Spinning The Yarn: An Introduction

Hello my dear bookish lovers and welcome to my new feature dedicated to bookish yarn crafts!

You might not know this about me, but another hobby of mine is knitting and crocheting. I may not be particularly good at it and I'm still finding things to learn, but I really enjoy it. Especially in the winter because all that yarn and the project I'm working on basically works as a blanket and keeps me toasty warm.

I learned how to knit before I even knew how to read and write, at the tender age of 5, and although most of the things I made are still in the WIP state, I was very happy whenever I could finish something. Most of the time that something was blankets for my dolls, because who wants their Barbies to get cold????

7 years or so ago I saw a gorgeous scarf pattern that I fell in love with and I wanted to make it, but woe is me, it was in crochet, which up until then I had never learned how to do. After a lot of tears and sweat I managed to do not one, but two items with that pattern, and I'm actually thinking of a third one because why not? And, if I'm being honest, I kinda love crochet more than knitting, even if I find crochet to be a little bit more restrictive in a way.

There are many reasons why I wanted to make this feature: one, because I love knitting and crocheting and I love seeing all the beautiful patterns people make; two, because I am a fangirl at heart and I love hand-made crafty stuff more than I do the same old stuff that are so insanely popular, like toys or action figures (I do like the video games though... keep 'em coming!); three, and most importantly, because I'm on a budget and that means I don't have the luxury to spend money on collectible stuff, and I will definitely not spend money on collectible items such as clothes. If I can make it, cool, if not... I'll try until I can make it, if I really want it.

I have to give Ruthstic @ YA On My Mind a shout-out, because she was the one who suggested Spinning The Yarn as the title for this feature. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Basically this new feature of mine will be all about nerdy yarn crafts, be they crochet or knitting. Most of the time I'll share some of my favorite free patterns, although I will probably include some paid patterns as well if the patterns are super duper cute and fun. I'll try to keep it book related at first, and then I'll probably show some of my favorite patterns inspired by movies and TV shows. If you have any suggestions or fandom requests leave me a comment and I'll try to find as many patterns as possible (if there are any). Also, if you know any cool patterns that I should look at for any fandom (bookish or otherwise), you can go over Twitter and DM me and I'll share that pattern and credit you.

I hope you're as excited as I am about this new feature. In the meantime, happy reading! 

Movie Review: The Hobbit Trilogy

Source: IMDb.com

Hello my dear book lovers! I finally did the thing, guys! I finally got up the courage to watch all three Hobbit movies and I have a lot of feelings! I previously reviewed the first Hobbit movie, so if you want, you can go check out that review. Today I'll be sharing my thoughts about the entire trilogy, so don't worry, I'm not re-reviewing the first movie. 

I'm going to be honest and say there were a lot of things I liked and enjoyed about the trilogy. Peter Jackson is really a genius in bringing out the magic and wonder of Tolkien's world and putting it together to make a fantastic story and incredibly stunning visuals. At the same time, however, there were a few things I didn't quite enjoy as much, and they play a huge part in what I feel about the trilogy as a whole.

ATTENTION: SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE

Let's start with what I liked.

As I said in the previous review, I really enjoyed the opening scene, with Bilbo starting to write the book for Frodo. Not only it was a great Easter egg for those who've seen the LOTR trilogy, it's also a great reminder of the fact that Bilbo truly had an important part to play in the final part of history of the One Ring. I liked seeing Frodo hanging up the "No Admittance" sign on the gate, I liked seeing him leave Bag End to meet up with Gandalf, and I liked seeing Bilbo look over old maps and documents.

I liked Tauriel. I probably am in the minority, but I really enjoyed seeing her, and I thought Evangeline Lilly did a great job at portraying her. Tauriel is badass, strong, feisty and opinionated. She kind of reminded me of Éowyn in a way.

Smaug was exactly what I imagined him to be, at least in the first part where he talks to Bilbo. He is just as scary, ruthless, cunning and evil as I hoped he would turn out to be. Although, to be fair, he is also one of the reasons I was exasperated with the movie and I'll tell you later on why that is.

Thranduil is probably my favorite departure from the books. I liked seeing a morally ambiguous elf, one that isn't as ethereal and good as Elrond. I don't really remember much about him from the books, but I enjoyed what Jackson did with his character.

Source: Giphy.com

The little Easter Eggs were amazing. I am yet again in the minority, but everything from the shards of the sword Narsil to how Thranduil tells Legolas to go find the rangers, even how Gloin tells Legolas about his "wee lad" Gimli, all of those little details tying up together the two movie trilogies were fantastic and I absolutely loved seeing them there. The last scene in the third movie was fantastic and it kind of made my heart race a little bit, because it was such a good way to end things.

What I didn't like

The first thing I truly didn't like about the trilogy is that they turned a children's book into a bloody, violent story. The Hobbit is intended towards younger audiences and while I understand the need to bring a lot of people to the cinema and have them want to see your movie, I do believe it could have been done in a much better way than basically having the third movie be a war movie. 

