Christina Jones - An Enormously English Monsoon Wedding

After a few weird/fantasy books, I went onto something extremely normal and soppy from my point of view which isn't unusual for me but isn't particularly regular either as I find paranormal-romance and urban fantasy books a lot more interesting because I like the completely different stories that come from not being based in reality but in my mind could still happen if certain things were different or real.  However, back to reality or what is considered to be reality in chick flick books.

An Enormously English Monsoon Wedding is a chick-lit novel from Christina Jones who is known to write a number of these type of books which I consider to be holiday books where you just sling it in your bag when you are going to the beach or sitting by the pool and just want something fun to read.  After looking at other books from Jones, I have found her to be similar to Jenny Colgan and Abby Clements whose books I enjoyed as well so I thought it was worth a shot.

Rating: 7

Recommended To: Holiday book readers

Favourite Characters: Gina - loveable, funny, beautiful, yet insecure

Favourite Part: Jay smiled gently. 'I told her I loved her too.'
Oh God... Erin sighed.
'And that I'd marry her if she gave me all her samosas.'
'What?'
Jay laughed.  'We were at my Aunt Ganika's birthday party.  We were eight years old.' - Page 269

Good Points: Interesting to see a multi-cultured wedding; easy read; the inclusion of other couples not just the happy couple

Bad Points: Everything ended up going a bit too smoothly

Alex Scarrow - The Mayan Prophecy

I am definitely back on the weird books after a few - what most people would call - normal books.  This is one of the book series I have read written by a male author as I seem to primarily read books from female authors because they are more character driven but it's good to mix it up with a more action based book.  Thankfully, I know for certain that this book is also character driven with an interesting story as I've thoroughly enjoyed the preceding books.

The Mayan Prophecy is the eighth book in the TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow; the series focuses on three young people - Liam O'Connor, Maddy Carter, and Sal Vikram.  The background behind this series is that the three main characters were meant to die in different periods of time; Liam, a young Irishman, should have gone down on the Titanic in 1912; Maddy, a young woman from Brooklyn, who should have died on a plane which was going down during a terrorist attack in 2010, and Sal, the youngest of them all, a young girl from Mumbai, who should have died when a skyscraper collapsed due to fire in 2026.  They are recruited by an older gentleman called Foster who gives them a second chance and live, to work for a secret agency that supposedly helps prevent time travel destroying history.  They go on many adventures throughout the books, traveling through time to ensure that they fulfil their objective of keeping history on track until they start to question what they are doing and who they are and are then in turn targeted by the people they are supposed to work for.  Because of this, they go into hiding and then travel to the Victorian age to set up shop there under their own agenda, helping if the world if they need to but making sure no one picks up on where they are.  Over the time they have spent working as time travellers, they have begun to realise that there is a price for going through time as they all begin to age rapidly, Liam more so than the others because of his more frequent trips travelling through time.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Science fiction lovers

Favourite Characters: Liam - loveable, loyal, brave, caring, and Irish

Favourite Part: It took Liam no more than an hour to reach the halfway point of the 'climb'; it was more a stiff uphill walk than proper climbing.
[...]
But apart from needing the rest and the water, it was a perfect place to stop, if for no other reason than to take a couple of minutes and savour the spectacular view.
He was no more than a hundred feet up from the jungle floor, above the green canopy of the rainforest, and yet it felt like he was halfway towards the sky. - Page 191-2

Good Points: More character/story driven; characters continued to develop; dynamic between the TimeRiders; this book stood out against the others yet again

Bad Points: Bob wasn't featured as much

Film Addict's February Film Choice

Please not this is about the British cut of The Boat That Rocked, not the American.

I was gutted at the beginning of this month when I found out that Philip Seymour Hoffman had died of a drug overdose because I loved his work and I loved him as Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire so I decided to review a film that he was in this month as the Film Addict's February Choice.

