Book Review: The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch (book #1)

Author: Joseph Delaney
Illustrated by: Patrick Arrasmith
by Aliraluna

Review:

“I was going to learn how to protect farms and villages from things that go bump in the night. Dealing with ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties would be all in a day’s work. That’s what the Spook did, and I was going to be his apprentice.’ (Page 4)

This is the story of Tom Ward, a thirteen year old boy and the last apprentice of Old Gregory; a Spook. But not everyone can be a Spook; you needed to be the seventh son of a seventh son, and Tom was three times that. He could also sense things that normal people couldn’t.  There’s also the fact that practically all the trades were taken by his brothers; so along the story we learn that he was always meant to be a Spook. 

After passing the test, the Spook leads him to his summer house in Chipenden, a wonderful place full of strange and mysterious books and gardens- the place in which Tom will learn about boggarts, ghosts and witches; how to make a pit, how to fight a witch and latin. On the first day, Tom learns about the different gardens that the Spook’s house has.  He also learns that the witches are bound there; dead and alive, and also about the terrifying boggarts. After eating, the Spook gives him a small, leather notebook to write down everything he will learn. In the first lesson the Spook explains the different types of boggarts and witches:

• Boggarts:  (B symbol)

• Hairy Boggarts: They take on different animal shapes such as: dogs, cats, goats and horses. Can be friendly, hostile or both. 

• Hall Knockers: They rap on walls or doors, can throw pots, cups and pull bedclothes. Very unpredictable. Can also change from Hall to Stone Boggart which can kill, making showers of stones rain or throwing pebbles and or boulders.

• Cattle Rippers: This boggart drinks blood from cattle; but if they change to full rippers they drink blood form humans; they always kill. 

• Witches: (O symbol)

• Malevolent: Evil witches. Found in Pendle Hill. They can use bone magic.

• Benign: Good witches; they help the community, experts on herbs.

• Falsely accused: They are not witches but are accused in order to get their properties.

• Unaware: This are witches that doesn’t know what they are; they can be good or bad.

After his lesson, the Spook orders him to look for their provisions and that’s when everything changes: he meets a girl with pointy shoes. And not any girl… the favorite niece of Bonny Lizzie. What have you done Tom?


Thoughts:

Everyone should know this author. He’s fantasticand his writing style is not complicated nor too simple at the same time. The story will make you crave more. Tom Ward is surely to get one hell of a ride. The drawings are simply stunningly beautiful. Give it a try!

Book Review: Divergent

by Lil' Leia 

Hi guys! Today I will be reviewing “Divergent” by Veronica Roth! OK, first I will tell you why I am doing this at this specific time. The reason is, the movie, starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James, will be released on DVD on Tuesday! Yay!  Anyways, time to focus on the actual review. If you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know what Divergent is (besides it being a book and movie), it’s a story set in dystopian Chicago far into the future, where society is divided into five factions based on human virtues:  Amity (the peaceful and kind), Erudite (the intelligent), Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), and Dauntless (the brave and daring). Every year, the 16 year olds take an aptitude test that says which faction he/she is best suited for, but they don’t all receive one conclusive response, some receive multiple, in which case the person is called Divergent and has to keep that fact secret because the city considers it dangerous. The very next day, they have to choose (regardless of their test result) at the Choosing Ceremony whether to remain in their birth faction and stay with their family, or transfer to another faction and leave their families forever regardless of their test result. If they fail the initiation process for their faction, they become factionless and live the rest of their lives on the street in poverty.

   *SPOILER ALERT* IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK OR SEEN THE MOVIE, PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK*

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Beatrice and Caleb Prior are the 16 year old son and daughter of a high ranking government official from Abnegation. Since they are 16, they can choose whether to stay in their own faction or leave and join another one, but first have to take an aptitude test to see in which faction they belong in. Beatrice took her test and her test results showed she was Divergent, a dangerous status that she must keep secret. As an Abnegation, she is supposed to be selfless. She has to care for the needs of others before herself as part of her selflessness. At the Choosing Ceremony, Caleb chooses to transfer to Erudite, but Beatrice is torn between Abnegation and Dauntless. She takes a knife, cuts into her hand, and lets the drops of blood fall to the flaming coals of the Dauntless (Editor’s note of no importance: EXCUSE ME, WHAT?!). Beatrice meets Christina, Will, and Al on the way to the Dauntless compound and they quickly become friends, but she also meets some enemies and rivals, named Peter, Molly, and Drew. Beatrice, who shortens her name to Tris, meets Four/Tobias, her instructor, who also happened to be an Abnegation transfer 2 years before her. Before she becomes a full-fledged member, she must pass through simulations and combat training. The top 10 initiates become members, the rest are factionless. At the end of initiation, Tris comes in 1st place, and becomes a member of the Dauntless along with Will and Christina. Then every Dauntless member is injected with a serum that Dauntless leaders say is a tracker in case anyone goes missing, but in reality it’s a simulation serum that makes her fellow members trek to Abnegation headquarters and plan war. Since she is Divergent, the serum doesn't even affect her. She is soon noticed and dragged to Erudite (who were making war plans against Abnegation and were using Dauntless as an army) headquarters but later escapes to Amity.                                                                                

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That is the basic plot for those of you who haven’t read the book but want or need a more detailed description than the ones given in bookstores and websites. That said, let’s get on to the review! 

