OMG NEWS!

I haven't done an OMG NEWS post since May, since the final news about Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters casting news. The latest VA related news are these promo pics my friend informed me about. I was a bit scared when I clicked on the link but when I saw them I first squealed and them flailed for a couple of minutes scrolling up and down.

What do we have here? Rose and her infamous black dress and the necklace is there too. *dies* Lucy looks pretty as Lissa and Sarah is giving me mayor Lane Kim from Gilmore Girls feels. After the initial shock of finally getting a glimpse at my favorite character I wouldn't help but laughed at loud at the students in the background. 

Zoey is so pretty. She looks just like Rose! I might die. Again! 

Anyone who thought Danila was a bad choice for Dimitri can eat heir hearts out. This Russian God! I  think when the time comes I finally get to see this movie I will be worse than those Twilight fangirls at New Moon premiere. Gah! I have so many feelings. I don't know where to start. My God! Danila's hair and Rose being all defiant. haha I love them so much. My babies. 

From what I've heard the teaser trailer is coming out this weeks so I'll post it here too. duh! Now I need some Christian promo pics. 

Disclaimer: Pictures don't belong to me. They are the property of The Weinstein Co. 

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead

Publisher: Dutton Adult    
Publication date: June 4th 2012
My rating: 2 stars

In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of Xseries, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academyand Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.

Eh, what a disappointment this book turned out to be. I'm really upset. As you may know, Richelle is my favorite author. I would read anything she writes. Well, the only exceptions were Dark Swan series and Age of X which is the title of this new series. They just didn't click with me the way that Succubus, VA and Bloodlines did. 

When I found out I got approved for this egalley I was ecstatic and I started reading it right away. That was months ago, in February and it was finished a couple of hours ago. The reason I didn't completely abandoned it is that it's Richelle freaking Mead we're talking about!  

I don't think this will be a long review because I don't feel comfortable giving my favorite author a negative review but I have to write something. 

Gameboard of the Gods did require a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Richelle obviously did put a lot of effort to create this new world but it was just too much of everything. She used mythology references like she usually does in her novels mixed with a dystopian world. I'm not usually for info-dumping this time it was necessary. We get snippets of information and then we have to wait to find out later what it all means. I'm not talking about revealing the big secrets. We didn't get general information till later which didn't make me a happy camper. It was so confusing and hard to keep up. How can I like a book I don't even understand? 

OMG NEWS!

This is the best news ever! I was freaking out when I saw the casting. Last night we finally have the rest of the Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters.
Dominic Sherwood is going to be Christian Ozera. My baby! I love him more than Adrian. I'm so happy with the actor they chose.  Sarah Hyland from Modern Family got the part of Natalie. Queen Tatiana is the ageless beauty, Joely Richardson and Gabriel Byrne is the 'noble' Victor. 

Another news is that Eddie won't appear till Frostbite. It sucks but they know their stuff. 

Here's a little picture Morgan (Mason) posted on his twitter account and his tweet. 

"@CameronMonaghan: When your train breaks down in the Tube, @zoeydeutch isn't bad company to have."

They seem like they're having fun and out Zoey is in top shape. Her hair is a little darker. It's happening people! It's almost time! Just a few days and they start filming. 

Joint Review: The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

Title:  The Indigo Spell
Author:  Richelle Mead
File type:  hardcover
Release date:  February 12th, 2011
Genre:  YA, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, vampires

In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next.
Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood.

Bow to the Vampire Queen Richelle Mead! She did something I didn't expect at all. She  made me love Sydney. I liked her before but after reading those steamy scenes with Adrian she showed me she is capable of changing. Her awkwardness and coldness made me laugh at loud a couple of times and that made think Richelle sure knows what she's doing. I don't even miss Rose that much. I know! Blasphemy! 

Bloodlines wasn't my favorite book, The Golden Lily made up for that and finally The Indigo Spell continued on the right direction. I wasn't blown away because nothing monumental happened,except for the kissing scenes which were spectacular. Man, Adrian sure puts up with a lot. Sydney keeps kissing him and then acting so defensive later,like it's forbidden and wrong. That is the only thing that I didn't like about her. 

