PrincessReviews

Dysfunctional (The Root of Betrayal) by Tameka Oliver-Hicks is the story of Tamara Brown from her early teen years through her early twenties. She gets a diary for her fourteenth birthday so the reader is able to follow her exploits. This includes more than dysfunction. I believe Tamara is psychotic. This drama-filled book has calculated revenge that includes murder and abuse to which Tamara doesn't bat an eye. When I first started reading this book, I didn't like it at all. Tamara's diary entries seemed a little too mature at first to me. Then it did begin to sound like the ramblings of someone much younger. I didn't like the narrative when it wasn't Tamara's diary entry. I think it would have flowed much better if the entire book was diary entries or entirely narrative with sparse diary. I say this because the narrative wasn't in third person all the way through. Sometimes it sounded like Tamara telling those parts. Then there were several parts that had...

The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum I listened to The Patchwork Girl of Oz as an audio book. The story was very creative with many odd and unique characters. Although named for the patchwork girl, it is really about a munchkin boy who must go on a quest to find items for a magic potion to restore his uncle who was accidentally turned to marble. The Patchwork Girl goes along to help since she inadvertantly caused the uncle's accident. She is funny and says the weirdest things. It was enjoyable yet it had a very "pat" ending. The munchkin boy's "hero moment" falls short to me. Rating: 4/5

The World of Fairy A Sketch Book & Artists Guide to Fairy  by Ty Hulse The artwork in this sketchbook is so imaginative and beautiful. Some of the images of fairy are familiar while others boggle the imagination. There are tree fairy and rock fairy and water fairy. There are fairy with multiple eyes and faces on really peculiar parts of their anatomy. According to the 10 things you didn’t know about fairy in the first pages of the book, they have been around since before humans and were not always the sugary-sweet, helpful pretty little things we see today. When I read Peter Pan, I thought Tinkerbell was so mean and mischievous. I didn’t realize fairy weren’t were there to help humans. Some did have good relationships with humans and helped develop agriculture and some helped with cities. Other fairy would curse you to look at you.  I would’ve liked more structure to the tales and information included. I think having the text correspond more to the sections of artwork...

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Director: Timur Bekmambetov Starring: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rufus Sewell, Jimmi Simpson Rated: R Violence, some nudity, coarse language I first became aware of this as a book trailer. I thought it was creative. When I saw the MOVIE trailer, I knew I had to go see it. (Tip: NEVER watch the making of a movie before you see the actual movie. That was a big mistake for me. It showed me too much.) The film stars Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln. We follow Lincoln from when he was a boy, to a young man and finally to president of the United States of America. Of course, in history we hear all about how Lincoln grew up and how he was a self-taught man going from lawyer to politician and president, through the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation. Some books tell of his marriage to Mary Todd. But what doesn't the history books tell us? I am a fan of history-made-fun type of...

The Altercation of Vira by Kenechi Udogu is the story of Ama, whom I liked right away. Ama is on her way to a going-away party for her closest friend, Mel and his girlfriend Janet. She hasn't seen Mel in a few years since he moved to the big city and hooked up with Janet. Ama is driving to the city and thinking about her dislike for Janet when she nearly hits something that runs across the road. Her already ancient car gives up the ghost and she starts walking to find help. From there Ama ends up kidnapped (or so she thinks) and taken away from Earth realm to Vira which turns out to be her real home. But before she's whisked away, Ama manages to contact Mel because she thinks she's in danger. In search of Ama, Mel is taken to Vira also seemingly to help save a race who has been persecuted for generations. However, Ama and Mel find themselves on opposite sides in a brewing war. The world building in this book is imaginative and believable. Vira is a dark realm, remaining i...

