Review: Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Synopsis: All teenagers have problems, but few of them can match those of Aislinn, who has the power to see faeries. Quite understandably, she wishes that she could share her friends' obliviousness and tries hard to avoid these invisible intruders. But one faery in particular refuses to leave her alone. Keenan the Summer King is convinced beyond all reasoning that Aislinn is the queen he has been seeking for nine centuries. What's a 21st-century girl to do when she's stalked by a suitor nobody else can see? A debut fantasy romance for the ages; superlative summer read.



Now i have read quite a few average reviews of this book, and after reading it i really can't see why people haven't enjoyed it. It has everything you could need in a good book. It has attitude and grit, and romance and nighmarish characters. Melissa brings to life the world of the faerys on the pages. She makes me glance up from my book and check that there is no faerys secretly pulling faces at me. And let me tell you i really think they were...



The faerys in Melissa story are not cute and sweet, they are frightening, evil, mischevious and yet also beautiful and etheral. The faerys who are supposed to be the 'good ones' are not nessarily always good, yet there are many who are. They are tempted by mortals and spurred on by the Dark and winter court's. They glow because they are of the Summer court of course, and they are roudy and dance and drink the golden liquid, summer wine. Whats not to love, we all know faery's are not to be trusted, Aislynn certainly knows this.



Her character developement is ace, although I didn't fall Damon Salvitor head over heels for any of the characters. But Seth is an amazing guy, he sticks by Aislynn even when to most people she would seem to belong in a mental asylum. And melissa managed to create the most vile evil winter Queen i think i have encountered. I love the fact that Aislynn goes from being terrified of faerys at the beginning and trying to avoid them. To having to approach them to figure out whats going on, then to finially having to join them and become one of the things she has spent her life trying to avoid.



I love the book cover, its beautiful and i also like the addition of quotes from old faery referance books. It makes the book feel more real and shows off the research that melissa obviously did for this story. Well im off to get straight into the next book Ink Exchange, i actually managed to get all 4 books out of the library at once! And i cannot wait to read the next one.



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xo
Meg

Liz Taylor

Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor has died on Wednesday the 23^rd of March at age 79. She was surrounded by her four children, when she left of congestive heart failure. During her career Taylor won three Academy Awards, one of them for her humanitarian work for AIDS research, and stared in more than 50 movies. Taylor was one of Hollywood’s greatest sex symbols, staring with the likes of James Dean.

But she has had her share of trials and tragedies, with 8 marriages, one of which left her widowed at the age of 26. Her health has been rocky also over the years, with her undergoing at least 20 major operations, and her nearly dying from pneumonia in 1990. She has also acknowledged she has had a 35 year addiction to sleeping pills and pain killers.

In May 2000 the Queen Elizabeth II made Taylor a Dame (the female equivalent of a knight) for her services to the entertainment industry and to charity. She is survived by her two daughters and two sons and her 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. So I would just like to say, where ever you are Liz, thank you from us all you have greatly contributed to the world, and you will be missed. And to celebrate your years on our television and movie screens I have found some movie stills and photos to share…

Sorry there's so many I got a little carried away, she just has so many great photo's! Liz your awesome, I mean look at your waist in those first photos!! I wish I had your physic... She's such a hottie don't you think?



xo
Meg

Fairy's!

I have been reading Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely this week ( and I am loving it by the way), and it has somewhat got me onto the topic of Fairy's. Now I have always been a fairy fan, I mean what little girl doesn't believe, or want to believe in fairy's. Whilst I was reading today a certain fairy book popped into my mind...

Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book, written by Terry Jones and Illustrated by Brian Froud.

Have any of you read/seen/heard of this book?
It was introduced to me by a friend back when I was about 12 years old, and i fell in love with it. The book reads like a diary, and follows Lady Cottington's life from early childhood to her later years. Between the pages you will find many 'pressed' fairy's in various compromising positions, complete with strange facial expressions ( mostly surprised, from the eminent page about to squash them). But don't be alarmed no fairy's were harmed in the making of this book! They are not actually pressed but have been momentarily captured then escape, and have left thir 'psychic impressions' on the page. I absolutely love this book and adults will enjoy it just as much as children. And if you love this book then you will most likely enjoy other fairy books by Brian Froud and Terry Jones; you can find them all on Amazon.

