Holy Crudola

Holy crudola guys... I haven't posted since June! To be fair, I've had a lot going on... Two school trips - in the summer too, jeez - plus tons of summer work to get done, and so... I just haven't had a lot of time... Not to mention the fact that I could not think of anything to write. However, I still feel horrid, and would like to apologize for my absence. I will be trying to post more often. Anywho...

I read the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Second Summer of the Sisterhood during aforementioned absence, and I'll say it - this sequel was actually just as good as the first. That almost never happens, unless it's an intended series and not just an impromptu 'Hey, let's write another!' Anyway, I really liked this book, it was brilliantly written, we get to know our characters even better, and there are new plot elements worked in with the old! I highly recommend you read it. Now, on to other news - which I am bursting to share, because holy crud. 

BRANDON MULL IS WRITING A SEQUEL SERIES TO FABLEHAVEN (or at least, it's highly likely that he will) TO BE PUBLISHED IN 2016. Why are there so many things to wait for??? Blood of Olympus is not until October. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them isn't until 2016, and neither is the Fablehaven sequel. Waiting is not a strong suit of mine, guys! This is not okay! 

Anywho, that's all I really have time to write now - sorry - but I will be trying to post more frequently now that I've posted again. Thanks to everyone who's reading, and 

Good luck in life, happy watching, happy reading!
Fangirl Anonymous

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants & Fake ID

Hello, my lovely readers! It's been a bit longer than I hoped for me to post, but I'm having a lot of trouble getting through The Lord of the Flies (I wanted to like it, but... Oh well). So, I decided to react to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Fake ID in writing today, and, if I can finish them both within a reasonable amount of time, The Book Thief, and The Lord of the Flies next time.

Anywho, I'm going to start with The Sisterhood because I finished it the most recently, and, I don't know, let's go in reverse order. This book was pretty dang amazing. I'm looking to get my hands on the sequel, because I want to read more. This isn't a full-blown review, so I won't go into plot details, but I will say a couple things about the characters and general storyline. The members of the Sisterhood - Bee, Tibby, Lena, and Carmen - are amazing. They are wonderfully written, with flaws and talents alike, and we get to know them really well throughout the book. They are an odd group, dissimilar in interests, appearances, and personalities, but their group is convincingly cohesive, and the friendship doesn't seem forced. The plot is relatable, four best friends' first summer apart, and in each girl's point of view, the fact that she misses her friends is evident, but not overshadowing, allowing us to enjoy the plot without an excess of angst - at least, without angst due to separation. Each girl individually has plenty of drama as well - Lena's forced exchanges with Kostos, Bee's attempted relationship with Eric, Carmen's familial complications, and Tibby's newly formed relationship with Bailey and the complications that follow. I highly, highly, highly recommend reading this book. It is a touching reminder of the power and necessity of friendship (so cliche, I'm sorry, but it's kind of true). A feel-good novel with a diverse cast of characters and a heartwarming plot, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is one of the better realistic fiction novels I've read.

That being said, Fake ID is also a realistic fiction novel, and it would be unwise not to read it. For a while, my love of the mystery genre had seemed to go on hiatus, but I think this book has brought it back. Chass (short for Chastity) and her mother have spent their lives moving around. Every couple of years they would pack up and leave at a moment's notice, changing not only their address, but their names. Their very identity. Then, one night, Chass's mother goes missing, and Chass only has a week before she's put into foster care. She has to find her mother, fast. But, there's some serious shiz going down, involving a mysterious tape that could give evidence for a decades-old murder, Chass's mother's unknown past, and plenty of teenage drama to boot. I highly recommend reading this ah-amazing story whether or not you enjoy mysteries - though if you do, that's always a plus for the experience. It's fast-paced, engaging, and, once it gets going, impossible to put down. 

Thank you for reading my book reactions! See ya later!

Good luck in life, happy watching, happy reading,

Fangirl Anonymous

Thank You!

It has come to my attention that this blog has had (drumroll, please) 200 views since its birth in February! So, a tremendous Thank you to everyone who has been reading! Internet cupcakes to all of you.

In other news, I have two other brilliant videos of Viria's fanart tributes to PJO/HoO, right here and here. I went to the library yesterday (finally!) and I got some new books to read, because my reading candidate stream has been running dry. One mystery (Fake ID), check. And two that were recommended to me by either culture or friends (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Book Thief), check. And, a classic, which I want to like, but I am kind of concerned about (Lord of the Flies), check. I will be back with my responses to all of them in a couple of days (except, maybe, The Book Thief, because I had to get that in audiobook form (the library didn't have the book in, and there were tons of holds on it, etc.) so it might take a little longer to get through), which should be exciting. I've already finished Fake ID, and I was not disappointed.

One other thing, before we finish up here. My coauthor, Secretninja2014, has left us. She will be traveling for a lot of the summer, and next year at school promises to be hectic, and so, I am, once more, the sole author of Fangirl it Up ;).