What if you could become a fairy and help keep everyone safe? Rachel and Kirsty get the chance to be fairies and visit fairyland on a regular basis. In this extended special edition, one of the girls' cousin is having a costume ball. But Jack Frost sends his goblins to steal the costumes and disrupt the party. However, with the help of Flora the Dress-Up Fairy and her magic mask, Rachel and Kirsty trick Jack Frost and save the day. You'll have to read it to find out how. This is a great read. My daughter loves fairies and just being able to imagine being and helping fairies is a great adventure for her. Recommend to girls ages 6+. Rating: 4/5 stars

Title: Blackbrooke Author: Emma Silver About the Author: (CrookedCats Publishing) Emma was born and raised in Manchester but now resides in Liverpool. Blackbrooke  is her debut young adult horror novel after spending many years honing her skills drafting short stories and devouring horror through the ages from R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps collection through to Stephen King.Emma is also the author of a semi-biographical account of her dad’s years in a rock band in the 1970s,  Driving Exile .Outside of her day job in public relations, Emma has worked for a Manchester entertainment magazine, reviewing theatre shows gigs and movies.She gets most of her ideas and is inspired by music and also the fighting spirit of young people who aren’t afraid to challenge the norm and stand up for what they believe in. This fleeting ‘moment’ in life is what she tries to capture in her writing. Summary: (Goodreads) I live in Blackbrooke and you would have had to be living under a rock to nev...

I read this only because I saw the movie Something Borrowed. Which I only watched because Ginnifer Goodwin from ABC's Once Upon a Time was in it (SnowWhite). OUAT is the only show I watch....ever besides Sprout Channel and ESPN. You can tell who controls the TV in my house. So anyway, at the end of the movie, Darcy (Kate Hudson) goes to England. Then I heard that the movie was based on a book and it had a sequel. Something Borrowed was checked out so I read this book. It is Very chick-lit and had a neat "bow-on-top" happy ending for everyone. And I mean Everyone. Darcy is not likable even when she "changes". It pretty much rehashes the first book from Darcy's point of view for the first couple of chapters before she actually leaves for England. Predictable ending, But easy to read. Rating: 3/5

Witchcraft in America by Peggy Saari Easy to read and follow. The Salem witch trials were a sad and shocking time in American history. Includes history of witchcraft in Europe and its impact on early American society. It discusses the possible causes of the witch hunts and letters written by participants which include apologies. Also had a short history of the rise of the Wiccan religion. The book can be used in classrooms. It has some social studies like questions. Rating: 4/5 stars

My friend, Austin, was watching 21 Jump Street one day and told me to watch it sometime, so when I saw it was on the list of movies on the airplane I could watch, I immediately clicked on it. My father saw me watching it, and told me that he "loved that movie! It's so funny!", proving that this movie has a wide variety of audiences when it comes to age (at least 16-46 year olds like it lol - That's a 30 year age difference!). The only thing was that it had a bit of cussing in it, so it probably isn't best for youngsters. So, what happens is these two guys went to high school together. One was a total geek, the other a popular jock. But when they both apply to become police, they partner up and become best friends for life, more like brothers, actually. They become so close that they would actually take a bullet for the other. Anyway, they're not very good at their job, being newbies and wanting to show off and impress others and all. So they are sent to 21 J...

Photo credit:  http://photo-observer.smugmug.com/ Corolla is a part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It seems  to be its own little island, and there's only road in and one road out. IT SMELLS SOOOOO GOOD!! Okay, little kid moment dealt with, I'll try to explain what I mean. Everywhere I would go in Corolla, not Duck or Kitty Hawk, just Corolla, there would be this smell. It was sorta a sweet smell, kinda an oceany smell? I don't really know how to explain it, but its definitely the best smell I've ever smelt (even better than Hollister!). I've often wondered what Heaven would smell like (yes, I understand I'm not normal, haha) and I'm fairly certain I think I've just found out. While on our boards in the ocean, it seemed to be carried in by the wind, coming off the water from the north. But it was not only smelt in the water, but also from ashore, right outside a little shop, about half a mile from the beach. I'm not really sure what the sm...