The Sweet Far Thing (Libba Bray)

The Sweet Far Thing
by Libba Bray

The East Wing of Spence Academy is finally being rebuilt - right in time for Gemma Doyle's graduation! The presence of male workers makes the young ladies uneasy but excited, but no one is more worried than Gemma, Felicity, and Ann - and that isn't only because of the swirling testosterone.

Gemma hasn't been able to enter the Realms since she trapped Circe inside the Well of Eternity, but she's been seeing her former teacher (and friend) in her nightmares. Ann has just come from a visit to her wealthy cousin and despairs about her near future as a governess. Felicity needs a sponsor for her debut but Lady Denby, Simon Middleton's two-faced mother, is trying to shame Felicity's mother by preventing Felicity's having a debut at all. Pippa, too, is not the same - her eyes flash between her lovely violet, and pure, terrifying white.

The Restoration of the East Wing also comes with a new vision: a lady in lavender who does not - cannot - speak, and who sees into the dark. She casts doubt upon the goodness of Eugenia Spence, who sacrificed herself to save the Order more than twenty-five years ago.

And to add to the angst, Kartik, whose camaraderie and support Gemma has expected and relied on, is gone.



Once again, Bray's narrative style, quick wit, and ability to move readers to emphasize with her characters, struck me. Gemma, Felicity, Pippa, and Ann, though deeply flawed, were still easy to relate to, despite the changes in each of them. Bray also explores the Winterlands and the creatures of the Realms in their entirety.

Bray not only talks about those in the Realms, but also the humans, whose tragedies follow them from one world to the next. In this book, I learned about Ms McCleethy, and that she is more than meets the eye. I saw Kartik beyond his good looks: the good, the bad, and the ugly - since love brings out the best in people, but also the worst, magnifying both until little else can be seen. I also realized the strength of Felicity and Pippa's bond, and how far it could stretch; the horrible, overpowering longing of Ann to be someone else, anyone else; and Gemma's desire to finally, finally be free.

The Sweet Far Thing is a riveting finale to the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, filled with magic, intrigue, and romance - unrequited and otherwise. Though bittersweet, it is, by far, the best, most impressive book in the series. It reminds us all not to remember who we are, not to give up hope, and to step forward for that sweet far thing.

♥♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥
(image from http://en.wikipedia.org)

Little Voice (Sara Bareilles)

Little Voice
by Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles is one talented songwriter. Her debut is a little late - she is already twenty-eight, after all - but I don't mind. Her music has been a fixture in my life this year, and I wouldn't have appreciated it last year or the year before that (read: the years of my OPM/rock obsession).

Sara Bareilles entered the mainstream pop scene with her single Love Song, which brought her into the Top 5 of music charts. The song was catchy, which brought my brother to purchase her album Little Voice a few months ago - and the CD hooked us. My brother liked the song Vegas immediately, since it reminded him a bit of his own goals, and I got addicted to Bottle It Up, just because of the many times the word 'love' was mentioned.

When I got into a bit of a depression - or a topsy-turvy phase that made me happy one minute and catatonic the next - I ended up listening to the album more and more. I started relating to the lyrics of the songs: to the haunting ones, like City and Between the Lines, and to the other, more upbeat songs (negative with a twist). I loved the piano accompaniments as well. I still do.

Little Voice is a great CD, really - it's sweet, sad, and spunky.. all at the same time! The honesty in each and every song is refreshing - I wish there were more artists like her. Try listening to the album - believe me, you'll get hooked, and it'll have you wanting Bareilles to Come Round Soon for a concert!

♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥
image courtesy of http://songwriteruniverse.com

The Constant Princess (Philippa Gregory)

The Constant Princess
By Philippa Gregory

I am a child of absolute convictions. I know that I will be the Queen of England because it is God's will, and it is my mother's order. And I believe, as does everyone in my world, that God and my mother are generally of the same mind; and their will is always done. - p. 6, TCP

People nowadays know Katherine of Aragon for her first marriage to Arthur, the Prince of Wales and son of Henry VII – and her denial of its consummation before she became the Queen of England as the wife of Arthur's brother Henry VIII. They see her as the unbearably conservative Spanish queen who was unable to bear her second husband a male child, and who was divorced so that he could marry the seductress Anne Boleyn.

