Author Archives: Alexandra

Review of “The Tales of Beedle the Bard” by J. K. Rowling

Posted on by
Reply

hogwarts-library-03-the-tales-of-beedle-the-bard-j-k-rowlingTitle: The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Author: J. K. Rowling
Series: Hogwarts Library #3
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 109
Published: 2008, Bloomsbury
My Grade: 4 out of 5 fairytales

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger’s new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and of course, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” But not only are they the equal of fairy tales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter.

 

MY REVIEW

Out of all the short books from J. K. Rowling (Hogwarts Library and Pottermore Presents) I think The Tales of Beedle the Bard is my favorite. The four short wizard fairytales were entertaining and nothing at all like the fairytales we muggles grew up with. Like with the other short books, it was easy and entertaining and a good pause between heavy books.

I give it 4 out of 5 and recommend anyone to read it since it is not really connected to Harry Potter (except maybe the last fairytale “The Tale of the Three Brothers”.

Review of “Quidditch Through the Ages” by J. K. Rowling

Posted on by
1

hogwarts-library-02-quidditch-through-the-ages-j-k-rowlingTitle: Quidditch Through the Ages
Author: J. K. Rowling
Series: Hogwarts Library #2
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 64
Published: 2001, Bloomsbury
My Grade: 3.5 out of 5 snitches

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Did you know that: there are 700 ways of committing a foul in Quidditch? The game first began to evolve on Queerditch Marsh – What Bumphing is? That Puddlemere United is oldest team in the Britain and Ireland league (founded 1163). All this information and much more could be yours once you have read this book: this is all you could ever need to know about the history, the rules – and the breaking of the rules – of the noble wizarding sport of Quidditch.

 

MY REVIEW

I have to say that after reading the original Harry Potter series and watching the movies, I felt that I had a decent idea of what this game called Quidditch was about. And I was a bit confused when reading this since I read the other books in Swedish and all the stuff had different names so I had to think for a bit to try to translate so it would be easier to understand. It was great to read about the history of Quidditch and how it developed into the game that all of us Harry Potter fans are used to from the books and movies.

It was an easy read that lasted about an hour. I am surprised that I didn’t read this one sooner since I have been a Harry Potter fan since the first book came out so many many years ago. But now I finally did it and feel more confident on how the game works. I will give this book a 3.5 out of 5, like all the other short stories from J. K. Rowling where she explains stuff that wasn’t included in the books. For the big Harry Potter fan, you probably have already read it, and if not, you should read it. For the non-fans, it wouldn’t really make any sense in reading it honestly.

Review of “Hogwarts: An Incomplete & Unreliable Guide” by J. K. Rowling

Posted on by
Reply

pottermore-presents-03-hogwarts-an-incomplete-and-unreliable-guide-j-k-rowlingTitle: Hogwarts: An Incomplete & Unreliable Guide
Author: J. K. Rowling
Series: Pottermore Presents #3
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 79
Published: 2016, Pottermore
My Grade: 3.5 out of 5 secrets

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

‘The Ministry of Magic felt strongly, however, that to construct an additional wizarding station in the middle of London would stretch even the Muggles’ notorious determination not to notice magic when it was exploding in front of their faces.’ – J.K. Rowling
Pottermore Presents is a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com. These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world.

Hogwarts An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide takes you on a journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You’ll venture into the Hogwarts grounds, become better acquainted with its more permanent residents, learn more about lessons and discover secrets of the castle . . . all at the turn of a page.

 

MY REVIEW

When I was a kid I always dreamed of going to Hogwarts (like almost every other person my age who grew up with the amazing world of Harry Potter). Before seeing the first film, after only have read the first or so books, I had a picture in my head of how Hogwarts looked like. Being young as I were, I couldn’t even imagine how big it was and how many secrets it held. This book descibes a few things about the school. Some things we are all familiar with, like the moving/talking paintings were described more in detail, the same goes for the Chamber of Secrets and some of the ghosts living there.

It was an easy, short and entertaining read and have the same reasoning behind the grade as with the rest in this Pottermore Presents series. If you like Harry Potter, read it, otherwise it wouldn’t really benefitial to read it, therefore a 3.5 out of 5.

Review of “Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists” by J. K. Rowling

Posted on by
Reply

pottermore-presents-02-short-stories-from-hogwarts-of-power-politics-and-pesky-poltergests-j-k-rowlingTitle: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics, and Pesky Poltergeists
Author: J. K. Rowling
Series: Pottermore Presents #2
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 71
Published: 2016, Pottermore
My Grade: 3.5 out of 5 ministers

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

No Muggle Prime Minister has ever set foot in the Ministry of Magic, for reasons most succinctly summed up by ex-Minister Dugald McPhail (term of office 1858-1865): “their puir wee braines couldnae cope wi’ it.”’ – J.K. Rowling
Pottermore Presents is a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com with some exclusive new additions. These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world.

