Mundie Moms

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Book Review-Mockingjay *NO SPOILERS*

By Suzanne Collins
Published by Scholastic
Released- August 24th, 2010-TODAY
Source- from the publisher
5 stars- A Must Have/Must Read

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

Catching Fire left me in shock, and Mockingjay just wowed me. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Mockingjay takes us right into war, and it's not pretty, but when is war ever pretty!?! Suzanne Collins does a brilliant job at bringing to life a darker world with the ugliness of war, the politics, the lies, the suffering and yes, even the small glimmer of hope that comes from a movement backed by a few people, called rebels.

Mockingjay isn't a light-hearted read. It's the darkest of the trilogy that has my mind still reeling from the events, the revelations and what's really been happening during the span of the entire series and it's "games". Put your seat belt on and be prepared for surprises, revelations, anguish, triumph, raw emotion, heartbreak, "YES!" moments, bittersweet moments, and an end that left me feeling that Katniss's story was complete.

Mockingjay wraps up the Hunger Games trilogy with love and loss, triumph and destruction, and every emotion in between there. Where many characters would curl up in the fetal possession and give up, Katniss's inner strength carries her on in the face of so much turmoil. Mockingjay will be talked about and discussed for a long time. It's thought provoking and emotional. While Mockingjay gave me answers, I was also left thinking about what I read days after I finished the book.

If you enjoyed The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, wait until you read Mockingjay! If you haven't already, be sure to go pick up your copy today!!!

Join us tomorrow for our District 11 blog post and Mockingjay blog tour giveaway!!

Twitter Tuesday - Lisa Desrochers

I saw this tweet yesterday and it did make me think. Do book trailers make you buy books? I'm not sure about the answer myself. I will say that it is part of the process that I look forward to. I love it when an author receives an ARC, then shows the actual cover of the book and then reveals the book trailer. I get all giddy at each stage of the pre-release date process.

But does it make me want to buy the book? Perhaps. Sometimes. When a book trailer captures the emotion of the story, then I click over to the synopsis and the author blurbs and start my research.

What are your thoughts, MMs? Leave your comment here or on Lisa's blog post. I'd love to know if a book trailer makes you click over and hit that Pre-order Button.

While you're thinking, hit the play button below on VLC Productions' trailer for Personal Demons and meet Gabe. I just did and it may take me a few minutes to calm my breathing down...just a little.

Personal Demons will be released on September 14th and remember:

If you had to choose between Heaven and Hell, which would it be? ...Are you sure about that?

CWA Celebrations-Day 24, Character Introduction, Will


With permission from Cassie, this week we're introducing you to the characters of Clockwork Angel. Each character description and artwork (by Val) posted, is quoted from and will be linked back to Cassie's Infernal Devices site.

If you love Jace from The Mortal Instruments Series, you will love Will. He's broken in a different way than Jace is, and there's something about Will that Cassie withholds from us in Clockwork Angel, and maybe that's what makes his character more intriguing. His Victorian Era charm and snark have won me over.


Will: Seventeen-year-old Will is the sort of young man nice Victorian girls were warned against. He drinks, gambles, and enjoys the company of ladies of questionable virtue—at least, as much as he enjoys anything. Will hates everyone and everything, with the possible exception of Jem, and even that's in some doubt. Charlotte despairs of keeping him alive past the age of nineteen. When he finds himself oddly drawn to Tessa, his friends begin to hope that the Downworlder girl will prove Will's unlikely salvation—but as Tessa grows closer to the bleak secret that makes his life a prison, danger threatens to destroy them both if she ever finds out the truth.

Book Review- The Fire Opal

The Fire Opal by Regina McBride
Published by Delacorte Books
Released May 11, 2010
3 Stars- It was a good read.

Synopsis from (Random House Kids)There was a time when Maeve O'Tullagh led a simple life; a time when she and her mother, Nuala, collected kelp on the foreshore near their cottage in Ard Macha; a time when she played among the Celtic ruins with her older brothers and daydreamed about the legendary Holy Isles, an enchanted land ruled in a past age by a beautiful goddess.

But after Maeve's sister, Ishleen, is born, her mother sinks into a deep, impenetrable trance. For years, Maeve tries to help her mother "awaken," and then the unthinkable happens: Ishleen succumbs to the same mysterious ailment as Nuala.
Heartbroken to think that her sister and her mother might be lost to her forever, Maeve sets off on an unimaginable quest to a world filled with fantastical creatures, a web of secrets, a handsome, devious villain who will stop at nothing to have her hand in marriage—braving them all to retrieve a powerful glowing stone that will help her recover the souls of her loved ones and bring them home to Ard Macha.

It took me a little longer to really get into The Fire Opal, about 100 pages. The story takes place in Ireland in the late 16th century and has a bit of historical facts in it. The book is filled mainly with ancient folklore and mythology that I had never heard about before but was pretty interesting to read. There's plenty of magic in this one, and a lot of creepy sea creatures, and swans that turn into women.

Maeve the main character is a strong and brave heroine that after her mother and little sister go into a sort of trance she never gives up hope that she will find a way to get them both back to normal. Maeve can talk to their spirits and sees them in her dreams and the cold place where they are being kept but she can't figure out a way to get them out. At the same time she's trying to keep the obsessive and evil Tom Cavan away from her and her family, and let me tell you this guy is creepy and disgusting, he gave me the chills.

There are a lot of things happening in the story and characters that come into Maeve's life and it all seems to be connected somehow but you really don't know how until you get closer to the end of the book. There's only a little bit of romance, not much at all, the main focus of the story was Maeve trying to rescue her mother and sister's spirits and finding the Fire Opal to defeat the evil goddess that has been causing all the problems. The writing was very descriptive and even though I didn't have a problem picturing the beautiful setting I still had a hard time connecting with Maeve. The ending left me feeling like there were some things that weren't resolved and I'm wondering if there will be a sequel, if there is I'll definitely be picking it up. This was an enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend to those that love Irish Folklore and fantasy.

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