Tag: books | Amy C. Shaw

Bookish Wedding Inspiration: The Grisha Trilogy

August 5, 2014 • 9 Comments

*WARNING!* This post does contain spoilers for Ruin and Rising.

After finishing Ruin and Rising, I got pretty excited about doing a new bookish wedding inspiration post for it. And of course, since there is an actual wedding described in the epilogue, it made it both easier (I know what to look for!) and harder (limitations!) to gather pictures for this post.

The hard part was finding suitable attire for this bookish wedding inspiration. I wanted to draw from the book as much as possible and make it feel like this could be the wedding in the book, and yet, the setting of the book versus the world we live in can make this difficult. I tried various searches on different types of dresses and attire that could work for a slightly more casual wedding, and also focused mostly on the season of winter, because for some reason I think Alina and Mal’s wedding took place in the winter. So first, let me get some of those pictures out there, just in case you were curious what I found.

Sources: red couple, bride and groom with cap, cardigan over dress, groomsmen with sweaters, and blue bride with coat

I almost went with the coat over the dress in the top right corner as the look for Alina. After all…

The bride wore no kokochnik, no dress of gold.

So with that in mind, I figured she didn’t have the chance to properly go dress shopping. But guys, GUYS, I found the most amazingly perfect Grisha-looking wedding dress (at least in my opinion) that I think also fits well with modern sentiment. So with that it mind, I present…

Bridal Look

The Dress

When I saw this Temperly London dress, there was really no turning back. It may not fit the sentiment of the simple wedding Alina and Mal shared, but STILL! It just screamed Grisha to me. I could not NOT share it.

The Hair

I presume Alina’s hair was back to white by the time she and Mal tied the knot, and since Mal mentioned very specifically wanting to see a white veil in her hair, I thought combining the white hair updo with this simple veil might be a look worn by Alina on her big day.

The Accessories

I honestly don’t know what the deal with the driftwood crown is, but it was mentioned in the book (“He had to stand on a chair to hold the driftwood crows above their heads as the blessings were said”), so I Googled for one and found the image on the bottom right. For Alina’s bridal accessories, I decided to go with a simplistic sun theme as a reminder of her recent past, including this sun-inspired ring and sun charm necklace.

The Groom

I don’t know what Mal would wear, and it probably wouldn’t even be this, but I was looking for something nice but laid back and not black. This guy also looks a little bit like I picture Mal (though Mal is probably a little more muscular?), so there was also that. It’s hard to follow up that dress.

The Location

A chapel stood on the coast of West Ravka, south of Os Kervo, on the shores of the True Sea. It was a quiet place, where the waves came nearly to the door. The whitewashed walls were laden with shells, and the dome that floated above the altar looked less like the heavens than the deep blue well of the sea.

When I first started looking for images for the proper white chapel for this wedding, I immediately thought of the Interfaith Chapel in Seaside, FL, which I saw (the outside, not the inside) when I visited there. It seems like just the right size, and I love the way the way it is decorated in the left photo, because it makes me think of the stag’s antlers and just the trilogy in general. But then I reread this part of the epilogue and looked for some more chapel pictures that might be slightly more fitting.

Photo source for top picture

These three pictures are not actually of the same place, but we’ll pretend they are. 🙂

The Cake

Even the smallest of weddings deserve a little cake. This is the sort of simple cake that I imagine Alina and Mal might have celebrated their marriage with.

What would you expect from the Ruin and Rising wedding, or at one inspired by it?

Review: The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet

July 27, 2014 • 8 Comments

(Note: I think it goes without saying that there will be Lizzie Bennet Diaries GIFs below…)

When I found out that The Lizzie Bennet Diaries web series was turning into a book, this was my reaction:

But I admit, I was also slightly skeptical, because can you really write a solid book based on a web series based on a classic novel. Well, I think The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet pulled it off pretty well.

There were a few things that prevented this from getting a 5-star rating from me, and I’ll list those up front.

First: this feels like a companion to the web series. I don’t think you should really go into reading this without knowing The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, or at the very least Pride and Prejudice (but even then… it’s better to know the series). I would have liked to have seen it stand on it’s own a little better. Also, I was disappointed in some character moments that weren’t in the web series that felt unnecessary in the book. I’m not going to go into details, but some of it just didn’t really ring true for me.

