Chris Kneipp reviews the show everyone has been raving about.

Coming to SBS free to air TV at last, is the Canadian series Orphan Black, starring Tatiana Maslany. The series has received rave reviews overseas and rightly so, with a great storyline and brilliant acting, especially from the show’s star, who plays multiple characters.

Now it’s hard to tell you about the show without giving too much away, but sit’s so good that a few spoilers shouldn’t hurt your enjoyment of the show (If you’re really worried, go now and stream it. In Australia the first two eps are on SBS’s online site now.)

From the opening scene the questions start coming. Maslany first appears as the main character Sarah, a streetwise nomad with a messy past, who’s barely managing to stay ahead of her violent, criminal past. When she witnesses the suicide of a woman who looks exactly like her, Sarah decides to steal the dead woman’s identity, at first just to clean out her accounts, but later to escape her violent ex, Vic. She soon discovers that stealing this woman Beth’s identity is fraught with its own problems and dangers. For a start, Beth was a police detective and keeping her real identity hidden from her fellow cops is a dance that’s a pleasure to watch.

She slowly discovers more women who look just like her and realises with horror that she is a clone, one of an unspecified number of copies, all unaware of each other’s existence until Sarah/Beth begins to bring them together.  It’s playing these different characters that really marks Tatiana Maslany as an exceptional actor. Whether it be the self absorbed and slightly psychotic soccer mum Alison, the vaguely hippy nerd Cosima or the religious-fanatic assassin Helena, each character is played like a totally different person.

As the show progresses more is revealed and the writers have done a fantastic job of balancing teasers with real answers to the unravelling mystery. The supporting cast fill their roles well, though it’s Sarah’s gay foster brother and best friend Felix who nearly steals the show in his scenes. I say nearly, because it’s impossible to ignore Maslany’s talent as she imbues each character with a life of its own.

This series is filmed in Toronto, Ontario by BBC America and they do a splendid job giving us something refreshingly new and different to watch. Visually, the series is beautifully shot, giving a grungy, backstreet feel to the city scenes and a plastic sterility to the ones set in suburbia.

If you’re in Australia, try to catch up with the first two eps on SBS Online.  They are airing double episodes every Tuesday night on SBS 2 at 8:30PM.

If you’re elsewhere in the world, find it and watch it. You won’t be disappointed.

It’s stifling hot here in Victoria, Australia right now. Today is the fourth day around the 40 degree C mark (that’s 104 Fahrenheit) and there’s more to come. Even with air conditioning in the living area and a pool out the back, we’re wilting – and that’s just the humans and the dogs. I don’t even want to discuss my poor vegetable garden!

I’ve been using the oven as little as possible (lots of barbequing) so there hasn’t been much baking action going on, but we have been eating loads of salads. I came across this one over Christmas, when my Mother in Law purchased something similar from a local deli, and it was SO good I had to experiment and come up with my own version. It’s crazy healthy, full of ‘super foods’, oil free and delicious. Last week we had fabulous crime writing friends Angela Savage, Andrew Nette and Leigh Redhead come and stay for a couple of days from the city, and the Kale & Quinoa Salad was a huge hit with everybody. Hope you enjoy it just as much…

What You Need:

Okay, so this is one of those recipes that will probably vary a little each time you make it – I’m not too fussy with quantities of ingredients and I’m sure you’ll find your own perfect combination.

*Half a ‘bunch’ of kale. I used Red Kale this time around because that’s all I had available. Normally I use the green version, but this was just as good.

* Two full celery stalks, leaves removed.

* One cup of fresh mint, tightly packed.

* Half a cup of fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, tightly packed.

* One cup of cooked and cooled quinoa (a third of a cup raw. See cooking instructions below). I used black quinoa this time, but white or red works just as well.

* Half a cup of dried raisins. This one is optional, and I left them out this time – only because I didn’t have any in the pantry. They weren’t really missed because the dressing is quite sweet.

DRESSING:

Again, the amounts will vary depending on the size of your salad. It’s not a heavily dressed salad – you only need just enough dressing to coat when stirred through.

* Half a cup of orange juice.

* Two tablespoons of white wine vinegar.

*Two tablespoons of cranberry sauce.

*Salt and Pepper to taste.

How It’s Done:

First, you need to cook up and cool your quinoa. Add a third of a cup of rinsed quinoa to two thirds of a cup of water in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and cover with a lid. Allow to simmer for about another 10 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed the liquid. Allow to cool in the fridge.