That's all true, but they judge her quickly because they don't know her history. Katherine, the Infanta of Spain and daughter of the Catholic king and queen Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, grew up as her parents fought battle after battle against the Moors. The monarchs of Spain and England married Arthur and Katherine by proxy, and, before Katherine turned sixteen, they sent her off to England to be married in person.

In the story, Arthur and Katherine lived a life like Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI's – they barely spoke and did their duties to cement the alliance between their two countries. Later on, they fell in love, but the plague cut short their romance, leaving Katherine stranded in what was supposed to be her country, knowing that, without a son and a husband, she was nothing...

Philippa Gregory's piece of historical fiction, The Constant Princess, is what I lived on while in Okinawa. I read it practically everyday, and back then it seemed like a very short book. Now that I look at it again, I wonder how I could have read it constantly – it's pretty thick!

What bothered me were the many run-on sentences in this book. I'm not a good editor, but independent clauses were joined together by.. commas. Yes, commas. The narrative style wasn't as spellbinding as other similar books', but it worked rather well.

I like Katherine's pride and composure in the face of humiliation (in the persons of her father-in-law Henry VII and her grandmother-in-law Margaret Beaufort). She had great belief in God's will, but later on she realized that she'd followed her mother's example blindly, and decided to make her own decisions for the betterment of England.

Yes, I'm Team Katherine. Find me a t-shirt of that!

I give The Constant Princess four hearts out of five - it's a story of love, responsibility, and the intricate politics of England, Spain, and France. Read the book with an open mind and try to be Katherine, not a mere observer. Buy the book and be a queen for a day - or longer.

♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥

NOTE: Keep in mind that while The Constant Princess is based on reality, it's still a work of historical fiction – Gregory's forte. For more information on Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and the other wives of Henry VIII, take a look at Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII, a book filled with biographies of the women in Henry's life.

The Illusionist (Neil Burger)

The Illusionist

Directed by Neil Burger

Eisenheim the Illusionist is possibly the most-known man in all of Vienna, Austria. With a practically-unknown past but unfailing charisma and knowledge of, as the people say, the dark arts, Eisenheim (Edward Norton) has captivated rich and poor alike since his return from a fifteen-year journey to parts unknown.

However, the extremely intelligent yet fiery Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) takes an interest in Eisenheim and his so-called magic, and arranges for Eisenheim to stage a show for him. As usual, Eisenheim makes a spectacular performance, but then a twist occurs: Leopold happens to bring along his fiancé, Countess von Teschen (Jessica Biel), who turns out to be Eisenheim’s childhood love. Then, soon, Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) finds himself investigating a horrific crime, with Eisenheim becoming one of the main suspects as the illusionist reveals one of his more mystifying talents...



Edward Norton does spectacularly as Eisenheim. He’s able to pull off the facial expressions of a person with such a past without much difficulty, and he instantly charmed me so much that, though I was sleepy at the beginning of the movie, I perked up as time passed. By the middle, I was captivated by Norton’s ability to be the character he plays without much difficulty.

Countess von Teschen annoys me, but I suppose I just don’t like almost-perfect characters. However, what Jessica Biel has to act out is pretty difficult, and I applaud her. I think that she moves me most when she isn’t speaking at all, because, you know, “One picture speaks a thousand words.”

Leopold scares me, and I suppose Rufus Sewell's being able to do that is a feat in himself. I'm not afraid of too many people, and those I do are quiet, intelligent, and.. like Leopold. Slightly. After watching Sewell's Leopold, I am now sure of the type of man I don't want to marry.

Last of all, Paul Giamatti played my absolute favorite character, Chief Inspector Uhl. Uhl is the son of a butcher and the Vienna’s Chief of Police. He also has extraordinary loyalty to Leopold, though even that is shaken. In my opinion, Giamatti is stellar as Uhl, one of the standouts in this movie, though he didn't have as big a role as Norton. (Duh.)

The effects in this movie are outstanding, and Dad and I were wondering, “Hey, if this really happened, Eisenheim is either a genius or a lunatic.” (Unfortunately, it didn’t.) I caught Dad going, “Whoa... whoa!” as Eisenheim pulled off one trick after another; it was really, in lack of better term, cool.

