Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie (reviewed by Georgia)

  If you've ever heard of Matched, by Ally Condie, you probably thought what I was thinking: *sigh* another dystopian book?? Yes, well, I read it anyway and it was super super good. It had more romance in the first book than in The Hunger Games, and Cassia (the main character) wasn't totally oblivious to Ky and Xander's love. Ky and Xander being the two love interests, of course. Xander: the cute best friend who the government has "Matched" her with. Ky: the cute love interest who could have been Cassia's Match. Cassia: at first she loves the Society (her government) but she soon discovers dark things about them from Ky, and realizes what she's been oblivious to. After Ky gets taken away from her borough, she decides to fight the government.  I think that it's a brilliant first book, and I can't wait to read Crossed and whatever book comes next!

The Friday Book Award

The Friday Book Award (FBA) By Georgia

   Every Friday I will try to present one FBA, though I cannot guarantee I'll do it every Friday. Today the FBA is Top Five Worst Heroines of the 2000's. Enjoy! Note: I've decided to add brief explanations

1. Bella Swan (from Twilight)-Yes, her. First of all, choose between the freakin' werewolf and vampire! Or just kill them both! Jeez. Second of all, she honestly doesn't do anything but kiss Edward and Jacob until the last book. (And that's way in the last book.)

2. Katniss Everdeen (from the Hunger Games)- I know she was on the Top Five Best Heroines, but she's also naïve and suicidal in by Mockingjay. (Not to mention Suzanne Collin's horrific and lazy writing.)

3.Tiger (from the unpopular book, Fish)-Where to start? She's a naïve little ten or eleven or nine year old (is it not sad that I don't even know how old she is) who wants to save this fish as she, her parents, and "The Guide" go on a long journey. Pathetic writing, from start to finish.

4. Jenna Fox (from the Adoration of Jenna Fox)- Okay, so I was confused throughout the whole book. Jenna has amnesia from this accident that no one talks about, so in the first half off the book you know nothing about her. Then she figures it out and cries when she finds out her pretty little legs and blond hair and everything but 10% of her brain are *spoiler alert* fake. She had the perfect life...and then she almost died in a car crash along with her two besties. (Cough, cough, cliché.) Sorry Ms. Pearson, but try third person next time.

5. Honor (from The Other Side of the Island)-I loove the government so, so much! They could never do anything wrong! La la la...She honestly is worshipping the government until the last chapter. Wake up, all ready!! 

Sorry about the longness of this entry. I kinda went on a rant. I feel so bad about being so bitter. Oh well. I recommend this website if you agree with me: 

bookriot.com/2012/01/what-would-insert-ya-heroine-here-do/

Next week: Top Five Best Heroes!!!

 

Georgia's Review on The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
The Night Circus is a wonderful young adult fantasy romance about two magicians, set in the late 1800's and early 1900's. It follows the life of Celia and Marco, two young magicians entered in a dangerous magic game. Le Cirque des Rêves is where this game plays out, though Celia and Marco are not aware they are each others competition. It is a dark, magical, modern fairytale and I sincerely recommend it to anyone who enjoys tales of magic who's over twelve years old, since it is dark and romantic. It's a fabulous story!
 
Georgia's Review on The Adoration of Jenna Fox/The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson
The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a dystopian young adult novel about a girl named Jenna who can't remember what happened to her; all she knows is that she was in an accident that her parents won't talk about. She tries to figure out her past as she slowly regains memory and IMHO, I think the second book is better. But if you want to read the books, you should read the first book.
*spoiler alert* The Fox Inheritance is told by Locke, Jenna's old best friend, as he and Kara, Jenna's other old best friend. They escape a horrible doctor to find Jenna and that's where their journey begins. It's filled with twists and surprises, and is MUCH better than the first book.

Big Miracle

Big Miracle By Georgia

  Yesterday I saw Big Miracle, and it was pretty good! If it wasn't a true story, I'd probably give it 2 stars. Since it is a true story: 4 STARS!! I have to say, I'm not the biggest fan of Drew Barrymore (I mean, what's with the half brown/half blond hair??) but she makes a very good hippie-fighting-for-the-greater-good.
  So the basic storyline is: reporter guy in some tiny town in Alaska is losing interesting news, until he finds out about the whales. The story gets around and his ex-girlfriend, hippie-fighting-for-the-greater-good (AKA Barrymore) wants to help. He also has a kinda creepy crush on this NBC reporter girl who ends up showing up later. Business is booming in this Alaskan small town, but meanwhile the reporter and his ex-girlfriend are trying hard to find someone to help them. When one attempt fails, they call  in the Reds (the Soviets) to save the day. With a sad but realistic twist near the end, this is the perfect animal-lover, hippie, feel better, or family movie. Who knows? Maybe more than one of the circumstances apply to you.

Joyful Noise

Joyful Noise By Georgia
   Today I saw Joyful Noise and it was extremely good. I pretty much love all movies with Queen Latifah, so add in Dolly Parton and Keke Palmer and it's a party! This movie was funny and serious at the same time. It follows the story of Vi Rose Hill and her two kids, Olivia and Walter (all devout singers) as they go about their life. Walter had Asperger's Syndrome, and at first tries to hide it. Olivia is a typical Momma's-good-girl who starts to rebel when cute Randy (the loser grandson of Dolly Parton's character, played by Jeremy Jordan) falls for her. As this is all going on, two people die and the church choir loses the semi-finals to go to LA. It has a great ending, is filled with good music, though some cliché lines were delivered. Overall, FOUR AND A HALF STARS!
(Amy will rate later on when she gets off the couch)

The Friday Book Award (FBA) By Georgia
   Every Friday I will try to present one FBA, though I cannot guarantee I'll do it every Friday. Today the FBA will be for Top Five Heroines of the 2000's. (And I mean fiction heroines) And here they are:
1. Katniss Everdeen (of The Hunger Games trilogy)
2. Hermione Granger (of the Harry Potter series)
3. Gaia Stone (of the Birthmarked Trilogy)
4. Annabeth Chase (of the Percy Jackson trilogy)
5. Katsa (of the Graceling trilogy)
Next week I will be doing the Top Five Worst Heroines! I hope you enjoy my list and take the books into consideration!
 

Blog Revival

Okay, it's the dawn of 2012 and Georgia's and my good blogging intentions back in 2010 sadly fell by the wayside.

But since no one else is doing decent kid movie reviews and we also thought since we both read a lot and write a lot, we could throw in a book review or two now and then for some literary flavor.

Both of us will be posting. Sometimes together. Sometimes separately. Georgia reads about 3 novels a week. I read about 1 novel a month. My stats are sad, sad, sad but there you have it--work, life, parenting lowers one's reading consumption abilities. Our movie consumption is about 1 a month.

So, here we go....