Happy Halloween!

Hello!

I don't know about everywhere else in the world, but here in America, we get a little crazy around this time of year.

Why?

Well, the leaves are changing, it's finally sweater weather (in some places), the stores are filled with pumpkin spice everything (and I mean everything), and, last but not least...

IT'S HALLOWEEN TIME, BABY!

Here's a little history of Halloween for those of you not in the know:

1. Originates in the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) where the veil between the land of the living and the land of the dead was blurred.

2. Celts sacrificed animals and crops to the Gods, wore costumes, and tried to tell each other's fortunes.

3. the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups as well as the Native Americans meshed, an American version of Halloween was born.

4. Involved fortune-telling, ghost stories, mischief, sharing stories of the dead, and harvest celebrations

5. Irish immigrants spread the holiday and introduced dressing in costumes and going from door to door asking for money and candy (Trick-or-Treat!)

6. Irish also brought over the tradition of carving faces into pumpkins (large turnips and potatoes were originally used in Ireland) to scare off evil spirits (Jack-O-Lanterns!)

This is my favorite time of the year, and so I've prepared a list of movies that you can watch to commemorate today, which I'm going to put down below (not in any particular order).

Hope you have a lovely Halloween!

1. Beetlejuice

Rated PG

2. Edward Scissorhands

Rated PG-13

3. Van Helsing

Rated PG-13

4. Dark Shadows

Rated PG-13

5. Corpse Bride

Rated PG

6. Addams Family Values

Rated PG-13

7. Young Frankenstein

Rated PG

8. Interview with the Vampire

Rated R

9. Ghostbusters

Rated PG

10. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Rated R

11. Hocus Pocus

Rated PG

12. It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Rated G

13. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Rated PG

P.S. If you would like some spooky books to read, check out my October Reads list here!

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

   I HAVE A CURSE.   
I HAVE A GIFT.
   I'M A MONSTER.   
I'M MORE THAN HUMAN.
   MY TOUCH IS LETHAL.   
MY TOUCH IS POWER.
   I AM THEIR WEAPON.   
I WILL FIGHT BACK.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time - and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.
In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a riveting dystopian world, a thrilling superhero story, and an unforgettable heroine.

MY REVIEW

I picked up this book because I got to read a piece of the first chapter, which I have put down below in the EXCERPT section, and I liked the character and the way that she described things, the way that she saw the world.
Man, was I in for a good one.
Not only is this book gripping (it had me reading pages while I waited for food, when I had free time, right before bed, etc.), but the romance scenes actually made me blush.
That's right, I said blush.
The moment that I stepped into Juliette's world, I was hooked. Juliette was such a likable character, she didn't want anyone to touch her because of what it did to them, no matter how she herself felt while being touched. She made a line in the sand, and she fought tooth and nail for that rule to be kept.
And the other main character, the boy she finds herself stuck in a cell with, is actually a great compliment to Juliette, and has a couple of surprises that I wasn't ready for. Not going to tell you what the surprises were because... Well, you know. But in the end he really does care for Juliette, no matter how messed up she was inside. It was cute. It was very easy to fall in love with the characters. And the plot kept my head spinning, wondering what was going to happen next.
I know you're probably asking yourself: What could possibly happen in a little cell between two people who've never met? Actually, a lot. In the cell, you find out more about each of the characters, why they are in the cell in the first place.
Also, I've never seen a writer who uses the book as a literal journal, with lines crossed out like this, but that is what this author does. And when she does, you can get little glimpses of what Juliette is really thinking, despite how she acts. This especially happens when her and her cellmate meet, there's a lot of confessions real thought put in the book. It's certainly a lot more interesting saying "I wanted to trust him I didn't trust him." than "I wanted to trust him, but I didn't." You know?
All in all, if you're in the mood for a book that will keep you up in the night, with characters that are as interesting as they are lovable, and with a fun writing style, then this book is the one for you.