The movie also gets a thumbs-up from me on its setting. Since everything happens in Vienna many, many, many years ago, you truly get overwhelmed by nostalgia from the cobblestone streets to the palaces. (I was in Salzburg, Austria, and the old-world atmosphere fit me like a glove.) Best of all, the shots seem chosen well; flashback scenes seem dabbed with sepia watercolor effects which would leave artists swooning.


All in all, I recommend The Illusionist to people over seventeen (all right, so I'm not seventeen.. yet! At least I look seventeen) because of blood and some funky love scenes that I closed my eyes to. Despite its few shortcomings - such as numerous (and confusing) rewind-then-fast-forward-then-back portions, The Illusionist is one of those movies that'll remain in my heart and mind until summer ends.. and beyond.

♥♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥
Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and violence
(image from http://en.wikipedia.org)

The Exterminator's Daughter (Meg Cabot)

Prom Nights From Hell: The Exterminator’s Daughter
by Meg Cabot

Mary’s best friend is in love with a vampire.

You’re probably not very surprised, considering the whole Twilight phenomenon. “Aren’t we all in love with vampires?” you ask. Well, Sebastian Drake, the vampire in the short story The Exterminator’s Daughter, probably is as good looking as Edward Cullen is, but he’s not a romantic. Sebastian goes after girls for their blood, period.

That’s where Mary comes in. Mary’s a small girl with a big heart – that fortunately happens to be filled with much courage. She’s the exterminator’s daughter, ready to send any and all bad things back to whichever dimension they came from. So when Sebastian Drake sets his hypnotically blue eyes on Lila, Mary’s best (and only) friend, what’s the logical solution to that? Well, Mary just has to kill Sebastian and send him into limbo before he can kill Lila.

There’s a little problem, though: The only chance Mary has to get at him will be at prom, where Lila’s ex-boyfriend Ted will angrily sizzle like an egg in a frying pan; where her entire class will bear witness to her weirdness; and where Adam, a boy she’s just recently begun to like, will be right by her side as her date – and therefore as a liability. Will Mary be able to kill Sebastian Drake, save her best friend, and have a smashing prom – all on the same night?

The Exterminator’s Daughter isn’t one of Meg Cabot’s best works. The constant (and unnecessary) switching of points of view confused me, and Mary’s and Adam’s terribly obvious attraction to each other made me feel like puking. Why didn’t Cabot focus on Sebastian Drake instead of two love-struck teenagers? (Oh, yeah, I forgot – prom’s a night for romance, not vampire executions.)

Cabot’s story might not be fabulous, but at least now the writer of The Princess Diaries, the Mediator, and the 1-800-Where-Are-You series can say that she’s tried writing a vampire-related story like the newer authors out there.

♥/♥♥♥♥♥
The Exterminator's Daughter is one of five short stories in the compilation Prom Nights from Hell
(image from http://images.google.com)

Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro)

Pan's Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

'Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.' - Roald Dahl

I used to believe in magic. As a second-grader, I was totally convinced that if I prayed the rosary everyday and said enough novenas, I'd have a Pokémon/ Digimon/ frog prince/ insert-random-other-fantasy-creature-here of my own. Needless to say, I tried, failed, and gave up.

Ofelia never stopped believing, though.

Pan's Labyrinth is a dark fairytale. Set partly in 1944 Spain and partly in a fantasy world, the story revolves around a young girl who loves reading books. Ofelia, along with her pregnant mother, has just arrived in her stepfather (Captain Vidal)'s post in the mountains. When she follows a fairy deep into a labyrinth nearby, Ofelia meets a faun who tells her that she is Princess Moanna of the Underground Realm. The faun says that, in order for Ofelia to become a princess again, she must complete three tasks. Ofelia agrees, of course, not knowing that the rewards and consequences of each deed done will coincide with the turmoil of the real world.

Unlike other protagonists on film, Ofelia was a quiet character. Seriously. She hardly spoke, and when she did, her voice was low and practically inaudible. Sometimes I found her foolish, but I can't blame her for her later actions. She was too young to be thrust into a war-torn world – even the creatures in the world that only she saw became evil and corrupted. Perhaps I would have done the same thing in her shoes.

I seriously disliked Capitan Vidal. He's the antagonist through and through. All right, scratch that: He probably had a few redeeming qualities (I don't remember actually seeing any in the movie, though). Oh, here’s one: He wasn't bad-looking, really. Then again, prisoners-of-war and soon-to-be-tortured-and-killed rebels didn't exactly have the opportunity to appreciate that.