Lastly, while it felt mostly consistent with the web series, it didn’t ALWAYS. There’s at least one instance that became really obvious when I decided to watch one of the episodes (I watched a few as I read the book, just to see how they played out in both and because I felt like it :)), in which Lizzie got her new phone. In the book, it’s emphasized that her phone started acting up after it was dropped on the marina pier on her day with Darcy and Gigi, but in the web series it sounded like her phone had been acting up for a while and she finally got a new one when her contract came up for renewal. Maybe it shouldn’t have bothered me so much, but considering that in the Q&A in the back the authors emphasized the importance of consistency between the two, I found that to be a little too inconsistent.

However, I hate that that bothered me so much because the day where she hung out with Darcy and Gigi in the book (and was not described in the web series) was so cute and left me wanting more of those interactions! But then, of course, things got crazy with the whole Lydia thing. And thankfully, “the Lydia instance” felt a lot more balanced in the book. In the web series I think they dragged it out for weeks, which felt really disproportionate to other plot points in the series, so I appreciated less emphasis on it, yet still making the important points of what everyone learned from it.

This book made me chuckle out loud a lot, which is also a definite high point for any book. (Though there wasn’t enough Lydia-isms or Fitz for me!) I think Lizzie venting about Catherine de Bourgh amused me the most.

And of course anything that showed more of Darcy was a plus, like the aforementioned day out with him and Gigi, as well as his letter to Lizzie. I do wish we had gotten more than just a couple of video transcripts about Lizzie and Darcy’s big moments on camera, and got more of her elaboration on them, though.

I did feel like there was some additional insight and characterization to Lizzie, which I liked. I learned that she prefers a classic wardrobe over trends (which I think is obvious in the videos), that she drives a Honda Civic (me too!), that she majored in English for her undergraduate degree, and why she chose new media communications as her course of study for graduate school. Of course, I related to a lot of this which was largely why I liked these new tidbits! 🙂

Though both the web series and the novel have a couple of low points for me, overall, the novel is just as totes adorbs as the series overall! If you’re a fan, it’s definitely worth checking out!

Content advisory: A few instances of mild/moderate language, and mentions of sex but nothing graphic and no sex scenes.

What are your thoughts of The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet?

The Top 10 Book Characters I’d Want With Me on a Deserted Island

July 22, 2014 • 27 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is Top Ten Characters I Would Want With Me On A Deserted Island. I considered quite a few factors while compiling my list, and I think it turned out pretty solid. This week’s list is not in any particular order.

1-3. Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick from The Hunger Games trilogy

I think it’s pretty obvious why I want Katniss and Finnick, because they can help with our survival needs on the island, and I think Peeta can too since he did, after all, survive two Hunger Games. Plus, I feel he needs to be there to soothe Katniss. Though really, they probably won’t be finding the situation all that grim since none of us would be trying to kill each other (or at least I hope not!).

4. Pine Sap from Tiger Lily

For starters, Pine Sap is from Neverland and is therefore used to limited resources. But also, the guy is extremely patient and will build houses for everyone! He’s definitely the kind of guy who would be helpful to have on the island.

5-6. Mal and Sturmhond from The Grisha trilogy

With his hunting skills and survival ability, Mal seems like an obvious choice for someone who would be handy to have on the island. Then Sturmhond would not only be entertaining, but also knows a lot about the sea and could maybe even find a way to build a boat for us.

7. Lizze from The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet

I want Lizzie on the island with me because I want someone that I have things in common with, and because I need someone from my world who can bemoan with me the first world problem of being stuck on a deserted island with such limited resources. While Lizzie actually claimed she would do fine on a deserted island surviving off of clams and coconuts, she did also add “as long as there’s WiFi.” Needless to say, I think she and I will need to help each other out. She’s also intelligent and can probably contribute some ideas.

8. Justen from Across a Star-Swept Sea

Justen is a scientist and doctor-in-training, so basically he would be super helpful on the island. I also really like his personality and would be happy to be in his company.

9. Peter from The Chronicles of Narnia

I chose Peter because I think we would need a leader on the island, and I think Peter would be perfect for the role. Sturmhond might try to overthrow his authority, but Peter will stand his ground and prove himself to be the most capable for the job. Besides, Sturmhond needs to focus on building that boat!

10. Seraphina from Seraphina

Though I don’t have quite as much in common with Seraphina as I do with Lizzie, I feel we would get along and that I would enjoy her company on the island. She is also smart and could probably help solve problems that arise.

So what book characters would you want on a deserted island with you?