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"My eyes open to 2 eyes 2 lips 2 ears 2 eyebrows.
I stifle a scream my urgency to run the crippling horror gripping my limbs.
"You're a b-b-b-b--"
"And you're a girl." He cocks an eyebrow. He leans away from my face. He grins but he's not smiling and I want to cry, my eyes desperate, terrified, darting toward the door I'd tried to open so many times I'd lost count. They locked me in with a boy. A boy.
Dear God.
They're trying to kill me.
They've done it on purpose.
To torture me, to torment me, to keep me from sleeping through the night ever again. His arms are tatted up, half sleeves up to his elbows. His eyebrow is missing a ring they must've confiscated. Dark blue eyes dark brown hair sharp jawline strong lean frame. Gorgeous Dangerous. Terrifying. Horrible.
He laughs and I fall off my bed and scuttle into the corner.
He sizes up the meager pillow on the spare bed they shoved into the empty space this morning, the skimpy mattress and threadbare blanket hardly big enough to support his upper half. He glances at my bed. Glances at his bed.
Shoves them both together with one hand. Uses his foot to push the two metal frames to his side of the room. Stretches out across the two mattresses, grabbing my pillow to fluff up under his neck. I've begun to shake.
I bite my lip and try to bury myself in the dark corner.
He's stolen my bed my blanket my pillow.
I will have nothing but the floor.
I will never fight back because I'm too petrified too paralyzed too paranoid.
"So you're - what? Insane? Is that why you're here?"
I'm not insane.
He props himself up enough to see my face. He laughs again. "I'm not going to hurt you."
I want to believe him I don't believe him.
"What's your name?" he asks.
None of your business. What's your name?
I hear his irritated exhalation of breath. I hear him turn over on the bed that used to be half mine. I stay awake all night. My knees curled up to my chin, my arms wrapped tight around my small frame, my long brown hair the only curtain between us.
I will not sleep.
I cannot sleep.
I cannot hear those screams again."

pages 3-4

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Listen to this song that really captures the feeling of loneliness that Juliette wrestles with in the book!

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

MARE BARROW'S WORLD IS DIVIDED BY BLOOD - 
those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own - an ability she didn't know she had. Except... her blood is Red.
To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard - the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, putting prince against prince - and Mare against her own heart.
From debut author Victoria Aveyard comes a lush, vivid fantasy series where loyalty and desire can tear you apart and the only certainty is betrayal.

MY REVIEW

As you can imagine, when describing this book to others, you sort of have a hard time doing so. There are just too many elements to this story, just enough plot twists in it that sometimes you just end up saying "You just have to read it and figure it out." I figured out a way to describe this book in the simplest way possible, however. I describe it as a mix between Cinderella and X-Men. Now this isn't a perfect description because the people with powers aren't in hiding, but rule the entire government, and Mare's family doesn't hate her, only wish that she would find another way to make money other than stealing, but it allows for the person that you are talking to to get the basics of the story to ask more questions.

This is the cover of the next book in this series. Can't wait to read it! :)

Now that I've gone through the very basics of the story, let's talk about it. Despite my anti-romantic tendencies, the romance in this book didn't bother me at all. When Mare and a stranger met while she was stealing from him, at first glance I shipped them. (Meaning: to endorse a romantic relationship, for those of you less internet-savvy.) I sort of guessed who he was in the beginning, but I'm not going to tell you so that you can figure it out... ;)

This is a map of the kingdom where this story takes place. As you can see, it is set in a futuristic North America.

The whole point of this book, in my eyes, is that while Mare is in the palace, you and her get to discover who she can trust, and who she really can't. I had sort of figured out the main betrayal in the beginning, but I stayed around to see what that person would do. This is the mark of really good writing, because if you couldn't piece together the pieces on your own, or if the person (let's say) who committed the murder was nowhere on the suspect list in the first place, that would just make the reader really frustrated with you as a writer. A good writer, however, leaves little clues for both you, the reader, to figure out along with the character.

"Their blood is a threat, a warning, a promise. We are not the same and never will be."

Another thing - in front of the millions of cameras, in front of the Reds and all of the Silvers, Mare has to hide who she really is so that she isn't killed. A Red has never been seen with any kind of power, so the King and Queen force her to act as a Silver should. Her normal, comfortable clothes are replaced with silk and jewels, her conversation turned polite. Her skin is painted white to hide her Red identity, her hair pulled into fancy up-dos instead of just hanging around her face. A lot of us don't think about just how much work actually goes into being a royal, but this book makes it very clear that it is no walk in the park. Not even being born into it makes it easy.

