Movie and Books Girl

Book: Broken Homes Author: Ben Aaronovitch Genre: Crime, Fantasy, Mystery Published By: Gollancz Published Year: 2013 My Review: With my work colleague letting me borrow the next book in the Peter Grant series, I was hoping that this book would be as good as the previous book which had me wondering what was going to happen next and if they would discover where the dark wizard was hiding. Not only this, but with the characters moving to a building they felt had a magical connection, I was wondering how this would effect not only the people performing good magic but the ones who would want it for darkness. Broken Homes did surprise me with the ending however it did rather bore me throughout which did disappoint me. I liked that Broken Homes showed that it wasn't only people who could be magical but that it could also be buildings which demonstrated how magic was everywhere and could build in certain parts of the city. With this being something that I hadn't thought of...

Book: Whispers Underground Author: Ben Aaronovitch Genre: Crime, Fantasy, Mystery Published By: Gollancz Published Year: 2012 My Review: Continuing with the Peter Grant series I couldn't wait to start the third book. With the ending of the second book being so surprising and showing how there was an evil warlock who was also being in London it really made me hope that they would reveal more about them and wonder how Nightingale didn't know about them prior. Hoping for more answers this book excited me and had me looking forward to what was going to happen next. Ben Aaronovitch seems to have become his own in his writing of this novel, with the character developments and feeling that his writing is becoming a lot easier to read than the previous books in this series. With the writing seeming to get better I found that this book was one in which really hooked me from the beginning and already part of the story and one with the characters. A thing thing in which I enjo...

Film: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Year: 2005 Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy Directed By: Andrew Adamson Starring: Tilda Swinton, Georgie Henley, Willam Moseley About:  Four kids travel through a wardrobe to the land of Narnia and learn of their destiny to free it with the guidance of a mystical lion. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWKj41HZBzM My Review: Thinking about watching this film for the last couple I thought that I would re-watch this for the first time in a couple of years. Knowing this is something in which I watched throughout my teenage years I wasn't sure if this would be as good to me as an adult and as much as I did love it there was some things in which did annoy me. I like how when they are in Narnia it seems to have a lot of mythological creatures such as fawns; unicorns; dwarfs and minotaurs showing how the world is different from their normality which is in England during the second the world wa...

Book: Moon Over Soho Author: Ben Aaronovitch Genre: Crime, Fantasy, Mystery Published By: Gollancz Published Year: 2011 My Review: Having my colleague let me borrow the second book in the Peter Grant series I was looking forward to see how they would progress from the first book and what supernatural beings that they would have to defeat now. Moon Over Soho  is about jazz musicians who end up dying not long after coming off of the stage and seeming healthy at the time. Feeling that something is wrong they call in Peter Grant to help with the investigation and discover that something supernatural was going on. While this is happening there is a new threat arriving called The Faceless One who is also a wizard but no-one remembers what they look like. Will Peter be able to stop the threats facing London? Personally, I liked this book a lot more than the first book as it was already established also there was more supernatural beings introduced and to worry about in Londo...

Film: Matilda Year: 1996 Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy Directed By: Danny DeVito Starring: Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Mara Wilson About:  Story of a wonderful little girl, who happens to be a genius, and her wonderful teacher vs. the worst parents ever and the worst school principal imaginable. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUGHWje7liM My Review: Asking a few people in a group chat what movie they think I should from a choice of three, Matilda came out on top. Happy to watch a nice relaxing movie after finishing work it was good to watch a film in which I grew up watching and that I knew I would enjoy. I like that Matilda is a bookworm and how she loved to escape into books as this is something in which I do a lot so I felt I was able to identify with the character and make me like the character of Matilda a lot more. Not only this but as she finds this so much better than the television that her family love to watch I thought made her different fro...

Film:  Fred Claus Year:  2007 Genre:  Comedy, Family, Fantasy Directed By:  David Dobkin Starring:  Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Elizabeth Banks About:  Fred Claus, Santa's bitter older brother, is forced to move to the North Pole to help Santa and the elves prepare for Christmas in exchange for cash. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzXjtxZaGS8 My Review: Over the Christmas period I decided to watch some films that I hadn't previously seen before and one of those being  Fred Claus  I thought that this was different to other Christmas movies as it focus' on Santa's brother rather than on Santa himself but also on how to keep Christmas alive and not have it closed down. By having Vince Vaughn as the main character in this I had good expectations for this movie as I generally enjoy everything in which I have seen him in. I thought that  Fred Claus  was good in how it showed how Nicholas became a saint and how h...

