Review: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Barnes and Nobles Review:

“Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. we have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.
They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.

And Number Three in Kenya.

They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next.”

Last February when I Am Number Four with the hot Alex Pettyfer and beautiful Dianna Agron came out on the big screen, few knew it was actually a bestselling book, including myself.  But I managed to read it before the movie came out and it was fabulous.  John Smith has been on the run for almost his entire life.  He has no family, no friends, and no true identity.  He moves from state to state with his guardian, Henri, before he has a chance to make a life for herself.  That is until he meets Sara.  She’s beautiful, talented and a completely different species from John.  And for her, John risks everything.  This novel brings out a different kind of super hero fighting against your not so typical aliens. It's a great quick read for teenagers that provides fantastic escape from the world. I Am Number Four is a thrilling, romantic, bitter-sweet sci-fi novel that everyone will enjoy.

My rating for this book:

4

Pittacus Lore is Lorien’s ruling Elder. He has been on Earth for the last twelve years, preparing for the war that will decide Earth’s fate. His whereabouts are unknown.  The true author is unknown.

-M

Review: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Amazon Review:
“Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out....

Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea.”  

I know what you’re thinking, the True Blood books, like vampire porn… gross.  Or at least those were my thoughts about the show when it first came on.  But after a few people recommended the books to me saying that they weren’t just full of dirty vampire sex, I decided to give them a whirl.  What I liked about Dead Until Dark was  that the main character, Sookie wasn’t a thirty something like you find with most adult books nor a teenager like you find with the young adults, and because I myself am at that in between age I found her more relatable. Sookie Stackhouse is a normal young woman; normal pretty looks, normal size and height, normal job, normal friends, and a normal family.  She lives in a fairly standard small country town.  Everything about her seems ordinary except for the fact that she can hear living people's thoughts and seems to have a knack for attracting the extremely sexy supernatural, which is what lead her to be with vampire Bill Compton, the new vampire in town.  Dead Until Dark is a sexy fantasy thriller filled with new love, mystery, murder.

My rating for this book:

4.5

Charlaine Harris grew up in the Mississippi Delta and was raised by two avid readers.  So, naturally, she was too, which lead her from writing plays and poems to her first two hit series that came out in the 80’s.  Her most successful series was the Sookie Stackhouse/ Southern Vampire Series, debuted in 2001, that has became a hit series a HBO’s TruBlood.  To find out more about Charlaine Harris visit www.charlaineharris.com.

-M

Review: Burden of Blood by Wenona Hulsey

“No one wants to know everyone’s darkest secrets, especially not police officer, Nicole Keenan. All she wants is a blissfully normal life in the small, Alabama town where she was born. But as generations of power running through her veins start to wake up, an ancient grudge is ignited that threatens to push her over the edge. She can hardly believe in what she is, let alone that a dark force will not stop until she's joins them. Or is dead.
Nicole Keenan's life enters into a dangerous dance with warriors and gothic fairies. Southern tradition collides with Irish folklore as she learns about love, heartbreak, and The Burden of Blood.”

When Wenona Hulsey approached me and asked me to read and review her first novel, I was thrilled. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but Burden of Blood exceeded any possible expectations I could have had. It was like as soon as you thought you knew what was going on, a new character would come in or a new twist in the story would surprise you. The love story between Nicole and Luke will have you screaming at the book as you beg Nicole to give in, and realize it’s okay to let go and fall in love. The characters are real, relatable, funny and all individual. This book really shows us what we are not only capable of, but the strength that we have when we think we’ve lost everything.

So now that we know who the dark mysterious figure is from Blood Awakening, will Nicole find the strength to carry out her destiny and protect the fey? I’ll be waiting very impatiently for that answer.

My rating for this book:

Authors Personal Bio:
Author Wenona Hulsey is a lover of all things written. When she was a child, you could find her reading anything from Edger Allen Poe to the back of cereal boxes. Today you will find her with an e-book reader glued to her hands except for the times when she is writing or spending time with her family. She is also an avid social networker who loves to meet new people. You can find her here!

Twitter                    Facebook                       Blog

To see our fun interview with Wenona Hulsey, click here!

** This book was provided by Wenona to The Ink Puddle.

From Books to the Big Screen

Books have been made into movies for years.  There was Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice and multiple classics that are still being remade to this day.  Only until the past decade has it become a trend to for young adult books to be put on to film, for instane the Harry Potter series.  Since then, books such as the twilight series and those by Nicholas Sparks have hit the big screen, but that’s just the beginning.  Books have also become popular prime time series.  So far The Vampire Diaries by L.J.Smith, The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar, and Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard are the main ones that have made it to the silver screen although it too is an ever growing trend.

 

So what does this mean for authors?  For J.K. Rowling it meant that she became the first billionaire author in the world.  But that is a stretch of reality for most authors.  Most, although their income will increase with the rights of their books sold to movie producers, won’t be making that kind of money.  What they get is the chance to see their books brought to life and an increased fan base.  It used to be that it was a rarity for books to be transferred to film but it’s becoming more popular everyday giving some authors more hope that they too with get to see their stories brought to life.       

Pros:

-          The movie already has a fan base which means that there will be people interested in seeing it.

-          Fans of beloved books always want to see it produce on film.

-          By making a book into a movie, it introduces fans to the books. (Lots of people began reading the twilight books after it was made into a movie)

Cons:

-          Movies always leave off parts of the books.

-          Movies always add stuff that wasn’t in the books. (example: the Weasley house burning down in the movie of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

-          Movies are rarel yas good as the books if you’ve read them first. 

Upcoming books that are being made into movies/tv shows:

-          The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

-          The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins

-          Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard

-          Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

-          The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

-          The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

-          The Secret Circle by L.J. Smith

So what do you guys think about all of these books being brought over to film?  Are you going to read any of these books before they hit the big/silver screen?

-M