July Reads

These are all the books I read in July (or started a different month and now finished).

Read/ Finished in July

Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Bar Code Rebellion (#2) by Suzanne Weyn
Darkfever (#1) by Karen Marie Moning
Bloodfever (#2) by Karen Marie Moning
Harry Potter Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
Re- read in July

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2nd time)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (2nd time)

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (2nd time)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (16th time)

Favorite Cover: Out of all of these probably Mockingjay. The blue is so pretty!

Best Book  *Re-reads do not count*:  Monsters of Men. Bloodfever would be a very close second though!

Special side note about Harry Potter Film Wizardry: Any Harry Potter fan should read this!! It has to do with the films and there is tons of information. I learned a lot more about the films and the way they layout the book is very cool! There is so much attention to detail and they even have things in the book that you can pull out like the Educational Decrees from the fifth movie or the Quidditch World Cup programme. So cool!

Book Review: Monsters of Men

Monsters of Men (#3) by Patrick Ness
Monsters of Men is the final book in the Chaos Walking series.

I really like this series and this book was definitely a great conclusion to the series.

Right off the bat you are thrown into the middle of a battle. It was definitely one of the most action packed beginnings of a novel that I have ever read so you won't get bored! Obviously the action was great and the conflicts even greater. There are a lot of problems in this book! The Spackle are coming to attack, the Mayor wants to attack the Answer, the Answer is attacking the Mayor, and a ship is going to land. And poor Todd and Viola are stuck right in the middle of it! Lets just say it was an emotional roller coaster and it was super intense. Todd and Viola grew as characters. Mistress Coyle and the Mayor grew as well. I really enjoyed learning even more about them. To top that off you even learn a lot about the Spackle. So even though this is  the last book there is still so much new information. Also, Bradley and Simone were great new characters with different personalities to add to the book.

(SLIGHT SPOILERS) Now the Mayor..... Reading about the Mayor really shows how good Patrick Ness' writing is. I was actually falling for what he was saying! I believed it! It almost broke my heart a little when you learn his true intentions. I really pitied the Mayor by the very end and I wouldn't want his life. And Mistress Coyle... I actually thought she could of changed a little, but like the Mayor her intentions are revealed. I guess they will always stall true to their beliefs, which is sad.

There definitely was some surprising moments throughout the book. Some big shockers.

The ending felt satisfying to me. I feel that you can tell what happens which made me happy because I hate it when books just end and you make up the ending! It was a little like that but there was enough information to guess what happens.

Overall this was a great book and conclusion to the series. It's sad to see this series end but I think there was enough problems on that planet already! Looking over the titles of the books I think they are just terrific!

Overall Rating
9.75/10                                            
                                                 

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

*SOME SPOILERS*

On July 15th, 2011 I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at midnight and it definitely was a night to remember. One word that sums up this movie well is EPIC. It was an awesome conclusion to the series and was executed  fabulously.

Positives:
This movie is definitely my favorite out of all the movies in the series. You could tell that everyone stepped up to the plate for the finale. The acting was amazing! In previous films there was some iffy acting spots that were not done very well but not in this film! All of the actors were great, but some that stood out to me were Voldemort, Snape, and McGonagall. Ralph Fiennes really did Voldemort justice in this final film. He really showed how vulnerable Voldemort was getting as each Horcrux was destroyed and just looked plain scary! Alan Rickman.... oh watching him play Snape for the final time was so sad. :( He brought the emotion to Snape, like in the book, and it was just so sad.:( McGonagall rocked!!! Maggie Smith bought a side to Minerva that we have never scene on the big screen! She just nailed the part  very well!

One of my favorite parts of the movies, especially movie 6 and 7 pt.1, are the opening scenes with the WB logo and the title. This opening scene was really good too! I loved how they panned over Hogwarts and you could see Snape looking at all the kids marching outside. It gave me chills. :) Then you see the title!!! That is one of my favorite moments of the movies. Seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows zoom slowly onto the screen.

Now going through the scenes that I liked I would have to start with the Gringott's vault. I don't know how they make gold and valuables multiply, but it looked very cool! While in Gringotts I really did feel bad for the dragon who was abused. :( Bellatrix, who was really Hermione, made me laugh! It was so odd to see "Bellatrix" saying good morning and acting like a nice school girl.