These stories of power, politics and pesky poltergeists give you a glimpse into the darker side of the wizarding world, revealing the ruthless roots of Professor Umbridge, the lowdown on the Ministers for Magic and the history of the wizarding prison Azkaban. You will also delve deeper into Horace Slughorn’s early years as Potions master at Hogwarts – and his acquaintance with one Tom Marvolo Riddle.

 

MY REVIEW

Very similar to the first book from Pottermore Presents, Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies. You got a timeline with all the Ministers for Magic there have ever been and what they were famous for and what theyaccomplished. It was then focused on Horace Slughorn which was the most interesting part in this book. I think I knew lots of the information, but it has been ages since I read the books and only got a feeling of “oh right, that’s what happened”. This one was more on giving information about cauldrons, potions and materialistic things, and the first one was more on characters. Both still interesting and worth a read!

Like with the first one, I give this one a 3.5 out of 5 because it was entertaining and I enjoyed reading it, but it is not something you don’t have to read, unless you are a Harry Potter-fan like me and want to know everything there is to know about the wizarding world. It took me about one hour to read, 71 pages, so no one can really say that they don’t have time to read it. It is an easy read in between other reads.

Review of “Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies” by J. K. Rowling

Posted on by
Reply

pottermore-presents-01-short-stories-from-hogwarts-of-heroism-hardship-and-dangerous-hobbies-j-k-rowlingTitle: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies
Author: J. K. Rowling
Series: Pottermore Presents #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 71
Published: 2016, Pottermore
My Grade: 3.5 out of 5 childhoods

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

‘Minerva was the Roman goddess of warriors and wisdom. William McGonagall is celebrated as the worst poet in British history. There was something irresistible to me about his name, and the idea that such a brilliant woman might be a distant relative of the buffoonish McGonagall.’ – J.K. Rowling

Pottermore Presents is a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing from the Pottermore archives: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com with some exclusive new additions. These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world.

These stories of heroism, hardship and dangerous hobbies profile two of the Harry Potter stories’ most courageous and iconic characters: Minerva McGonagall and Remus Lupin. J.K. Rowling also gives us a peek behind the closed curtains of Sybill Trelawney’s life, and you’ll encounter the reckless, magical-beast-loving Silvanus Kettleburn along the way.

 

MY REVIEW

I can’t really say that I was curious about the story behind some of the professors at Hogwarts when I read the original books growing up. Maybe except for Dumbledore since he seemed to have such an adventurous one. But it was nice to read the long storys behind Professor McGonagall and Remus Lupin. I guess I now have a better understanding to why they are like they are. The storys behind Sybill Trelawney and Silvanus Kettleburn were very short, but enough in my opinion. Neither are very interesting characters in my opinon.

It was a very enjoyable read today, short for once. And I really like that the world of Harry Potter is always expanding with stories from Pottermore.com even if the main series have been finished since long. I give it a 3.5 since I am not encouraging everyone to read it. It was however enjoyable, but not a typical 4 that I would have given another book, Lord of the Flies for example.

Review of “The Fever Code” by James Dashner

Posted on by
Reply

The Fever Code - James DashnerTitle: The Fever Code
Author: James Dashner
Series: The Maze Runner #0.6
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Pages: 347
Published: 2016, Delacorte Press
My Grade: 5 out of 5 subjects

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

Once there was a world’s end.
The forests burned, the lakes and rivers dried up, and the oceans swelled.
Then came a plague, and fever spread across the globe. Families died, violence reigned, and man killed man.
Next came WICKED, who were looking for an answer. And then they found the perfect boy.
The boy’s name was Thomas, and Thomas built a maze.
Now there are secrets.
There are lies.
And there are loyalties history could never have foreseen.
This is the story of that boy, Thomas, and how he built a maze that only he could tear down.

All will be revealed.

 

MY REVIEW

Yes, everything was definitely revealed. And it was shocking! One sentence on the second to last page made me see the whole Maze Runner trilogy completely different. When I finished this in the middle of the night last night, I couldn’t fall asleep until I had grasped what the three original books was about. And how all that changed with just that one sentence. It is crazy! It is klunking crazy!

I loved the Maze Runner series. It is up there with The Hunger Games and Divergent. Dystopian adventures for young adults. I guess Silo is the same but for older people. Anyway, the Maze Runner is amazing, loved all four books (The Kill Order, Maze Runner, Scorch Trials and the Death Cure), though the Death Cure was not as good as the rest. When the first prequel came out I was so excited to finally find out why the Maze Trials was a thing. But it didn’t really cover why WICKED did what they did, the Kill Order just described what happened during the flare and up until WICKED. The Fever Code takes place right after the Kill order and explains exactly everything that happened between the Kill Order and Maze Runner. Everything is now clear and it is more understandable why Thomas acted the way he did in the last parts of the series, even though he never recovered his lost memories, which is basically this book.

