Alice Reeds's Blog, page 34

Review: Placebo Loud Like Love TV (16.09.13)

   What an amazing event!
   For all you guys that have no idea what this "Loud Like Love TV" thing was - well, basically it was a ~90min live stream that featured the band, Placebo, playing songs from their new album "Loud Like Love", a little story time about the begging of the band, interviews with the Music Video director for "Too Many Friends" and the art director for the album cover etc. and many, many other things.
   All this could be watched Live, for free over YouTube and was simply a show to celebrate the arrival of the Bands now 7th Studio Album (holy cow!).
   I've been a huge fan of the bands for several years now and was looking forward to this show as I was curious how it would look like, and I have to admit I was more than satisfied with what we all got to see.
   Just like the host of the program, who's name I unfortunately forgot (I'm sorry!), said during the show, I also think that this program may have opened a new era and new way of how artists can connect with their fans all around the globe at the same time to share an experience and just have fun for an hour and a half. I love it when bands do things like this; it is amazing and just shows that even after 19 YEARS in the business you can still be excited about a new album and that you are still willing to entertain the listener and watcher on a whole new level and in a whole new way.
   I know that now all the Echelon who might be reading this will come around and criticize me for saying all this as the band 30 Seconds To Mars has done a few such shows before, too. BUT the significant difference between what they did and what Placebo did, is that Placebo did it all completely for free, no one had to pay a cent or watch any stupid commercials during the show whereas during the 30 Seconds To Mars events one had to pay $9.99, which isn't that much for some but for others that might be their pocket money for a whole month. Of course after watching Artifact I can understand why I guess they do it, or why one can justify those $9.99 but still. You know what I mean.
   There is just something about Placebo that makes them different and their sound very distinct and unique, in a way that if you hear them on the radio you immediately know it is them. And the thing that I love about them is that they grew as a band, as artists, with each album, creating new albums with so much emotion in them, simply amazing.
   Throughout the show I very much enjoyed their live performances, I love the songs from the new album and it made me more than just happy when they played the song "Teenage Angst" after Stefan's story about the beginning of the band.
   Also the "Placebo IQ" game was very amusing in which their 'new' drummer Steve was being asked questions to test his knowledge about the band. It was fun to see him at times fail and at times be proud to know the answer and as viewer also for myself to try to see how many of the questions I could answer.
   I found it amazing that they were from time to time reading out tweets from fans, that they had 4 fans from different countries ask questions and also the contest with spying the song title clues was amazing. I have to admit saw maybe two or three so congrats to those 2 fans who won the prizes. The contest between Steve on the drums and the boy from Japan was hilarious and just so entertaining.
   All in all, it is amazing to see that bands nowadays go with technology, that they use it to connect with fans all around the world, that they use it to celebrate and have fun all together. It's the way to go and I really hope more bands will get inspired by what Placebo did and maybe in the future more bands will do such events, who knows. I am most certainly looking forward to it. 

   And, as last thing, I want to thank Placebo for making such an event, for doing it for free and at a time when the majority of younger listeners (at least in Europe) could watch the program and enjoy the new tracks and maybe rediscover their love for the band and their music, just like I did.  

   A big fat THANK YOU! [yes, I know that they most probably will never ever read this, but saying thank you is always the right thing to do.]


My Rating: 5/5 Stars

Review: The White Lilac by Christina J. Adams

The White Lilac by Christina J. Adams
Published: February 20th 2012
Number of Pages: 334 pages (Paperback)
Series: No