"I see a world on the edge of a blade. Without balance, it will fall."

Now, there is a little love triangle (or at some point, a love square, where Mare has to pick between three guys), but it didn't bother me as much as it did in books like Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The romance in this book isn't the main focus. Like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Mare is mostly just focused on surviving, or saving other Reds from the Silvers, which makes her a lot more interesting.

"I'm an accident. I'm a lie. And my life depends on maintaining the illusion."

Along with that, there is a resistance group who call themselves the Scarlet Guard, who are the first to try and fight back for the Red's enslavement to the uncaring Silvers. No one has ever done this before because the Silvers are terrifying. What hope would any of us have against someone with superhuman strength, or who can control the elements that are around you? Knowing all of that, they still fight back, and that makes them suicidal or brave, depending on your mindset. There is a secret, however, that could tip the balance in their favor, but you'll have to read the book to figure that out...

"Spoilers"

All in all, this book is amazing. There are plot twists that you will never see coming, characters that you will instantly distrust, fall in love with, and hate. There are quotes in this book that are really powerful, but I'm afraid that giving them to you would lead to spoilers, and we can't have that.

The question is this: When you are stuck between a rock and a hard place, between saving the helpless and silent, or saving yourself, would you rise, red as the dawn?

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"All I see is purple as I fall, the lightning shield rising up to meet me. It hisses with electricity, singeing the air. I barely have time to understand, but I know the veined purple glass will cook me alive, electrocuting me in my red uniform. I bet the Silvers will only care about waiting for someone to clean me off.
My head bangs against the shield, and I see stars. No, not stars. Sparks. The shield does its job, lighting me up with bolts of electricity. My uniform burns, scorched and smoking, and I expect to see my skin do the same. My corpse will smell wonderful. But, somehow, I don't feel a thing. I must be in so much pain that I cannot feel it.
But - I can feel it. I feel the heat of the sparks, running up and down my body, setting every nerve on fire. It isn't a bad feeling though. In fact I feel, well, alive. Like I've been living my whole life blind and now I've opened my eyes. Something moves beneath my skin, but it's not the sparks. I look at my hands, my arms, marveling at the lightning as it glides over me. Cloth burns away, charred black by the heat, but my skin doesn't change. The shield keeps trying to kill me, but it can't.
Everything is wrong.
I am alive."

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Watch the music video for a song that was based off of this book!:

Listen to two songs that Victoria Aveyard say remind her most of Mare!:

Take this quiz by team Epic Reads to see what power you would have! (If you were a Silver)

Listen to Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen playlist from Spotify!
(She also has one for Glass Sword, the next book!)

Sword Art Online: Aincrad vol. 1 by Reki Kawahara

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

READ THE NOVEL THAT IGNITED THE PHENOMENON!
In the year 2022, gamers rejoice as Sword Art Online - a VRMMORPG (Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) like no other - debuts, allowing players to take full advantage of the ultimate in gaming technology: NerveGear, a system that allows users to completely immerse themselves in a wholly realistic gaming experience. But when the game goes live, the elation of the players quickly turns to horror as they discover that, for all of its amazing features, SAO is missing one of the most basic functions of any MMORPG - a log-out button. Now trapped in the virtual world of Aincrad, their bodies held captive by NerveGear in the real world, users are issued a chilling ultimatum: conquer all one hundred floors of Aincrad to regain your freedom. But in the warped world of SAO, "Game Over" means certain death - both virtual and real...

MY REVIEW

Since I was a little girl. I've always been into MMORPGs like Runescape, Star Trek Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, among many others. When I was in middle school, I suddenly got into a new (to me) genre of TV: anime. And it was only a couple of months ago that I stumbled upon a show that melded my two favorite things into one beautifully told story. That was Sword Art Online.

Now, I know what you're thinking: that sounds just like Spy Kids 3, and that was one of the worst things that was part of my childhood/life. No way I'm checking this out! Well, dear reader, I am very (I repeat; VERY) happy that it is nothing like that mashup of actors and bad scenes that was Spy Kids 3. It's very easy to like the introverted, awkward character that is Kirito, and the determined, powerful girl that is Asuna.

"It's just a video game, right?"

