Blodeuedd's Monday Review: A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both. 

My thoughts:

Two days later, as always...I also want to make this short cos I am 2 reviews behind...

It was good, but nope, not AS good as the first one. That one was darker, and even if this one was dark, it felt...YA dark (that is not a good thing.)

Elias was a ghost of himself and did not do a lot. Sure I wanted him to live, but at the same time meh.

I think I did not really care for Laia in book 1? I can not remember, but here I sure did not. What a forgettable boring girl. She is no heroine in my eyes.  And that whole guy thing, *eyeroll*

Helen, hmm, I do not really want a happy ending for her, because she is killing a lot in this book. I get that she is second to the Emperor now, but sheesh, that guy is insane. Stop killing people. I hope you die, even if you are the most interesting person in the book. Also she was so, oh Elias!

The whole book is about them getting to that prison. It did not have the same edge. It bordered on ok at times.

But I will read more, I want to know what happens. And even if it was good I was disappointed. Nothing was the same as book 1. Not the characters, not the story, not the world.

Cover
boring

Hardcover, 452 pages
Published August 30th 2016 by Razorbill
An Ember in the Ashes #2
Fantasy YA
Library

Book Review: Left at the Altar by Margaret Brownley

Author: Margaret Brownley
Title: Left at the Altar (A Match Made in Texas #1)
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 340
First Published: November 1st 2016
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Won in a giveaway)

Welcome to Two-Time Texas: 

Where tempers burn hot
Love runs deep
And a single marriage can unite a feuding town
...or tear it apart for good 

In the wild and untamed West, time is set by the local jeweler...but Two-Time Texas has two: two feuding jewelers and two wildly conflicting time zones. Meg Lockwood's marriage was supposed to unite the families and finally bring peace. But when she's left at the altar by her no-good fiance, Meg's dreams of dragging her quarrelsome neighbors into a ceasefire are dashed. 

No wedding bells? No one-time town.

Hired to defend the groom against a breach of promise lawsuit, Grant Garrison quickly realizes that the only thing worse than small-town trouble is falling for the jilted bride. But there's something about Meg's sweet smile and determined grit that draws him in...even as the whole crazy town seems set on keeping them apart. 

What a super cute book! I could hardly put this one down! I finished this in just a couple of sittings which is rare for me for this genre. Honestly, I want to read more by this author and in this fun town. 

Let's back-track a bit....

The story follows Meg and Grant. Meg is the daughter of one of the feuding jewelers and she is engaged to marry Tommy who has been her best friend and is the son of the other party in the feud. They are hoping that their marriage will bring the feud to an end. However, Tommy decides the marriage is not for him because Meg wants to stay put and he wants to see the world. Legit reasons...but this should've been something discussed BEFORE the big wedding day. Well...like the title suggests, Tommy leaves poor Meg at the altar. 

This betrayal makes Meg's dad furious, so he decides to sue Tommy for breaking his promise to his daughter. Tommy decides to hire the new lawyer in town, Grant. Poor Grant getting caught up in the feuding families. But it does wonders for his reputation and makes him a popular face and lawyer in town. He also gets to meet and fall in love with the jilted bride herself, Meg who thinks all of this is silly and doesn't want to sue Tommy. 

Heck...I would sue if a guy did that especially back during this time period! Marriage is extremely important to women. It was one of the only ways to get a household of their own. It's such crap and it is embarrassing to be left ON the wedding day. Such crap. 

Now, this all sounds like heavy material, but the author made this enjoyable and made it funny! Sure there were some sad, dark moments, but the majority was fun and light. I needed a book like this for sure. 

My only complaint were some of the random things that didn't seem to help move the storyline along at all. Like the prisoner. Maybe he'll play a bigger role in the next book? We shall see I guess. But overall, it wasn't necessarily a huge issue. Just not sure how some of the things tied in with the main story. 

In the end, I really liked this! It was funny. It was cute. It had a fun cast of crazy Texans and one guy from Boston who somehow got in the middle of the mess. There were some serious moments, but it was done well and didn't take away from the story. Everything blended well. There were some moments and events that seemed to not tie into the story. But they might in the next book. I'm excited to read the next one! I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a light romance with some humor. Out of five stars, I'll give this a 4.

Movie Review: Assassin's Creed (2016)

Film Title: Assassin's Creed
Length: 116 Mins
Released: 2016
Genre: Action/Adventure & Science Fiction
Rating: PG-13
Where I Got It: Seen at theaters

SUMMARY:
Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.

TRAILER:

REVIEW:

When the news that this movie was going to come out, I legit JUMPED for joy. This movie is loosely based off of the video games that have been in circulation for some time now. This whole concept has been extremely interesting to me since the beginning when the first game was announced an eon ago. I have been dying for a movie because I am the slowest video game player ever known to man. I mainly play the games for the stories, so having a movie come out was exciting.