My bb Adrian is amazing as always. He is so protective, 'manly and brave' as Sydney says. He is honest with Sydney from the start and is not going to give up them.  He is also attending his art classes and even gets into a fight with Marcus because of her. *sigh* He looks great in a tucks and his hair is perfectly styled. He doesn't need to be a guardian to kick some serious ass. *double sigh* 

Eddie, Jill are even more irrelevant in this novel while Angeline is (always) up to no good. I have no idea how they can put up with her crap because she can't stay out of trouble even for a day. There's always something happening in her life, even if we don't know it at first. Jill toned down her moping and whining and actually starts giving great advices to Sydney. She probably got tired of Sydney jerking Adrian around so much, just like I did. 

There's also a new 'character' in The Indigo Spell. His name is Hopper and he is amazing. Don't want to spoil everything/anything. 

"It was not in my nature to show violence or try to take another's life. It was, however, in my nature to save my own life and those of my loved ones." 

For all my patience and intense anticipation, The Indigo Spell was really disappointing. I have no clue where to start from because there are so many things to point out and so many things to say. But I shall try. 

The Indigo Spell started on a great note. It was the classic Richelle Mead move. Introduce the book in such a way that it not only excites you but really entertains you too and you just can't wait to jump into the book and get lost into it. The start was pretty simple, you have the conflict of the plot, you have your main protagonist, you have humour, you have the building of the plot and then you have , Adrian. *dies*
By this time , I'm totally into Adrian the plot and am this greedy old granny who wants to not be disturbed and just wants what she wants right at that moment. It was all very intense.

There are times when you're finally reading a book you were really excited for and while you're reading it, that feeling is really evident that there is something very very wrong and that it's not making you as happy as it should and as it intends to. This was one of those times. The midsection of the book was really bland for me. I'm not saying that this wasn't an enjoyable read because that can never be the case with a book that has Adrian in it. But then again Adrian isn't going to be everywhere! Oh but how I wish that that were the case....

Anywaaaay.

What's worse is that I always ended up comparing the Vampire Academy series to this one and this whole comparing business, further made me not like this book even more. And the conflict? I'm sorry but I felt that the conflict was not that conflicting. I remember the doses of adrenaline I got while reading about Rose battling out the Strigoi or Rose going to hunt Strigoi or the Dimitri-Strigoi hunt or the let's-save-Lissa-stunt that Rose used to always pull or the whole goddamn series for all I know! But in this case, it is not. I know it's not fair to compare both the series or maybe it is or maybe not but honestly, it's the third book..how much longer is it going to take for things to finally take off? Or has the take off already happened because I'm not feeling it. 

Another thing I don't like and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be shot for that. Okay. One. *Inhale* *Exhale* Two *Inhale* *Exhale* THREE!

I thought the end was a total cringefest and the Adrian and Sydney love angle? It's a given but I'm not a believer. 

OH GOD.

I shall discuss this further with the ones who have read the book but let's just continue for now.

Now where was I? Ah yes--Me and my disappointment. This isn't the classic-est book of all and that's pretty obvious but then there are fun things in it as well! 

Hellooooo Adrian. *Whistles at him like a perv*

Adrian was his amazing self. Eddie was almost non-existent. Jill was well...Jill. Angeline was Angeline. And Trey was Trey , Ms. Terwilliger is a total badass and the character of Marcus Finch shows promise. 
There were situations that did get me pumped up! Like the Jill-Eddie-Angeline love triangle. Oh dude. I am totally backing the direction it's going in. And Sydney's character has had a serious growth spurt. 
I'm telling you. She isn't as annoying as she used to be and sounds a little human. And even though I found the book bland when it came to the matter of conflict and plot, the things in the book show signs of a pretty good storyline in future. Like for example, the Alchemist and Warriors of Light mystery and Jill's future. So things look pretty okay for now but then they always do. I'm hoping for a Shadow Kiss moment where I just die and go to paradise but that moment hasn't shown up yet and I'm seriously waiting for it. Seriously.

You must be wondering, dude what about the Sydrian moments?
Oh they're pretty good. VERY GOOD actually. 
I was literally hyperventilating while reading. So much intensity. So much NEED. All our wait for those Sydrian moments has paid off. *sings*

Adrian is so sexy. *coughs*

ADRIAN IS A BOMB. bombbombombbombbombbomb. 
I want to have Adrian for myself. That's what I want. I want him. Give me him. I demand him. Oh dear lord.

