Villains (Reflection 10)

Villians are interesting because they can be so almost otherworldly. True villians do horrible things that are worthy of taking notice of. It's not like you casully encounter a villian walking down the street everyday. Usually their backstories are interesting and compelling. At least in my case, I always want to know what it was that pushed them over the edge. I feel that in stories they usually reflect the culture of the current time. Or in the reader's case, their worst nightmare. If I'm going to read and believe a story, I have to be scared of the villian. Or at least a little concerned about them.

I can think of many villians like Voldemort and Sauron but the most memorable villian to me is the Joker. Now, I'm not a huge superhero junkie (although I do enjoy a good superhero movie every now and then) but The Joker has left the most lasting impression. He does absolutely the most horrible things, constantly killing and wreaking havok for seemingly no reason. He is probably certafiably insane. But this is so compelling. I want to know why he is that why, why he goes to such extreme measures. But he kind of has this outlook on life that rings true. I am always startled at his quote about human nature:

 "To them, you’re just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don’t, they’ll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. I’ll show you. When the chips are down, these… these civilized people, they’ll eat each other. See, I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve."

- The Joker (http://www.buzzpirates.com/2009/06/the-13-best-quotes-by-the-joker-in-the-dark-night-heath-ledger-lives-on/)

He has a poor outlook about the selfish nature of people that sometimes is very true. Plus, through his almost goofy childlike ways, he's just a villian I love to hate.

Great Moments (Reflection 9)

Tally and her friends have just recently been turned into Specials, the things they used to loath when they were Uglies then Pretties. They go to an Uglies party where they plan on crashing it to find people who are wanted for rebelling against the government. Throughout this scene, Tally is thinking about how great it is now that she has been turned into a special when the music from the party interrupts her thoughts. She says, "Uglies were always noisy," (6). This is a big idea even though it is an understated quote. Tally now completely distances herself from when she used to be an Ugly. This is important because the whole first book of the series is about her fighting to stay and Ugly and not be turned into a Pretty. Her entire point of view has been altered.

Shay and Tally sneak into an old armory to steal weapons. Someone spots them there and Shay picks up a bottle amoung the racks of deadly weapons and throws it to the ground were it shatters. A silvery liquid seeps and and beins to spread and eat everything it touches. Shay says it is "hunger, in nano form. It eats pretty much everything, and makes more of itself." (111). This is a great moment because of the tension. Our protagonists are in major peril with no way out so readers worry about what will happen.

Before Shay releases the liquid, Tally finds a biowarfar filter mask. It is revealed that "the whole Rusty culture had been undone by one artificial oil-eating bacterium" (102). This is very important because the Rusty culture is supposed to represent our time now, since this book is in the future. The author alludes to what he predicts our downfall will be: something of our own makeing, for our own greed.

Top 5 (Reflection 8)

My Top 5 Favorite Series'

The Moral Instruments

This trilogy is about a young girl named Clary who's life is compeltely normal until she starts seeing strange creatures. He life is then thrown into chaos when her mother disappears and she is taken in by a race of peopel called "Shadow Hunters" who live to protect humanity from demons. Clary delves into her past to find out where her mother is, what role Clary has to play, and what she is, because she definately isn't human.

 

These books were fast paced and suprising which kept me interested. I love the twists and turns.

 

RIYL: Twilight, Beautiful Creatures, or Divergent.

Movie Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc4CiTvQ-YE
 

 

 

The Hunger Games

In this distopian society, the Capital rules over all. This a place, where in order to prevent rebellion, 24 kids are randomly choosen to compete in a competition: A fight to the death. Katniss Everdeen is thrown into the mix when she volunteers in place of her little sister. She must fight to stay alive as well as fall in love along the way.

 

I love this series. The characters just seem so interesting and dynamic that I can't help but love them. The storyline is completely different from anything I have ever heard of before and is truely captivating.

 

RIYL: The Mortal Instruments, Harry Potter, or any distopia

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plts4kivGzE

 

 

 

The Mistborn Trilogy

Born into poorness and poverty, Vin must fight to stay alive, but that seems to be difficult when people like her are hunted. In this distopian world where a mysterious dictator rules over all, there are such people as Mistborn: those who are born with the ability to Alomance or control metals. Vin finds herself taken in by one of the strongest Mistborn there ever was. He agrees to teach her with one contition. She must aid his attempt at overthrowing the government.