So the book starts out a little slow, but it’s for the good of the book because it gradually progresses from that at the beginning to being a little bit fast at the end, and it lets the author build up a good structure for the book, if you know what I mean. I like Veronica Roth’s writing style, for the reasons you can see right above ;).  I also really like how the characters and plot are developed. And I can relate to Tris’s struggle to understand who she is, which also can factor in XD. In short, I LOVED the book, and I hope you do too.  I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. See ya later this week with the movie review!

Ready Player One Review

 by DigitaLoz

In his debut novel, Ernest Cline does not simply present a fun novel but a love letter toward geekdom. Cline, as screenwriter at its best, is known for films of the geeky variations like Fanboys. Ready Player One tells the story of a dystopian future in which oil is increasingly hard to come by, the gap between the social classes has been driven to a breaking point, and the only thing keeping people at ease is the Oasis. The Oasis is a blend between an mmorpg and a virtual reality; in some places it’s gone to fat as to replace the educational system. James Halliday, a genius game developer, is the mastermind behind Oasis. Upon his death, James leaves his multibillion dollar legacy to whomever finds an Easter egg inside Oasis; five years have passed and nobody has come close. Grunters, egg hunters, are born from this dystopian future, forever searching for Easter eggs and clues.

Apart from having a lot of fun reading Ready Player One, half the time I was scavenging through references of Joust (a decade old video game), Rush, and Earthbound; obscure allusions of Will Wheaton, Ultraman and Supaidaman were also worth googling. While the story is not too complex and there are no real surprises, it manages to get the reader rooting for these characters as they battle the big corporation and be the first to find the Easter egg. It is the classic battle between man and corporations. Ready Player One is an 80’s geek fest of epic proportions.

My only gripe with the book is that it is categorized as a YA novel, and I understand that it reads like one, yet it references are so obscure I doubt a sixteen year old might get them—supaidaman, Mechagodzilla, and Joust being the least common among casual gamers. I could not help but reminisce on playing Joust back in fourth or fifth grade in the old Macs in my school. I can only hope that those whom read this book and do not know about these mentions will go and find out for themselves.

Beyond the incredible technology driven setting, Ready Player One tugs at the hardcore gamers’ nostalgia. It is about looking back at all the things we loved when we were kids and remembering them like it is the first time. Whether one enjoyed Star Wars or Super Mario Bros., Ready Player One connects with geeks; in doing that, Ready player One immensely succeeds.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Part 1

By Regal Doe

A tabby cat watched over the Dursleys’ home from sun up to sun down.  At night, when the streets of Privet Drive were sound asleep, a figure of a silver-bearded aged man appeared on to the scene.  He held his arm out and cleared the lights of the street with a peculiar looking apparatus, as the lights flashed onto his half-moon spectacles and then when into the contraption. It was the signal for the peculiar feline to approach and transform into a gray-haired witch, in emerald robes. This witch went by the name of Minerva McGonagall. McGonagall’s gaze was always sharp and fixed, and her mannerisms were prim. In the distance, coming from the starry night, a loud clanking and roaring noise landed into the streets bearing a large grizzly figure, Hagrid. This tall and robust man with untamed hair cradled a bundled-up baby in his arms. The party approached the Dursleys’ house on Number 4 Privet Drive and placed the baby gently at their doorstep, Dumbledore then attached a letter onto  the sleeping child, whose name is  Harry Potter.

10 years passed and Harry was to celebrate his eleventh birthday. Through the early chapters, Harry’s relationship with the Dursleys is not at all ideal, though at least he has a place to sleep in; even if it is the cupboard under the stairs. He would be bullied by his cousin Dudley, who got his way most of the time. This became a routine for Harry, something he became accustomed too. 

Things would turn out well for Harry after a chain of events occurred during Dudley’s birthday.  For instance:  the Dursley family went to the zoo along with Harry, who somehow made the glass panel of a boa constrictor’s exhibit disappear.  Followed by Dudley falling into the boa pit and the glass re-appearing trapping him inside. There was also the fact that owls were constantly appearing outside the house and would find a way to drop off letters directed to Harry. Vernon, Harry’s uncle, was infuriated. The letters would pile up to a certain point that he would burn them in the fireplace. On Harry’s birthday, Vernon had Petunia, Harry’s aunt, pack up the family and flee to a flimsy house on a small island, in the middle of the ocean.