The Boat That Rocked (also known as Pirate Radio in North America) is the 2009 British comedy film from Richard Curtis (About Time, Love Actually) starring Bill Nighy (a Curtis favourite who is also in About Time and Love Actually), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Capote), Nick Frost (Cornetto Trilogy with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, Paul) and Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, The Amazing Spider-Man) to name a handful of the actors.  Excluding Hoffman, all the other actors who portrayed the main characters were either British or Irish, making Hoffman stand out; while I was studying Media at school and university, one thing we discussed about British films was that they would tend to have an American actor amongst the top billing actors because they would make the film marketable to the American audience as well as the British.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Richard Curtis lovers; 1960s music lovers

Favourite Characters: Simon - he was so adorable; the Count - got to love him

Favourite Part: Dr. Dave: Climb for America, sir.
[...]
If you fall, you will die.
[...]
Step away from the edge you silly bastards, this is madness.

Good Points: The tension between the Count and Gavin culminating in playing Chicken; great ensemble; the chemistry between each of the characters; the music; the inclusion of the station's listeners

Bad Points: Elenore - she was just a horrible character

Mercedes Lackey - The Fairy Godmother

Fairy tales are ingrained into our culture and recreated into our media over and over again, in our TV shows and films and even books, but they tend to stick to the same story.  After reading a couple of the Hero books which have a fantasy angle and what some would define as a basis in fairy tale/magic along with some other weird and wonderful books I have read in the past, Goodreads recommended Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series which is a new twist on fairy tales so I bought the first one because I am always open to the weird and the wonderful and sometimes even the downright freaky.

Lackey is known for her fantasy novels, including the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, and a lot of the novels she writes take place in the fictional universe of Velgarth and following reading The Fairy Godmother, Goodreads has since started to recommend a fair few of Lackey's books that are set in this universe which I may start reading eventually.  As mentioned, Lackey tends to set her books in the fictional universe of Velgarth but in this series, she sets the novels in the realm of the Five Hundred Kingdoms that is inhabited by princes, princesses, milk maids, stable boys, fairies, elves, and even more fairy tale characters.  The Fairy Godmother is the first book of this series that is very loosely based on the fairy tale, Cinderella, with Elena being taking on the role of Cinders with evil stepmother and stepsisters as well and a fairy godmother to boot.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Fairy tale lovers

Favourite Characters: Elena - Cinderella turned Godmother

Favourite Part: "We're all mad, you know," Elena said aloud, looking straight at him.
"I had begun to suspect this," he said in all seriousness.
She broke into a smile, a completely unexpected smile.  She had never really smiled a great deal around him, and never at him before - or at least, she had never done so without a great deal of ironic mockery to her expression.  This smile accepted the joke as being on both of them, and invited him to share in it.  It hit him with an almost physical impact.  He managed to return it, but not without a struggle to get his heart and breathing going again. - Page 355

Good Points: The concept; the characters; the romance element

Bad Points: Missed Elena's mentor when she went

Nicholas Sparks - Safe Haven

I have read many Nicholas Sparks novels and he has captured my heart every time as well as broken it into millions of pieces and I've watched many of the adaptations of his novels so at least I know what to expect from him.  In 2013, Safe Haven was adapted into a film and though I haven't seen it yet, I decided to buy the novel because it was cheap at the time so now you get to benefit from my need to fill my bookshelves.

Safe Haven is written in the typical Sparks way, following both the female, Katie, and male lead, Alex, primarily as a third person narrator with an occasional contribution from another voice, the one perceived as the antagonist, in this case, Katie's ex.  Katie is a mystery to Southport after running away from her past while Alex moved here with his late wife years before following his successful career in the army to run his father-in-law's shop.  Both are reluctant to begin a romantic relationship with anyone: Alex because of his two young kids and his fear of forgetting his late wife or erasing her memory for his children and Katie because of her past and fear of being discovered.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Romance lovers; Nicholas Sparks fans

Favourite Characters: Alex - protective, kind, loving

Favourite Part: At his touch, she flinched slightly before relaxing.  He heard her sigh, tired now.  Tired of talking.  Tired of the past.
"You did the right thing by leaving," he said.  His tone was soft.  Understanding. - Page 160

Good Points: Excellent plot; the kids; Sparks in true form

Bad Points: Katie's ex freaked me out

Mark Twain - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Recently I bought this truly beautiful book which is a collection of Mark Twain stories because I've always wanted to read his work, any of it, so when I found this collection I got really excited and bought it because it was relatively cheap in comparison to the recommended retail price.  I decided to read one of the stories every so often because it's huge and there are five stories altogether.  This will also allow me to review the individual stories with more detail like Gena Showalter's Dark Beginnings anthology.

