Just Like the Movies by Kelly Fiore

Note: I received a free copy of "Just Like the Movies" from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. And this review will contain spoilers because the only thing keeping me from giving this book a higher review would be the ending.

"Just Like the Movies" by Kelly Fiore was certainly exactly what the title and the brief blurb would lead you to expect: a story that reads exactly like how a romantic comedy would play out on the screen. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you like cheesy romantic comedies, which I do. But, unfortunately, there wasn't necessarily anymore substance than there is in a 90 minute movie.

The gist of the story is that, after a series of random events, the studious and underappreciated Lily and the track star with the hot boyfriend, Marijke end up forging a friendship after running away from a viewing of Titanic. You see Lily has an unrequited crush on a boy who doesn't even really know she exists while Marijke's boyfriend is wanted by every hot blooded female in the school and he seems to like that. So the two girls decide on a plan, to recreate scenes from popular romantic comedies and use them to get Lily's crush to notice her and to get Marijke's boyfriend to finally return those three little words.

One thing I was glad of with this book, the fact that I had watched all but one of the movies they mentioned (and that was one I'd seen recreated on other shows). The references were probably enough that it would have taken away from my enjoyment of the book if I hadn't seen them so that might be a deterrent to some readers. To appeal to more readers perhaps the movie tropes could have been used but without mention of specific titles and movie characters? That way it would have been a need little inside joke if you knew the movie but you wouldn't feel excluded if you hadn't. There are plenty of romantic comedy situations that are used over and over again and would have gotten the same points across.

I figured with the title of the movie and the plot that there would be happily ever afters for both couples involved but I was honestly hoping for something else. The turn around of Lily's love interest was too quick and she accepted it to easily. Marijke and her boyfriends relationship bothered me the whole way through because, as she cited when she finally did break up with him, their love was unequal. She was basically obsessed with him (which rubbed me the wrong way...shouldn't we have more stories where the relationship is healthy?) while he didn't seem to care much for her, only when she got mad and he needed to apologize. I was glad when they broke up and she was able to become her own person. But then they, of course, got back together right before prom. Just in time to be named prom king and queen. Sigh.

I had hoped, and would have given more stars, if the book had broken some of the whole romantic comedy plot lines. By the middle of it I was hoping Lily and Marijke would realize the guys were holding them back and they'd decide to go to prom together, as friends and be very happy with their decision. But that didn't happen and the book became one big, girl depends on guy cliche.

But it was cute and it was a quick read so all in all I did enjoy it.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling

The main reason I read this book is because I found out that Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for JK Rowling and I was hoping for a better reading experience than the one I had with “The Casual Vacancy” a few months back. I thought perhaps the reason I did not like “The Casual Vacancy” was because of the plotline because I honestly wouldn’t have even tried to read it had it had another author name attached. But “The Cuckoo’s Calling” did sound fairly interesting even before I knew it was a Rowling book.

But now I’m afraid I have to admit that, at least in regards to her currently published books, I don’t like JK Rowling for anything but Harry Potter. There, I said it. Now please don’t attack me. (And yes I am smart enough not to have expected her adult books to be like Harry Potter so I’m not judging it based just on that. I’m judging the book purely on its own merit and not because I’m comparing it to one of my favorite series). Now that that’s out of the way let’s get into the meat of my issues.

“The Cuckoo’s Calling” is the first book in a series about the private investigator Cormoran Strike who is struggling to find and keep cases. Then he is approached by John Bristow who wants Strike to investigate the supposed suicide of his famous sister Lula Landry. (Side note: about two thirds of the way into the book we find out Lula is called “Cuckoo” by the clothing designer that made her famous therefore referencing the title. Honestly if the title was going to be referenced at all I wish it would have mentioned earlier on in the book but I digress).

So Strike, along with his temporary secretary Robin, start an investigation to see if Lula really did kill herself or if there was foul play involved. And the story and plotline was at least interesting enough that I was curious to figure out the answer myself but getting there was kind of a chore. There was too much description in some places, as in paragraph upon paragraph of useless information just for a character to get from one scene to another when it honestly didn’t matter. And then I felt like I was lacking some descriptions in the scenes that really mattered. It was frustrating.

