Underworld: Blood Wars

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It's been such a good weekend already. In fact it's just been a pretty good week all in all.

The weather's been fab, I'm feeling a lot more settled in my new place and I've spent some time with family and Adeel so I'm feeling very at peace and happy right now.

Literally just spent my evening watching the Grand Prix whilst colouring which has been so calming and a lovely way to finish a busy few days.

But at the moment, I'm looking forward to a plan-free bank holiday Monday if I'm honest. Will most likely go for a nice slow run before finishing unpacking and cleaning my room. 

Perfect.

We went to see Pirates 5 today and, ohmygod, I cannot wait to write a review for that!

One film I was equally excited for at the beginning of the year was Underworld: Blood Wars.

I love the Underworld series and not just because Kate Beckinsale is my girl crush but because it's just a fantastic set of vampire films. Beats Twilight by a mile, a million miles.

Unfortunately I wasn't completely won over by the fifth instalment.

I don't think the story was very strong at all and I was very, very annoyed at how they barely even covered writing off Michael's character. I'm fully aware the actor didn't want to come back but it's not like he was anyone random, he was what the entire plot surrounded in films one and two.

I enjoyed the old characters and a couple from the fourth, but the new characters I almost felt were weak, that they weren't anything special given the previous villains. Plus, I'm kind of biased in the old characters because I absolutely love Kate Beckinsale, Theo James and Charles Dance.

The cinematography and the sets and the costumes were beautiful as usual. Lycra and medieval castles and epic battle scenes - classic Underworld action.

I'm not gonna lie though, I will probably watch it again beside the others because I like doing film marathons every now and again and it's part of the story, especially as there's going to be another one!

Let's hope the sixth is better.

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Rating:
★★★☆☆



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The Heir Chronicles, Book Two - The Wizard Heir

By Cinda Williams Chima

[Seph McCauley has spent three years getting
kicked out of one exclusive private school after
another. And it's not his attitude that's the
problem: it's the trail of magical accidents -
lately, disasters - that follow in his wake. Seph
is a wizard, orphaned and untrained, and his
powers are escalating out of control.

Worse, as the magical accidents that plague him grow
in intensity, Seph makes a discovery: the stories he's
been told about his parents' deaths are fabrications.
The people he trusts most have been lying to him.

Seph is sent to the Havens, a secluded boy's school
whose headmaster promises to train him in magic.
Maybe here he will find a community he can trust?
But he soon learns that the training comes at a steep
cost and everyone around him is keeping secrets.
Where can he turn, when he finds himself at the
centre of a war he may well not survive?]

Oooh, I was wondering how they would continue on from The Warrior Heir, whether the characters would crossover or whether this one would be completely separate but be placed in the same world.

I'm glad that it crossed over to be honest. I enjoyed Jack's character so much in the first one that Seph couldn't really compare in this one (although Jack came across a little cold and grouchy in this one which put me off him).

I did like the story though. It had an intriguing concept and a good mysterious element to it. Unfortunately, I did find it a little predictable in that I guessed who both of his parents were and it wasn't that big of a reveal as to who the Dragon was either.

Not to worry though because it was a solid story and I can see how it could possibly unfold in the others to come.

I don't think I enjoyed this one as much as the first one though because it lacked the medieval element that it had and I love medieval plots.

One scene that particularly stood out to me, which I think was fantastic, was the scene where Madison and Seph go off together for a picnic by a scenic river. This scene doesn't have any importance to the story or any impact at all on anything really, I just thought it was so beautiful and could picture every detail described.

Am looking forward to seeing what the others have in store!



📖

Unbroken

By Laura Hillenbrand.

So, I'd heard a little about this from the recent-ish film that came out and was curious.

I find the idea of war enticing, fascinating, intriguing. I don't know why. 

Maybe because it's just so different from what we're used to these days and we learnt about the different World Wars in school a lot.

It's just so surreal to think that all of this literally happened. 

Our grandparents probably saw the tail end of the Second World War and I just can't imagine what that would've been like for them. 

Let alone what it has been like for them to witness such a drastic leap in technology and all.

It's honestly pretty amazing when you think about it like that.

Anyways, Unbroken: An Extraordinary True Story of Courage and Survival.