Anywho, my faithful readers! I must go, now, but I hope to write you all later, and until then,

Good luck in life, happy watching, happy reading,
Fangirl Anonymous

PJO Percy VS HoO Percy

BEFORE I BEGIN (also known as: before you take out the pitchforks): THIS IS NOT SOME KIND OF BATTLE BETWEEN THE TWO STAGES OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. I LOVE THEM BOTH. THEY'RE NOT GOING TO DUKE IT OUT IN THIS BLOG POST. IT IS MERELY A COMPARISON. PUT DOWN THE TORCHES. Thank you. 

So, hello, my friends! To demonstrate just how eclectic this blog is, following a review of an incredibly emotionally devastating movie, we have a comparison (kind of a tracking of character development) between two stages of development of one of the most lovably adorkable characters ever to grace the printed page. PERCY JACKSON (Jackson, Jackson, Jackson)! PJO/HoO fans, this is especially for you! I hope you like it, and, with that in mind, let us begin.

We are gathered here today to track the character development of one of my favorite fictional characters. Percy Jackson. I was inspired to do this while watching CassJayTuck's review of Son of Neptune, so thank you Cass! I feel like he has developed so magnificently, and it has been so beautiful to watch him grow, that it would be a crime not to acknowledge it in some way. I would love to make a venn diagram for this task, but I am infamously awful at charts and the like. So, I will stick to paragraphs. Yay. 

We will start, of course, with PJO Percy, as we knew him first. We meet Percy in The Lightning Thief, and he provides us with a self-formulated image of himself fairly quickly. He is dorky. He messes stuff up. We see throughout the series that he has the potential to be a bad-asphalt object of teenage obsession, but he has a seriously adorkable side that keeps him from quite getting there. He displays a combination of this kind of absolutely dense thickheadedness in respect to relationships and just a bit of confused cuteness that made our little sixth-grade fangirl hearts beat a bit faster right along with Annabeth's. He was cute. And, by the end of The Last Olympian, it was easy to see his potential to become more than that. But it was clear from his first-person point of view that, in his eyes (and, consequentially, in ours), he was still this sort of dorky guy with a fair amount of talent, but also with the tendency to attract trouble and quite the track record with bad luck. He is, just barely by the end of the PJO series, still the pure-hearted, dorky kid that we met in The Lightning Thief. However, once we see him again in Son of Neptune (and throughout the HoO series), things begin to change. 

I feel like Son of Neptune is the first time that we fully realize that Percy is, at this point, sixteen. He really isn't that dorky little kid from The Lightning Thief who didn't know how to hold a sword anymore, no matter how much he might feel that he is. The third-person point of view really helps us to reach this conclusion, because without Percy's witty self-deprecation fueling the delusion, we are able to visualize Percy from someone else's perspective. You know that sort-of kind-of crush on Percy you'd been harboring ever since he proved he really was an emotionally functioning human being (*cough* The Titan's Curse *cough*)? Yeah, well, that snowballs when we meet Percy through Hazel's eyes. Hazel actually believes that she and Frank are being tested by the gods, because Percy, she says, has the "good looks of a Roman god" and an insane aura of power (*hyperventilates*). She also points out that Percy is the most powerful demigod she has ever met, and, in House of Hades, calls him the demigod she admires most. We see Percy as an entirely new person, a Greek hero worthy of admiration and capable of so much more than he allows himself to believe. We also see that this little spiritually stainless kid who would never even consider empathizing with Luke is... kind of gone. He understands where Luke was coming from. He recognizes that he is around the age Luke was when he tried to overthrow Olympus, and he recognizes that he can relate to what made Luke turn against the gods. THIS IS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AT ITS FINEST. HE IS EMPATHIZING WITH A PREVIOUS ENEMY, REALIZING THAT, YES, BEING A DEMIGOD MAKES LIFE CRAPPY, AND NO, THE GODS AREN'T PERFECT. AND IT JUST SHOWS HOW STRONG PERCY IS AS A PERSON. Because he knows why Luke would feel abandoned and used, because Percy feels the same way. But he doesn't give up, or try to work against the gods, because, unfortunately, the gods are the better alternatives. He recognizes this, and moves on, showing that he can be the morally "bigger person." 


THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS A TESTAMENT TO MY PJO OBSESSION. Oh well. Here are my sources/inspiration for some of my points. Thank you for reading! 

This video
and this video
and all the PJO/HoO books, of course.

And, as always,

Good luck in life, happy watching, happy reading,
Fangirl Anonymous

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS: MOVIE REVIEW

I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!!!!!! I AM SO SORRY I'M LATE POSTING, LIKE REALLY LATE AND I'M SORRY! BUT. I HAVE SEEN THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. SO NOW IT IS TIME FOR MY TEARS TO ADD SALTY FLAVOR TO THIS BLOG. ENJOY.

Quick note before we begin: This is not going to be organized and beautifully cited like my book review (however beautifully cited that was, I mean... It was kind of awkward, what with the Kindle location citations). I will do my best, but movies are not typically my thing. Sorry. My mind is a better platform for creation than a flatscreen, as far as I'm concerned (I do love movies, I just like books a good deal better). Okay, that was, unfortunately, not as quick as I would have liked. Let us begin. 

REVIEW STARTS HERE.

