Joss Whedon is back on Australian TV!!!

Eliza Dushku, who you may remember as Faith in Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, is also back in this science fiction, action, psychological thriller, drama, Doll House. She plays Echo; a misfit who is given the chance to remove her past mistakes by going in for ‘treatment’ in a secretive corporation. The treatment includes removing all past memories and reinserting memories of other people to achieve the ‘perfect operative’. The catch is, Echo has no idea who she really is.

She doesn’t realise she is part of an elaborate game, that all she is to her superiors is a ‘Doll’, hence the name of the show.

As with some of the best TV shows around, this one was axed after only 27 episodes. Considering the last show aired on cable TV in 2010, the program really hasn’t dated and still has me sitting up and taking notice.

Joss has once again given us a kick ass heroine, a seriously meaty storyline and an ethical dilemma worthy of the United Nations. He’s backed himself with a team of actors whose talent you may have seen in the likes of the The Matrix, Battlestar Glactica, Torchwood, Sixth Sense and Moneyball.

If you like Sliders, Alias, Quantum Leap, The Matrix, Buffy, and Dark Angel, then check your local guides and give Doll House a watch.

Let us know what you thought of the program. Should they have finished the second season?

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what’s normal when you’re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who’s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn’t ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary’s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

Hardcover, 1st Edition, 453 pages

Published March 25th 2008

Margaret K. McElderry Books

ISBN 1416914293 (ISBN13: 9781416914297)

Belinda:

Cover

I found the audio book of City of Ashes in my local Library; the cover is the same as the paperback with a muscular, redhead in a tough girl stance super imposed over the Brooklyn Bridge.

Characters

There are a wide variety of supernatural characters, and though there is political crap to sift through, they work really well together to add depth to the story.

Favourite

Jace (Jonathan). He’s conflicted thanks to his lineage, but lets his morals guide him. He’s a smart mouth, a tough guy, and he’d fight to the death for his adopted family.

Least Favourite

The Inquisitor. It’s one thing to not believe a teenager in an impossible situation, but it is another thing entirely when you do the things she does. Nasty, nasty.

Beginning

Clary’s Mum is in a coma and Jace is facing a situation with his biological father that throws the Lightwood family into chaos.

Storyline

Valentine is up to his old tricks again and it’s Jace, Clary, Isobelle, and Alec’s job to stop him.

Ending

There are answers to be had but you’ll have to read the book, because I don’t want to spoil it for you.

Thoughts

I tried to get my hands on the first book, City of Bones, so I could lead into City of Ashes… not only were there no copies on the shelves in any of my local stores, but the holdings list for the library was impressive, and after listening to City of Ashes, I now understand why.

This series is gritty and will tear at your heart. It will be interesting to see if the good guys win in the end. At the moment all bets are off.

Quote

Rather than a quote, I dedicate the song What You Want, especially the film clip to the book. The two really mesh, and the lyrics are so relevant it gives me goose bumps.

Krista:

Cover

I love the covers for all of the Cassandra Clare books, the colors are beautiful and there is really a lot of detail.

Characters

This series contains an ensemble of characters that come into play. Some readers find it overwhelming, but I for one love getting to know each of them and their relationships with each other.

Favourite

Luke is by far my favorite character. He is the only father figure that Clary knows. In the first book the reader is a little unclear what his position will turn out to be. But the relationships that form between Jocelyn (Clary’s Mother), Luke and Clary are my favorite.

Least Favourite

This early in the series I think it would be Magnus that is my least favorite. This does change later on, but in City of Ashes he seems really smug and indifferent to the rest of the group. He definitely is a personality type that you have to get used to.

Beginning

The end of book one really left us off with a crazy whirlwind of events. This book jumps right into where we left off with Clary having her world turned upside down. The beginning here will introduce us again to what transpired in the first book and focus on the whereabouts of Valentine and Jace.

Storyline

Jace is torn between his fellow Shadowhunters who have taken him in, and the return of his father Valentine into his life. Clary is pulled in several different directions as well with her mother in a magical coma, and learning who her real father is. She is not ready to lose Jace completely but starts to really feel like she belongs among the Shadowhunters.

Ending

Cassandra Clare has an amazing way of building up to an intense climax with each book. Several different events take place and lead into what could possibly happen in the next book. Not exactly a cliffhanger, but something that will make you say WOW!

Thoughts

There is a lot of action, great plot and fabulous writing style. There is a constant flow of action and entertainment until the last page.
My absolutely favorite part of this particular story was the relationship between Simon and Jace. And, oh boy, does Simon go through a lot of stuff in this one!

Valentine is a creepy and well written villain as well. He has the potential to be a real Voldemort. I really loved to hate him.

Quotes

“Look,” Luke went on, “In all the years I’ve known him, there’s always been exactly one place Simon wanted to be, and he’s always fought like hell to make sure he got there and stayed there.”
“Where’s that?”
“Wherever you were.”