For anyone who wants to see the movie, because they like/love the games, remember….it is LOOSELY based off the game. The main concept is there, but the storyline and characters are extremely different. I wanted to cry on how much they changed the main character in modern time. NOOOOO. They fixed him near the end, but still…I was not happy. I mean…it did make the modern story like WAY more interesting, but boooooo!

Along with this, they made the story and the world darker. I’m glad. They made the assassin’s blend in more with the darker side of society like they say they are. In the games, they wear white or other bright colors. This never made sense to me. In the movie, they darkened the clothing and the characters themselves. I was glad for this, because what they do is not glamorous. They do bad things to protect mankind from the main threat: Knight’s Templars.

Ooooh those baddies. However….are they truly evil? They made the lines greyer in the movie and I liked it. The Knight’s Templars want to unite the whole world and get rid of violence and badness. Is that truly a wrong thing to want? I personally don’t think it is, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut the way they want to do this is evil. They want to find the Apple of Eden which can remove mankind’s will and make them submit happily to the one holding the Apple. The only people who know where the Apple is the Assassins. I do feel that they should have cleared up the plot a bit for those people who have not played the games. The plot was a little murkily explained.

I truly love what they did with the machine that uses the genetics of the wearer to visit and “be” their ancestor. In the game, it was kinda boring. The wearer legit just lays there and “Dreams” the memories. While the machine in the movie, makes the wearer actually do the movements and talk for all to see. Pretty cool honestly and much more entertaining.

I feel they did a good job with the cast. Some big names, some not. My only issue was the girl playing Sophie. I normally like the actress, but god…her acting was terrible. I barely understood her throughout the film. For being an “educated” character she sure did mumble. I had to lean over to BF and ask what she said multiple times. SPEAK UP GIRL!!!!!! *facepalm*

Another issue I had was the face tattoos, some of the hair styles, and some of the costumes especially in the 15^th century Spain….were not very accurate and out of place. Maybe they were trying to jazz it up since the Assassins are such badasses? I’m not sure. But it bothered me.

Holy ending. There was SO much build-up but then…then it just ended. I felt deflated.

Overall, I think was pretty good. I’m glad I got to see it, but maybe I should’ve waited for it to come to DVD or Netflix. I liked the cast (except for one) and the story was interesting. Very different than the games, but it was still entertaining. There were some issues like the costumes, mumbling actresses, and the plot was a little murky for those that do not know the storyline. However, I felt they did a good job. I hope they make more in the future. Out of five stars, I’ll give this a 3. 

Re-watch?: Eh, I'll watch the sequel tho

Book Review: Touched by Elisa S Amore

Author: Elisa S. Amore
Title: Touched (Touched Saga #1)
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance, UF, and Fantasy
Pages: ebook
First Published: November 8th 2012
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Amazon Freebie)

When Gemma’s eyes first meet the dark, piercing gaze of Evan James, an ominous shadow creeps into her life, ultimately leading her to face her destiny. She doesn't realize Evan is one of Death's soldiers and that Death is summoning her. 

Her time is up: Gemma must die . . . and Evan has been sent to kill her.

But what if she’s the only one who can truly see him? 

Against every rule. Against fate itself. Against everything and everyone. A story of forbidden love and star-crossed destinies.

Dark. Romantic. Dangerous.

I really, really wanted to like this. But it was a total let down. 

The beginning was slow and Gemma was a total meh character. She was like a splitting image of Bella from the Twilight books. Totally boring....nothing special....but every guy wants her. >_< And she gets bonded and horribly addicted to the weirdo guy who likes watching her sleep. And that brings me to Evan.

You damn creeper Evan with your bright blue eyes! The man actually hid behind a tree to watch her more! He is brooding and deep and super annoying. He is the Angel of Death and he did a good job boring me to death. Why do writers do this? Okay...I like brooding characters sometimes, but when they get creepy and like sneak around watching their love interest? Too much. If it was real life I would call the cops...I wouldn't swoon with joy. >_> So cliche and overused. 

Team Peter all the way! Yes, this cliche mess even had a love triangle. Peter has been Gemma's bestie since forever. They are super close like brother and sister, but things change and Peter really likes her (I don't understand the reason why) Gemma begins to like him only AFTER her parent's say something about how they should be a couple. Weak-minded fool. *cough* Sorry. 

I did a lot of skimming after page 120. I couldn't help it anymore...there was legit nothing happening. Lots of creepy parts with Evan....lots of TSTL moments with Gemma. Lots of silly and over-dramatized teenage drama. It didn't get "good" until the paranormal stuff happened. Yes, yes, I get build-up, but I wanted to gouge my eyes out for entertainment. 

Why did I keep reading? I had hope. I had hope this HAD to get better. Look at that summary and that cover! It did get a wee bit better when things exploded....but not that much better. I am so bummed over this. 

I recommend this for those that want to try it. Maybe you'll like it better than me...but I...I could barely get through it. I did so much skimming that I should've just sat the book down and walked away. However, I am one for torture. Out of five stars, I'm giving this a 1. Nearly a two, but yeah...no.