Here's an exerpt from the book:

I really can't recommend this enough for anyone who loves fairys.

Check out these 'pressed' fairy's from the book...

Arent they awesome?!!!

XO

Meg

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve; lovers to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.  ~William Shakespeare

Earth Hour!

Its Earth Hour this weekend people! And we all need to play our part. Switch off all lights and anything else that may be 'plugged in' between 8:30 and 9:30pm your local time on the 26th of March.

Earth Hour is a global event which is organised by WWF ( World Wildlife Fund), and is annually held on the last Saturday of March. Earth hour was started to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It all started in Sydney Australia 2007, when 2.2 million residents participated by turning off all non-essential lights. And in 2008 many other cities around the world followed Sydneys example and adopted the event. It has become bigger and bigger each year. So join the rest of the world on Saturday and switch it all off At 8:30pm.

This year WWF is challenging peole to go beyond the hour. Check it out at the website beyond the hour.



XO

Meg

'Kiss me and you shall see stars, love me and shall give them to you' - Tinkerbell

Review - Linger

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have just finished reading Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, which is the second book in Maggie’s Wolfs of Mercy Falls series. It is written from the perspective of four different characters, which I love because it really lets you get to know the characters and the way they feel and think. It also lets you look at the different sides to each event and get more insight about why they happened. I love the introduction of the new wolves, especially Cole who is totally swoon worthy, despite his self loathing. Cole and Isabel’s relationship brings something new to the book, which it really needed because I definitely found the beginning a little slow and was beginning to get tired of Sam and Graces relationship. Isabel is a great character; she just does not give a dam about anyone else and is very straight to the point and not afraid to say that she feels. I love that, none of this tip toeing around people.



I found it hard to believe the reaction from Grace’s parents since in whole series they have been portrayed as distant parents, who are more interested in their own lives then looking after their daughter. I think in life if parents were like that then they would be way less dramatic over a teenage relationship then these too were. Also I find it hard to understand how Grace went from not changing into a wolf due to her extreme heat exposure too suddenly now at the age of 17 becoming sick and needing to change into a wolf. Why has Sam not had this reacon after his Meningitis fever? Or will he have this reacon in a few years like Grace’s delayed reaction? I really cannot fathom how it works.



Despite the books flaws I adore Maggie’s beautiful writing. I love the musical elements in the book and how Sam’s feelings about situations always get put into song lyrics. I am also a huge poetry fan, so the addition of the poetry that Sam often reads is nice. Although I must say unusual for a young guy to be a poetry lover, but stranger things have happened. One of my favourite lines in this book is “Grace, suddenly motivated, stepped into the studio, following the scent of caffeine like a rat after the Pied Piper.” Maggie seems to effortlessly pull out many of these lyrical lines.

I love how the book breaks the mould with its green coloured writing which matches the green cover. The first book was the same matching the blue cover with blue writing. I just thought this was a nice touch.



All in all I am looking forward to the next book especially since Linger ended on such a cliff-hanger moment! I give this book 4 stars, mostly due to the fantastic writing rather than the plot.



XO
Meg


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Nick Brandt

Nick Brandt, who was born and raised in London, fell in love with the animals of East Africa while directing the music video for Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’ in 1995. He left behind his high flying Hollywood job and began to photograph the animals so that he could capture his passion and love for them. His images are haunting and really capture the essence of the animals in their natural environment. He takes only black and white photographs as he likes the way it makes you focus on the shapes, and graphic nature of the subject.

Nick wants his images to be an elegy to a world that is vanishing, and to make people see what beauty is disappearing. In effect he is a cheerleader for the conservation of the African animals, and has started his own non-profit organization called, Big Life Foundation. Big Life Foundation is about anti-poaching and the conservation of Africa’s Wildlife. They currently have in place several anti-poaching outposts and mobile anti-poaching teams in Amboseli National Park, which spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border.

They hope to help stop poaching further afield across Africa once they get Amboseli under control. If you would like to donate to the cause please visit the Big Life website. Many of Nicks subjects have been killed by poachers since the photographs have been taken, and knowing this gives his photographs a whole different perspective when you look at them.

Check out some of his photographs...

hope you enjoyed those as much as i did!


XO
Meg


Nature never did betray the heart that loved her. ~ William Wordsworth