[In 1943 a bomber crashes into the Pacific Ocean.
Against all odds, one young lieutenant survives. Louis
Zamperini had already transformed himself from child
delinquent to prodigious athlete, running in the Berlin
Olympics. Now he must embark on one of the Second
World War's most extraordinary odysseys. Zamperini
faces thousands of miles of open ocean on a failing
raft. Beyond lie only greater trials, in Japan's
prisoner-of-war camps.

Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini's
destiny, whether triumph or tragedy, depends
on the strength of his will...]

I'm not really a fan of non-fiction works - or at least I thought I wasn't - but this book is absolutely brilliant.

To be fair, when I picked it up I was actually unaware that it was non-fiction (or a true story), merely knowing that it was about war.

Heartbreaking, astounding, shocking and utterly mesmerising. This one pulls on all of the heartstrings, yet has a reasonably happy ending for all that was went through.

Louis Zamperini sounded like such an amazing, strong individual and I can't even begin to imagine how all of those POWs got through the war camps, or how any of the men involved in the war got through any of it really, even life after. 

How would you go on after going through something like that?

I'm intrigued to see the film version of this now, but this book definitely deserves a read. It taught me a lot about the Second World War and the strength and determination to keep going, no matter what.

Phenomenal.

Stand For What You Believe In

It's been a busy ol' week and I'm glad to have the weekend to chill out a bit. 

Sunday's always seem to be my favourite day as it's usually the day Adeel comes over or it's the day when I can be lazy and do absolutely nothing.

Close-up of a bee whilst out catching Pokemon

When I was at home, my mum and step-dad used to always do the roast dinner on Sunday's and we'd sit together in the lounge and watch one of those family-type programmes.

I miss that with them being in Dubai, me here and my sister just not interested in spending time with the family anymore.

I took a half day on Thursday and went home because it was my cousin's baby's first birthday, which was cute.

She had a bit of a party at hers and there were so many people and babies and balloons, it was a bit chaotic!

My other cousin, the younger one, is about four months pregnant and we just sat and chattered away the entire time as I hadn't seen her since she'd announced that she was expecting.

It was such a nice evening, which was finished off at my grandparents, eating lots of cheese on toast and listening to classical music. Perfect.

Two tiny books I got for Dolly's 1st birthday

Religion seems to have been the hot topic this week, at least for me. It was discussed earlier in the week with A, a few days ago with my colleagues at work and then with my grandparents as well funnily enough.

It fascinates me, but I don't ever think I will fully understand it not being a believer and all. I guess I just don't get why it has to cause so many problems; wars, arguments, separation between races, relationships breaking apart.

And why are there so many different Gods, wouldn't it be easier for there to just be one overall God and be done with it?

Although if people didn't fight about religion, they would find something else to fight about. It seems to be the way of the human race, we can't just all agree and get on with our lives.

I get that people need something to believe in. It's daunting to think what's actually out there, or into any of those big questions. But are we ever actually going to get any answers? No.

All I'm trying to say is, if you believe in something, no matter what it may be, you should not need to challenge anyone else's opinion or feel ashamed of your own.

From TheGoodQuote's Instagram

This post is not intended to offend anyone, it's just my honest opinion



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The Mortal Instruments: Book Three, City of Glass

By Cassandra Clare.

So I completely forgot to write this review. 

I actually finished it ages ago, but I guess I was so excited for the next book in my TBR pile, one that I had pre-ordered 6 months previously, that I overlooked writing about this one.

Whoops.

[Amid the chaos of war, the Shadowhunters must
decide to fight with the vampires, werewolves and 
other Downworlders - or against them. Meanwhile,
Jace and Clary have their own decision to make:
should they pursue the love they know is forbidden?]

Anyways, all I'm going to say about Jace and Clary, without giving anything away, is I knew it!

Funnily enough though, I felt the same way about this book as I did the first, it wasn't as dramatic and twist-worthy as the second.

In fact, I figured out a bit of the plot on my own before it happened, so in that sense it was a little predictable.

I am happy though, in a way, with how things turned out in the end. 

Clare's description as always was beautiful, the character's growth was nice, especially Jace and Simon's friendship, and the final moments were a good way to tie it all up, leaving a few seeds of doubt for the future novels I imagine.

I still found Clary to be whiney and annoying, and even selfish at times. 

Jace grew a bit soppy in the end, Alec and Isabelle grew on me some more. 

But Magnus was probably the standout for me as he was still his good old, charming, hilarious self.

I wonder what the rest of the novels will hold in store.

To be continued...



✌