review: Where I Belong

Hola! Hope everyone's having a nice day so far. As for me, the weather's been great recently! A little cool, but that's the way I like it, really. Nice and crisp. And now, to the review!



Where I Belong

Author: Gwendolyn Heasley
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: 8 February 2011
Pages: 289

Meet Corrinne. She's living every girl's dream in New York City—shopping sprees at Barneys, open access to the best clubs and parties, and her own horse at the country club. Her perfect life is perfectly on track. At least it was. . . .
When Corrinne's father is laid off, her world suddenly falls apart. Instead of heading to boarding school, she's stripped of her credit cards and shipped off to the boonies of Texas to live with her grandparents. On her own in a big public school and forced to take a job shoveling manure, Corrinne is determined to get back to the life she's supposed to be living. She doesn't care who she stomps on in the process. But when Corrinne makes an unlikely friend and discovers a total hottie at work, she begins to wonder if her life B.R.—before the recession—was as perfect as it seemed.


Luna's Take:

When we first meet Corrinne, she's a total brat. Take all the stereotypes you have about snobby rich girls, multiply it by 3.14159, and you have our main character. When she finds out that her once opulent father lost his job, she completely blows her top. Because, she won't be able to buy designer clothes anymore! Or go to that super snazzy boarding school! And let's not even talk about her having to move all the way to hick-ville Texas in order to accomodate their lack of cash flow.

As we progress through the book, she does mature a bit, but not as much as I would've hoped. In this way, I was disappointed in the book. As a cover-judger, I thought this might've been more amazing, profound, whatever... But my hopes were left in the dust. Sigh. The ending was not red carpet worthy, either.

That's not saying this doesn't make a good light read, because it really does. Just a forewarning though - if you're looking for a book with more meat, don't choose this one.

Rating: 3/5

the hunger games movie casting: peeta & gale

Hey all!

Sorry I'm a little late on the uptake for this one, school's been pretty killer lately. Anyways, I was surfing the net just now and came upon this little gem: the casting for for Peeta and Gale in The Hunger Games movie has been announced! Let's see our men of the hour...

Josh Hutcherson starring as Peeta Mellark

Liam Hemsworth starring as Gale Hawthorne

What do you guys think? I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when Jennifer Lawrence snatched the role of Katniss. With respect to acting, I do believe she's perfect for the role; her Oscar nomination speaks for itself! But as for appearance-wise, I think she's a little too all-American for my tastes. Personally, I thought Hailee Steinfield parallels Katniss's looks better. Though it might have been her age that impeded her from landing the role, who knows?

Anyways, onto the guys.

Before I get into anything else, let me just mention one thing.

HOW IN THE WORLD did Josh get so smoldering hot?! All I remember of him is from the movie Bridge to Terabithia, which was in 2007, sure, but still. He's grown up so much! No more do rag hairstyle for him! I know, I know, "do rag" makes no sense here. It's just the phrase I use to describe the hair some guys have - you know the type - slightly too long, flippy, with an air of unkemptness. Like JB style, tenfold.

But as for his similarity to Peeta... ? Where are the blonde locks? The bright blue eyes? It may be picky of me to mention, but for once, I'd like casters of a novel-adapted-movie to pick actors who can both act AND look the part. Sigh. Josh does give an air of sensitivity though, at least to me. I feel he can at least act the part.

Now I've never watched The Last Song, but that may just be due to the fact that I don't approve of Miley. So I don't know if Liam can act, AND I don't like his looks, especially when comparing him to intense, passionate Gale. Liam's a bit too pale and light-haired for the part, but who knows? With some sun and a dye job, he may do just fine. At least he's got a cool name going on for him.

Any thoughts from you fellow bloggers?

review: How It Ends

I've fallen in love. With a book. Its name is How It Ends and I just can't stop thinking about it. You know when you read a truly amazing book, you keep going over and over the plotline events and simply sit there, feeling utterly amazed at the intense connection you feel with the characters or story or whatever? Well, case in point.


How It Ends

Author: Laura Wiess
Publisher: MTV
Release Date: August 2009
Pages: 344

 All Hanna's wanted since sophomore year is Seth. She's gone out with other guys, even gained a rep for being a flirt, all the while hoping cool, guitar-playing Seth will choose her. Then she gets him -- but their relationship is hurtful, stormy and critical, not at all what Hanna thinks a perfect love should be. Bewildered by Seth's treatment of her and in need of understanding, Hanna decides to fulfill her school's community service requirement by spending time with Helen, her terminally ill neighbor, who she's turned to for comfort and wisdom throughout her life. But illness has changed Helen into someone Hanna hardly knows, and her home is not the refuge it once was. Feeling more alone than ever, Hanna gets drawn into an audiobook the older woman is listening to, a fierce, unsettling love story of passion, sacrifice, and devotion. Hanna's fascinated by the idea that such all-encompassing love can truly exist, and without her even realizing it, the story begins to change her.
Until the day when the story becomes all too real...and Hanna's world is spun off its axis by its shattering, irrevocable conclusion.