Regardless of the raging waves crashing in on the rackety walls, the crackling thunder striking the ocean as the heavy rain came down, the family was sound asleep. All except Harry, who was waiting for his wristwatch to strike the minute he turned eleven.  At that moment,  the entrance door was pounded down by a soaked Hagrid as he entered the room. Harry was amazed, while the Dursleys were abruptly woken up. Hagrid congratulated Harry and handed him another letter addressed to him with a parsel. When he tore it open and read out loud his acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Vernon quickly objected. Petunia came forward and stated Harry’s mom, Lily, had been the pretty and favorite one of her parents, but to her she was a freak. Hagrid then gestured toward the box that Harry held, inside was a cake, but soon after, it was devoured by Dudley.  Disgusted by Dudley, Hagrid gave him a surprise in the form of a pig tail. After ridding off the troubling Dursleys with a diversion, Hagrid and Harry left the unstable atmosphere.

This would be the first of many firsts for Harry, as he traveled with Hagrid to London.  From there they made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, and through a passage, entered the hidden Diagon Alley. Bustling witches and wizards, in their robes, everywhere! All the stores were jam-packed with clothes, creatures, and all sorts of goods. Harry walked to the building at the end of the street, Gringotts Bank, to retrieve a portion of his only financial inheritance left by his parents. Hagrid also had some matters to attend there. Together they approached the goblin glowering from a podium, at the center of the room, and there Hagrid stated their purpose and revealed Harry’s vault key. They rode through a series of underground tunnels until they reached the vaults they requested. Having been told that his parents died in a car crash and that all he had left for a family were the Dursleys, Harry wouldn’t have imagined that his parents had left him much more than a pound. No, in this case he had plenty of gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts. With those he went ahead to buy his school materials and his wand, an 11-inch holly and phoenix feather core, shared by none other than lord Voldemort, also known as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. This entity was responsible for the deaths of many witches and wizards including Harry’s Parents.

Throughout the early chapters Harry finds himself in frustrating situations, with the Dursleys, up until a certain point at the beginning of his birthday. It seems there's much more to his life than what he already knew while living with his aunt and uncle. The essence of magic and its mysteries is present from the first few lines of the opening paragraph to the series. Even the personality of the Dursleys is shown as a-matter-of-fact in the first sentence. They are shrewd and care about what people say; they want to be presentable and have a reputation with their neighbors. Yet, having Harry in their household is problematic. As he goes away they refuse to let him leave; you would think they'd be relieved, but that's not the case. It can be inferred they will not have other people inquire and speak ill about their nephew's disappearance because it degrades their reputation. Meanwhile Harry explores the wizarding world and meets many strange people and creatures he never thought could exist.

The Fault in Our Stars Movie Review

                           

By Lil Leia 

                         

              "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Hi guys! In this post I will be reviewing "The Fault in Our Stars", a movie you may have heard of, based on the novel by John Green. I will first proceed to explain the quote above. The quote is from the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, and it's the source for the title of both the book and the movie. As you can probably see, EVERYBODY (including me, had to admit it at some point) is going absolutely crazy for the movie and has prompted everyone who hasn't read the book to read it before they see the movie. The movie stars Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort (which play brother and sister in Divergent, weird right?), Nat Wolff, Willem Dafoe, Laura Dern, among others, with Josh Boone directing. You probably know the basic plot, which is about two teens (Hazel and Augustus), Hazel with cancer and Augustus in remission, and that fall in love in a cancer support group. You're probably imagining a boring, unfunny cancer story, but it's not. Actually, it's a funny, romantic love story that almost doesn't talk about cancer until certain points of the movie. So, on to the review part. I'll *try* to make it as spoiler-free as possible, but I don't make any guarantees, so here we go:

Having read the book a LOT of times, I expected the movie to live up to the standards of the book (obviously, who doesn't?!?), and it DEFINITELY did. Have Kleenex (preferably a whole box, 'cause you'll need them all) ready, because the movie is VERY EMOTIONAL, especially nearing the end of the movie. If you don't like emotional movies, this is certainly not the movie for you. You're going to cry, and by cry I mean UGLY CRY, but you can burst into tears at any moment randomly for many reasons, especially because you see the love between the characters progressing through the movie. Shailene (Hazel) and Ansel’s (Augustus) acting is spot on! They perfectly capture the emotion and the love between Hazel and Augustus, and couldn't imagine anyone OTHER than Shailene and Ansel in their respective roles. Overall, all acting was well done, and there were no plot holes. I like movies based on books to be very true to the book, but some movies either don't achieve it or do it very badly, but The Fault in Our Stars does it almost perfectly. It captures the true spirit of the book beautifully, which is that you have to learn to embrace whatever time you have, with all its pain and wonder, because... "Some infinities are bigger than other infinities" - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars.

