Beastly: Book Review

Beastly is a book written by author Alex Flinn. The story centres around a teenage boy in high school who had a perfect life: perfect looks, money, and popular. One thing he lacked was humility. He had everything and he knew it; but instead of using it for good, he made sure others’ lives were a living hell. And that was what led into his downfall. He humiliated a girl in his class who turned out to be a witch; and she cursed him, taking away his perfect looks - his perfect life. His entire life was stolen away with one curse. But like every other curse, this comes with a cure. If he could find a girl that would love him even with his deformity, the curse would be broken. But also like any other curse, this was near impossible. The first thing he thought of was his girlfriend. She would break the curse, right? Sadly, what they had together was nothing close to true love. Through this curse, golden boy Kyle realises just how none of his friends were real friends. Picking up the pieces of what he had left, he starts to realise other parts of life he had never noticed before in his “perfect” state. With a new girl in his life, one whom he would never pay attention to if he were Kyle Kingsbury, he finds just how much love could do - even more than breaking a curse.

This story is beautifully written. Starting out with an online conversation between fairytale characters put in the real world, this introduces the story taking place in an reality where magic secretly exists. Kyle Kingsbury was a figure everyone wanted to be, but secretly hates because of his personality. All he sees was everyone’s outer appearances. Because of his own “beauty”, he didn’t give anyone “ugly” a chance to get to know him, or vice versa. He was a character who thinks the world revolves around him, and he shouldn’t have to get to know anybody, everybody needs to know him. This is where the magic comes in. With the beauty he uses to put others down taken away, he could no longer face his previous life. He gets away from everything he’s ever known, to isolate himself until he breaks the curse, or time gets to him. With nearly no hope at all to break the curse, he starts realising beauty in other things he never would’ve paid attention to if the curse didn’t happen. His “beastliness” changed him from a cocky, self-centred person, into a rose-loving, smart, and considerate man. A reality where almost everyone judges everything by its cover, this story shows how there is beauty to everything, but only some people try to get to know it enough to see it. If people only catch a glance of something’s outer appearance, but it fails to impress them and they move on without “digging in deeper”, they would forever miss the goodness in it. And if people are too self-centred to even notice the people and things around them, they would never learn more than what they already know. Everything doesn’t revolve around you, it goes on even when you’re gone. But take how others’ feel about what you do into consideration, so that even when you’re not here anymore, the legacy you leave behind may succeed into people’s hearts.

*Yes, another repeated post, but no. This is a review, not a book talk. And yes, there's a difference. :)
But as a gift.. here's a wallpaper!

Waterfall: Book Review

Reading Waterfall is like going on an emotional roller coaster. You never know what Lauren Kate’s going to throw your way. The sequel to Teardrop, second and the final instalment in the Teardrop duology brings back the story of Eureka’s journey to Atlantis, and countless obstacles that Eureka and her family would encounter in order to prevent the rise of the sunken city. The overall plot of this story is amazing; Eureka having to save the world from the disaster her own tears had brought, and the existence of a forbidden love between Eureka and Ander. Ander, a Seedbearer, whose life purpose is solely to kill Tearline girls such as Eureka, makes the mistake of falling in love with her instead. And like almost every other romance tale, his love for her was reciprocated, with an almost-love at first sight. The mutual attraction between them develops into love in the first book, although at a very short span of time, a few encounters and a moment of truth. In Waterfall, this is seen to develop, although it lacked the chemistry that was implied in the first book. The love triangle that existed between Ander, Eureka, and her long-time best friend who was now lost to the Atlantean King, Brooks, was further expanded, but never really resolved even until the end - which was one of the lesser qualities of the book. Fallen, Lauren Kate’s previous best-selling series, had its main characters’ development progress throughout the entire five-book series, and that built a strong bond in the readers’ minds. Ander and Eureka needed more time to let their relationship build up, because their love seemed to be quite outrageous at times. Ander knew every single detail about Eureka’s life, so his love for her made sense; but when Eureka falls for him too without knowing more than two facts about him, that made the story a little off. 