Book: The Monster Who Wasn't Author: T.C. Shelley Genre: Children's, Fantasy, Adventure Published By: Bloomsbury Published Year: 2019 My Review: Having noticed this in a book shop I decided to go to my local library and reserve a copy in order to read it. Luckily it arrived rather quickly for me so I was able to start reading this a lot sooner than I had planned and as a result decided to also give it a review. The book is about a child who is born in the underworld however is born with not only the last sigh from the man dying but also a babies laughter which makes the monster come across more human. Trying to stay hidden from the troll king who is trying to use the child he is trying to keep hidden but also finding out about family and maybe he just isn't a monster at all. I thought that The Monster Who Wasn't was well written and made me want to know more about it right from the start, by having the gargoyles as creatures who accept the child for who he...

Book: The Dark Lord Clementine Author: Sarah Jean Horwitz Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy Published By: Algonquin Young Readers Published Year: 2019 My Review: Having been given an advance copy of The Dark Lord Clementine for an honest review and as part of a book blog tour I was very excited to start reading this. This book was a fun read and one that I am glad I got invited to read. The book is about a girl called Clementine who after her father has been cursed by the Whittle Witch she needs to take over doing dark deeds however realises that maybe that isn't who she wants to be after all. I liked that this book had names for each of the chapters but had it as two separate titles which gave more insight into what the chapter was going to be about before reading it. I also liked that the story was being told not only from Clementine's side but also from Darka's which gave a good contrast and a better understanding of what was happening as able to see it from two...

Book: Rivers of London Author: Ben Aaronovitch Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Crime Published By: Gollancz Published Year: 2011 My Review: Having been recommended Rivers of London by a work colleague and them letting me borrow their copy I wasn't sure what to expect about this book but from what they told me I was intrigued. Hearing that this was a paranormal crime book which had wizards, vampires, ghosts and more left me interested in how it would be brought together and I am so glad that I did decide to read this. Rivers of London is about a police officer called Peter Grant who on guarding a crime scene ends up getting a statement from a ghost which leads to him working for the supernatural department in the police. Not only this but with people's faces falling off and crimes seeming like they are out of the Punch and Judy puppet show will he be able to solve the crime and stop more murders taking place? I really liked how the start of the book showed how Peter was j...

Book: Devastation Author: M.J. Haag Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Retelling Published By: Shattered Glass Publishing LLC Published Year: 2016 My Review: Having read the first two books in this trilogy  Depravity  and  Deceit  I needed to know how the trilogy ended so picked up  Devastation  pretty much the moment I finished Deceit. I really enjoyed this trilogy and feel that this was the perfect way for me to get introduced to M.J. Haag as an author as I ended up loving these books more than I expected. The book follows on from the second book perfectly and shows what happens next to Alec (The Beast) and Benella once the curse has been broken upon the manor. Having Benella's name and confidence tarnished due to the baker in the last book and Alec struggling to keep on top of the manor and land. Benella and her father end up living at the estate and help Alec to bring his land back to it's rightful ways which has Alec trying to prove that he loves Ben...

Film: Unicorn Store Year: 2019 Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy Directed By: Brie Larson Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Joan Cusack About:  A woman named Kit receives a mysterious invitation that would fulfill her childhood dreams. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_51UsTDBAE My Review: Having had this on my To Watch List on Netflix since it first came out I thought I would give Unicorn Store a watch. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this movie as having heard nothing about it from anyone and not having watched a trailer for it. As I did go in with an open mind I did feel like this movie did disappoint me and as it is classed as a comedy I personally just didn't understand as this is far more of a drama film. I did like how Unicorn Store focused on someone who thought that they were a failure in their lives and that they couldn't be loved by anyone including her parents due to being as she called herself "a failure" in which c...

Film: The Haunted Mansion Year: 2003 Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy Directed By: Rob Minkoff Starring: Eddie Murphy, Marsha Thomason, Jennifer Tilly About:  A realtor and his wife and children are summoned to a mansion, which they soon discover is haunted, and while they attempt to escape, he learns an important lesson about the family he has neglected. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U32Law7K-b8 My Review: Having not seen The Haunted Mansion in a while and been badly wanting to watch it for months I decided to watch this with my mum. As a favourite of mine when I was younger and still really enjoying it as an adult. This film makes me laugh as well as keeps me entertained throughout. I love that this film is about a an who is stuck as a ghost due to killing himself and not really understanding the truth about how the love of his life died. I think by having the woman in the film look like her which is why she is brought to the mansion rather sweet and ...