Mark Twain's novels are American Classics and are rooted in the South and a lot of his work is influenced by his experiences and where he has lived; Twain worked as a riverboat pilot which is said to be the influence behind The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well his living in the town that these stories are set in.

Rating: 5

Recommended To: Classic lovers

Favourite Characters: Huckleberry Finn - more likeable out of him and Tom

Favourite Part: "Huckleberry Finn, indeed!  It ain't a name to open many doors, I judge!  But let him I, lads, and let's see what's the trouble."
"Please don't ever tell I told you," were Huck's first words when he got in.  "Please don't - I'd be killed, sure - but the widow's been good friends to me sometimes, and I want to tell - I will tell if you'll promise you won't ever say it was me."
"By George, he has got something to tell, or he wouldn't act so!" exclaimed the old man; "out with it and nobody here'll ever tell, lad." - Page 147-8 

Good Points: Tom's imagination; Tom is more than a mischievous kid

Bad Points: Seemed random at the beginning

Film Addict's January Film Choice

As I haven't been to the cinema this month because there hasn't been anything I particularly want to see, I chose to review one of the films out of my eclectic collection.

Due to a mad obsessive session of watching an old TV show on YouTube, I decided to pick a film adaptation of said TV show.  Ladies and gentlemen, TMNT.  There was a lot about this film that I loved but it derives from my love of the characters and the franchise.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were, and still are, some of my favourite fictional characters growing up because they are such a random concept, turtles that were mutated by some alien goo which leads them to grow to an extraordinary size and are able to walk and talk and then were taught ninjitsu by their walking, talking rat master.  TMNT is the 2007 computer-animated film from Kevin Munroe that pretty much continues the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise from the 2003 series following the defeat of the Turtles' archenemy, the Shredder, and Leonardo is sent away by Master Splinter to become a better for his brothers, leaving the other three to their own devices without someone to help guide them.  This film stars Nolan North (Uncharted series, Assassin's Creed series), James Arnold Taylor (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Johnny Test), Mikey Kelley (Invasion America), and Mitchell Whitfield (My Cousin Vinny) as the turtles, Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello respectively, Mako Iwamatsu (Pearl Harbor, Memoirs of a Geisha) as their master, Splinter, and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cruel Intentions) and Chris Evans (Captain America: The First Avenger, Fantastic Four) as their human friends, April O'Neil and Casey Jones respectively.  Though not the villain of the story, Patrick Stewart (X-Men series, Star Trek: The Next Generation) is a new character in the franchise, Winters, who unwittingly unleashed monsters into the world millennia before.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans; animated fans

Favourite Characters: Raphael - always my favourite; Casey Jones - another old favourite; Michelangelo - yet another favourite

Favourite Part: Raphael: We live together, we train together, we fight together, we stand for good together...we are ninjas.  We strike hard, defend and protected and fade into the night and there ain't no bad guy or monster that gonna ever change that.  That's what is important and that's why we will always be...brothers.

Good Points: The introduction of each brother; the story; the relationships between all of the characters

Bad Points: No Shredder

Rachel Caine - Daylighters

Now for one of my favourite series which is coming to an end, the Morganville Vampires series, which has spanned 7 years and 15 books. As I love this series, because I'm partial to a bit of Shane Collins, the main character's, Claire, love interest, I decided to ignore my own system and read this one way ahead of my plan because I have been wanting to read it for ages!

Daylighters is the fifteenth and final book in Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series that focuses on Claire Danvers and her housemates, Shane Collins, Eve Glass (formerly Rosser), and Michael Glass, as they try to survive living in Morganville, a town in Texas that is run by vampires (or was prior to this book).  Claire and her friends have been through hell and back, from a psychotic vampire hunting father to another psychotic father who takes over the town to a race of vampires, Draug, who target other vampires as well as humans for their source of food drenching the town and overthrowing the ruling vampires.  As well as the problems in the town, with the vampires, Claire goes through a lot regarding her relationship with Shane, which has had its troubles because of his dad interfering and Shane being jealous of Claire's relationships with the vampires in town, including her employer, Myrnin, and even Michael.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Vampire lovers; Rachel Caine lovers