When we're playing video games, whether it is on XBox, Playstation, Wii (okay, maybe not Wii...), or PC, it is impossible sometimes to count the amount of times that you've died. But in this world, there are no second chances, which is SO terrifying! If I played Tomb Raider like this, I would be dead in no time! (Though playing it with NerveGear would be the coolest!) And since everyone's real faces and body are downloaded into the game, you know what people really look like in the real world. No dudes playing as girls, no more super hot babes everywhere you look (let's admit it, we all do it...), everyone simply looks, well, normal.

Why would I want to look like myself if I could look like Lara Croft? -sips tea- or a super badass chick?

In all seriousness, this book really made me think about video games, and whether or not the relationships we have in them with random strangers are real or not. I think that, in reality, they are real. I might not have ever met that person in real life, and maybe we will never talk to each other irl (in real life), but that doesn't mean that they're meaningless either. When you finish a series and almost feel like you lost a good friend in finishing it, the feelings that you have are real, even if the characters themselves aren't. And, in a way, you grow with the characters as well. You go where they go, you feel what they feel, that sort of thing.

Whoa, sorry, I sort of got really deep there...

"Hey, say something... Are you lagging?"

In conclusion, if you've watched the anime or not, this book is definitely something that you should have on your bookshelf. It's funny, it's sad, and it's characters will have you question a lot, and that makes one good story.

Let's do it! :D

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"An impossibly huge castle of rock and iron, floating in an endless expanse of sky.
That is the entirety of this world.
A tireless, month-long survey by a team of fanatical experts found that the base floor of the fortress was more than six miles in diameter, just large enough to fit the entire Setagay ward of Tokyo inside. And considering the one hundred floors stacked one on top of the other, the sheer vastness of the structure beggared the imagination. It was impossible to estimate the total amount of data it all represented.
Inside the castle were several bustling cities, countless smaller towns and villages, forests, plains, and lakes. Only one staircase connected each floor to those adjacent it, and these staircases were located within dangerous mazes filled with monsters. It was difficult just finding them, much less reaching them, but once someone had cleared the stairs and arrived at a major city the next floor up, a teleport gate linking the two floors would open in every city below, allowing all players instantaneous travel among the various levels of the castle.
It was thus that, over two long years, its inhabitants slowly but steadily conquered this giant fortress. The current human frontier is the seventy-seventh floor.
The castle's name is Aincrad, a floating world of blade and battle with about six thousand human beings trapped within. Otherwise known as -
Sword Art Online."

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Watch a trailer for the anime!:

Look at the page for a video game that is currently being developed;
Age of Aincrad!

Tomb Raider: The Ten Thousand Immortals by Dan Abnett & Nik Vincent

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

IN THE WAKE OF YAMATAI'S ENDURING EVIL, LARA IS THRUST INTO A DANGEROUS WEB OF MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE.

Lara Croft wants only to put her horrifying ordeal no Yamatai island behind her. Her modest wish shatters as she's plunged into a frantic race to save Sam. Desperate for a remedy, Lara searches for anything that could help her. A wisp of hope arising from a myth gives Lara purpose: the story of an ancient and mysterious artifact that could heal her friend, and possibly help explain the supernatural events she witnessed on Yamatai.

However, Lara is not alone in her pursuit of the treasure. A nefarious magnate, a shadow society, and lethal henchmen will stop at nothing to exploit the powerful relic for their own ends. The hunt drives Lara across the globe, through a twisted web of conspiracy, suspicious contacts, and life-or-death intrigue, as she seeks salvation for her friend and the truth behind the legendary talisman.

MY REVIEW

I'm sure that many of you were in my shoes when you heard that a new Tomb Raider game was coming out; I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy! A new Lata Croft, younger than the others, with actual realistically sized boobs?! Count me in!

The first Lara vs. the new Lara. It's amazing to see how much technology has advanced!

I've been a Lara Croft fan since a very young age. I used to watch my dad play the Tomb Raider games, dodging boulders, climbing up cliffs, and even admiring the amazing scenery (when we weren't defending ourselves from bad guys and animals, that is), and I always had time to watch him discover new tombs and artifacts that held a part of Earth's history. I was beyond delighted when I played the game, finding that Lara and her adventures were almost exactly how I remembered them. (I didn't remember them being THAT intense, though.)