Book: Deceit Author: M.J. Haag Genre: Fantasy, Romance Published By: Shattered Glass Publishing LLC Published Year: 2015 My Review: Having read the first book just before picking this up I was really excited to see how things would progress for Benella and the Beast and worried about what the future holds for the family that have just moved to the water for their fathers job. Deceit comes straight after the events of the book  Depravity  and shows how Benella is now living with the Beast on his estate and wants to help him break the curse that has been put on him by the enchantress Rose. Learning that he needs to give her a night of pleasure to free him Benella tries to help him not only sexually to gain control but to also become a better man, while starting to realise that the Beast might be more than she expected. Personally, I loved how this book took place exactly as the first one ended which left no time for the reader to be confused or wondering what happe...

Book: Depravity Author: M. J. Haag Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Retelling Published By: Shattered Glass Publishing LLC Published Year: 2015 My Review: Having got an e-mail about a book tour with Silver Dagger Book Tours about a Beauty and the Beast Retelling, I knew that I had to take part and I was not disappointed at all in doing so. This book really surprised me and I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected. Depravity is about a girl called Benella who when trying to help fed her family takes food from the estate just out of town comes across the beast who is willing to help her as long as she cleans his house. However, when things start going badly for Benella's family the Beast wants to keep her in his estate even though she doesn't want to lose her family as a result. I thought that this retelling of the iconic fairy tale was different from ones that I have read in the past and I liked that this showed how she wanted to help her family even though her sis...

Film: Beauty and the Beast Year: 2017 Genre: Family, Fantasy, Musical Directed By: Bill Condon Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans About:  A selfish prince is cursed to become a monster for the rest of his life, unless he learns to fall in love with a beautiful young woman he keeps prisoner. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Nl_TCQXuw My Review: Being a fan of Beauty and the Beast and having it as my favourite classic Disney movie I somehow never got around to seeing the 2017 version of the movie. So wanting a movie to watch before work I thought that it would be the perfect time to see this film and having high expectations of it was happily surprised. I liked how this movie showed how the Beast became cursed right at the very start of the movie and showed how he would be able to break the curse. This helped the audience really see the changes which happens within the prince and as a result care for him throughout the movie. I thought that t...

Film: Avengers: Endgame Year: 2019 Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy Directed By: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Starring: Robert Downey Jr. Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo About:  After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcMBFSGVi1c My Review: Having been a huge fan of the MCU and being really excited for this movie since Infinity War came out in 2018 I couldn't wait to see this at the midnight release. I have waited a little while before uploading this review and that was so that when spoilers came up it was after the time in which Marvel said it was okay to do so.This is a film which I was so scared to watch but also so excited as well and really didn't want to see come to an end knowing this is the last for some of the characters within the Marvel Univer...

Book: The Hidden People Author: Alison Littlewood Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Historical Published By: Jo Fletcher Books Published Year: 2016 My Review: Taking part in the OWL'S Readathon I needed a book which met the prompt of "Plant on the Cover" and after putting a poll on Twitter which had the choice of three different books this is the one that came out on top. As a result I ended up with this book and although seeming interested in it from the back of the book I found that this book did not grab me as much as I wish it did. The book is about a man who's cousin dies so he goes to try and find out the truth about her death and upon getting to the village of Halfoak finds that the people are really into superstition and believed his cousin to be a fairy and not of this world. However, when his wife gets there he starts to think that maybe there is some truth in the tales the people were saying. I found that this book was really slow for my personal taste ...

Book: Emily Windsnap and the Falls of Forgotten Island Author: Liz Kessler Genre: Fantasy, Children's, Adventure Published By: Candlewick Press Published Year: 2018 My Review: Having received a copy of this from Netgalley a while ago however never having gotten around to reading it I was glad to have found the time as I finished this within a few days and couldn't stop reading it once I started. Emily Windsnap and the Falls of Forgotten Island is about a girl who goes on vacation with her family and when there discovers there is a land behind the waterfall. Upon realising this Emily is told of a prophecy which foretells an earthquake which will destroy the island unless Emily is able to save the day. I found that this book was a really easy read and one that brought me into it really quickly. I thought that the adventure was well written and was good as a stand alone book as this is the seventh book in the series. Showing how the family is half mermaid and half hu...