The Secret Garden

I had to read this novel for me Children and Culture class and it happens to be the first time that I have read this book.

The plot of the novel focuses around Mary Lennox and her adventures in The Secret Garden. Mary's parents are killed in India from cholera and Mary is sent to live with her Uncle in London. Mary is a bratty and spoiled child and gets along poorly in London at first until she is told the story of the secret garden that her Uncle, Master Craven and his late wife tended together. After his wife's death Master Craven locked up the garden and buried the key. Mary, with the help of her robin friend, the first friend she had made in her ten years of life, finds the secret garden. Soon she enlists the help of Dickon, a younger brother to one of the maids of the house who has a way with animals, to help her tend to the garden. Mary also learns that she has a cousin part way through the novel. He never lets anyone see him because he is sickly and since he was born everyone has told him that he is going to be a hunchback and die young. His father won't look at him because his eyes are like his mother's but so sad. The Magic of the secret garden helps Colin realize that he is not as weak as everyone thinks he is and helps him get better. Both Colin and Mary at the end of the novel have also worked out their bratty tendencies a little though there is room for improvement. 

I was not a fan of the novel at all until the Dickon and Colin showed up. It might have been because Mary was isolated most of the time or the fact that she had an awful personality before then, but I almost couldn't stand the book until they were introduced. Especially Dickon, I loved his character, but near the end of the book when it was just description after endless description of the garden I just wanted it to be done. It also bothered me that none of the characters really changed except Mary and Collin. It can be said that they were the only characters that really needed to change, but all the other characters just felt so flat to me that it was hard to get into the story. I know that this is supposed to be a children's novel so a lot of complex characters isn't really what you are going for, but I still think that as a child the repetition would have bored me. 

Overall it was cute, but it isn't going to become my favorite children book. I give it a 3.5 out of 5

Special A

I am kind of on an anime kick right now so I am going back and rewatching all the series that I started, but never got around to finishing. One of these anime's is Special A

I honestly don't remember how I came across this anime, but it is rather entertaining and light hearted. It is centered around the seven members of the S.A. or Special A class. These are the top seven academic students in a prestigious academy who have there own greenhouse class room, uniforms and special privileges. All of these students except for Hikari are children of rich parents. However this difference in status doesn't bother them and they are all very close. Hikari only enrolled in this specific academy so that she could beat Kei Takishima who since they first met has always made Hikari number two. We follow the characters through a school year of being part of the Special A as well many changes in feelings and relationships along the way.

I still don't know exactly how I feel about Hikari, she is cute and bubbly, but I think at times it was over done. I know that anime characters are supposed to stand out because of their characteristics, but they really played up how oblivious she was about Kei's feeling until the last couple episodes. Even when she does finally realize she is still so reserved about it until the very end that I found it a little bit annoying. I loved that she was all about hard work and deteremination, but there is a point where too much of a good thing becomes annoying and I felt this way about Hikari sometimes. That being said, I think her and Kei's relationship is adorable and I am glad about how that turned out. 

I really liked Kei as a lead male. Like most anime leading men he was quite and hard to get along with, but the fact that we got into his head and it was obvious that from the beginning that he liked Hikari made me warm up to him quickly. The episode when he is sick has to be one of my favorites even if Hikari's idiotic tendencies makes me rather upset in this episode. The fact that he doesn't just work to protect Hikari, but all of his friends also makes him likable even though he is rather run of the mill when it comes to anime guys. On a complete side not, I had an issue with how they drew his eyes. I don't know what it was, but they were just weird to me. 

Akira and Tadashi were the voices of reason really in this anime, when they weren't having their own. Tadashi, though usually portrayed as a idiot who only wants to eat, multiple times throughout the series shows that he understands a lot more then what everyone gives him credit for. He is happy go lucky and a loyal friend, even if he is preoccupied with food. Akira is the reason to Hikari's wildness. She loves cooking for the group and usually keeps her head, but I also really loved the arc about her character because it made the anime not just about Hikari and Kei, but about the whole group. I really love the two of them as a couple, they are precious.