This bookis very similar to the rest in the series, which describes itself. They are really really really really good. So I recommend everyone who is into this genre, to read it, but only after the other four are read. It would not be as fun to read the original series and knowing what is revealed on the second to last page in this book. It is an easy five out of five!

Review of “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas

Posted on by
Reply

Empire of StormsTitle: Empire of Storms
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #5
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 704
Published: 2016, Bloomsbury Publishing
My Grade: 5 out of 5 embers

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don’t.

As the kingdoms of Erilea fracture around her, enemies must become allies if Aelin is to keep those she loves from falling to the dark forces poised to claim her world. With war looming on all horizons, the only chance for salvation lies in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

Aelin’s journey from assassin to queen has entranced millions across the globe, and this fifth installment will leave fans breathless. Will Aelin succeed in keeping her world from splintering, or will it all come crashing down?

 

MY REVIEW

I don’t want to wait until September next year to find out how this amazing series ends! This book’s cliffhanger at the end was the worst yet. I would lie if I said I didn’t cry. I am sure Sarah J. Maas is no George R. R. Martin so the ending most likely will be a happy one. But it is hard to see right now after that horrible and shocking ending.

Anyway, this is one of the best series I have ever read and the books just get better and better, this one is the best so far! The first one, Throne of Glass, was an incredible introduction to the series which sort of had its own story and style while the next three books kind of all blend together now that I try to think back on them. It was a while ago I read them and many books have been read since. But those three right now feels like traveling books, each focusing on an important part of Aelin’s road to regaining her kingdom though, leading up to this one. I remember the fourth one was a bit confusing because a big part was focusing on new characters and I had no idea what role they would play, but in this book, all the puzzle pieces fell into place. And not just that part, but everything else so far. You read the books, love them, feel confused but eager to find out why, and this book finally has all the answers. I love that feeling and this one was full of it!

One thing that bothered me a little was the new parts Sarah added. The sex. Sure, it is entertaining to read, but this story is so amazing in itself, that it only made it feel like she wanted to try something new. I mean, the scenes were well-written and around a hundred times better than Fifty Shades of Grey. But those scenes weren’t really needed and it felt too much when the same thing happened to all of the immortal characters who have lived forever and ever and all of them experienced the best sex they had ever had at the same time, in the same group of people. It was too much.

But except for that minor thing, this book is still one of the absolute best ones I have ever read! I want to give it a grade 6, but I can’t be that silly so I will have to stick to a 5. Everyone, if you haven’t read this series, please read it now. Or wait until next summer and read all six of them right after each other, because this year-long-waiting between every book is killing me.

The Legendary Dragonite

Posted on by
1

Tonight I reached level 27 in Pokémon Go. Many people have stopped playing that game, but as with everything for me, it is either all in or nothing. Guild Wars = all in! Aion = naah. Pokémon Go = yeah! So I am one of the loyal players of Pokémon right now. I think the game is great, I walk more now, and with updates coming all the time, the game gets interesting again every month or so. The buddy system that came a while ago was huge. But the latest update which didn’t seem like much actually did something enormous as well. The nests where the Pokémons pop up are now revealing more uncommon Pokémons and especially the evolved versions. Like today for example, I caught a Wigglytuff, Gengar and a Dewgong within 20 minutes of each other. And right before those I saw a 2400 CP Dragonite. Funny story that I thought deserved a blog post.

So, a while ago, when the game was rather new, I guess it was in July-something and I was probably level 21 something. My boyfriend was just below me and his sister level 15. We went Pokémon hunting in Slottskogen here in Gothenburg. Lots of lure in one place so we sat down, and soon heard someone scream Dragonite. One of the rarest Pokémons in the game. We saw it. Mine was 400 CP. Jesper’s was 47 and Nathalie’s was ???. For Jesper it was easy-peasy, didn’t take many tries to get it. I thought mine would be fairly easy, but to be on the safe side I started with an Ultra Ball right away (Pokéball<Great Ball<Ultra Ball). I used all my Ultra Balls (around 20), some of my Great Balls (15-ish maybe) and it escaped. Nathalie (who is only 12 years old) used all her Great Balls on it, and decided to try with a normal Pokéball. And she gets it, and the CP turns out to be 800 something. So unfair!!