And then the book finally started to bring me in when I was about seventy percent of the way through with it which is the only factor that redeemed it for me. That was the point when I really started to care about the mystery and the people involved because that’s when I felt like I knew them. I understand that it takes time for a reader to become familiar with new characters but damn, more than halfway through a book is not when you want your reader to start feeling it.

At the end of it the book ended up being both very predictable and not so much. The true story behind what happened to Lula Landry was not what I had expected though several theories had run across my mind during the telling of it (because Rowling set up several characters to be very suspicious and at the top of any readers suspect list). And, something that I don’t really feel is a spoiler because it was obvious and because the blurbs about the second book in the series mention it, the temporary secretary of course ends up sticking around to the end.

So all in all “The Cuckoo’s Calling” was not one of my favorite books of the year, I didn’t find it very memorable, and I doubt I’ll bother reading any of the other books in the Comoran Strike series though I may surprise myself someday.

The Unicorn Chronicles by Bruce Coville

I want to start this review by telling you a little story. When I was in elementary and middle school I absolutely loved book fairs even though I was teased by some of my fellow classmates for how many books I would buy. One of those books (I even still have the copy with the special stamp mark designating it a book fair purchase) was “Into the Land of the Unicorns” by Bruce Coville. I remember reading it over and over again though I didn’t have the rest of the series nor did I try to find them to borrow. Not until this year.

Yep, at age twenty six I walked through the library I work at and checked out the four books of a series targeted for an Amazon specified age range of eight to twelve. But was I ashamed? No, not at all because I was darn curious to know how the epic story ended. And although I could tell by the wording, etc. of the story that it was targeted to a much younger audience, I still enjoyed the story.

So here’s a brief synopsis. The Unicorn Chronicles is a four book saga about, of course, unicorns. And since I’m reviewing the series as a whole and not the individual books I’m going to let you in on a few little details that weren’t discovered until later on. The history goes that the unicorns used to live on Earth but then humans learned that their horns had magical healing powers and decided to hunt them so they could take their horns and use the magic for themselves.

Then a misunderstanding between a girl named Beloved, a unicorn, and her father led to an accident that caused the unicorn and the girl’s father to die and the girl to be in a perpetual state of injury and healing so that she could never die. This leads to a vendetta between Beloved and the unicorns and the unicorns are hunted so badly that in order to survive they must escape to a new world named Luster.

Years later a young girl named Cara and her grandmother are being chased by a man, a Hunter descended from Beloved. So Cara, using the amulet her grandmother gives her, is transported to Luster. Throughout the course of the four books of the saga Cara meets not only unicorns but dragons, centaurs, trolls, and various other magical creatures.

How the story was laid out was very interesting, with events in earlier books coming almost full circle in a way, in later books. Each book had a major event/problem that needed to be solved so my interest was kept throughout (instead of just feeling like you’re focusing on the main event that takes forever to be resolved).

One thing I was surprised at: the violence. It was never anything too gory, at least not to a well seasoned mature reader, but I could see where it could be a bit too much for an eight or ten year old. For example, during the final battle a woman grabs an arrow and uses it to stab a man in the throat and kill him. A young boy uses a knife to slash open a Hunter’s hamstring. Many unicorns, men, and other creatures are killed with depictions of their blood streaming onto the ground. 

But violence aside I did enjoy the series and I am very glad I finally got around to finishing it!

The Unicorn Chronicles by Bruce Coville

I want to start this review by telling you a little story. When I was in elementary and middle school I absolutely loved book fairs even though I was teased by some of my fellow classmates for how many books I would buy. One of those books (I even still have the copy with the special stamp mark designating it a book fair purchase) was “Into the Land of the Unicorns” by Bruce Coville. I remember reading it over and over again though I didn’t have the rest of the series nor did I try to find them to borrow. Not until this year.

Yep, at age twenty six I walked through the library I work at and checked out the four books of a series targeted for an Amazon specified age range of eight to twelve. But was I ashamed? No, not at all because I was darn curious to know how the epic story ended. And although I could tell by the wording, etc. of the story that it was targeted to a much younger audience, I still enjoyed the story.

