Take The Dare

So a bit back, I posted up a WOW on Paris Pan Takes The Dare. I found the author's site and there's some thingy where some of the books proceeds go to helping an elementary school in Oklahoma which is the state where the author is from. I think that education is really important and just by telling people about this you also win prizes! Again, this is a elementary to middle school book which might mean you have no interest in it, but I still kind of like them. ^.^ hehe

Visit here please!

SuperMan

Artist: Nesse (Alex Nese Ni)

Language: Chinese

About: This was one of the OST songs in the drama Hot Shot. The review will be up soon! I love it, even though the actual music video is pretty boring after a minute or so. It's not so bad, but if you prefer I think you should watch the dance one first 'cause that one has the scene from the actual drama and of course Show and Jerry are dancing which means that it's amazing...

Rating: 7/10

(songs rated out of ten and books out of five)

The official one...



The cool one with dancing!!!

Xie Xie Ni De Wen Rou

Artist: Fahrenheit and S.H.E

Language: Chinese

About: In this picture, both bands are posing for a really cute ad. I might post it up later. Anyway, S.H.E. is the three girls, Selina, Hebe and Ella from left to right.. Fei Lun Hai (fahrenheit) is made up of Calvin, Jiro, Aaron and Wu Chun from left to right.This is one of my current obsessions. I love this song because of the amazing vocals by S.H.E and also Fahrenheit. I discovered them when I watched Hana Kimi Taiwan Version on my friend'd insistence. :) Glad I did. Thay rock! The english title is "Thank You For Your Gentleness"

Rating: 4/5

English Subbed!

Note

So I think that you've probably seen my new header! I'm really grateful to Laina who made it for me and it's really cute! I love it. So Laina...

~Thank You!~

Princess Academy

Author: Shannon Hale

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary: Mount Eskel has always been a small territory which survives on Lander-a stone from the quarry. Miri has never been aloud to work in it, even though she wishes she could.

Her lonely life changes when the Prince is told to go to Mount Eskel in search of his bride, the Princess. To prepare the mountain girls for life at the royal court, they are taken to a makeshift academy in the lowland. Miri's competitiveness earns her unfriendly faces, but also a couple of good friends.

Miri doesn't really know if she wants to be chosen, but she sure knows that she wants to stop being useless. Miri gets her chance to prove her worth when all the academy girls fall in to terrible danger.

Review: Miri was a great character! She was actually very real to me, even in the more dramatic scenes. The story line was pretty interesting as well, even if a bit predictable. The academy teacher annoyed me a lot and her dishonesty was cruel. I wish there had been more about the cleaning dude. He seemed like a really nice person. Britta was harder to get a hold of, but her actions made sense later on.

The writing was good. It kept me interested throughout the entire story with it's consistency and almost fast-pacedness. :) I think my favorite part was the description of the actual academy just because I like buildings with that feel. The names really helped set the scene in the story as well as the cultural things like the singing. Before each chapter, there was about a stanza of some Eskelian song. Most didn't make sense to me, but I thought that they added just that much more to the book. It was pretty close to amazing, so if you find that you need a book check this one out!

Rating: 5/5

You Might Also Like:
1. A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
2. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Who Made You A Princess?

Author: Shelley Adina

Publisher: Hachette Group

Favorite Character: None :( Couldn't connect to any of them

Summary: Shani met someone during the summer break with her friends. His name: Danyel Johnstone. Things get complicated when she's singled out by the new exchange student. Yeah. He had to be a prince.

Rashid is getting to Shani, but what will she choose? To be princess to a guy she doesn't know she even likes while Danyel still figures that Shani and him are on to something?

Unfortunately, her parents ain't got her back. After all, this Rashid isn't a coincidence and they put it simple as to what can happen if she doesn't agree to it. Shani might just realize that she needs little more than Divine Intervention.

Review: Really drama-filled, but all that sparkle made the book. The writing was again really effortless and again the author came up with a different character. In this one, though, I couldn't connect to any of the other characters. It was like Shani Hanna was too self-absorbed to even come close to understanding others. Her principles were too screwed and her fight with religion was really conflicting. She hung out with all-christians yet she wasn't into any of the religion part. And sometimes she'd get mad 'cause her friends would say something about it!

Rating: 3/5

other books in the series:

1. it's all about us

2. the fruit of my lipstick

3. be strong and curvaceous

Be Strong And Curvaceous

Author: Shelley Adina

Publisher: Hachette Group

Summary: (back) After spending spring break in Mexico with her grandparents, Carly Aragon can't wait to get back to school at Spencer Academy in San Francisco. With Lissa Mansfield and Gillian Change by her side, she's ready for anything...except a new roommate.

Lady Lindsay MacPheil, flamboyant daughter of the Earl of Strathcaim, quickly becomes Carly's worst nightmare. "Mac" not only swoops in and steals Carly's privacy, she also sets her sights on Brett Loyola--Carly's biggest crush!

But when Mac starts receiving strange, threatening e-mails, she and Carly must come together to figure out who's behind them and why. In the end, the fate of one girl will be in the other's hands. Will the two learn to trust one another and trust God?

Review: Nice and quick read. Great for a summer day when you are out looking for adventure.