Rounding out the seven are Jun and Megumi, twin brother and sister, and Ryuu. Ryuu, who isn't related to the siblings takes care of them while their parents are out on tour and becomes a big brother, protector, and idol to Jun and Megumi. He also has a weird ability to make animals love him and he likes them in return, which causes quite a bit of jealousy with Jun and Megumi. Jun is a quite and rather shy boy until it is discovered that he has a split personality. A playboy that comes out when he is kissed by a girl, and his regular calm self. This play boy Jun causes many problems, but in the end gets him and Sakura, and outside character introduced to the group first as a marriage interview for Kei, together. I personally don't really like this couple, but I guess it could have been worst. Megumi has to be the most eccentric of the group because she doesn't speak (well until later in the series) but writes everything down in a sketch book to save her voice. Megumi, when she does sing, has almost destructive power unless listened to from far away. Megumi ends up in a relationship with Yahiro, who had been a villain for a few episodes, and they have to be my favorite couple in the series. There is just something about this "bad guy" who isn't bad after all taking care of Megumi that makes me into a gooey mess. 

Overall it was a fun and cute anime, but the ending kind of disappointed me. I wanted to see a shift in Hikari and Kei, but it was as if nothing changed. I guess that is what they both wanted, but I didn't want a kiss and then the end, I wanted something more. Just a little bit more. Due to this lack luster ending I give it a 4 out of 5. I will probably read the manga to see the ending they present, which is probably more hard fought. This is a fun anime to watch and just be happy, nothing really more though. 

City of Bones

City of Bones is the first book to one of my all time favorite series, The Mortal Instrument Series. Now the prequel series, Infernal Devices, actually came out after the first three books of this series so this was my first experience in the shadow world. Cassandra Clare really put a lot of effort into making this community and I have been fascinated ever since I first read this book. 

The plot revolves around fifteen year old Clary Fray who is an average teenager in New York City. She spends most of her time drawing and hanging out with her best friend Simon Lewis. However, one night when they are at the club Pandemonium, Clary witnesses three people her age kill another boy who they claim to be a demon. Soon after Clary's mom disappears and she is thrust into a world that is completely different then the one she has been seeing for the past fifteen years, though she hasn't set foot out of the city. As Clary works with the Shadowhunters Jace, Alec, and Isabelle, as well as their tutor Hodge, to find her mother she begins to learn things about herself, her relationships, her past, and her world that she could never imagine.  

The women of this series kick ass. It is as simple as that. Both Clary and Isabelle Lightwood don't let themselves be push around though they do it in two completely different fashions. Even Clary's mother Jocelyn, though absent for most of the book, is painted as a strong willed female. Clary is amazing, funny, quick witted, but still enough of an average girl that the reader can relate to her. She has problems dealing with her mom, her drawings hardly ever come out the way she wants them to, and she thinks she looks twelve instead of almost sixteen. Clary is a wonderful heroine, but she is far from perfect which makes the reader love her even more. Isabelle is what you would expect from a Hollywood leading woman. She is stunningly attractive, all the guys are enchanted by her, and at times she is a complete bitch. Even though Isabelle is a complete bitch there is something about her that you can't help but like, it is really weird. Maybe it is because, like Clary, secretly we all want to be a little like Isabelle. Either way both have no problem speaking their mind and taking out anyone they need to.

The men of this book are just as lovable and as amazing as the women. Jace Wayland is the main male lead (I feel like I am describing a play but this seems like the best way to do it) and a Shadowhunter that lives at the Institute with Alec and Isabelle Lightwood. Jace is a smartass, charming, and just that type of guy that every girl is attracted to, but probably wouldn't want to date because you know he wouldn't be good for you. He is also damaged, he fears loving anything or anyone too much because everything he has ever cared for has been taken from him. Even his best friend and fighting partner Alec can't break through his shell a lot of the time. Alec is almost the opposite of Jace, quite and reserved, almost scared to have people notice him, and yet still as attractive as his sister when someone stops and looks at him. In this novel you really don't like Alec until the end of the book, but his character is well crafted and you can understand his motives even if he pisses you off.

*spoilers past this point*

The two non-shadowhunter men in the book are Simon Lewis, Clary's best friend, and Luke Garroway, who is Clary's mother best friend. Simon is amazing, I can't say enough about his character. He is in love with Clary, who is oblivious to this fact, but also sarcastic, caring, smart, and just nerdy enough to be adorable. Simon and Jace have some of the best lines in the novel and they are so natural as well as funny that it is hard not thinking of them as actually people. Simon, even though he is not a shadow hunter, is also useful to the group and though he makes them get into a pretty bad situation having to go into a vampire lair to get him back  he makes it up for getting them out of one. Luke, though you rather hate him at the beginning of the novel, is really loveable after we find out that he is a werewolf and the story behind how he became a werewolf. It is amazing that within a chapter Luke became probably my favorite character. I love him.