Story number 2. Several months later without even spotting Dragonite again (and yet it seems like everyone in this stupid town has it because all the gyms have at least one), I saw one that was in the area. And I noticed that right when I sat down on the tram to go to the train station to go to work after school. Was today finally going to be the day when I got my Dragonite? I didn’t have time to get off the train. So I went off at the next stop, jumped on a new one to go back to try and catch it. I found it directly, and it had 2400 CP! Crazy! Once again I started with Ultra Balls, but I could only use 2 before it ran away. Twice now. So unfair! I think the game felt sorry for me though, because within an hour I had caught not one… not two… but three fully-evolved Pokémons. Gengar, Wigglytuff and Dewgong.

It is great that rarer Pokémons spawn now, and I hope Dragonite will come more often than every three months. I want it!! It’s annoying to have 122 Pokémons in my Pokédex, but have seen 123. Not too many left until I have them all (151).

Stupid, addicting game.

149dragonite_ag_anime

Upcoming TV shows

Posted on by
Reply

This week I have gotten two very good pieces of news. Two new TV shows are coming (I think next year?) based on books I recently read. Apparently Netflix is doing a series about the unfortunate Baudelaire children, the book series of 13 books, which I recently read. One book will be covered in two episodes so the whole series should then be 26 episodes long. And Count Olaf will be played by no other than mr. Neil Patrick Harris (Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother) and the show will be Netflix’s most expensive show yet. I am excited to say the least. Hard to imagine Neil as Olaf, but the picture on this link shows that he will do just fine (maybe even better than Jim Carrey, though he did a pretty amazing job in the movie from 2004 (covering the first 3 books of the show). Why didn’t they do the rest? That movie was actually pretty good!). This was the first I heard of this TV show, so I guess reading them this spring was a smart move from my consciousness.

The second piece of good news is even better than the first one. One of my favorite book series, Throne of Glass, will be turned into a TV show (maybe next year?). I am currently reading the 5th and second to last book in the series, Empire of Storms and it is incredible. About a third read so far. I can’t wait for this show! And I sure hope they will make it good, because the books are amazing. Here is a link to the website I found the news on. It will be called Queen of Shadows (like book number four).

Review of “1984” by George Orwell

Posted on by
1

1984-george-orwellTitle: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Series: –
Genre: Science Fiction, Political Fiction, Dystopian
Pages: 328
Published: 1949, Penguin Books
My Grade: 5 out of 5 posters

GOODREADS’ DESCRIPTION

The year 1984 has come and gone, but George Orwell’s prophetic, nightmarish vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is timelier than ever. 1984 is still the great modern classic of “negative utopia” -a startlingly original and haunting novel that creates an imaginary world that is completely convincing, from the first sentence to the last four words. No one can deny the novel’s hold on the imaginations of whole generations, or the power of its admonitions -a power that seems to grow, not lessen, with the passage of time.

 

MY REVIEW

Wow! Just wow. It has truly been a delight to read this extremely dark dystopian novel. After about ten pages I felt connection to this book because of the way it was written. It has now been 67 years since this book was first published, it came out right after WWII, it’s forever ago!! But you couldn’t tell (like with Lord of the Flies). I don’t know how to describe it, but the words Orwell used, the sentence structure, it just made so much sense and I felt the flow when I was reading it like I have never done before.

And then comes the story on top of that. Wow again! It is not a story in a way that the characters move around and do stuff all the time, not like Lord of the Rings for example, or Maze Runner. This is just simply about a man in a big-brother society who questions big brother. You get to follow his line of thought, you get to see him fall in love, and seemingly getting away with it all. I can’t really say anything that won’t spoil, but most of the book was just a long way towards the end where everything happened. I still don’t really understand how or why it ended like it did. The last page and what happened there, I totally get, but not the part before that. It was really a mindfuck-read. I didn’t expect it to be, but it really was. This book kind of reminded me of the movie Shutter Island (I haven’t read the book yet, Patient 97, but it is on my list).

It’s scary to think about really. I know it is a made-up story, but how can a country (or empire maybe? I don’t know what they called it) just so easily buy everything that Big Brother says? One day the news sadly announced that the chocolate ratio had gone down from 30g per week to 20g. And literally the next day the news announced that the chocolate ratio had increased to 20g and everyone is super happy about it. No questions whatsoever about the news the day before! It is the same with everything Big Brother tells them. Winston (the main character) understands how, but not the why. The end of the book explains why, and it is scary because that is probably true in reality too.

It is hard to write reviews without spoiling. To sum it up, it is an easy and very enjoyable read, you kind of have to be focused while reading it to not miss something, lots of things happen in the end and after it is all done, you can’t stop yourself from asking “what the fuck?” Definitely one of the best books I have ever read, so I strongly recommend everyone to read it, especially people who love dystopian future novels. Crystal clear five!