“I keep thinking about blood, I dream about it. Wake up thinking about it. Pretty soon I’ll be writing morbid emo poetry about it.” – Simon

Lisa:

Cover

Every single book in this entire series is an eye catcher! Doesn’t matter if you pick up the Hardback or the Paperback copy; they both look A-MAZING! But my favorite part about this series, has to be the way they look together on my shelf. After purchasing all of Cassandra Clare’s books, you do have quite a shelf full!

Characters

I love all of the characters. from the love triangle between Clary, Jace and Simon to the evilness of Valentine.

Favorite

Jace or Simon would have to be my favorite (I guess I’m in a little triangle of my own). I love how sweet Simon can be to Clary, he is just the kind of guy they will always be there for her. While Jace is Clary’s starcrossed lover, and part-time badass, with a motorcycle!

Least Favorite

I don’t really dislike any characters in this book, but Maryse (mother of Isobelle, Alec and Max) did frustrate me a few times throughout the story. I wish she’d have believed, trusted and stood by Jace’s side more often!

Beginning

Jace is living with the Lightwoods, while he is having problems with his father Valentine. Clary is living with Luke, as her mother is in a coma. Clary is also having feelings for her best friend Simon. Not liking the first book in the series, The City of Bones, I think caused me to start reading this book very skeptically, which ended up making me feel that the beginning of this book was simply okay.

Story Line

Valentine is starting to build a army. With almost no help Jace and Clary and a few others (Luke, Isobelle, Alec and Simon) try to stop him before things go to far, and time runs out. Spending a lot of time together, Clary and Jace start to rekindle their feelings for one another, causing jealousy from Simon. The relationships were very interesting and about 1/5 of the way through the book, I start enjoying and loving the story!

Ending

It’s almost hard, describing the ending, without giving away too much, but I’ll try my best anyways! Defeating Valentine and most of his evil plans, Jace proves Maryse wrong, and that he deserves her trust and respect. Things and especially relationships (not just love ones, but also biological ones) may not be what they seem! 🙂

My Overall Thoughts

Disliking the first book, caused me to go into The City of Ashes with a bad taste in my mouth. I didn’t really enjoy the beginning but once things started heating up, I couldn’t (and didn’t really want to) put the book down. I can’t wait to see how the series continues, and how things between Clary, Jace and Simon work out!

http://www.cassandraclare.com/

Audiobook, 11 Discs

Published April 1st 2010 by Bolinda Publishing (first published January 1st 2008)

ISBN139781742338484

Hello and welcome to my review, please pull up a chair, and enjoy!

Today’s book review is on The Last Echo, by Kimberly Derting. This is the third installment of The Body Finder series, the first being The Body Finder, and second being Desires of the Dead!

“In the end, all that’s left is an Echo.

Before, Violet’s morbid ability to sense the dead led her to uncover dark murders and long-buried secrets in her small town. Now that she’s working with a special investigative team, Violet hopes she can help even more people—whether by saving a life or catching a killer.

Although she’s relieved to finally be honest about what she can do, her instant connection with her mysterious partner, Rafe, is both confusing and unsettling, and their unique bond creates tension with her boyfriend, Jay. When she discovers the body of a college student murdered by “the collector,” Violet refuses to give up on the case. With her own relationship on the line, Violet doesn’t realize that the serial killer is looking to add to his collection and that she may have caught his eye. Will the life Violet has to save be her own?”

I’ve loved this series, the story line, the characters, everything from the start! This series is something new and fresh. I haven’t read anything like it, or anything comparable.

Since The Body Finder, Violet realized her special power, learned how to control it (somewhat), is dating her best friend (Jay), and now is part of a police task force, with others who also have special abilities.

If you haven’t read the series yet, you might be asking yourself, what kind of special power are you talking about, Lisa?

Violet can sense the dead! And looking at someone she can see if that person has ever murdered anyone (including animals).

Becoming part of the police task force, Violet meets other people who have different powers. She meets a boy named Rafe, who Violet soon builds a bond with, causing tension between Violet and her boyfriend Jay. She also deals with cases that seem impossible to solve. Being so closely involved, Violet always gets caught up in the crime.

Becuase I read and enjoyed the first two books in this series, I set extremely high expectations for this third installment, and yet again, Kimberly Derting hits a home run! I wish The Last Echo showed a little bit more of Jay, and the romance between him and Violet, but I still really enjoyed reading about the criminal side.

‘I have done bad things. I can’t take them back, and they are part of who I am.’

Insurgent is the follow-up to one of last year’s biggest debut novels in YA dystopian fiction: Divergent. I loved Divergent. (You can read my Burn Bright review here) In fact, I loved it so much I listed it as one of my top 5 reads for 2011. It came from nowhere and blew me away. A gutsy female lead, a subtle romance with no gross-out factor and world that was built with clear lines and rules – so easy to get lost in. But Insurgent? Well, it left me kinda bewildered, confused to how I felt.