From a writing point of view I found the dialogue to be absolutely amazing. You never realize how hard it is trying to write how people actually talk until you try to do it yourself. Cassandra Clare captures teenage speech perfectly as well as jokes, back and forth retorts, and sarcastic humor perfectly. The characters themselves are wonderful constructed and become living and breathing as you get further into the story and dialogue is a major way to make this happen.

Overall this book gets a 5 out of 5. I honestly think that everyone should at least give it a shot. The ending is a little...I don't know how to describe it without giving it away, but do not let it stop you from reading the other books, if you liked the story that it. I swear to you it has a gratifying ending, I won't say happy, but definitely gratifying. 

Skip Beat Anime

With the drama coming out I wanted to get a feel for the story before diving in so I went and watched the anime version of Skip Beat. I absolutely adored it, until the very end. How they thought that was a good place to end it is beyond me, but I will rant about that later. 

The plot line revolves are Sho Fuwa, Ren Tsuruga, and the lead female Kyoko Mogami. Kyoko was Sho's childhood friend and is madly in love with him. She quits school after middle school and moves with Sho to Tokyo so that he can pursue his singing career while Kyoko works many part time jobs to pay for the apartment that they live in. Kyoko soon finds out however that Sho is just using her as a maid and has no feelings for her at all. Kyoko swears to get revenge, but there is no way to do that except to enter Showbiz herself. Through her strong will and frightening atmoshere when it comes to Sho Kyoko makes it into the LME company which is the rival of Sho's and also where Sho'd rival Ren is the main star. Ren takes a disliking to Kyoko when he finds out she is only acting for revenge, but as the story progress becomes a mentor to her and soon the two are helping one another with their acting roles and personal lives, though Kyoko, being younger and always seeming to get on Ren's bad side, is more sneaky about it then Ren is.

I love Kyoko. I love her so much! I love that she has this dark side, yet can still be light and airy when she is truly touched. I never found her annoying like I have with a lot of other anime lead females and I was able to relate to her because her character wasn't one sided. Her personalty switches so rapidly that it is comical, yet I know people who's mood changes just as fast so it isn't quite in the realm of fasntasy. I loved that she just didn't sit around bitching or waiting for someone to save her, but for the most part took her life into her own hands, but still could admit when she was wrong. Her character was one that you could easily laugh at as well as love.  

Kanae Kotonami is the other female that is prominante in the series and also becomes likable in her own right. After an initial triumphs over Kyoko she is also sent to the Love Me section. Though she wants nothing to do with Kyoko she is soon drawn in by her character and they become unlikely friends. I like that there is a rather serious and calm character to mellow out Kyoko's extremes, but Kanae still had out bursts of her own. The two characters balanced each other out wonderfully.

Ren Tsuruga is probably one of the few male anime leads that made me love him without me even noticing. I didn't even realized I liked him until things were so unresolved in the end. It isn't that you hate him while the chow is progressing, but it is such a gradual progression from him just being a character to you actually liking him that I didn't even notice it. He isn't really all that different then the other lead males, but there was just something in this story line that made me really care for him, at times more then I cared about Kyoko. Maybe it was because he was so guarded and reserved or maybe because he was rather mean to Kyoko, but really it was for her own good. I can't really describe it, but I really liked his character.

Sho Fuwa, unfortunately, is not really in the series all that much, but from the few times we see him his personality becomes clear. He is childish and selfish and you can't help but grow to hate him as much as Kyoko does because we follow her through out most of the show. My favorite episodes of the series, however, where when Sho and Kyoko interacted at his promo shoot. It let the watcher get into his head and see exactly what was going on, not just what Kyoko thought about him. I wish he would have been in the series more often, but then again it was cut off rather abruptly. 

Overall it gets a 3 out of 5. It would have been so much higher is not for the ending. They built up so much tension that was never resolved and left to many lose ends that I literally felt like punching a wall. They followed the manga so closely, which is still ongoing, but ended before resolving all the problems that were introduced. Even the romances, or budding romances, were ignored. It made me so upset that I am not reading the manga to see what happens because they ended in the middle of a story arch. I don't know why I was so surprised though, the manga is usually always better then the anime, but ending in the middle of a story arch....really. It is worth a watch and is fun, but just be ready for a disappointing ending. 