It was pretty glamorous in the sense that this would probably never happen, but still cool to think about. All the girls are in really high society so it really is no wonder that Carly feels left out. She's on a scholarship and she's too nice. I like that even a girl like Carly can have attitude when it's called for which was a bit different from other protaganists.

I could totally relate to her since I'm hispanic myself. She didn't feel like she could compare to her friends because of her heritage (being a fruitpicker's grandaughter). She also liked a guy that she felt was impossible to attain (reminds me of me..lol).

The writing was a lot better with this book. I think it's my favorite from this series. Again, the God angle wasn't stressed too much to make it unrealistic. I feel like I do that stuff too. You might not like this if praying isn't your thing because there is still some of it. Carly converts so yeah. Still, this one had adventure, a good guy, romance and the clash of cultures! Yey!

Rating: (: 4/5 :)

other books in the series:
1. It's All About Us
2. The Fruit of My Lipstick
4. Who Made You Princess

Waiting On Wednesday (6)

Title: Paris Pan Takes the Dare

Author: Cynthea Liu

Publisher: Penguin Group

Release Date: June 11, 2009

Summary: (B & N) So what if it's a rite of passage for every seventh grade girl in town to spend a night in the woods? Paris Pan only just moved here, the woods are supercreepy, and she has enough weirdness to deal with in her own family. Finding out a girl died mysteriously years ago while on the Dare-right near Paris's new house, no less-is bad enough, but the unmistakably ghostlike noises coming out of the broken-down shed at the edge of the Pan's property? Definite deal breaker.All Paris wants is to make friends, try to fit in, and not have to deal with a dead girl. But everyone has to take the Dare, and the new girl's turn is up. . .

Response: It is a tween-aimed book, but I really want to read it. I remember the time when dares where like the rules of elementary and middle school. . :)

the fruit of my lipstick

Author: Shelley Adina

Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA

Favorite Character: Gillian-she was pretty cool and upbeat. Everybody needs a person like her around.

Summary: Gillian Chang is the loud one of them. The one who is fearless and who speaks her mind to anyone and everyone. Somehow, though, she starts changing and for what? To hook the guy she's been crushing on, Lucas Hayes, who never seems to be satisfied with her. Gillian's relationship leads her to shut her friends out, so even they aren't sure if Gillian is innocent of helping other students cheat on tests, after all, she's turned into someone they no longer know.

Review: Much better than the first book. This one didn't drag; it flowed neatly and easily. I was afraid that since this book was by Gillian's point of view, that the author wouldn't be able to give her a definite character, but I was wrong. Gillian is way different than Lissa.

Gillian can stand up for herself and for her friends. She feels independent and able to care for herself, even when Lucas is definately ruining her. She doesn't see what is right in front of her and her friends aren't able to show it to her. After a while, Gillian stops talking to them. These things happen in real life. The relationship in this book isn't necessarily abusive, but the same concept applies to a truly hurtful one. The victim thinks it's their fault. Gillian thinks she really is too loud and should be more serene like an Asian girl is "supposed" to be like.

I loved this story. It totally helps you understand situations which you might encounter, so that if you see a resemblence then you know that you aren't overreacting. Stuff like this is abuse, even if it isn't exactly physical! Great lesson with awesome characters. Details are what make or break a story and this book had all the necessary fluff it needed to make it worthwhile.

Rating: 4/5

other books in the series:

1. it's all about us

3. be strong and curvaceous

4. who made you princess?

You Might Also Like:

1. The Girls by Amy Goldman Koss

it's all about us

Author: Shelley Adina

Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA

Summary: some things you just know without being told, like... You passed the math final (or you didn't). Your boyfriend isn't into you and wants to break up. You're the New GIrl and your junior year is going to be utterly miserable.

Lissa Mansfield is used to being in the "in crowd"-but being accepted by the popular girls at posh Spencer Academy boarding school in San Francisco is a lot harder than she thought. And then there's her New York-loudmouth roommate, Gillian Chang, who's not happy just to be a Christian herself-she's determined to out Lissa, too. If Lissa can just keep her faith under wraps long enough to hook Callum McCloud, the hottest guy in school, she'll be golden.

But when Callum pressures her to go all the way with him, Lissa has to decide how far is too far. How can she see that line when he's so gorgeous and popular and God seems so far away? Between that and shopping for a knockout dress and booking the hottest celeb for the Benefactor's Day Ball...who knew finding a place at Spencer Academy would be so complicated?

Review: The first 60 pages were really slow, and even though I'm a believer, the religion angle was stressed too hard there in my opinion. After that, though, the book turned out great. I would definately recommend it to anyone who's having a hard time making decisions like the ones portrayed in this book. I don't think you need to be a believer to appreciate the lesson taught in this novel so my recommendation goes out to any girl.

The characters were actually pretty interesting. Lissa wasn't overly religioug, but then she was too butt-facey in parts like she was two different people. It settled out fine with me though. At least I could relate to her in some ways although she had a tough decision to make. I liked the plot and I thought that the glamour was right for the story, but it was still real.

Rating: 3/5

other books in the series:

2. the fruit of my lipstick

3. be strong and curvaceous

4. who made you a princess?