Favourite Characters: Shane - always and forever

Favourite Part: And then he kissed her, all passion and intensity and heat and dark chocolate sweetness melting on her tongue, but not just sweet because there was spice in it, too, bursts of searing pepper, and he made her hungry, so incredibly hungry to feel his skin on hers that it almost drive her crazy. - Page 334

Good Points: Lots of action; Shane's character development; good end to the series

Bad Points: Michael's happy ending being linked to the villain

David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas

I am willing to admit that the films I watch has an effect on the type of books I read as I occasionally watch a film and find it that it was adapted from a book and then I go and find the book that it came from because I am curious to find out what the differences are between the film and the book.  Sometimes I'm impressed but sometimes I'm let down because the film is occasionally better from my point of view.  I really liked the Cloud Atlas film because it was impressive how they made the handful of cast members they had vary in gender and ethnicity convincingly and I just wanted to see what the book was like.

Cloud Atlas is a novel from David Mitchell and his third novel overall, following Ghostwritten and number9dream; Cloud Atlas is a multi-narrative piece following six protagonists, all from different times and places and all of different ages and backgrounds.  Due to the fact that there are six protagonists, spanning different times and places, this book covers a number of genres, going from a historical fiction piece written from the point of view of an American lawyer through a diary he is keeping to a story being told to some children by their grandfather in a post-apocalyptic future.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Anyone; book lovers

Favourite Characters: Zachry - fascinated me; Somni - amazing

Favourite Part: A half-read book is a half-finished love affair. - Page 65

Good Points: Different writing formats; the theme of a reincarnated soul; the question of authenticity

Bad Points: Abrupt interruptions

Distracted Bibliophile

Sorry from the bibliophile once again because I got distracted over Christmas and the New Year by my new Playstation games as well as my old ones along with some old TV shows that I found on Youtube from when I was younger, Spiderman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I am currently reading Cloud Atlas so that should be up soon and I am hoping to do a new feature on this blog called Film of the Month, depending any films I watch while I'm home, even if I go to the cinema.

Jenny Colgan - Christmas at the Cupcake Café

Due to the Christmas season, I have mixed a couple of my books around so that they work better on this review blog.  Following Vivien's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop, I was intending to read West End Girls by Jenny Colgan but I switched that book around with another Colgan book, Christmas at the Cupcake Café.

Christmas at the Cupcake Café is the second book in Colgan's At the Cupcake Café series following Meet Me at the Cupcake Café, but this time there is a seasonal twist to the series which was good for this time of year and seemed suitable to review, especially following a very summery themed book.  Previously in Meet Me at the Cupcake Café, Issy was working a normal desk job, filing, but then she decides to seize the moment and open The Cupcake Café with the assistance of Austin, a bank manager who grants her a loan to begin running the shop.  Struggling at first, Issy then makes a success of the café with the help of her friends, employees, and Austin.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Chick lit lovers

Favourite Characters: Darny - funny and stubborn

Favourite Part: 'Louis, hush about that stupid Advent calendar,' said Issy.  'It's not going to get chocolate in it.'
'It's a very sad Advent calendar,' observed Louis. - Page 118

Good Points: The embrace of Christmas; bringing new places in; introducing Marian to Darny

Bad Points: The cupcake girl in New York - hint of a love triangle

Matt O'Connor - The Icecreamists

A bit after my 21st birthday when my friend gave me Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book I bought The Icecreamists by Matt O'Connor because it looked interesting then my sister asked me to make one of the recipes out of it seen as I had the machine out to make the coconut ice cream and she chose the dark chocolate ice cream, Choc & Awe.

While it wasn't as simple as the Ben & Jerry's book because I could just dump everything in the food mixer then into the ice cream maker but that was because the final product was different; this time it was smoother and thicker, more like frozen custard, rather than like standard ice cream.

Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield - Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book

Previously, I have reviewed cookbooks from The Hummingbird Bakery after I have made at least one of the recipes so I decided, after making something out of this book, that I would review this one as it was different and I thought others would like to know how good this book was.

Hopefully you know what the Ben & Jerry's company produces because it is a good product, lovely ice cream and frozen yoghurt, and while in the UK we don't have all of the flavours that the Americans do, the ones we do have are extremely popular.  For my 21st birthday, one of my best friends from university bought me this brilliant book because she knows how much I like to cook for others as I used to make cakes for birthdays and such but I had never made ice cream so it was something new to do.