Spring Semester

So I have gone to all my classes except a recitation and a lecture and I think this semester is going to be really fun, a lot of reading and writing to do, but fun.

Introduction to Film - it is at 9 in the morning, which is a bummer, but I am going to watch and talk about movies so it isn't too bad. It is not a writing intensive course, which is marvelous since I have three this semester already. I don't really have an opinion on the professor yet, she doesn't seem horrible or really fun, just average. We watched a silent film the first day, Sherlock Jr., and I am really starting to love them. They are so light hearted and fun and the actors really put a lot of effort into portraying their characters.

Advanced Fiction - Well is it mostly the same class from last semester plus a few others who took the night intermediate fiction class (one of these people being the boy I thought was cute in Intro to fiction) We are allowed to do novel excerpts in this class, which makes me a little more at ease since I am more of a novel writer then a short story person, though I have gotten better due to these classes. I just am a little leery about others reading them, but then again I always am

Research Methods - The material is going to be boring as all hell, but my professor is adorable. She is from Russia and still has a wonderful accent as well as being a really cool person. She is a Grad student so she is really relaxed and chill, which for a two and a half hour class is really nice. Even though I think I am going to dislike the material I think the lecture is going to be fun.

Russian Short Stories in Context - I had no idea it was just Russian short stories until I got to class this morning, but I like Russian literature for the most part so it shouldn't be too bad. Russian Fairy Tales was pretty fun and I can take a good dose of depressing when the occasion calls for it. Though there does seem to be a lot of reading, which with all my other classes is going to be difficult, but I'll manage. My professor is also a Grad student and she also has an accent, though she didn't tell us what nationality she was.

Children and Culture - I have only had recitation for this class so far, but my TA is so sweet. She is South African and has an amazing accent (can you tell I love accents?). She is also very smart and easy to talk to and the class is really laid back so I feel comfortable talking. It should be really helpful when we actually get into material, though I basically have to run from my earlier class to get there on time since it is almost totally across campus.

So that's about it. I wanted to give you all a heads up so when I start bitching you will know what it's all about XD


 

One for the Money

I used my winter break to get some reading done, one of the books I reread was One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

I just recently found out that the movie is coming out this January, so excited, so I thought it was a perfect time to reread the series. I actually came by this series in a kind of unusual fashion. My brother, who it two and a half years older then me, was taking a Detective Fiction class in college and this was one of the course books. He had left it on the dinning room table one weekend when he came home and I started leafing through it as I waited for the Sims to load on the computer in the dinning room. I was instantly sucked in and finished it before the weekend was over. Not soon after I started collecting the rest of the series and I haven't regretted a thing. 

This book starts with Stephanie Plum in a very low spot in her life. She was recently laid off and is quickly running out of furniture and appliances to sell to make ends meet. In a moment of complete desperation she blackmails her cousin into giving her a job as a bound enforcement agent, bounty hunter, for his bail bonds office. Her first Failure To Appear she needs to find, none other then vice cop Joe Morelli who has had a very stormy relationship with Stephanie since the train incident in his father's garage when she was six. Now the capture is turning personal, though Stephanie tires to convince herself it is just for the $10,000 she'll make for the capture. As Stephanie gets further into tracking down Morelli she finds out that everything isn't exactly what it seems. Soon someone is trying to kill Stephanie and she has a crazy boxer insistent on doing very bad things to her, Stephanie soon finds herself over her head, but she isn't about to give up.

The characters in this novel, as well as series, are absolutely amazing and very real. Stephanie is a character that almost any woman can relate to. She hates working out and spiders, loves food, and wants to loss weight. She is unique and fun and since the story is told from her point of view you never know what to expect from her next. Ranger, another bond enforcement agent, is all sorts of badass and also helps Stephanie learn the ropes. Though you don't see much of him in his novel, the dynamic between him and Stephanie is wonderfully written. Joe Morelli is a character that is hard to put words to, he is fun and flirty and also a complete asshole. We don't see all that much of him until the very end of the novel and though he is very caring and protective towards Stephanie, he still has the ability to piss her off like no other. The dialogue between the two of them is some of the best in the entire novel. There are many other colorful characters that we run into, like Stephanie's family, but these three are the spotlights of this novel.  

Overall this book gets a 4.7 out of 5. It doesn't get a perfect score because I know it gets better, which is rather unfair, but whatever. If you enjoy mysteries or just want to be very entertained I recommend this book. The characters will quickly grow on you and the dialogue is wonderful.