Throughout the story, it could be seen that everything was progressing at an abrupt pace: new characters introduced, quite a few plot twists that included one which a problem was discovered and then resolved itself. Also, I noticed a plot hole that included a warning from Eureka’s late mother in Teardrop which sounded like it was something serious, but never relived itself in Waterfall.
What I could conclude from this is that this second book seemed like it wasn’t supposed to end here; it seemed like it was supposed to end after a third book or further. The last chapters of the book seemed like Lauren Kate was trying to wrap everything up when the publishing company called for the final draft. 

When I first read Teardrop, I was really excited for the story to progress into something more, something that was supposed to last long. And although more mysteries were unveiled, plot twists were made, all of them were crammed into one 300-paged book that is mind-boggling to the readers. I am sad to say how disappointed I am with Waterfall. After all, I am a big fan of the Fallen series and thought it was an awesome story with one of the most bittersweet conclusions ever. With Waterfall, it was just bitter. The ending could’ve been more meaningful, because although it was clear it ended, it just had another sense that it’s another cliffhanger, that made no sense at all. But even with all the problems I could list about this book, the original idea of this story is undoubtedly compelling. The new ideas the author had added to the story revived the ancient Atlantis myth and changed old perspectives. It had a great starting point, but ended in a way that was unsatisfying. So all I could say is: Lauren Kate, it could’ve been better. 

*Hey guys... Okay. I know, I've posted one book talk about Waterfall before, but here's another one. And it's a review! So, this is a school assignment, and I thought: why let this go to waste? And here's it is guys, hope you know what to expect from Lauren Kate's Waterfall!
Also, a Teardrop wallpaper!

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Hello! And no, this is not a book talk. I haven't yet got the chance to read this, but I really want to. And once I get the chance to read it, I'll be sure to post the book talk! I'm posting this to just inform you guys of this very attractive book! (does that sound wrong?)
Well, here's the cover:

And the synopsis:

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

Youtube Rewind 2014!

A little late, I know. I'M SORRY, okay. :(
But here it is! The Youtube Rewind of 2014 is here! Here's the video down below if you haven't already watch this! (or it's so good that you're re-watching it) :)

Enjoy!

Movies to look forward to!

Been checking out the trailers, and A LOT of them seemed really interesting! Hmm, 2015 seems to be an exciting year... :) Here's a list of movies that I'm looking forward to, and their trailers too!

Cinderella (March 13, 2015 - USA)

Disney's doing a lot of fairytale movie remakes recently...

Into The Woods (December 25, 2014 - USA)

Oh! A fairytale medley on Christmas!"Be careful what you wish for."

Tomorrowland (May 22, 2015 - USA)

This one's a little far away, but that teaser's just making me can't wait!

Insurgent (March 20, 2015)

Wow. Well, this one seems to be exciting. Let's just hope that this time it's gonna be better than the book. :)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015 - USA)

Avengers, reassemble! Hmm, some of them even seem to be fighting against their own. Well, that looks... fun?

Minions (July 10, 2015)

The movie we've all been waiting for! The Minions are finally out for their very own movie!

Here we have it! The movies I'm really excited for, and I'm sure you'll be too after you watch these awesome trailers!

Blank Space by Taylor Swift

Hey Swifties! I know this is kinda late, and you may have already watched it a thousand times (I know I have), but I forgot to update this earlier. But here it is, for you guys who don't already know, Blank Space from '1989', the latest album from Taylor Swift.

Book Talk: Waterfall

It's been a while since I finished the book, but with all the school stuff going on, I finally found time to sit back and write about my thoughts on this book. Waterfall, did you know it's actually the second and last book of this series? If not, virtual high five yo! I had NO idea this was going to be the final conclusion, and do you know how I felt when Eureka *beepspoileralert*?
Okay, so putting those thoughts aside, now we come to the actual topic I'm going to write about: Waterfall. After knowing how important of a role she was going to have to play in this whole Atlantis legend, Eureka's mind was all jumbled up and confused. But really, it is crazy how when she was this normal girl at school, then all of a sudden BOOM! she's a Tearline girl that's gonna drown the whole world if she cried? Good thing she isn't real, 'cause I don't wanna be there if all of a sudden a girl next to me cried, then an earthquake happens, BAM I'm in the ocean, the Atlantis king rises, takes over the world, end of story.
Back to Teardrop, so it was left where she actually cried, and they were off on their way in an air bubble formed by her magical necklace in search of a lost Seedbearer.
There, end of the No Spoiler section. Go read it, then continue. Or continue, and get spoiled. :D

SPOILER ALERT!!!

