him. I'm guessing after the event of CoHF they've got some major restructuring to do within the Clave and how they handle threats previously made towards them.

Now its time to discuss the six deaths that could be inevitably prevented, some who I had predicted there deaths months ago. Once I read through each death I didn't feel any emotion towards any of them, other than the last one, but I suppose you can only resurrect a certain amount of times otherwise it becomes predictable and less of a shock. Some of you may know who I'm talking about, which leads to the next part, something that I could not process what was happening, the majority of that time I was thinking is this real...

Two words, Part Two, yes I said two twice, now it's three times, anyway that scared the hell out of me I was pretty much thinking they had gone into some alternative universe, seeing that they entered a demon realm maybe this universe was their hell. But no it was just a demon messing with their inner emotions, Clary's alternate reality was just perfection, I mean from reading that scene I could tell this is totally going to become a fanfic right now. Cassandra Clare is such a tease, messing with us like that!

But when my emotions were at there highest it was the last chapter and well the majority of the epilogue, I did not expect any of that coming at all. Though I did have a theory a certain character would become mortal again, so I was right about that but not about the process in which that would happen. It was heartbreaking to see these characters interact and knowing the other has no memory of the other, that was just a stab in the heart, its something that no-one should go through, especially after all they've been through. 

So now it's finally over, its kind of sad knowing that we'll never read about these characters again, but I can't wait to see the characters who survived City of Heavenly Fire appear in the next shadowhunter series, which of course as you know by now will be The Dark Artifices. I think CoHF is one of my new favourites in the series, though it does come in third place, second is City of Glass and first is City of Bones. The characters were very well written and definitely developed over the course of the book, considering how far they've all come on this journey together. I really like how we were given a bittersweet ending that I believe that everyone will approve of, as many people have already said its a sad, but happy ending.

Thank you Cassandra Clare for this amazing universe you have created and keep on creating, I look forward to reading all the other shadowhunter series you plan to bring out.

*****

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You can get City Of Heavenly Fire online or at your nearest available bookstore.
I brought my copy which I preordered from The Book Depository.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII CAST ANNOUNCEMENT

Total Film are reporting that Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie have been confirmed as cast members for the next Star Wars instalment. Nyong'o and Christie will join the star studded cast thats so far been announced to the public which includes, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Peter Mayhew, John Boyega, Max von Sydow, Kenny Baker, Daisy Ridley, and Anthony Daniels.

Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie have joined the cast of J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII, Lucasfilm has confirmed.

May Book Haul #2

I really thought I wouldn't be purchasing any more books this month but when The Book People kept sending emails to me about their amazing deals I had to check out what was on offer. So from the picture above you'll be able to see what caught my eye!

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

A beautiful and distinguished family.A private island.  

A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. 

A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. 

A revolution. 

An accident. 

A secret. 

Lies upon lies. 

True love. 

The truth.

I initially heard about this book towards the end of 2013 or even they beginning of this year, either way I had wanted to get my hands on this one for such a long time because of the rave reviews. So I'm glad I own a physical copy and I can't wait to see what everyone is talking!

Blood Red Road & Rebel Heart by Moira Young

In a lawless land, where life is cheap and survival is hard, Saba has been brought up in isolated Silverlake. She never sees the dangers of the destructive society outside. When her twin brother is snatched by mysterious black-robed riders, she sets out on an epic quest to rescue him.

I heard a lot of talk about this trilogy on social networking sites this past month, mainly coming from booktuber Raeleen absolutely praising this book. With the release of the third and final book I will wait for it to come down in price so that I can marathon the series without trying to remember what happened in the previous books.

The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness

Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

I was first introduced to Patrick Ness by one of April Brooks booktube videos where she highly recommended this trilogy, so I made a mental note to keep this trilogy on my wish list. I can't believe I got the whole set for such a bargain from The Book People with it being £5 in total, so I could not pass this offer up!

AFFLUENZA TRAILER

When this trailer popped up the IMDb trailer gallery, I was immediately drawn to it because of the strange title it was given, which thanks to google Affluenza means 'a psychological malaise supposedly affecting young wealthy people, symptoms of which include a lack of motivation, feelings of guilt, and a sense of isolation.' From the summary the film takes place in 2008, the year of financial turmoil, and by viewing the trailer it seems to have quite a substantial effect on the rich elitist kids. I'm quite surprised this hasn't had much buzz on any social networking sites but I do look forward to seeing this whenever they decide to release it, because as of yet it hasn't got any release dates for any other countries other than the US. Affluenza stars Gregg Sulkin, Nicola Peltz, Ben Rosenfield, and Grant Gustin.

An aspiring young photographer finds himself caught up in a heady world of money, sex, and privilege when he moves to wealthy Long Island in the summer of 2008.

KILL THE MESSENGER TRAILER

I always look forward to see Jeremy Renner's work, so when the trailer for his latest film came out this week I had to watch it straight away. Kill The Messenger is a very intriguing film and the fact that its based on a true story interests me even more, so I'll definitely add this film on my 'to see at the cinema' list. It stars Jeremy Renner, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michael Sheen, Ray Liotta, and Barry Pepper.

A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.

ANNIE TRAILER

The latest trailer for this years remake of Annie was released earlier this week, it stars Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Rose Byrne, and Quvenzhané Wallis. This trailer has yet to show any of the cast members sing, so I'm not exactly sure how different this version of Annie will be compared to the original. But with most remakes nowadays they tend to modernise it for its intended target audience, so there might actually be unexpected outbursts of song.

Business tycoon and mayoral candidate Benjamin Stacks launches a campaign to take in Annie, a young girl who has been living with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan since her parents left her as a baby.