"I hate tombs..."
Nice little joke here... :)

It must be no secret to you now that I loved the new game, so when I heard that there was going to be a book about the time following Yamatai, you bet your bucket I ran to the bookstore to secure myself a copy.

This is from a comic book that also came out and is also about Lara after Yamatai. The art style is amazing, and it tells an amazing story.

I'm pleased to announce that this book has everything that a Tomb Raider book should; action, adventure, persistent bad guys, and an artifact that will take your breath away.
Lara's state of mind was the thing that caught me off guard when I read this book. Any loud noise could send her into a state of shock, unable to do much of anything until it passes. I guess I didn't think much about what Lara was going through after she crashed on Yamatai. Since I was only experiencing it through the screen, I wasn't able to see that the things that she was doing would make anyone go insane, let alone have PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).

This is part of the video game. Yes, that is blood, and yes, it is disgusting.

The only thing that I didn't like about this book was the ending. It seemed to come too easily, and I think that they could have easily made another 100 pages or so (or even another book) instead of ending it. So if you are going to read this book, just keep that in mind.
In conclusion, if you are a Tomb Raider fan like me, you need to read this book. Bad ending aside, I couldn't seem to put this book down. I even missed my stop on the bus one day because I was so stuck in its world!

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"The sound came without any warning. The sharp, loud bang of a rifle firing a single shot at close quarters.
Lara knew the sound. The sudden shock of it shattered her peace of mind.
Her heart started to hammer hard in her chest. She could feel the sweat break out on her forehead and between her shoulder blades. Her throat felt constricted. Her hands began to flutter as she closed the Book. It dropped to the floor, forgotten.
"Please, no!" she said to the empty room. "Not again. I don't need this again." She got up and started to pace. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry. She shook out her tingling hands. Her chest felt impossibly tight.
"Damn it, Lara, breathe," she gasped. "Don't let yourself-"
Too late.
She was back on the island. On Yamatai. A hellish storm raged all around her. Lightning flashed. Thunder roared. The rain fell in sheets, hard as hail. She wove her way through the jungle. Sam was missing. All she could think of was her friend. She had to find her friend.
As she approached the monastery, a great fork of lightning lit up the corpses of dozens... hundreds of men. A thunderclap rolled in across the ocean and reached a crescendo right over Lara's head, crashing around her, deafening her, and leaving a tang of ozone in the air.
When the air shock had passed, she studied the bodies for a moment. Recent kills, still bloody, lay on top of older, skeletal remains. She tried not to think about how they had met their deaths. She threaded a path through them and entered the monastery."

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Watch the trailer for the new (2015) Tomb Raider game!

Star Wars the Old Republic: Revan by Drew Karpyshyn

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

There's something out there: a juggernaut of evil bearing
down to crush the Republic - unless one lone Jedi,
shunned and reviled, can stop it.
Hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior - the man called Revan has been all of these. He left Coruscant a Jedi, on a mission to defeat the Mandalorians. He returned a Sith disciple, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was the loss of his memories. All that's left are nightmares - and deep, abiding fear. What happened beyond the Outer Rim that Revan can't quite remember or entirely forget? One thing he's certain of: Something dark is plotting to destroy the very existence of the Republic. With no idea how to identify the threat, let alone stop it, Revan may be doomed to fail. For he's never faced a more powerful and diabolic enemy. But only death can stop him from trying.