My favorite character was Mercedes. She was a good example of a woman who didn't want to sit still while men did horrible things right in front of her. 'I am a coward,' she said once during the movie – but she wasn't idle, was she? She did what she could for what she thought was the better cause. Sometimes her judgment was clouded because of her brother Pedro – but whose wouldn’t have been? In war, good and bad aren’t clearly defined.

Honestly, Pan's Labyrinth was not an easy movie to watch. Some films are 'passive', you know – you watch them, scream or laugh, and then forget. Labyrinth was not. During violent portions, I covered my ears, winced, and screamed (in my head). I had to think about previous scenes while watching others. When I left the audiovisual room for the bright sunlight outside, I was still a little traumatized. It wasn't the typical pleasant viewing experience that I'd expected upon seeing the first few minutes of the movie, at all.

Still, I liked it. Pan's Labyrinth was dark, yes -- unlike Hayao Miyazaki's films, which Labyrinth reminded me of -- but it made me wonder about things: life, death, and the consciousness in between. Contrary to what some may think, Guillermo del Toro, the director of the movie, isn't saying that reality is for those who can't handle fantasy, or even vice-versa. I believe that he is saying that reality and fantasy can exist side by side.

Watch the movie. Ponder all the unnatural experiences you've ever had, if any. Look at the things surrounding you– the logical, the impossible, and the scientifically unexplainable. Then close your eyes and try to believe.

You can never really know, after all.

♥♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥

Rated R for graphic violence and occasional obscene language

In Spanish with English subtitles
(image from http://en.wikipedia.org)

Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet (Kashmira Sheth)

Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet

by Kashmira Sheth

That night I lay awake thinking about marriage. It was so different from all the Hindi movies we'd watched. In the movies, young people fell in love, sang songs, danced; and at the end of the story, no matter what, the hero and heroine got married. Where would the love be in Nimita's marriage? ... Would her soul stay as empty and lost as her eyes? - pp. 17-18, KDMS

Jeeta is the third child, wedged in the middle of her two sisters and two brothers. Though she has nice features, she has dark skin in a society where light skin is considered the most important attribute in attracting a husband. Besides that, Jeeta's pretty much the bane of her mother's existence: She, after all, 'can be as sweet as a mango and as sharp as a tiger's tooth.'

When the eldest girl, Nimita, gets married and moves out, Jeeta's mother turns her attention to Mohini. As with Nimita, suitors parade through the house, talk to the family, and try to win Mohini's heart – but Jeeta is totally sure that that is not the life she would like for herself, pressured into chut mangani, putt shadi (quick engagement, instant wedding).

Jeeta falls in love with a boy she sees often; meets Sarina, a judge's daughter with modern sensibilities; and balances on the tightrope that is her mother's temper. However, when one of her sisters whispers a secret into Jeeta's ears, Jeeta must decide whether to follow her family's time-tested rules, or to go against the flow and take matters into her own hands.


If it helps, I like Jeeta. She has sense and displays it often. She doesn't pay attention to idle gossip from her mother's friends; instead, she holds her head up high and is confident about herself. When she's hurt, she tries not to show it - which, admittedly, is difficult considering how fast she can think of witty replies.

I also like Jeeta's best friend Sarina. Sarina's from a more open-minded family than Jeeta's, so she has freedom. Also, she was once an exchange student in America, an experience that changed her perspective on castes. It's thanks to Sarina's parents that Jeeta's able to change her future goals.

Most of the cast is likeable, besides those who aren't meant to be likeable in the first place. Jeeta's mother can be really irritating, since she seems to make life so much harder for Jeeta and Mohini even as she tries to help them. She reminds me of mothers in historical Chinese fiction, like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, who bind their daughters' feet while speaking of 'mother love'.


Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet is a coming-of-age story, minus the usual sickening romantic statements and clique-ish conflicts that come with tough female heroines. That's a relief to me, since I gag and roll my eyes at chic-lit, but it also makes the story seem more boring, as if it moves at a much slower pace.

Real life isn't always as Private and Clique make it out to be, though.

♥♥♥/♥♥♥♥♥
(image from http://en.wikipedia.org)