One thing. She died. Eureka died. She actually died!!! WHY??? Just a side note here, but I was shouting that question to my entire family after finishing the book and they were staring at me like I'm insane. But back to the story, I have to ask again, why do the protagonists always die in current day series??? We used to read books and think that when a protagonist is in a very critical point of death, they wouldn't die, because they're the main character, and main characters don't just die. But this? WHY does she have to kill Eureka? Why can't she live happily ever after with her beloved Ander??? I'm sorry guys, but I just have to rant. Which is why Blogger is invented; for us readers who get complaints because of ranting too much in real life, and it's too hard not to rant. :) Speaking of Ander, the plot twist was weird... but cool. Though it doesn't quite make a lot of sense. He has the "big breath" thing, but he isn't really a Seedbearer. It's weird okay. And when Eureka found out that Seedbearers age faster if they fall in love, it was such a huge slap in the face. But then we find out he actually isn't a Seedbearer, and it's all sunshine and rainbows again, she dies. HA.HA. Good job, Lauren Kate. You officially became the next Rick Riordan.
Not just that, Brooks just had to die with her, together in the rainbows. NO. Why not Ander? They were supposed to fall even deeper in love, and die together, and live in the rainbow kingdom happily ever after death. Though a REALLY unsatisfying ending for me, I still thought the plot was pretty addictive, I couldn't put down the book once I started reading it, until the end of it. So, that's a sign that it's a good book. And I'm giving it a four out of five.


Follow up for more book reviews! Who knows? I'm almost done with the Blood of Olympus, it might be next! Thanks guys, comment, follow, put your 'emotion' down below!

New Name?

I don't know about you, but I think this blog is starting to fill up with things that are totally unrelated to music and quotes - and still using the name "Music & Quotes" seems kinda weird. ?
I'm not exactly sure yet, but I would most probably start updating a little more with a different blog name. It may be a little more difficult to search this blog up, but if you have this in your bookmarks, it should be fine. *both thumbs up*
I apologize for not being able to update with more reviews or music or the things I'm supposed to post. And I have a totally reasonable excuse to not be doing what I should have. I'm currently working on my Wattpad stories, though my latest one hasn't been posted yet. I'm hoping this new one would come out better than the others, so please help support my stories!

Here's a link to that: http://www.wattpad.com/user/theshinysnowflake

Don't fret though, I'll totally be posting more reviews and/or updates soon!
(Virtually) see you on the next post!


The Author

Get More of Percy Jackson!

Ohmygosh ohmygosh!
I'm really sorry for this late news, but I'm typing this down as I'm reading the news here! Hihi, I apologize for my late reminder and notice, but Rick Riordan is actually publishing a whole new series based on Norse mythology (i.e. Thor, Loki, Odin, etc.)!!! It was announced some time three months ago, which is why I was apologizing. But yes, a new series called Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.
You're probably wondering, Hmm, 'Chase' sounds really familiar... And yes, you're probably right, the main character to this new Riordan series is our very Annabeth Chase's UNCLE, Magnus Chase!
So... something to look forward to, 'cause there might be just be some cheesy crossovers somehow.. ?
Another thing, if you guys have already bought the last and final book to the Heroes of Olympus series, Blood of Olympus, know that there is some kind of sneak preview on the new series. How much, I'm not sure, but it is there.
And yeah, Blood of Olympus!!! I haven't bought it yet, but I'm buying it as soon as it hits the bookstore, so... YAY!
To you guys who've already bought it... hmph, I envy you. >_<
Haha, okay now, this is all I have for this post. But stay updated for more book reviews coming up soon!

*Rick, you never fail to surprise us.

New Story!

I have been reading a lot, and I tried writing too. Don't know if it's for me, but you never know if you never try right? So here it is, my first story on Wattpad, ever! Go check it out, vote for it, follow me! Leave any comments and suggestions, I would love to hear from you! Support me!

The Loathe Game http://www.wattpad.com/story/24209376-the-loathe-game