The next scene that I really liked was when they are in Hogwarts and Snape is standing where Dumbledore stood, giving a speech about Harry Potter. (I wouldn't call it a speech, but maybe like a threat) When Harry walks out and looks at Snape straight in the eye and confronts him, well that was just awesome! Of course there was a story going on with Snape that Harry didn't know about yet, but acting was phenomenal. And of course the battle between Snape and McGonagall was epic! I liked how McGonagall brought the statues to life to help protect Hogwarts because they looked really neat. And when Voldemort and his followers were on that cliff/ hill looking at Hogwarts, all I could think was "Whoa. When did he have that many followers?" There was a lot of people!

At first when I heard that they show Ron and Hermione going to the Chamber of Secrets I was unsure about how I would like it. I did enjoy that scene, but I still missed it when Ron, in the book, talked about saving the house elves. It was shown well in the Chamber of Secrets none the less. Next, the fiendfyre. It was done well and the fire did look very out of control! Draco was awesome in this scene!

One of the saddest scenes is when Voldemort kills Snape. Snape getting bitten by Nagini just sounded so awful though! When Harry comes in and kneels down by Snape I almost lost it. The dialogue was great and the acting was great.The Prince's Tale was done well. There were a couple times when it kinda got a little confusing because it jumped all around to different scenes, but I liked it. They showed some new scenes that really showed the emotion in Snape and it made my cry. :(

Harry and the Resurrection Stone scene was really sweet. All of the characters were great and it was good to see Sirius again!

The next scene that I liked was when Voldemort was saying that Harry Potter was dead and Neville goes up to him and makes his little speech. Go Neville! When the battle begins again I actually didn't mind that much when Draco and Narcissa walk out holding hands and Lucius trailing behind them. It was nice to see the change in Draco about what really is the right thing to do and Narcissa really showed how much she loves Draco. I thought that it was right for Lucius to be staggering behind them looking beaten.

I liked how in the end Harry, Ron, and Hermione all hold hands and look out into the distance. That was just perfect!

Finally the epilogue! I thought that it was done very well although I wish we could have seen a little more of Draco because we only see a quick glimpse of him. It was so odd seeing the actors aged. Ron and Hermione looked the same, but I thought Harry and Ginny looked a little older than they were suppose to be. The music in the end brought me right back to Sorcerer's Stone and I loved the chocolate frog on the window. It was a great full circle ending!

Negatives:

No movie can be perfect, but there actually wasn't much that bugged me! I was definitely pleasantly surprised! These might go in no particular order.

Probably the biggest thing that bugged me was the actual battle between Harry and Voldemort. I liked that they were running all around Hogwarts chasing each other but one of my favorite scenes in to book is when they are in the Great Hall and Harry tells Voldemort everything and even tells him that he can redeem himself and change. In the movie they were all alone and no speeches were made. When Voldemort does die I wish they didn't break him into pieces. I wanted him to fall and die like any other mortal person. I also wish the aftermath of the battle was more cheerful. I mean no one was celebrating that Voldemort was gone and it looked like no one even knew.

Another thing that bugged me was that Harry didn't fix his wand! I don't know if they accidentally forgot this or he fixed it and didn't show it. I don't want him using Draco's wand for the rest of his life because he snapped the Elder Wand and half and threw it somewhere.

In the Forbidden Forest I thought that it was so random that Remus just mentions having a son and there was no really formal announcement. I know in Part 1 Tonks was trying to say something but Mad Eye cut her off. They didn't even mention Teddy in the epilogue!

I thought that the snake chasing scene was a bit to drawn out. I wish Harry told Neville instead of Ron and Hermione to kill the snake. (like in the book)

I know because of time purposes they didn't get into Dumbledore's back story at all, but I would have liked to see more of that also.

Fred's death was not even cry worthy in the movie either. I thought Molly and Ron did a great job at crying, but we don't see Fred die. We just see the Weasleys around him.

Ok this might be very picky but do you remember in Part 1 the WB sign is cracking and peeling. Well, I really wanted it to break apart in this movie, but instead it is completly solid. I think it would have been a cool representation that this is the last movie and it has been around for a long time and that the wizarding world is falling apart.

I don't mind Harry and Ginny in the books but Harry and Ginny in the movies is still awkward.

Overall this movie was so awesome!! It is definitely my favorite out of them all. Ron and Hermione were great together and Molly did an awesome job at her famous line!! Neville really stepped up to the plate and Harry really was a hero! I will definitely be seeing this movie again in theaters soon!

9.6/10