Finely chop your kale, parsley, mint and celery. I use a Mezzaluna (a curved, two handled knife) to do this – makes life much easier and quicker. Add pepitas and cooled quinoa, turn over gently with a large spoon so the kale isn’t bruised.

Add the dressing ingredients to a jar or small container with a lid. Shake to mix. Gently spoon just enough over salad to mix and coat.

Delicious served chilled with BBQ meat, chicken or seafood – and so, so good for you!

Oh, and if you get a chance, do go and check out Angela, Andrew and Leigh’s websites and award-winning crime novels. All highly recommended. 

FOLLOW MANDY’S FOOD BLOG.

Blythewood was one of those books that had me back and forth with my opinions and thoughts. At the beginning I was excited to see the world of Avaline Hall, Blythewood and the Fey. Within the first few chapters, I found the story to be a bit slow, but only a few more chapters later, things started to pick up and it seems that there was no end to the action! Then I found myself a bit confused, and finally my heart skipped a beat throughout the ending!

Blythewood starts with a poor girl named Avaline Hall, Ava for short, who is working in a factory. Her and many other poor girls, including her best friend Tillie, are locked into a room every day to work for a ridiculous amount of hours and are paid very little.

Before her mother committed suicide by drinking landrum and was found with a black feather on top of her, Ava worked for her, sewing and selling hats. But once her mother passed Ava started to struggle to pay the bills and life is much harder.

When the Triangle factory catches fire, the girls inside have no way out, the doors are locked throughout working hours, and Ava has no idea what to do or where to go. Some of the girls are running around wild, other girls are jumping to their death out the window. Ava and her best friend, Tillie, only know one other way, climbing from the roof of the factory to the roof of the building next door.

After slipping and losing her grip, Ava finds herself saved by a mysterious pair of strong arms who belong to a boy with dark eyes and hair… and wings. She can’t believe her eyes but the next thing she knows, she’s in a mental hospital, drugged and diagnosed with mental issues. Six months pass, before Ava finally leaves the hospital, and escorted by a lady who claims that she knows her grandmother, and says that they’ve been looking for Ava.

Upon her arrival at her grandmother’s house, Ava learns a lot of herself and her mother. Ava has always known how much her mom loved Blythewood, and would speak about the school often, but still Ava didn’t know much about it. Her grandmother, a rather snarky thing, informed her that Ava’s mother got pregnant in her senior year at Blythewood, and ran away. Even though Ava just arrived, and hasn’t even settled in yet, she is told that her interview to Blythewood is in three days and they have a lot of work to do before then.

Upon being accepted, Ava is worried that people might judge her due to her mother’s history, but that is that last thing she worries about when finally going to the Blythewood initiation in the forest and sees all the creatures that live within it.

Blythewood isn’t just any school. Besides doing homework and studying for finals, Ava and her friends are learning about all the different dangerous creatures in the forest and how to defend themselves from these creatures so they can find Nathan’s twin sister, Louisa, who is lost in the Faerie world.

Ava also discovers who her dark angel is, and why he’s around right when she needs him. Right when Ava thinks she knows what’s going on, there’s always something else.

Overall, Blythewood was a new take on the Fey world. The only other books I’ve read on faeries are Julie Kagawa’s books, and these are nothing alike. While I can admit that the beginning of the book was kind of slow, pushing through that and continuing to read is definitely worth it. The ending was intense, and shocking! I had no idea what hit me on the last page!

Bel’s got some suggestions for freshening up your back to school look.

Try some new hair styles for the new school year.

I have combed (ha ha) through the never ending world of YouTube to find 3 hairstyles you may not have tried, to start the new school year. **Remember** to try them out at home a few times to make sure you’re not going to be stressing on your first day.

Here’s a dressed up ponytail by Kayley Melissa that looks pretty and seems pretty easy.

Cora from vintageortacky shows us how she does a sock bun *this one won’t be so ideal if you’re going to need to wear a hat at achool*

 If you’re wanting something a little more feminine and less severe this is bubzbeauty with a twisted up do that can take only 3 minutes or so.

Have fun experimenting with how you want your hair on the first day. Oh, and be sure to share any other YouTube tutorials you love for school hairdos in the comments below.

Good Luck!!!

There is no need to even speak about the cover, because all three of them look AHH-mazing!

I purchased Insurgent before I even started reading Divergent, and I’m really glad I did. Why? Because I was able to read it right away, instead of running out to the store in the middle of the night, just to get my hands on a copy! (I would recommend this for anyone!)