Double Review: Siege & Storm and Ruin & Rising

July 17, 2014 • 10 Comments

I thoroughly enjoyed Shadow and Bone when I read it on vacation in May, and was excited that I would get to read the second and third books of the trilogy so soon. And thankfully, I was not disappointed.

I am not really going to talk about each book individually, but here were the highlights of both of the books for me:

– Sturmhond *highlight for spoilers*/Nikolai and his humor and his personality and basically everything about him.

– The pacing in Siege and Storm was amazing! It started with a bang and never let me go.

– The plot was always thickening, the stakes always raising… basically, Bargdugo is excellent at crafting a riveting story.

– The FEELS.

– The ending was absolutely perfect. To remain vague… Part of what happened, I had wanted since the first book but didn’t think was possible, a couple parts I wanted since the first book and thought them possible and were glad they happened, and the rest I couldn’t have dreamed of. It was all just great, exactly what it needed to be… not perfectly happy, but happy with a cost and a perfectly satisfying conclusion for the reader.

I did have a few small problems, however…

– The pacing of the first half of Ruin and Rising was slow and weird for me. The whole first part with the Apparet and being underground just old quick for me and I was ready to move on.

– For some reason, I started to like Alina and Mal’s relationship a little less with each book. *highlight for spoilers* I was still rooting for them overall, but I don’t know, it just became less appealing. While reading, I almost wondered what it would be like if Alina did start to like Nikolai, even though I didn’t want her to flake out on Mal either. I know, it’s so complicated. But I am happy they did end up together at last. By the way, I don’t understand anyone who is Team Darkling. He’s so evil, why do you love him?! But I digress…

– Even though these books did give me feels, I still felt slightly distanced from the characters (which I mentioned in my review of Shadow and Bone) for reasons I can’t really express. I think I just never really connected with any of them fully. I find the storytelling and the world of The Grisha Trilogy its strong suits, and while I liked the characters, they’re a bit weaker in comparison to the overall story or in comparison to the characters of, oh let’s say The Hunger Games, where I was completely emotionally invested in virtually all its characters. I wanted that with these books, and never got it. But to be clear, I did care about Alina, Mal, and some of the others and their well-being, it just wasn’t quite to the extent that I fully hope for.

The amazingness of this trilogy really outweighs my complaints though, and I would highly recommend this series to anyone thinking about checking it out. Each book gets 4.5 stars from me.

Content advisory: Mild language, violence, and a somewhat fade-to-black, very discreetly, not-at-all-graphically written sex scene.

Also, check out these reviews that I enjoyed and are a more eloquently written than this one:

Sana’s review of Siege and Storm

Brittany’s review of Ruin and Rising

Are you a fan of The Grisha Trilogy? What are your thoughts on the series as a whole? Or have you started and not finished (then what are you waiting for?!)?

Dreamcast: Seraphina

July 9, 2014 • 10 Comments

Recently I decided to try my hand at dreamcasting a YA book as a possible new feature here on the blog, starting with The Scorpio Races. Due to my love for Seraphina, I decided I wanted to try my hand at dreamcasting it. There are a lot of characters in Seraphina and I feel I barely scratched the surface with my choices, but it’s hard to come up with so many people (and the right people)! But here’s what I did come up with…

Kaya Scodelario as Seraphina – Josh Hutcherson as Kiggs – AnnaSophia Robb as Princess Glisselda

I don’t feel the need to elaborate on any of these choices. I don’t care if Josh is Peeta; he can totally be Kiggs too. Moving on.

Jeffrey Combs as Orma

I’m sorry if you haven’t seen enough Star Trek (specifically Deep Space Nine and Enterprise) to know the awesomeness that is Jeffrey Combs. Here you see normal Jeffrey Combs to the left, and kinda creepy Jeffrey Combs to the right. I’ve just got to say this guy has got the range, the wit, the everything needed to play the often deadpan and ornery Orma. Other, more well-known possibilities I considered for Orma were Gary Oldham and Paul Bettany, both who would be great. But really, I love Jeffrey Combs.

Helena Bonham Cater as Lady Corongi

Crazy lady who (highlight for spoilers) is actually an old man dragon in disguise? Helena’s your woman!

Sam Claflin as Earl of Aspig

Needs to be creepy to some and charismatic to others? Totally perfect for Finnick!

Michael Caine as Viridius

Michael Caine has played Scrooge and Alfred and many personalities in between, so I think he would be fabulous as the well-meaning but often cantankerous Viridius.

There’s so many other characters but I just didn’t know how to cast them! Let me know if you have suggestions! How do you feel about the choices I made?

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