MY REVIEW

First things first: I would highly recommend that you play the video games Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and maybe even Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords before reading this book. That way, you'll better understand the characters and the world that they live in before starting out on this particular journey with them. (Once again, I recommend it, but you don't have to if you don't want to.)
I was first introduced to this cast of characters through KOTOR, and one of the main characters (Carth Onasi) was actually my very first video game crush. I remember playing this video game non-stop for hours, wandering the many levels of Taris, trying my hand at heroism, becoming a Jedi, and eventually saving the galaxy. One of the things that made it interesting even to this day is the fact that you can carve your own path through the galaxy, choose light or dark, mold and ignore whatever relationships you like. (Of course, I always chose Carth to have the relationship with... ;) )
But this isn't supposed to be a video game review! It's a book review!
Okay, okay. We'll talk about the book now.
We start out the book where the KOTOR game left it. Revan is in Coruscant with his wife, Bastila (I fangirl squealed a little too hard when I read this), the galaxy is at peace after leaving Malak's dark clutches, and all of Revan's friends (including Canderous Ordo, Mission Vao, Zaalbar, T3-M4, Jolee Bindo, HK-47, Carth Onasi, and Juhani) are going on with their lives, but Revan can't shake the feeling that something bad is coming. Every night he dreams of a world covered in storm clouds, a dream that he's sure is a memory, one that he will have to go to the farthest reaches of the galaxy to remember.
(That really sounded like a book back summary. Wow.)
The first chapter (other than the Prologue) doesn't start with Revan. Rather, we're introduced to a new character, a full-blooded Sith named Lord Scourge. (Now, I'm not talking about the dark side of the force, oh no! The Sith are a species that originated on Korriban, with red skin and tentacles.) In the beginning of the book, he is introduced as being ruthless and cunning, unwilling to show mercy to anyone who gets in his way. Through him, you can really see into the mind of the Sith (dark side force now), and see how their society works and thrives without drawing the attention of the Republic. Though I disliked him in the beginning, his wit and determination makes him a very good character in general, despite his dark side tendencies. And, he added just enough of spice and shock to make this book good enough to eat. (Om nom nom nom)

A photo of Lord Scourge as he appears in Star Wars: The Old Republic

Revan is, of course, still a main character (The hero of the Galaxy isn't just going to sit around and wait for wars to happen), and he travels around with T3-M4 and Canderous, in the ever-famous Ebon Hawk, trying to figure out where all of the visions he's been having were from. You get to take a step into his past, find out why he turned to the dark side, and you get a feel at the man that he used to be before losing his memory. Not only that, but you get a peek into Canderous's past as well, discovering where he came from and why he left.
The book is actually written by the same guy who wrote some of KOTOR and KOTOR2, so as you can expect, he knows his stuff. His writing really pulled me in, so I would recommend reading this when you don't have a stop to get off of at, because I almost missed mine.
 Other than all of the above, I really loved stepping back into the world that I have been (basically) obsessing over since I was in Middle School, seeing what some of my favorite characters were up to after KOTOR ended, and just having some alone time in a galaxy that I've loved since childhood. If you like Star Wars, and want to see what the galaxy was like WAY (I mean 3,954 years) before A New Hope, I would highly recommend this book. Trust me, I would write about it all day if I could. but instead I'm going to keep this one as short as I can so that you can get off of your chair sooner and go get this book at your local bookstore.
It's that good.

A LITTLE EXCERPT

"The Galactic Market on Coruscant was as busy as ever, but nobody paid any attention to Revan as he made his way through the crowds. Almost two years had passed since he had been proclaimed the savior of the  galaxy. Though the Senate had awarded him its highest honor, the Cross of Glory, in a ceremony broadcast across the HoloNet, and his name was well remembered, his ordinary and rather unremarkable features had faded from public memory. In the aftermath of the presentation he had become a reclusive hero, eschewing public appearances and declining interview requests from any and all media outlets. He had shaved off his beard, and he rarely wore his Jedi robes out in public, making it even less likely anyone would notice him.
He liked being anonymous; it was one of the reasons he had settled on Coruscant. With one trillion people it was easy to blend into the crowd. That was even truer here in the Galactic Market, the most cosmopolitan section of the Republic's capital world. Merchants and shoppers of virtually every known species gathered to conduct commerce in a kaleidoscope of colors, shapes, and sizes. Red-skinned Togrutas intermingled with blue-skinned Twi'leks; diminutive Sullustans haggled with massive Hutts; fish-like Mon Calamari shared the streets with feline Cathar. Among such a diverse and interesting group, nobody paid much attention to a lone human and his astromech droid."