Before I begin to review Insurgent, I just want to explain the main reason I loved Divergent. Tris spent her entire life putting other people in front of her, she avoided eye contact, never saw herself in a mirror, and tried to only speak when spoken to. But when it was finally her turn to make a decision, and her turn to change her life, she did. COMPLETELY. She became something she never was before; strong. The character development in Divergent, through Tris, is what pulled me in. And it was also what forced me to continue the series.

Insurgent takes off exactly where Divergent ended; some reviews I read really liked this, but some also thought this was just ridiculous. I guess that just depends when you read the first book. I understand that if you read Divergent days after it released, and then read Insurgent when it was finally released, it would be hard to remember all the characters, everything that happened, and of course the little details. But if you read the two books within months of each other like I did, it wouldn’t be such a big problem. 

Erudite is trying to take over the world by injecting the Dauntless with a mind control serum. The Dauntless faction is split into two, the Traitors and the now Outcasts, who are teaming up with the Factionless, who are beginning a rebellion. Erudite are hunting down all citizens that are Divergent, because for some reason or another, the serum doesn’t work on them.

Tris is struggling with both the loss of her parents, and the guilt of killing her friend while he was under the mind control serum. Unsure of what to do, or where to go, Tris, Four, Caleb and a few Abnegation head to Amity, seeking protection, shelter and help. The world is in complete chaos, but she knows she can trust Four; he is her light in all this dark. With violence rising and alliances forming, the five factions Tris has grown up with, do not exist anymore. And with so much going on, and different sides of the dilemma the two are forced to pick sides, even if they might not be the same ones…(ooohh, doesn’t that make you want to read the book?)

So on my blog Turning Pages, I discussed why I like Divergent better than I did Insurgent. And these are the points I made:

1. Tris, her guilt, and her inability to shoot a gun. In Divergent, I absolutely fell in love with Tris; she was that kick ass girl that I look for in any action book I read. I thought it was cool that she didn’t know who she was, and was always told to be quiet when she was Abnegation. But when she decided to go into Dauntless, she showed her true side; her badassness, and her bravery! I loved everything about her. She made smart moves, played the game safe when needed, but also wasn’t afraid be risky. But she wasn’t anything like that in Insurgent… I understand that she lost a lot in the first book (her parents, and her friend), but the world is in complete shambles, she needed to get her head in the game. I was so frustrated when I read that she couldn’t even hold a gun, nor shot it, when she was in a life and death situation… you’ve got to be kidding me!? Shoot the dang thing! She spent the entire first book, becoming Dauntless, and now this??

2. Four..what a jerk? Okay this one wasn’t as bad as number one, but since when was he so mean? I loved that he was this tough guy, and that he was sweet to Tris. But in this second book, he just isn’t like that.

3. Romance? Action? I have to admit I love romance books, and if you’ve been with Turning Pages for a while you know that all too well! But I do like different genres. I came to love Divergent for the action, and adventure, not because of the romance. I was expecting the same thing from Insurgent. Yes, it’s true, there is some romance in Divergent between Tris and Four, but that isn’t “in your face”, its in the background. But Insurgent focused too much on the couple, and not enough on the action.. .I guess the romance aspect in this book wasn’t what I was expecting.

The things I liked about the book:

1. Caleb! Uhh I don’t want to further explain this one, but definitively liked this twist in the story!!

2. The ending! Ughh another one I can’t give away!

3. Four..what a jerk! Okay I know I put this one in my dislikes, but I also liked it in a strange way, and this goes along with number one in my dislikes. Throughout Divergent I liked that Tris was smart, and made smart moves. In Insurgent she doesn’t do that. She almost reminded me of one of those girls who just acts dumb and does dumb things to get attention. Tris making these idiotic moves, like not using a gun, wasn’t the Tris I got to know in the first book. And that’s why I liked Four. Though he was rude and a bit of a jerk about it, he called Tris out on her stupidity. Four made sense, but he was just a bit mean about expressing it, but I felt that Tris really needed that a few times throughout the story; a reality check!

I already reviewed (or ranted) about these points on my own blog, and decided just to incorporate them into this review as well. I don’t think I can explain them any other way.

So yes! I know, I liked Divergent much more, and I’m not afraid to admit it. But I still liked Insurgent, but there were just so many little things that bothered me throughout most of the book.

I continued to read the last book in this series, Allegiant, and fell incomplete love! LOVE I say! If you haven’t gotten the chance to pick these up yet, I recommend buying all three at one time! ASAP!