The movie was awesome! It really lived up to my expectations, and boy did I cry! I wasted an insane amount of tissues (don't judge, I'm a pre-teen who's hormonal) :P I loved the book, and now I love the movie just as much... I think I'm gonna go see it again. See ya next week!

Batman Eternal #1 (2014)

By. Samurai Millo

Publisher: DC Comics

Classification: Teen

Language: English

Writer(s): Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV

Penciller: Jason Fabok

Coloring: Brad Anderson

Cover Price: $2.99

Page Count:  32

Synopsis:

  The following is a description of the comic taken from the official website of DC Comics:

“A massive cast of Gotham City’s best (and worst) examines the relationship between Batman, his allies and his city. In this debut issue, Commissioner James Gordon is caught on the wrong side of the law!”

Review:

 

  It’s been a while since I’ve read a first issue of a Batman-related comic. This series has the particular distinction of being the first Batman related series that will be coming out on a weekly frequency for 52 weeks starting on April 9^th, 2014. Weekly comics are a different kind of animal, because they are put together for a very specific subset of fans, the ones that go to the store every week, almost religiously, barring perhaps natural disasters of the highest magnitude. Therefore, the stories in weekly comics, like Batman Eternal, are tailored taking into consideration that their reader base is comprised mostly of Batman fans that are very into the Caped Crusader’s mythology. The final product is a series that has all the things Batman fans crave for, while also being accessible to new readers.

  What sets this series apart, asides its weekly schedule, is that there will be different story arcs over the next 52 weeks written by different writers. These arcs will interconnect successively, one after another, and each will focus on different characters from Batman universe.

  So far, the first arc focuses on two characters. In the first issue, Jason Bard is introduced. Bard, Gotham City Police’s latest rookie cop, is a promising new recruit from Detroit who is destined to cross paths with the other main character of this story arc, Jim Gordon, who’ll need all the help that he can get to survive a very bad situation, courtesy of Professor Pyg.

  The storytelling in this first issue is articulated and brisk, which is what expected from its writers, Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV. The art, by Jason Fabok, is full details and sequentially impeccable from one panel to the other. Big props go to Brad Anderson for an outstanding coloring job that captures the grittiness of Gotham City.

Final Verdict:

  Batman Eternal #1 is a great start with a lot of promise. If you are new to Batman, this is a good place to start. If you’re a long time Batman enthusiast, this title is a must in your collection. Big changes are coming to Batmen’s world, and they’ll start in this comic.

Manga Review: Ark Angels

“That’s why…we believe every life is equal and precious.” 

By. Aliraluna 

  Sang-Sun Park was born in South Korea on August 9^th, 1974, and is both the author and artist of Jewels/Les Bijoux, The Tarot Café and Ark Angels. Her usual work tends to fall under comedy, fantasy, romance, and drama, but she’s not one to shy away from other genres.

  Tokyopop published the Ark Angels series in December 2005. (Don’t you just miss Tokyopop? Because I certainly do!) The series consists of three volumes starring a trio of sisters. These three sisters, Hamu, Shem and Japheth, are from an alternate version of Earth, and their mission is to rescue the animals that are on the brink of extinction on our Earth. They need to do so in order to save both Earths because the Earths are connected in some way, and if one of them is destroyed, the other ones will be annihilated as well. This being the case, the sisters volunteered to save our Earth because they still believed that goodness exists in the humans. Their powers help them in their mission, because not only can they see the physical form of the animal, but they can also glimpse their souls.

  This leads to the manhwa’s the main messages of how important it is to save and take care of every animal, not just those on the brick of extinction, and to think twice before bringing more harm to Earth. To me, this makes Ark Angels a really unique manhwa, since finding a series with a tangible message is pretty rare. How do the sisters actually save the chosen animals? They place them in Noah’s Ark, which is in form of a whale. But their task isn’t easy, since they have to live as normal humans, going to school, and even deal with fall in love. (Although, for those who don’t like romance, there isn’t much in this particular series, so there’s no need to worry!) The sisters also have magical pets that can transform into transportation devices.

  Want a sneak-peek? Here’s some information about one of the endangered species in volume 1:

 Meet the: Guam Fruit Bat

-          Year: 1968

-          Place: Guam's Mariana Archipelago

-          Gender: Male

-          Story: A chef that specializes in “premium fruit bat” cuisine has hunted down all the fruit bats and is  trying to capture the last one to prepare a special meal for a president. The girls save the last bat, but they have to save his mother too, who is under the “protection” of the chef.

-          Facts:

o   The male bat and his mother are the last one of this species.

o   He's the fifty-fifth son; his family used to be big, with lots of males and females.

o   They can't contain the urge to sing.

o   They eat sweet-smelling fruits.

o   He has grapes in his hair, while his mom has a pineapple.

Rating: 4/5

Enjoy!