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Watch the commercial for the game KOTOR! (2003)

Wake by Amanda Hocking

Today's review will be about:

THE SUMMARY

Enter the world of Watersong, a place of breathtaking beauty,
immortal power - and terrifying secrets.
Gemma Fisher seems to have it all - she's carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He's always been just a friend, but this summer they've taken their relationship to the next level, and now she's falling harder for him every day. But Gemma doesn't know that her ordinary life is about to change forever.
Penn, Lexi, and Thea are strangers in town for the summer - and they've been watching her. Three sisters with mysterious powers, they invite Gemma to join their exclusive circle, and it changes her in ways she never imagined. Suddenly she's stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she is forced between staying with those she loves - or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

MY REVIEW

I actually found this series when I was shopping at Smith's with my mom. I unknowingly picked up the second book, Lullaby, which had a sticker on front that said "signed", and I really liked the back summary, so I got it. You can imagine my surprise when I figured out that I had bought the second one. One year later, and I've finally read the first book! Yay!
Like the summary above says, main character Gemma has it all. A cute, nerdy boyfriend, beautiful looks, a future career in swimming, etc. What the summary doesn't say, however, is how good this book really is. It's got mystery, romance, mythology  (you all know how much I LOVE that!), family drama, and a lot more wrapped up in a well designed spine and cover. (the picture above doesn't show this, but the cover has a layer that makes it look like rays of sun are going through the water. It's pretty to look at.)

This is what the cover looks like IRL.

Let's start with Gemma, our heroine and main gal. She loves to swim, like a LOT. Almost every night she goes down to the bay by her house and swims in the water, and every morning she gets up and goes to swim practice to train for the Olympics. Due to all of this swimming, she has that golden tan that girls would pay for, and blonde streaks through her dark hair from chlorine. Like many teenage heroines, she has a rebellious side, and she brushes aside her family's concerns about her swimming at night. She says that swimming at night is like floating in a cloud, there seems to be no border between sea and sky. I don't know about you, but reading that made me want to drive to a beach and just spend a day watching the tides come in, listen to their soft shhh as they slide along the sand...
-happy sigh- That's the life... :)

This is a poster that you can get from the hardcover version, I think.

Okay! Back to the review!
Gemma has this great older sister named Harper who reminds me a lot of myself. She went all through her school years without a boyfriend, works at a library, and is EXTREMELY protective of her sister. Since their mom got in an accident a couple of years before, Harper has been the mom of the family, from taking care of Gemma and their dad to doing the laundry and cleaning up the house. She even stops during her lunch break to give their dad his lunch that he frequently forgets. Other than Gemma, Alex, and her dad, she has a couple of people that she interacts with. One of them is a guy who lives in a boat near where her dad works, and during the book you really get to understand him better.
On to my personal favorite: Alex. He's been friends with Harper for ten years, ever since he moved into the house next door, but during this book you get to see his and Gemma's relationship really get into the next level. You'll be able to see in the excerpt below just how awkward he is, plus he's a huge nerd, which just makes me love him as a character even more. When Gemma transforms into something else, he's the one that she talks to about it, and that's because you really get the sense that he's one of those people who you can trust to just be yourself around, you don't have to put on a strong face.
All in all, I loved this book and its never-ending ties to the ocean. I'm not usually into romantic dramas or anything like that, but I would say that even if you don't like that sort of book, you should give this one a try. Trust me, it's worth every page.

And yes, I do know how perfect this book is for my blog. It's got waves and ocean, my theme's ocean.... Hahahahaha...

Well done.

A LITTLE EXCERPT

""The stupid piece of junk won't run." Gemma gestured to the rusty compact and stepped over to where Alex stood on his lawn. "I've only had it for three months, and it's dead already."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Alex said. "Do you need help?"
"You know something about cars?" Gemma raised an eyebrow. She had seen him spend plenty of time playing video games or with his nose stuck in a book, but she'd never once seen him under the hood of a car.
Alex smiled sheepishly and lowered his eyes. He had been blessed with tan skin, which made it easier for him to hide his embarrassment, but Gemma knew him well enough to understand that he blushed at almost anything.
"No," he admitted with a small laugh and motioned back to the driveway where his blue Mercury Cougar sat. "But I do have a car on my own."
He pulled his keys out of his pocket and swung them around his finger. For a moment he managed to look slick before the keys flew off his hand and hit him in the chin. Gemma stifled a laugh as he scrambled to pick them up."

Well, that's all for now!

See you next time!

~Sea-Solo

EXTRA! EXTRA!

To find out more about Amanda Hocking and the Watersong series, visit this site:
http://www.worldofamandahocking.com/