From the day 15-year-old Caryn Tobin watched her best friend drown, she has carried two weights: a fear of water and the responsibilities of the oldest candidate in the Compound, a leading power on Beta Earth. Caryn is determined to live up to her friend’s memory, even if it means forcing herself to train in the water every day in order to protect the other girls so they can live and dream.
After nearly 3,000 years on the first colonized planet, there is still a deadly toxin in the air poised to wipe out the world’s population and it is the Compound’s purpose to train candidates from birth to gather the underwater cure. All the candidates compete for the chance to save the world, but only one can win and the winner will not survive collecting the cure. Caryn has to win. It is the price she must pay to atone for her part in the drowning.
Yet moments after sealing her own fate, Caryn is offered an opportunity to see the planet and leave the Compound for three days. In the city she meets Kai, a 16-year-old street kid, who is searching for answers to his past. They form an unlikely friendship and Caryn realizes she has dreams of her own. Her decision is further complicated when she discovers the Compound has been experimenting on the very people they are sworn to cure. Now she must choose between her sense of duty and her heart, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.(goodreads)

    I received a copy of The White Lilac from the author, Christina J. Adams, in return for a honest review. I was quite looking forward to reading it, but it took me some time till I could find the time to start reading it.
   Unfortunately, when I finally started to read it I wasn’t quite a blown away as I hoped I would be. I liked the idea of Beta Earth, which is the future world in which the story takes place, but this whole business with the ‘Jiggers’, a kind of fish that gives off a toxic dust which makes the people sick and kills them, wasn’t quite my thing, even though the overall idea was really good and planned through. I think I’m simply not such a big fan of sci-fi books, anyways.
   But, I liked the main character Caryn, she was interesting and went through a natural change throughout the book, becoming someone stronger then she was at first. I’m always happy when I see that an author did not forget that characters change and not stay the same throughout the whole book. I also liked the fact that the author, Christina J. Adams, decided to write the book in switching perspectives between first person during Caryns chapters and third person during Kai’s, which was interesting and new and gave the book a uniqueness of its own.
   I wasn’t quite the biggest fan of the ending; I think the author might have incorporated something a little different, a surprising twist or something that’s a bit different.
 
   All in all it was a good read, the process of describing and building Beta Earth was very good and did not give anything crucial for the story away too fast. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ‘Jiggers’ or the ending, but all in all I would still recommend it as it’s a fun read, not necessarily one that will blow your mind but still good.

                My rating: 3/5 Stars

Review: The Transfer: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth

The Transfer: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth
Published: September 3rd 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books Number of Pages: 50 pages (eBook) 
Series: #1 out of 4

   More Four! Fans of the Divergent series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth will be thrilled by "The Transfer," the first of four new short stories told from Four’s perspective. Each brief story explores the world of the Divergent series through the eyes of the mysterious but charismatic Tobias Eaton, revealing previously unknown facets of his personality, backstory, and relationships. (goodreads)

   “My name is Four,” I say. “Call me ‘Stiff’ again and you and I will have a problem.”  

   I started to read The Transfer: A Divergent Story yesterday just around midnight and kept on reading till the very end. As you can see from the specifics above, the story isn't very long, only 50 pages, but still it's packed with emotions and insights into the handsome Four.
     I wasn't quite sure what awaits me as I bought it as I didn't read the small synopsis or anything else because I simply wanted to get surprised. The only thing I knew was that the story will be told from Fours perspective.
   In The Transfer: A Divergent Story we get to know some more about Tobias past, his life before he became Four. We get to know how it's possible that Tris didn't know him before they met in Dauntless, we get to know some more of the horrors he had to face at home and an insight into his process of deciding upon which faction he wants to go to. I really enjoyed reading about that process as I was always asking myself how I would try to decide if I would be him and have a father like Marcus.
   Speaking of which, for all those of you guys out there who hated Marcus due to what we get to know about him in the books, you will hate his guts even more after reading this. 

   “Don’t worry about me handling the pain," I say. "I’ve had a lot of practice.”

   This line made me just feel so much more sorry for the poor Tobias, feel sorry for all the things Marcus has done to him, but happy on the other side that he finally managed to free himself from him.
   And another person that we get to see is Eric as he and Four meet each other for the first time before the fear landscape. It was interesting to see that for them the fear landscape came up much sooner than for Tris and the others. And of course it was interesting to see how Tobias slowly started to become the Four we know and how he got his name. 