Abby Clements - Vivien's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop

Now that we're truly in winter now with the cold weather and as of this moment, it is raining like something out of Noah's Ark, I picked up a book that has a more summer based plot, Vivien's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop.  Plus, it mixes it up from the weird and wonderful books I've read recently which may have my intention when organising my bookshelf.

Vivien's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop is a novel from Abby Clements that focuses on two young women who inherit their grandmother's ice cream shop in Brighton following her unexpected death.  Clements is no stranger to the book publishing world, having worked behind the scenes for years then beginning to write her own chick lit books such as this.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Those with Holiday book needs

Favourite Characters: Imogen - would love her life

Favourite Part: Anna had never thought of herself as the adventurous type.
[...]
But as she neared Pisa Airport, passing by the houses and churches of a small town, Anna wondered if the story she'd always told herself - about who she was and what she wanted - was still true.  Italy had opened her eyes - to adventure, and a world full of energy, and a life lived with food at the very heart of it. - Page 206-7

Good Points: Sisterly bond; identified with both Imogen and Anna on different levels; the epilogue

Bad Points: Françoise - annoying; Jon storyline annoyed me

Elf

Christmas Day is finally here and though I am rarely one to go crazy at Christmas because I'm not really religious or a child and my birthday is quite close to it, I decided this year to review a Christmas film that I love.

For three years until June this year, I was at university in Leeds and near Christmas, we would sit together on the sofa or the kitchen table (we had a kitchen/dining room/living room) and watch Elf to get us in the Christmas spirit and it became tradition. Now that I've left university, I am intend to carry on this tradition because it brings back good memories.

Elf is the 2003 worldwide-hit Christmas film from Jon Favreau (Iron Man), starring Will Ferrell (Anchorman), James Caan (The Godfather), Zooey Deschanel (New Girl), Bob Newhart (The Big Bang Theory), and Ed Asner (Up).  This was Ferrell's first film after leaving Saturday Night Live where he was a main cast member from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s and became his breakout role.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Anyone!  Everyone!

Favourite Characters: Buddy - he's great

Favourite Part: Buddy: Buddy the elf, what's your favorite color?

Good Points: Buddy's childlike belief; great story because it's simple; Walter's change

Bad Points: Could have explored Buddy's relationship with his new family more

Gena Showalter - Heart of the Dragon

While I said after The Darkest Angel that I had stopped reading Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series, I also mentioned that I was beginning a new series from Showalter based on the myth of Atlantis just to see what it was like because I was intrigued.

Heart of the Dragon is the first in Showalter's Atlantis series focussing on the long forgotten city of Atlantis and its inhabitants which include dragon warriors, vampires, and nymphs to name a few.  Dragon warriors are meant to protect Atlantis from intruders so their secrets are not divulged, especially the two that are selected to guard the two entrances to Atlantis.

Rating: 7

Recommended To: Paranormal romance lovers

Favourite Characters: Grace - she humanised Darius

Favourite Part: She was poised on the periphery of a vision, gazing down at a bloody massacre.  Men, women and children were lying motionless in pools of their own blood.  The boy - Darius - knelt over one of the children.  A little girl.
[...]
He remained kneeling and gazed up to the crystal dome.  He slammed a fist into the dirt and howled, the sound more animal than human, more tortured than any child should ever have to endure. - Page 175

Good Points: Passionate scenes; the concept; twist to an old story

Bad Points: Everything seemed to go quickly; extremely sex obsessed

Cassandra Clare - Clockwork Angel

This year, Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was released in the cinemas, having been adapted from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series, particularly the first book, City of Bones.  I have already read this series but I stole the prequel series Clare wrote from my sister and have decided to review it for you lovely people, if there's anyone out there.