I WANT THE NEXT BOOK NOW. I need. I neeeeeed.

Book Review: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Title:  The Golden Lily
Author:  Richelle Mead
File type:  hardcover
Release date:  June 12th, 2011
Genre:  YA, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, vampires

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.
Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she’s been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California–tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.
But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age–old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and the sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi—the fiercest vampires, the ones who don’t die. But it’s her fear of being just that—special, magical, powerful—that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Brayden, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else—someone forbidden to her.
When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney’s loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.
Should she trust the Alchemists—or her heart?

Before I start writing the review I need to point something out. The cover for Bloodlines and The Golden Lily should be switched. Why? On every cover we have Sydney and someone else. So, IMO Jill should have been on the Bloodlines one and Adrian should be on the The Golden Lily because that way the cover would match its storyline. 

I didn’t started reading this book with high expectations cause I was disappointed with the first instalment. Maybe I expected it would be like Vampire Academy which I adore. Maybe I wanted Sydney to be more like Rose. But VA days are over (for now).

What is new in this book? Well. Sydney has her own room now. Angeline is staying with Jill. Adrian is having trouble with accepting the fact Dimitri and Sonya are doing their research at his place. Also, it seems like Sydney and Adrian are spending more time together and are getting along pretty well considering they are two very different individuals. But if you look closely, you can tell they have similar problems-with their fathers. They are insecure and feel misunderstood. 

Sydney made me laugh a couple of times. She would say so funny things with a straight face I couldn’t help myself and crack up. She is still on a diet even though she is size 4. I can’t remember when I…nevermind. Syd used to panic when others were talking about vampires but I feel like she is finally ready to call Jill, Eddie and Adrian her friends and not just vamps.

Jill was, ahh, well, Jill. Not much has changed about her since Bloodlines. She is still that girl who always has a boyfriend. The fact that she is 15 does not mean she should not use her brain. I swear, sometimes, she acts like a freaking monkey. She is all smiling-blushing- head-bowing bimbo. 

As for Adrian. *sigh* My tortured prince. He surprised me. He has grown some serious balls. *snickers* He is trying to stay away from alcohol and cigarettes. But it doesn’t always go smoothly. It’s a day by day battle. He is also working on his paintings. Who could be responsible for this improvement? 

All in all, I was not disappointed The Golden Lily. It was slow paced and for once I had no problem with that fact. I enjoyed every scene. It was worth the wait. 

Book Review: Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Title:  Bloodlines
Author:  Richelle Mead
File type:  paperback
Release date:  August 25th, 2011
Genre:  YA, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, vampires

Sydney protects vampire secrets - and human lives.
Sydney belongs to a secret group who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the world of humans and vampires.
But when Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, she fears she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. What unfolds is far worse. The sister of Moroi queen Lissa Dragomir is in mortal danger, and goes into hiding. Now Sydney must act as her protector.
The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one...

I was SUPER excited about Bloodlines. SUPER! SUPER!!! Most of us who read this book or soon-to are either huge fans of the VA series or just stragglers hopping on board after we convinced them that this book is going to be epic. 
I can tell you now that all it ended up being was an epic disappointment. It is really hard for me to say this,it really is. But I did not love it as much as I though I would. 


Lets start with Sydney. I had a problem with her. She is a type of person I wouldn't like to hang out with. Sydney wasn't a great choice of narrator, and constantly got on my nerves. The fact that during VA we had this strong, caring, determined badass chick as an minor character has given us certain expectations. No matter what I think of her for what she did at the end, we respect her, admire her and to be frank, she's pretty awesome. And then we are presented with this judgemental, spineless girl who thinks she's better than everyone else and who is pretty useless in my opinion. I did not connect with her as much as I did with Adrian.


And Adrian, well, it's pretty obvious that I love Adrian and I am more than enjoying his company here because he was the only character who hadn't changed. I kept thinking just one thing while reading parts with him-Adrian is the male version of me(except for the drinking and smoking)! 


Then we have Jill...Jill is Lissa's replacement who is even more useless. Jill is even more selfish and careless than Lissa. Should I judge her? She is fifteen and is dealing with a lot. There were so many guys all over her. Shouldn't one guy be enough? The whole scenario with her and all these boys just came out of nowhere and it seemed pretty unrealistic. I felt bad about Eddie. He was just a sweetheart and he deserves better. 