   Veronica Roth really managed to keep up her writing style we so enjoyed throughout Divergent and Insurgent. The Transfer: A Divergent Story was very interesting and insightful. I enjoyed it a great deal and I can only recommend it to all the Divergent Fans out there who have not read it yet. It's more than just worth your time and money! 

“You’re the one who has to live with your choice. Everyone else will get over it, move on, no matter what you decide. But you never will.”

             My rating: 5/5 Stars

Review: Die Schattenjäger - Das offizielle Handbuch

Die Schattenjäger - Das offizielle Handbuch
Seiten: 128 Seiten
Verlag: ARENA
Erscheinungsdatum: 2013 

   Die Schattenjäger. Das offizielle Handbuch ist eine handliche Einführung in die Welt der Schattenjäger, wie sie im Kinofilm City of Bones dargestellt wird. Hier findest du Kurzbiographien der Hauptcharaktere, einen kurzen Abriss der Geschichte der Schattenjäger und du erhältst Einblick in die wichtigsten Schauplätze, die bedeutendsten Runen sowie die Waffen der Kinder der Nephilim.
    Das Ganze natürlich bebildert mit exklusivem Fotomaterial vom Set und vom Dreh. Ein absolutes Muss für alle Fans von Cassandra Clare! (Hugendubel)


    Ich muss zugeben dass ich mich auf dieses Buch wirklich sehr gefreut habe und es wirklich sehr lesen wollte. Ich hab mir vorgestellt das es wirklich so was wie ein Schattenjäger Handbuch ist, so wie der Name es auch sagt, jedoch ist es mehr so was wie eine kurze Zusammenfassung des Buchen, mit mini Biographien (ja, ich weiß in der Beschreibung oben steht das Wort 'Kurzbiografien' jedoch find ich selbst das Wort schon zu groß für die wortkargen Biographien die einem in diesem Buch geboten werden) der Hauptcharaktere, zwei drei Worte zu den Waffen und Runen, zusammen mit Bildern aus dem Film und Bildern der Runen und Waffen, und das war es dann auch schon im Grunde genommen. 
   Wenn man die eigentliche Buchreihe gelesen hat, also alle bisherigen fünf teile der Chroniken der Unterwelten-Serie, dann ist dieses Buch eigentlich überflüssig. Es bietet nichts so wirklich was man sonst nicht auch schon weiß. Sicherlich, die Bilder sind ganz nett für jeden der den Film noch nicht gesehen hat, aber im Grunde genommen kann man sich die 9€ sparen, meiner Meinung nach. 
   Ich muss sagen, dass ich doch recht enttäuscht bin da ich doch etwas Besseres erwartet hätte. Für mich sieht es bei diesem Buch leider nach reinem "Den Fans das Geld aus den Taschen ziehen" aus, auch wenn 9€ nicht so viel zu sein scheinen, ist es dennoch Geld das man für etwas anderes hätte nutzen können, wie z.B. den Film im Kino gucken. 

   Mein Fazit: Spart euch das Geld für dieses Buch, es ist, meiner Meinung nach, absolut kein Muss für Fans von Cassandra Clare oder der Chroniken der Unterwelten-Serie. 

                          Meine Bewertung: 1/5 Sternen

Review: Beautiful Disaster von Jamie McGuire

Beautiful Disaster von Jamie McGuire
Original titel: Beautiful Disaster
Verlag: 
Seiten: 464 Seiten (Paperback)
Buchreihe: Ja, 1 von 2
Erscheinungsdatum: 16 April 2013

Als sie Travis zum ersten Mal in die Augen blickt, ist nichts mehr wie zuvor. Abby fühlt sich unwiderstehlich von ihm angezogen, obwohl er alles ist, was sie nicht will: ein stadtbekannter Womanizer, arrogant, unverschämt – aber leider auch unverschämt sexy. Doch dann lässt Abby sich auf eine verhängnisvolle Wette mit ihm ein und gerät in ein gefährliches Spiel voller Hingabe und Leidenschaft, das sie bis an ihre Grenzen treibt… (goodreads) 