So here’s a brief synopsis. The Unicorn Chronicles is a four book saga about, of course, unicorns. And since I’m reviewing the series as a whole and not the individual books I’m going to let you in on a few little details that weren’t discovered until later on. The history goes that the unicorns used to live on Earth but then humans learned that their horns had magical healing powers and decided to hunt them so they could take their horns and use the magic for themselves.

Then a misunderstanding between a girl named Beloved, a unicorn, and her father led to an accident that caused the unicorn and the girl’s father to die and the girl to be in a perpetual state of injury and healing so that she could never die. This leads to a vendetta between Beloved and the unicorns and the unicorns are hunted so badly that in order to survive they must escape to a new world named Luster.

Years later a young girl named Cara and her grandmother are being chased by a man, a Hunter descended from Beloved. So Cara, using the amulet her grandmother gives her, is transported to Luster. Throughout the course of the four books of the saga Cara meets not only unicorns but dragons, centaurs, trolls, and various other magical creatures.

How the story was laid out was very interesting, with events in earlier books coming almost full circle in a way, in later books. Each book had a major event/problem that needed to be solved so my interest was kept throughout (instead of just feeling like you’re focusing on the main event that takes forever to be resolved).

One thing I was surprised at: the violence. It was never anything too gory, at least not to a well seasoned mature reader, but I could see where it could be a bit too much for an eight or ten year old. For example, during the final battle a woman grabs an arrow and uses it to stab a man in the throat and kill him. A young boy uses a knife to slash open a Hunter’s hamstring. Many unicorns, men, and other creatures are killed with depictions of their blood streaming onto the ground. 

But violence aside I did enjoy the series and I am very glad I finally got around to finishing it!

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Spoilers ahead! All kinds of spoilers, for this book and for the entire Mortal Instruments series what with this being the final book and all.

I had placed City of Heavenly Fire on hold at the library months ago hoping that we'd get it in and processed right away but when the week before Memorial Day hit and there was still no evidence that the book was on its way I knew drastic times called for drastic measures. So I pre-ordered the book from Amazon to have it sent to my Kindle the day it was published. (Not that I don't think buying books is a good thing because it is, I just owe too much on student loans to go all crazy purchasing all the books instead of getting them through the library). But I'm glad I did because I'd still be waiting for it if I hadn't!

City of Heavenly Fire was full of twists and turns, some good things, some bad and some unexpected. And since it's the last book in a, supposedly finished now, series I am going to get all spoilery with it.

All in all I did enjoy this series. I liked most of the characters, all for different ways and in ways that I only like fictional characters (i.e. like I've said before, I have a serious crush on Jace but in real life I'd look at him in awe but never be willing to date him because he's kind of a douche through most of the story) things like that. I think they were all decently well written and had their own distinct personalities and if some of them were super annoying sometimes its only logical because everyone has flaws and can be annoying sometimes.

 And the ending of this kind of surprised me/didn't surprise me. After reading the Infernal Devices series I could tell that Clare was the kind of writer who would go "out there" and kill everyone off like George R.R. Martin does in The Song of Ice and Fire series. So when all the main characters made it out alive and when there was a mostly happy ending for Alec and Magnus I wasn't surprised. I was surprised that: 1. Simon lost all of his memories and didn't get them all back by the end of the book. 2. The ending wasn't as perfect as the one in Infernal Devices. (After that series I was expecting there to be an epilogue that was ten years down the road with Jace and Clary marrying and welcoming a baby into the world while Jocelyn and Luke stood by with their own child, and Magnus and Alec would be wed and have a whole bunch of cats, and Simon and Izzy would be married too and he'd be all humanized).

So there's both a good thing and a bad thing to the type of ending she did do. The good thing is that it wasn't too cookie cutter happy. The bad thing/good thing, maybe? is that she left their fats open ended so that the characters might be touched upon in a later series like Tessa and Zacariah/Jem were in this one. That might be okay but I could also see Clare deciding, years down the road, that she wants to continue the story which at this point probably wouldn't be a good idea. (There are so many series that are ruined because they just keep going and going...I'm looking at you Pretty Little Liars and Stephanie Plum).

All in all I'd say I'm pretty content with the ending but will probably indulge in the guilty little pleasure known as reading fanfiction.