To me, a book distinguishes itself as the cream of the crop if it can make me cry. I don't think I've ever cried out of sheer happiness, so what I'm referring to are the tears that are elicited from a really tender and touching or else devastatingly heartwrenching moment. I wouldn't say this makes me a masochist, for wanting to have a book that can bring out a real good tearfest from me, I just think it's important for me to feel a connection with what I'm reading.

With that being said, Laura Wiess is the go-to author if you're prepared for a bonafide bawl-a-palooza. I can't quite describe it precisely, but Wiess just knows which parts of the book she needs to spell out for readers and which parts are fairly self-explanatory. One thing I strongly dislike about some books is how they assume the readers are dumb and need everything explained to them, as if we don't know what foreshadowing or metaphors are.

And truthfully, I don't think the blurb above does the book enough justice. It makes How It Ends sound a bit trite and unassuming, but seeing as how I've been raving about it this entire entry, I don't find that very accurate.

The character development is just wonderful, I have to say. The book is told both in first and third person. Weiss makes sure to clearly differentiate from Hanna and Helen, the two main characters. And when the storytelling came along, I felt myself being drawn into what was happening, insomuch that I could really familiarize myself with the events.

But seriously, you should pick up a copy of this for yourself. This review can't even hold a flame to How It Ends. Try it out, you might find yourself raving about it, too! :)

review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Okay, so I might have said I wouldn't be posting for a while.
Well I lied.

So here goes my first review! Sorry if my lexicon has died a little, it's been a while since I had an English class. Hopefully my writing skills haven't gotten too rusty.



The Adoration of Jenna Fox
(Jenna Fox Chronicles, #1)

Author: Mary E. Pearson
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Release Date: April 2008
Pages: 266





Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?
This fascinating novel represents a stunning new direction for acclaimed author Mary Pearson. Set in a near future America, it takes readers on an unforgettable journey through questions of bio-medical ethics and the nature of humanity. Mary Pearson's vividly drawn characters and masterful writing soar to a new level of sophistication.

So this is a novel I read over my Spring Break (which was very short, sadly). I have to just put it out there - I am someone who judges a book by its cover. I don't do that with people, of course, but for books? Oh, yeah.
This is one of the reasons I decided to give The Adoration of Jenna Fox a try, since the cover caught my attention. I'd like to say it speaks to me, you know? Just the way that you don't know whether the puzzle pieces, which seem to represent her essence, are slowly falling away (thus taking her identity with them), or else they are reforming her to become whole again. The colors are pretty snazzy, too.
The title was interesting to me, as well. Adoration isn't necessarily a word I'd say gets used too often, so for Pearson to have integrated it into her title... Well, let's just say it's pretty significant as far as symbolism goes.

Anyways! Down to the meat of it. Jenna wakes up from an unexplainable year-long trauma and finds herself thrown into this world she has no recollection of whatsoever. As much as her family tries to remind her of the past, Jenna initially can't bring herself to remember any memories, let alone the family members themselves.
As she gradually starts piecing back the puzzle pieces of her past, she gets her hesitant mom to send her to school. Little does she know it's a school specially designed for teens with... "problems." It's there that she meets Ethan, who of course is the love interest in the story.

I found myself really enjoying this book. The way the author writes is very engaging, I felt myself understanding Jenna's confusion after being woken from her coma, and making the journey with her toward her recovery was filled with cliffhangers at times.

And I recently found out that there will be a new installment to this series (which I didn't even know was a series), with a description that can be found here. I actually don't know how I feel about this novel continuing... I felt the first novel did the story justice. I don't know, others will probably feel differently. What do you think?

not with a bang, but a whimper.

Sigh, Tuesdays.
You know how people always complain about Mondays? But what about the day after? Sure, Mondays signify the beginning of the dreaded school week, but after that's over, all you're greeted with is the arrival of nothing-major's-going-to-happen-to-you-today Tuesday. Hence, the sigh.

Anyways, hope you're all doing well! I've decided to get my own blog going. Woo, excitement! I'm probably not going to get to start my book reviews until a couple weeks later, when school winds down a bit and I get a smidge of time in to actually read some, but hopefully the ball will get rolling soon!

In the meanwhile, I'm sure you've all heard "Friday" by Rebecca Black, correct? Well here's a little interview Good Morning America scheduled with our newest viral sensation...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NOHFy1Arf8&feature=feedlik
Is it me, or does Rebecca's mom rock? Maybe it's just me, but there's something to be said about a mom who'd kill for her daughter (and is willing to admit it on national television...). Just sayin'.

So au revior! Happy World Water Day! Until next time, loves.