Clockwork Angel is the first in Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices series which is a prequel to her already successful The Mortal Instruments series; this world focuses on the hidden world surrounding the normal one with various mythical beings known as Downworlders and Shadowhunters who police them.  Downworlders include vampires, werewolves and warlocks, all with their own leaders and needs and Shadowhunters are half-human half-angels with great strength and reflexes; Shadowhunters use their gifts and runes to ensure Mundanes (normal humans) don't become aware of this strange world.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Mortal Instruments fans; fantasy lovers

Favourite Characters: Will - something about him; Charlotte - true female Shadowhunter

Favourite Part: Slowly Jessamine lowered her hand from her mouth, her face still pale.  "Goodness, my nose is enormous," she exclaimed.  "Why didn't anyone tell me?" - Page 74

Good Points: Expansion on the already established world; hints to the Mortal Instruments characters; Tessa's implied to be a new kind of Downworlder

Bad Points: Not enough steampunk; the Victorian gender roles

Frozen

Disney films were a big part of my childhood; I had pretty much every Classic Disney film on video when I was little and now have them on DVD.  I used to drive my parents mad watching them all over and over again and I can probably recite every word from each film.  After 22 years of Disney watching, I still love them so I took my little sister (who's taller than me) to see Frozen, the latest Disney Classic to be produced.

Frozen is the latest Disney Classic with musical numbers and spectacular animation loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale The Snow Queen.  Frozen stars Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Idina Menzel (Enchanted), Jonathon Groff (Glee), Josh Gad (Love & Other Drugs), and Santino Fontana (Submissions Only); all of the main cast members have backgrounds in stage musicals, especially Menzel who is a Broadway veteran.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Disney lovers

Favourite Characters: Kristoff - the voice of reason

Favourite Part: Olaf: There's your act of true love - riding across the fjords like a valiant, pungent, reindeer king

Good Points: The way the story began; themes; Olaf and Sven; musical numbers

Bad Points: What happened to Kristoff's family?

Gena Showalter - Dark Beginnings: The Darkest Angel

Now for the third and final short story in the Dark Beginnings anthology that is part of the Lords of the Underworld series.  Each short story takes place before or after certain full length novels with some relevance to the previous one, with harpies featuring in this book like the one previous to this.

The Darkest Angel is the seventh story in the Lords of the Underworld from Gena Showalter which follows a group of immortal warriors; in the full length novels, the story revolves around the warriors who have hosted demons for centuries after opening Pandora's Box years ago and the short stories in Dark Beginnings, the stories revolve around different immortal warriors that are integral to the story but not part of the main group.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Those that like paranormal books, though definitely for an adult audience

Favourite Characters: Bianka - not just a self-serving Harpy

Favourite Part: His eyes narrowed.  She was trying to force his hand, and he didn't like it.  "You steal in secret.  You sleep in secret.  Why not this?"  
"That you don't know the answer proves you aren't the warrior I thought you were.  Have a nice life, Lysander," she said, jerking from his hold and walking away without a backward glance. - Page 258

Good Points: Another new supernatural being; unusual for the man to be the inexperienced one; didn't feel too short this time

Bad Points: Aeron subplot could have stayed in his book

Moira J. Moore - The Hero Strikes Back

It has been a couple of weeks since I've posted a review for a book, or even a film, there has been a good reason.  I got swamped with my job hunting and then it was my birthday this week so I've not had a lot of time to read for an extended period of time.  Fortunately, I finished the hero strikes back when I finally got the time to sit down and just read and now I'm happy again, having some time to myself.

The Hero Strikes Back is the second book in Moira J. Moore's Hero series which is told from the point of view of Dunleavy "Lee" Mallorough who lives in High Scape, working as a Shield, along with her friend and colleague, and Source, Shintaro "Taro" Karish.  Sources and Shields are gifted individuals who are trained to work together to prevent natural disasters from destroying the world they live in; unfortunately, they have no real choice in this matter because it is too dangerous for these gifted individuals to be untrained so they go to the Academy at a young age to gain control of their abilities.  While at the Academy, they are secluded so to prevent spontaneous bonding between Sources and Shields and they rarely see their families.  Once trained, the Sources and Shields are brought together for the first time and lined up to find out if there is a chance they can be bonded with one another so they can use their abilities safely.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Those that like fantasy books; more female orientated audience in my opinion

Favourite Characters: Taro - we all need a Taro in our lives

Favourite Part: I walked to him and put a hand on his back.  He jumped at the contact.  I wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my face against his shoulder-blades.  He was so tense.
He shuddered, and he choked off a sound trying to escape from his throat. - Page 161

Good Points: The family; Lee and Taro; Lee's power development 

Bad Points: Cover still crap; the ending was very rapid