Changing the story to make it attractive to a more mature audience also brings in a few strange decisions in cinematography. Towards the end of the second movie and about 95% of the last movie, I felt as if every color suddenly was lost. And I do mean the fact that the color was muted altogether, and the preferred shades were greys, blacks and some dirty whites. I really, really didn't like that. Because while LOTR is a pretty intense story, the movies didn't really have a complete lack of color in them. Yes, there were scenes where the story kind of required more muted colors and greys, but not as much as what happened with The Hobbit. 

Another thing I didn't enjoy was the way the filmmakers divided the story. They basically had about two thirds of the book in the first movie and then the rest was stretched over the last two movies, with a ton of stuff added in that wasn't in the source material, in order to justify an extra 6 hours of screen time. Now, I'm not sure if the things they added in were part of the history of Middle Earth - it's been years since I last read The Silmarillion, and I haven't read the rest of the books detailing the history of Middle Earth, so I'm not commenting on if the events they added in were something Tolkien wrote or not. What I do know is that the added scenes and subplots turned a rather simple story into a complex part of the history that, ultimately, I didn't understand. To make matters worse, a few of these changes are in contrast to what happened in the Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy. 

Case in point: Gandalf supposedly finds out about the return of Sauron during The Hobbit. How then is he surprised by the fact that Sauron has "returned" in The Fellowship of the Ring? It makes absolutely no sense to me. And yes, one could argue the fact that he left the task of finding how to defeat the Dark Lord to Saruman, but Gandalf isn't one to let others do something he can do for himself. We know he loves to meddle in things, so why would he not meddle in this important, dangerous mission? Or even forget about it??

Source: Giphy.com

Another continuity error in my mind is the fact that Legolas seems to be completely different than what I remembered from LOTR. I remember a socially awkward elf, one who didn't seem familiar with alcoholic beverages, one who didn't talk unless talked to, one who is so clueless at times he is insanely funny, one who uses sarcasm as much as he uses his bow, who then went on to become best friends with a dwarf.

Source: Giphy.com
This is the Legolas I remember and love. The Hobbit Legolas in an asshole and I don't like him at all!

The Legolas we meet here though seems to be quite the opposite. He's not socially inept, he can have a conversation, and he is what we would now call a racist. How this Legolas goes on to become the Legolas I remember from more than ten years ago, I'm not sure, but I wouldn't put my money on his time with the Rangers. If anything, that would be the perfect way for him to stop being socially awkward. It makes no sense. And let's not forget about his eye color!!!

Much like Legolas suffered a pretty drastic change, Galadriel also went through a pretty big scene that might seem like a small thing, but to me it was important and so confusing. Remember this scene in The Fellowship of the Ring?

Source: Giphy.com

Well... At the time, the movie made it seem like such a big deal for Galadriel, like a once-in-a-life-time event that was a sort of test for her (a test of what, I do not know). But it was shown as a pretty big deal, and I saw it as such. Now, in one of the movies from the Hobbit trilogy (I am honest and I'll say I don't remember which one) a similar scene happens. So I wonder... If she took on her badass, warrior elf queen face 60 years prior to Frodo coming to Lothlorien, what exactly makes the scene with Frodo in front of her mirror a test? What makes it so important?

Another thing I didn't quite enjoy was the overdoing of special effects. Peter Jackson did such an amazing job in the LOTR trilogy with this side of the movie, I remember being in awe over the fact that everything looked almost real. Something was lost, however, through the years, and that childlike wonder I was expecting to feel wasn't there. In fact, I could pinpoint exactly which scenes were CGI, and I hated that. I understand wanting to use technology to make your job easier, but this went from "let's use CGI because we have no other way" and into ridiculous territory.

I said I liked Tauriel, and I did. But if you're going to add a female character in order to balance the dominantly male story, at least make her be her own woman. I didn't like the fact that she played a love interest for not one, but two male characters. And while normally I can ignore that element, I was especially disappointed over the fact that, in the end, neither of those romantic interests end up having a happy ending, because Legolas is told by his father to leave, and Kili dies. So not only does Tauriel serves the simple purpose of being the hot "elf maiden" that two men fall for, she doesn't even get the chance of a happy ending. Aaaand that serves whom, exactly?

Last but not least, Smaug was... Look. He is the ultimate evil. The psychotic, gold-hungry fire-breathing creature that killed thousands of dwarves and feared by men, elves and dwarves alike. Why then have him die at the start of the third movie? And yes, I know that the focus of that movie was the Battle of the Five Armies. But if you're going to have a movie focused solely on this insane quest of reclaiming the stolen treasure from the mad dragon, at least make his death memorable. Instead, he died... It wasn't spectacular, let's just put it like that. And I expected it to be spectacular and worthy of his evilness.