It is hard to say with the Fault in Our Stars movie will best be remembered for. Will it be its impeccable loyalty to the book's storyline? The spectacular performances by actors like Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, and so many others? Perhaps it will be the storyline that captures viewers as much as it did readers. The series and ups and downs for this ill-fated, yet inimitable couple will ensnare the hearts of viewers and trample the emotions, willingly or not. 

I, going into this knowing what to expect, was hardly surprised when I found myself with tears streaming down my face. However friends, movies are rarely cried at by this fangirl. I know not why, but movies haven't got the same amount of control over my *feels* as books have. And so, I was veritably pleased to find that the Fault in Our Stars movie accomplished what few other movies could. I cried, Reader. At everything. From Amsterdam to the last "Okay," I was in tears. 

I have but one warning against going to see this emotional roller coaster of a film, and it is this: Having read the book is quite possibly the least emotionally stable condition in which to see this movie. You know what is going to happen when Augustus and Hazel want to talk on their own on the last day in Amsterdam. You see all of the warning signs before Hazel sees them herself. And so, to those of you who have not read the book and plan on seeing the movie: If you see someone next to you crying, seemingly for no reason, just recognize that they have read the book, and wait. Because, before long, you will know why. 

Allow my last comment on the movie adaptation of one of my favorite books be this: Gut-wrenching, desperately sad, and quite likely to make you ugly-cry, The Fault in Our Stars is, in my opinion, a must-see. 

REVIEW ENDS HERE.

It's not as long as my book review, sorry. But I hope you enjoyed... I will be posting much more often, now that I have finished that review because - guess what - IT'S SUMMER VACATION! *happy dance* I hope to be seeing you all soon...

Good luck in life, happy watching, happy reading,
Fangirl Anonymous

P.S. I'm thinking of changing the theme of the blog to something like this: 

Thoughts? 

Help Please

Hello, friends. I need help. I am stumped. For blogging topics, for Ship-Songs, for Food to Eat because I am hungry. But besides that... I'm great. Except that my brain is veritably made of oatmeal right now. 

But... I have found a Blood of Olympus fanfiction, which, based of the first Actual Chapter in Staff of Serapis, is nothing like the actual book. However, it is probably the best fanfiction I have read concerning Percy Jackson. There is action, there is ship-y fluff, there is a plot, there is proper grammar, it is beautiful. I highly recommend you read it. Just click here. The author of this fanfiction also writes another fanfiction, which is basically a series of one-shots made of different ways the characters in PJO or HoO to die. You will cry. It is sad. But it's really good, and I recommend you read it. 

I'm sorry, but that's all I've got for tonight. Some time soon - probably next week, because I can't any earlier - I will be going to see the Fault in Our Stars movie, which I will most certainly review. I hope to blog before then, because that's a long time to wait, but inspiration is hard to come by right now. So, in conclusion: Brain is mush, I apologize, will post next week at the latest, the inspiration fairy is shortchanging me, read linked fanfiction. 

Good luck in life, happy watching, happy reading!
Fangirl Anonymous 

Double OMG

Double post-ish today because my other one was pretty short and written kind of crappily(?) and so here is another one. 

MORE  MUSIC!!!

That's just who I am. 

Anywho, I have the perfect song for Jasper, and a fantabulous song for Reyna as well. I'm looking for a Frazel song, but I haven't found one yet. LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS IF YOU FIND ONE. Anyway, I've already named a Percabeth song, but this is the formal beginning of the... OFFICIAL. SHIP-SONG. LIST (echo, echo, echo). This will be strictly canon, I'm sorry if you ship anything non-canon, but I can't let myself go against the genius minds of the authors. Right now, I've only got PJO/HOO ships, but I hope to expand. I will continue updating the list, and when I do, it will be in a new post so you don't have to keep checking this one. Anyway... LIST! 

PERCABETH: "Infinity" ~AJR (if you just listen to this song, I can guarantee you will know why I chose it. By the way, I'm a huge fan of AJR, and you should totally check them out if you haven't already. I know their song that's on the radio a lot is "I'm Ready," but I personally think that their other songs are better.)
JASPER: "Wanted" ~Hunter Hayes (Here are some lyrics to help you understand: "Anyone can tell you you're pretty, yeah / And you get that all the time, I know you do / But your beauty's deeper than the make-up / And I wanna show you what I see tonight..." etc... It's lovely.) 
REYNA (is lonely but gets a song anyway): "Goodbye" ~ Glenn Morrison ("Now I / I wanna know / What it took to leave me ... / Goodbye, I am left alone" Do you see it? Good.) 
PERCABETH (gets another song because they are perfect): "Lucky" ~ Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat (It's about feeling lucky that they're in love with their best friend. I really do hope you get this.) 

Well, I am sorry that my brain is mush, but part of the reason I double-posted today was because my brain is likely to be mush for the next two weeks or so, so if I don't post for a while, I want you to have something to read. Don't let exams creep up on you like I let them creep up on me. If you are taking exams at this point, I wish you the best of luck. 

Anywho,

Good luck in life, happy watching, happy reading,
Fangirl Anonymous

EDIT: Also, I didn't even realize when I posted this, but happy 30th post!