My problem with Twilight

MY PROBLEM WITH TWILIGHT

                                  

Don't get me wrong, I like Twilight (the books and the movies, except Breaking Dawn part 1). I've never been a Twi-hard and I'll never be one, but I liked the overall idea and the way it created this publicity for paranormal books (I've always loved the paranormal theme so it wasn't new to me, but because now it has so much attention and there are a lot more people who share my interest in this genre).

However, I really hate the PHENOMENON that surrounds (surrounded??) this series. People started taking sides, the people who love the books and movies and the ones who hate it. This caused a lot of prejudice when it comes to the genre. Books are compared to Twilight or they say twilight fans will "love" it, for example, the soul screamers series by Rachel Vincent ;

Or the way people expected the Beautiful Creatures movie to be the next twilight.

WHY do people do THAT, with these kind of praises you can attrackt the twilight crowd but you will also repel the people who are prejudiced because of twilight.

Another example is the Host (book and movie). 

                                                      

People see the trailer and think "wow, this seems interesting", then they drop the bomb "from Stephanie Meyer, the author of the TWILIGHT SAGA", and that's when they go "OH NO, not Twilight again"

So my point being is that Twilight had it's time, it had it's golden years but that's over now. It won't be like Harry Potter where everyone will still love it years after the movies are out.\

Get over twilight and give other authors and movies a chance, and the Host, it's nothing like twilight. 

ENDLESSLY

PARANORMALCY #3 : ENDLESSLY

Evie's paranormal past keeps coming back to haunt her. A new director at the International Paranormal Containment Agency wants to drag her back to headquarters. The Dark Faerie Queen is torturing humans in her poisonous realm. And supernatural creatures keep insisting that Evie is the only one who can save them from a mysterious, perilous fate.


The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its fate rests solely in Evie's hands.

REVIEW:
As an ending to a trilogy this is a roller-coaster of action and emotions.
Evie comes to a point where she has to make choices that will influance a lot of supernatural creatures.
I like that Vivian has a more prominent role in this book, she has a purpose and has changed a lot from the girl who wanted to kill every paranormal (in the understanding that she was doing them a favor).
This trilogy introduced me to a lot of paranormal creatures that are almost never shown in other fantasy books, and all of them have their own special part in  this book.
Lend and Evie have a steady relationhip, but it won't be that way when Evie reveals to Lend that he is immortal, this is easily and beautifully solved, but I won't tell how.

SUPERNATURALLY

PARANORMALCY #2: SUPERNATURALLY

Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be...kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

REVIEW:

As a second book in a trilogy it's certainly interesting and more actionfilled as the first.

Evie finds out a lot of interesting and shocking things from her past that she never knew about.

Evie broke free from her ties to IPCA  at the end of Paranormalcy and is now living a fairly normal life and having a steady relationship with Lend, but don't think she can get away from IPCA that easily.

Meanwhile she is also starting a war between the sealie and unsealie fearie courts, which she isn't entirely aware of in the beginning.

Fun and actionfilled with lots of interesting turns, a read that would be great in the summer as a fun and quick read.

PARANORMALCY

PARANORMALCY #1 : PARANORMALCY

Evie's always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours.

But Evie's about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

REVIEW:

I liked this book, I didn't love it, it wasn't mind-blowing but it was a very enjoyable read.

Kiersten White managed to hook you from the first sentence, something I haven't seen much.

Evie is a lovely main character, she isn't perfect and she doesn't pretend to be. She's a girly girl with an edge, a lovely change from the kick-ass heroine's that are usually the main character. I'm not saying that Evie isn't kick-ass, she is, but not in the way that for example Rose Hathaway (vampire academy) is. 

Lend is great as a love interest, sweet, loyal and on top of that he is a shapeshifter (not the person-turns-into-animal kind, but the person-can change-into-anyone-he-wants kind), and Reth is the perfect bad boyfriend form the past, as a fearie he isn't all that bad but he is centainly not the good guy either.. 

IPCA is a very original take on the supernatural genre, the international paranormal containment agency and the bag-and-tag (it reminded me a little of a season 4 Buffy the vampire slayer episode, did enyone else have that?)

Next to the fun characters is the plot also interesting on it's own, something paranormal that was very new to me. 

This book mainly introduces you to everyone and the new world you enter, but it's certainly not boring.

MOCKINGJAY

THE HUNGER GAMES #3 : MOCKINGJAY

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

REVIEW:

Wow, this was, to be honest, a pretty dissapointing book and certainly my least favorite book in this trilogy. I hated that there were so many gruesome deaths, that characters that I started to love died, the book overall was a gruesome story. The reason that I still gave this book 3,5 stars is that with the writing style Suzanne Collins has made you experience this book like you are really there (even if it wasn't a pleasant experience all the time) . And it was a long awaited, somewhat sad, happy ending.

Read it to end this series, to know how it all  ends, But I will certainly not read this book again when rereading the first two.

CATCHING FIRE

THE HUNGER GAMES #2 : CATCHING FIRE

Sparks are igniting, flames are spreading and the Capitol wants revenge. 

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn.

REVIEW:

Catching fire is my favorite book in this trilogy. It is exciting and funny, not overly romantic but that is not needed in these books.

Catching fire is the start of the REAL action. It is the year of the 75th hunger games, so there is a quarter quell. Every 25 years there's a quarter quell , for the 50th hunger games 48 people were send to the games, and this year it will be a very surprising turn of events as the 75th specialty is published. I'm not going to spoil the fun for you but, holly crap, I was blown away at this anouncement.

We get to know a lot of the previous victors in this book, which I really liked (the history of the hunger games interests me a lot, what happened, who won etc.).

If you weren't already hooked when you read the hunger games, catching fire will propably be a turning point in your experience with the hunger games (in a good way).

I was thrilled with this book, it had me sitting at the edge of my seat the entire time and turning pages when I had to stop (to eat or go to the toilet or something pointless like that ;) ).

THE HUNGER GAMES

THE HUNGER GAMES #1 : THE HUNGER GAMES

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. 

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. 

If she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

REVIEW;

First of all I have to say that I didn't like dystopian novels. I hadn't read any, the idea of these horrible future societys just didn't pull me in.

But after reading the hunger games I suddenly see the world of dystopian novels very differenly, I had seen the movie before reading the trilogy and the movie made me reconsider to read this book ,so I gave it a try.

And am I glad I read these books, it's something that ,as a reader, you have to read.

The world that Suzanne Collins created is very well thought of, Katniss is not a very likeable character but after being in her shoes for a while you kind of get why that is. Panem is not a great land to live in (at least not if you're not living in the capitol) it has a kinda midevil feel to it, but technology exists.

The hunger games on it's own is a very fascinating subject, put 24 young people in the arena to fight to their death until one is left as the victor. It's a gruesome game, but it divines the world that Suzanne Collins created.

All by all, it is a great book and if you haven't  read it already, I certainly reccomend it.