Compared to Vampire Academy, Bloodlines was boring because there wasn't much action yet I know Richelle still isn't done with this storyline. I'm going to be more open minded and go along with what I got. This was just the beginning of the spin-off. 

One of the big let-down points I'm going to point out was that, the plot was a predictable. While reading, I didn't get surprised.I almost immediately saw there was something fishy going on with Lee. Shouldn't the villain be the least person you would suspect?

I have so many conflicted thoughts on this book. Maybe I'm being unfair. After all it's the first book in the series, and I am sure Sydney will grow on me, and maybe I should just accept the fact she's not our favorite bad ass girl Rose, but it's not that simple.

Since The Golden Lily is already pre-ordered I just hope it will be better than Bloodlines. 

And what do you guys think about the last sentence? I was like KICK HIS ASS ADRIAN!!! Russian Gods are overrated! :D

OMG NEWS!

I case you still haven't heard, Vampire Academy adaptation has cast three leading characters.

Zoey Deutch got the part of Rose Hathaway, my favorite heroine. Since I watch almost every CW show I've seen her in Ringer. She definitely had some spunk so I'm sure she'll do great as Rose. Her most recent role is another adaptation of YA novel - Beautiful Creatures. Lucy Fry is going to play Princess Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir. She is from Australia and she appeared in their TV series Lightning Point. And finally, Danila Kozlovsky is going to play Dimitri Belikov. I can't express how glad I am that a Russian actor got his part and not some American/British dude trying to pull of an accent.

I can't wait to hear who will get the part of Christian Ozera since he is like my lost soul mate.

Title will have a small change. Instead Vampire Academy we will get Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters which I think is a great idea, since we have 6 books and the first one doesn't have a distinctive title. Filming will start this summer so for now Zoey is going to train her ass of. Ahhh...I'm picturing here right now, running with Dimka. :D

You can find more about it on The official VA Facebook page .

What do you guys think of the casting? Approve? Or do you hate them? A lot of people are upset but I'm glad it's finally moving along and I'm not judging actors because we still haven't seen them in their roles.

Book Review: Storm Born by Richelle Mead

Title: Storm Born
Author: Richelle Mead
File type: Audiobook
Release date: November 20th 2009

Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants...
Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world. Mercenary, yes, but a girl's got to eat. Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite. Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy--one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie's first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it.
Now Eugenie is a hot target for every ambitious demon and Otherworldy ne'er-do-well, and the ones who don't want to knock her up want her dead. Eugenie handles a Glock as smoothly as she wields a wand, but she needs some formidable allies for a job like this. She finds them in Dorian, a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage, and Kiyo, a gorgeous shape-shifter who redefines animal attraction. But with enemies growing bolder and time running out, Eugenie realizes that the greatest danger is yet to come, and it lies in the dark powers that are stirring to life within her...

Eehhh. What a mess! 

Here is the list of unnecessary things in this book(in no particular order):

1. Hot main character who I don't think is hot
2. Every man/faerie wants to shag her
3. Love triangle
4. Having sex with two different guys on every 70-100 pages
5. Idiotic main character
6. Having almost rape scenes at least 4 times

and so on. As you can see,my two biggest concerns were with Eugenie and her wild sex life. She jumps from Kiyo to Dorian all the freaking time. And of course everyone wants a piece of that so she has to deal with potential rapist very often. You would be surprised how many supernatural creatures want her. 

If you liked Georgina Kincaid series and are planning to read this one as well,don't! It was so much different from the usual Mead's adult fiction. There was a lot of swearing and I feel like she wrote this series in order to show her dirtier side. But it's not that good. Even though Georgina was a succubus and had to have sex at least she was a fun character while Eugenie is not that interesting. Sorry,but that's the truth. 

The only thing I did enjoy about this book is Volusian. He was a killer who is now serving Eugenie as a ghost/supernatural being,IDK. He is really intense and constantly threatens to kill her which made me laugh. 

“Hey, Volusian, you haven't been checking me out, have you?"

He gave me his trademark bland stare. "I assure you, mistress, the only allure your bare flesh has for me is to remind me how easy it will be to slice open."I laughed. If not for the fact he was actually serious, he'd be so much fun.”

2 stars