 

I loved this series. I was very suprised with myself though because this is very fantasy and I don't always like that. The characters are so endearing that I just couldn't help cheering them on and the plot was full of some of the most game-changing twists that I have ever experienced.

 

 

RIYL: High fantasy, Eragon, Pendragon

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0TOVHEnfe0

 



The Chemical Garden

In a world where men die at the age of 25 and women at 20, everyone must fight to stay alive. Due to an outbreak everyone dies very young. Rhine, a girl just 16 years old, is kidnapped to be married to a rich man who wishes to be happy after the death of his first wife by filling the void with multiple wives. Soon, a plot is discovered as Rhine realizes that his father intends to experiement on her and her sisterwives to find a cure. Time is running out and she intends to leave before he is able.

 

Having only read the first book in the series, Wither, I found that I enjoyed it imensly. I can tell that this series will be very riviting and keep me on my toes.

 

RIYL: Hunger Games, mysteries, as well as distopias

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJD_C0eh_K8

 







The Gallagher Girls

This series is all about spies. Cammie Morgan is a young teenage girl who is like anyone else except for one thing, she goes to Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a school for spies. A mysterious company is after Cammie and no one is sure why. Cammie must look into her past, investigate her father's disapperance, and evade capture, as well as solve her boy drama along the way.

 

This series was such a fun read. It is comically written but also has an in depth plot that keeps readers wanting to hear more.

 

RIYL: The Heist Society, espionage books

 

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTokHWds6rc

 

Maximum Ride

 

This series is about a young group of kids constantly on the run from an evil organization known as "The School". The kicker? These kids are part bird, part human. They have wings. Max, the female protagonist must keep her family together while attempting to stay alive.

 

I love this series. I read it in middle school because the books are directed towards a younger audience but I will always remember how much I liked it. The plot is just so interesting and James Patterson, the author, just gives Max such a funny internal voice that it is so entertaining.

 

RIYL: Sci-fi books, Artimis Fowl, or Witch and Wizard

 

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwW3GRvhSfY

Genre Lables (Reflection 6)

My favorite genres to read are speculative fiction. I like imagining something that cannot happen in real life. I already experience one life, so why not experience another that is completely unobtainable in mine? I sometimes think that when books are non-fiction that the plots are too predictable. There are limitations to our own world but in a made up one there are none so an unpredictable twist is possible. Although, I will say that when books (usually fantasy) get too out there, I lose interest. It has something to do with the idea that the world is so complex and so completely different from our own that I have difficulty imagining it.

I have usually stayed towards this genre my whole like. I grew up reading the Magic Tree House series and Harry Potter which both have elements of speculative fiction. Occasionally I will attempt other genres (usually if gets stellar reviews from my friends/family) once I deem it a worthy read.

I personally like the genre labels. If I like one book from a certain genre, then it is a good possibility that I will like another. But, it works the other way too, unfortunately. If I don’t like a book from a certain genre, then I tend to label the whole genre as something I should stay away from. I know that this bad and I shouldn’t judge whole categories of books based off of one, but I can’t help it. This narrows my search down significantly but I could be missing books that are very enjoyable.

Book Covers (Reflection 5)

 

I usually have no opinion on book covers, unless the cover is really strange and I would be embarassed showing my friends the book. In some cases I like it one way and in others I like it the opposite way. When you take the idea of showing people in the cover, I actually don't mind the "severed" body part concept. If there is a book that shows someone with out their head or not all of their face, I like to use my imagination to picture what they look like. But on the other hand I like seeing the face that comes with the character. One thing I absolutelycannot stand is the overly girly cover. If it shows shoes and bags and clothes I will absolutely not buy it. That cover leads me to believe that the book is about trivial matters like shoes and bags and clothes. No. Just no.

                                     I can now imagine what I think the character should look like.

                                    Now I can picture the character while I am reading about her.

    I would probably never buy this. Ever.

 

I am unsure as to why, but I find that I like covers without real pictures better. I think it may be because if there isn't a real picture, then the covers are a bit more mysterious. Decoding the cover while reading the story is something I look forward to because it is just another part of the story. Although that is not the case for all books (I love the cover for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as well as Water for Elephants and a few Nicholas Sparks novels) I find that I just like it better.