   Beautiful Disaster - was soll ich sagen? Das Buch ist ein Disaster, jedoch fehlt der beautiful-Teil an den meisten Stellen. Die einzigen zwei Dinge die beautiful darin sind, ist der männliche Hauptcharakter - Travis Maddox – vom Aussehen her zumindest, und das Cover des Buches.
   Das Prinzip der Geschichte in Beautiful Disaster ist ganz einfach - gutes braves Mädchen (mit einer angeblich ach so dunklen und grausigen Vergangenheit) trifft auf Bad Boy/Weiberheld (Barney Stinson nur in Bad Boy mit Tattoos und allem Version) und das was immer passiert, passiert eben - nur ist der Weg dorthin für den lesen einfach nur schrecklich ansträngend. Die "dramatischen" Wendungen sind flach und langweilig wie auch das angeblich so dunkle Geheimnis das Abby hat.
   Die Charaktere sind, nun ja, gewöhnungsbedürftig. Der männliche Hauptcharakter, Travis Meddox und sein Charakter neigen oftmals zum extremen. Von süß zu angsteinflößend bis hin zum reinen Stalker. Oftmals reagiert er übertrieben aggressiv und ist einfach nur eigenartig und obsessiv. Es ist meist schwer seine Handlungen nach zu vollziehen bzw. zu verstehen, genauso wie seine Hartnäckigkeit oftmals total unrealistisch ist. Viele versuchen ihn dennoch zu verteidigen indem sie sagen das er sich doch im Laufe des Buches verändert, was stimmt jedoch verändert er sich von einem extrem zum anderen – von „Frauen sind nur da um mit ihnen Sex zu haben“ zu „Ich brauche DIESE eine Frau um überhaupt leben zu können“ – bin ich die einzige die das irgendwie dennoch nicht gesund findet und es eher als weiteres Indiz gegen Travis sieht?
   Jedoch wird sein Charakter wohl nur noch vom Hauptcharakter des Buches - Abby Abernathy - übertroffen. Nicht nur ist sie einfach nur nervig, auch sind ihre Entscheidungen und Handlungen total widersprüchlich und unverständlich. In einem Moment hasst sie Travis doch im nächsten küssen sie sich und sie liebt ihn woraufhin sie mit ihm doch Schluss macht - so geht es im Grunde genommen das ganze Buch lang.

   “Ich fürchte, das du jeden Augenblick herausfindest das ich ein Stück schieße bin und mich verlässt.“ (“I feel like any second you're going to figure out what a piece of shit I am and leave me.”) 
   Und das hätte Abby auch tun sollen, sie hätte endlich die Augen öffnen sollen und einsehen sollen das Travis irgendwelche schweren Psychischen Probleme hat und sie sich besser weit von ihm entfernen sollte.

   Ich glaube, dieses Buch enthält auch eine der am meisten schockierenden Szenen die ich je, im Kontext in welchem die Szene ist, gelesen habe und generell gibt es vieles in diesem Buch das ich etwas sehr extrem finde, ich meine, sicherlich verliebte tuen manchmal verrückte Sachen, aber manches hier ist mir dann doch ein wenig zu verrückt. Ja, ich weiß es ist nur ein Buch, eine Geschichte und damit nicht real aber dennoch wundert es mich das es so viele Mädchen/Frauen gibt die Travis verhalten süß/hot finden, die Geschichte ach so toll und süß und für ein Beispiel wahrer liebe halten. Nein, einfach nein.