Insurgent picks up right where Divergent left off. For this reason, please don’t start with book two. Roth’s world is complex, built around five factions, or groups within society. There’s the Dauntless – the brave (and often reckless) who provide safety, Amity – who are peaceful at all costs. They provide society with counsellors, they are the caretakers of society. Then there’s Abnegation who are completely selfless. They fulfil the need for selfless leaders. Candor value truth above all else, providing trustworthy leaders. Finally, there’s Erudite, who are dedicated to intelligence and learning. Sounds pretty organised, huh? Well, it is. Until the goings-on of Divergent (which I’m not going to spoil here – because you need to read it!)

What I will say is that Divergent ended in a pretty dramatic way. Society, so organised and practical on one level collapsed into chaos. Lead character, Tris (also known as Beatrice) found herself in a situation where she had to make split-second choices to save her own life. In Insurgent, she’s paying the price for those choices. She’s being swallowed by guilt and grief, which has a huge impact on the way she responds to people and situations. Tris is an awesome, multi-faceted character but here she kind of loses some of the ‘oomph’ that made her so strong in the last book. She’s done some things she regrets, and while we don’t expect her to just ‘get over it’, she’s become weak and self-loathing. Veronica Roth has made this transition in Tris’s nature believable and heartfelt, but to be honest, it just got a little tired after a while. I wanted to slap her, tell her to “get the hell on with it, stop trying to redeem yourself through stupid, desperate actions.”

But see, here’s the thing. I think Veronica Roth wanted us, the reader, to feel like this – and why I think I finished the story confused as to how I felt. Both Tris and Four (her waaay too hot love interest from Divergent) have been living a war. There’s loads of death and destruction in both books. No character is safe. They’ve been lied to, betrayed – oh, the betrayal! – injured and been the ones to injure, betray and kill others. They haven’t always done it for the right reasons, either. In the real world, both of them would be diagnosed as having some kind of post traumatic stress disorder. And that’s where Insurgent comes into its own. It doesn’t gloss over the terrible, nasty things that would happen in a world where control of others is the ultimate goal. It doesn’t pretend that lives and personalities aren’t changed forever. That’s how we grow as people. We’re the product of our experiences. Insurgent doesn’t dismiss the bad, it’s blunt and to the point. And, if you can forgive Tris and Four a little time to feel sorry for themselves – then Insurgent works.

Don’t get me wrong, Insurgent isn’t just about teenagers moping around. This book is full-on action, that Does. Not. Stop. once it gets going. Just like its predecessor, it’s fast, furious, more dirty than gritty and there’s some torture scenes that will make you squirm. The ‘love’ thing is still without eew factor; it’s believable and true. There are so many amazing twists in this story, you’ll be left trying to figure out which way is up. And then, there’s the cliff-hanger ending. The big reveal. Oh, my…

Book Three in the Divergent Trilogy is due for release in late 2013. And the movie? It’s currently in pre-production with Summit Entertainment.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Book #2 in the Divergent Trilogy.

Published by Harper Collins.

Paperback, 525 pages.

ISBN – 978-0-00-744292-8

It is official. We have an extended run with the Mummy, Secrets of the Tomb, exhibit on loan from The British Museum at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane. What was supposed to be an April until August schedule was extended by popular demand until October 21^st.

I took my family along and we were dazzled by the state of the art 3D presentation of unwrapping the secrets of Nesperennub. After the film was shown, we were moved on into the rest of the exhibition and were in awe of the relics on display. You really lose track of time and are swept up into the magic of history. It was wonderful.

Lines can be very long for ticketing at the venue, so get in early OR online or phone bookings can be made through Fox Tix *see the link below for more information*  It’s up to you how you want to do things, but tickets are required. As there is a movie being shown, ticketing is done in session times, and organisers have asked that ticket holders turn up about 15 minutes before their session time with their tickets ready to be scanned.

There were also special sessions for adults called Mummies after dark.

“Meet your friends, grab a drink at the Foyer Bar and shake off the week to the beats of DJ Bacon. Feast on gourmet treats or dinner at Collectors Lounge Bar. Re-live the laughs, schlock and horror of some classic B-movie titles. Meet a modern day embalmer or unearth the truth about Mummies in film. Then slip on your 3D glasses and explore our new blockbuster exhibition.

18+ Event. All tickets $26.95 (including online booking fee).”

The last session of which will be held on August 10^th. *see the link below for more information*

So you have a little longer to get wrapped up in some amazing history and spend a while walking like an Egyptian.

If you’ve been along to see the Mummies or any of the corresponding events, let us know what you thought, or even send us a pic of you in your spunky 3D glasses.

http://www.mummy.qm.qld.gov.au/