***

Source: Giphy.com

Overall, I think I would have been less critical of this trilogy had I not read the book and had I not watched the LOTR trilogy. I admit that I had insanely high expectations, because I loved the original trilogy, faults and all. While it might seem that I didn't fully enjoy these movies, I did kind of liked them. But if I'm going to be honest with you, I don't expect to have a movie marathon of The Hobbit anytime soon. To quote Bilbo, "In fact I mean not to".

Blog Tour Book Review: The Darkest Warrior by Gena Showalter

   

The Queen of Paranormal Romance, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Gena Showalter, returns with THE DARKEST WARRIOR, a searing Lords of the Underworld tale featuring a beastly prince and the wife he will wage war to keep. THE DARKEST WARRIOR is now available where all fine books are sold. Grab your copy today!

Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Lords of the Underworld #14
Audience: +18
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Release Date: June 26th 2018
My Rating:4.5 Cups
Source:InkSlinger PR
Blurb (from Goodreads):

He is ice…

Puck the Undefeated, host of the demon of Indifference, cannot experience emotion without punishment, so he allows himself to feel nothing. Until her. According to ancient prophecy, she is the key to avenging his past, saving his realm and ruling as king. All he must do? Steal her from the man she loves—and marry her.

She is fire…

Gillian Shaw has suffered many tragedies in her too-short life, but nothing could have prepared the fragile human for her transition into immortality. To survive, she must wed a horned monster who both intrigues and frightens her…and become the warrior queen she was born to be.

Together they burn.

As a rising sense of possession and obsession overtake Puck, so does insatiable lust. The more he learns about his clever, resourceful wife, the more he craves her. And the more time Gillian spends with her protective husband, the more she aches for him. But the prophecy also predicts an unhappily-ever-after. Can Puck defeat fate itself to keep the woman who brought his deadened heart back to life? Or will they succumb to destiny, losing each other…and everything they’ve been fighting for?

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC from InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.

**Disclaimer: This book contains mature content. As a result, my review may contain references to content intended for mature audiences only.

Down The TBR Hole #4

 

Down The TBR Hole is hosted by Lia @ Lost In A Story

Hello dear book lovers and welcome to another post in the Down The TBR Hole feature hosted by the awesome Lia.

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

Hello there book lovers! June is almost over, and I thought what better way to celebrate it than with a tag? I was browsing Booktube and I found this tag created by Chami (her original video here) and Ely (her 2017 video here) and I absolutely loved it and I thought I'd do it too.

So without further ado, here is the

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

Mini Book Reviews: The Becoming, Originally Human, Bayou Noel, Tempting Ecstasy

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I found The Becoming when I was in a thrift shop and while I wasn't 100% sure what to make of it, I decided to adopt buy it.

The book reminded me of the older urban fantasy books, with its darker themes and dark characters. Although some details were a bit easy to anticipate, the book still managed to surprise me.

Anna was also a pretty cool character. She was a little morally ambiguous and she cheats on her boyfriend. While that usually is enough to make me dislike the book and DNF it, there was something about this story that kept me engaged despite the issues. All in all, I enjoyed this book and I'm excited about reading the rest of the series.
Rating: 4 Cups

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I was in one of my Goodreads shelf-browsing sessions and I stumbled across Originally Human, in audiobook format. It was a freebie, and since everyone seems to have a thing for audiobooks I thought I'd give the format a fourth chance. The great thing about the audiobook is that it's made to seem like a movie, complete with different voice actors and sound effects. So it made the experience intense and something I would consider repeating.

The story is also pretty interesting. Molly is an interesting choice of heroine. She's definitely not what I expected a succubus to be like. The mystery behind the naked man she finds in the woods is also pretty cool, and the reveal behind who he actually is is super interesting. I'm tempted to try out the rest of the series, because I liked the setting and it seems like a paranormal series I'd enjoy.
Rating: 3.5 Cups

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Another freebie I stumbled upon was this Christmas story set in the world of the Wildlands.

Although I can't really say I liked Molly and Garrick's relationship, it was a pretty cute story. Molly has been having a crush on Garrick for years, while Garrick is trying hard to be cold to her whenever he visits home. I would have wanted a little bit more sincerity from his part, but at the end of the day they work together.

I've been meaning to pick up this series from the start and this short story served as a reminder for me to do so.


Rating: 3.5 Cups

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The more this series progresses, the more I like it.

Conn and Dacia have an interesting story. There are a lot of differences between their story and that of his fellow mated Guardians. We finally get to get a tiny peek into why it's difficult for females to find a partner that is not their fated mate. It's an interesting discovery, really.

I liked where the story is going, and the main plot tying all these books together is starting to slowly make more sense.

At the time I'm reviewing this book I've already finished the entire series, because I just went on a binge with it, so I know what happens, but I'm thinking a reread might be in order.

Rating: 4.5 Cups