   Alles in allem kann man sagen dass die Charaktere widersprüchlich, eigenartig und zu extremen Handlungen neigen (besonders Travis). Die Geschichte ist nervig und ansträngend auch wenn im Grunde sehr einfach und auch in vielen anderen Büchern (vielen viel besseren Büchern) zu finden ist.
   Ich glaube bei diesem Buch kann ich ganz ehrlich sagen das man es sich wirklich sparen kann es zu lesen. Mir hat Beautiful Disaster absolut nicht gefallen, ich hatte mir definitiv etwas Besseres vorgestellt nachdem eine Freundin von mir davor geschwärmt hat. Leider eine komplette Enttäuschung. Schade.
 
   Vor kurzen ist mir auch noch zu Ohren gekommen das Beautiful Disaster auf die Leinwand kommen wird, wann und welche Schauspieler darin sein werden steht jedoch, meines Wissens nach, noch nicht fest. Na das kann ja interessant werden.

                                          Meine Bewertung: 1/5 Sternen

Review: Our Last Hero by Jasmine Mead

Our Last Hero by Jasmine Mead 
Published: May 27th 2013 by Createspace 
Number of Pages: 302 pages (Paperback)
Series: HERO, #1 

   Sixteen year old Reno has belonged to the government since she was born. She’s been raised in secret for one purpose: to complete a mission assigned to her by Homeland Emergency Response Operations. But when her mission goes horribly wrong and her partner is killed, Reno’s faith in HERO is shaken.
   When Reno discovers that her best friend Jesse is facing certain death in his upcoming mission, she defies HERO authority and demands that she and Jesse be set free. HERO begins to take drastic measures to silence her, and Reno is faced with an impossible choice. If she surrenders, her battle to save Jesse’s life will be in vain. If she continues to fight, HERO will destroy her.
   Either way, someone must pay the price. (goodreads) 

This book only exists in english which is why the following review is in english.

   I received a copy of Our Last Hero from the author only a few days ago and read it quite quickly. When I first read the synopsis, I got really excited to read it as I thought that it might really be an interesting book, the topic seemed to be quite interesting.
    Unfortunately, after reading Our Last Hero I don't feel like I can get myself to giving it more than 3 out of 5 stars, even though I would really like to give it 5 stars as I really know how hard it is to write a book as I'm trying to do so myself.

    But why do I only give it 3 stars?
    Well, let’s start by saying that the book was quite simple, in a way. What I mean by that is that the story was a simple read, it didn't have a complicated storyline nor very complex characters that would require a longer explanation or anything.
My problem was just that I somehow didn't feel it. Reno’s (the protagonist) feelings didn't quite reach me and I somehow felt as if her sudden change of mind was not quite reasonable, but maybe that’s just me, maybe I simply didn't get something, I don't know.
    Another problem I had was that the whole story, as I said before, seemed too easy/simple. Everything happened in a very smooth way, there were no moments in which I thought "damn, how is she going to manage that?" or anything like that. Somehow everything fell too easily into her path.
    What I am trying to say is that the book lacks the required tension, which it tries to build in some moments, but it not quite managed, in a way, that I felt it or it seemed realistic. In most moments it just seemed very artificial and exaggerated.

    But then again I don't want to only criticize this book. The basic idea of this girl that was raised in this HERO organization is really good, I liked it, and the whole way in which HERO is working seemed, in a way, quite likely to really happen/exist in our world. And I also really liked the intro. I liked the characters, even though I thought that they are maybe simply too flat, they lacked a kind of complexity that each person's personality has.
   I also find the cover art very interesting, the concept of this girl, which face we don't see as she is just this black shape, and the bright surroundings that wait at the end of this pipe, or whatever it is that she is sitting in, seems very interesting. As if it was trying to symbolize her way from the darkness the she lived in during her time in HERO and the outside world that is bright and 'free' which is just waiting for her to discover it. I might be leaning far out of the window with that interpretation but that was simply what came to my mind when I looked at it after reading the book.

    To conclude, I really liked the basic idea of Our Last Hero and the characters but I simply felt like the story lacked a kind of complexity in terms of the storyline and the characters. Still it was a very pleasant quick/fast read. And the cover art is a definite eye catcher.

                                            My rating: 3/5 stars