Review: Red Riding Hood

Tags

abrupt endings, book reviews, book to movie, Fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, love triangle, Red Riding Hood, Review, Sarah Blakley-Cartwright, unrealistic expectations for female characters

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

You may have heard negative comments about the ending to this book. They are all justified. The book just ends without any resolution to the major plot points. Now, if that would have been the purpose of the ending about how life is unfulfilled, well, I could have accepted that. But no, once you turn the page, the book instructs you to go to a website to read the rest of the story. How about “no”. I invested hours into this book that could have been spent watching the movie instead, and you tell me to go to a website because you didn’t want to spoil the movie for people when the book was originally released. Who’s brilliant idea was this anyway? Because when the book first came out, people who checked the website for the extra material were told to come back on March 13th. At that point, it would have killed any interest I would have had in seeing the movie.

But it’s not enough that the major plot point of the identity of the wolf is left unresolved. The poor excuse for a love triangle doesn’t even get any real sense of closure. The entire book Valerie swears up and down that she loves Peter and she couldn’t possibly ever love Henry. So there’s not really a lot of tension in the love triangle because Valerie is never conflicted about any of it. Oh, that’s right, until the last twenty pages when she has an epiphany about how good life could have been with Henry even as she’s already made the decision to run away Peter. Those are the kind of doubts that should have been present earlier in the book, not left until the very last minute. So, a love triangle that barely existed was resolved with her choosing one but thinking about how she could have been happy with the other one. Except we never actually get to see what’s so great about either of these guys. We’re told that one’s the bad boy and that the other one would be able to provide for her financially, but there’s never any moments that show us why Valerie should be in love with either one of them. She picks the bad boy because the village always made her feel like there was a darkness in her? Because she killed a rabbit once? Don’t you live in a medieval village where killing animals was probably a part of daily life? Or did that job belong exclusively to the butcher who was then shunned by the rest of the community for his evil ways yet they still crawled back to him because he was the only way they could ever get their precious meat?

I don’t particularly care for this trend either where young woman cannot be friends with each other without turning on each other and being extremely catty when it comes to boys. Whatever happened to girls sticking by each other? I mean, all of Valerie’s friends turned on her when she was engaged to Henry, when it wasn’t even their decision. I have to question how many marriages are arranged in this town to begin with, which meant they might not have ever stood a chance with Henry anyway. Also, the fetishism of Valerie’s small waist disturbs me. At one point it was mentioned that one of Valerie’s friends could wrap her hands around her waist and have her fingers touch on the other side. Now, either Valerie is secretly six, or she has no organs. Then she wonders why people so easily believe that she is a witch.

So, by now you’re probably wondering why the two stars. Because I was actually kind of liking the book for a while. I mean, it wasn’t the worst book I have ever read. It was bearable. I was actually starting to enjoy it in some places. Like when Henry was spying on Peter and Valerie together and I instantly made the decision that he should go join them. This might have actually been a better solution to the whole love triangle, if the two boys could just manage to get along.

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Resident Evil Revelations Demo Now Live

Tags

Capcom, demo, gameplay mechanics, Jill Valentine, resident evil revelations, Survival horror

The Resident Evil Revelations demo was released on May 14th for the XBox and PS3.  Even though the game is a port from the original 3DS game, there are several fans, such as myself, who never actually got to play the game because we don’t have enough money or simply care enough to drop money into every system they decide to release a franchise game on.  In fact, this game was one of the only reasons why I was thinking of buying a 3DS, so I’m glad Capcom made the decision to port it.  Yes, it was solely a marketing decision because Resident Evil 6 did not meet their expectations, but I’m not complaining.  Of course, you would have heard much complaining if I had sacrificed my hard-earned money on a new system for them to turn around a year later and release it on a system I already own.  For those of you this happened to, I’m sorry.  I’ve been there.

Enough about game economics!  Let’s talk about the demo.  You get to play a portion of Jill’s campaign, and the biggest downside to this is that the demo itself is very short.  I finished it in about seven minutes.  You don’t really get much of a sense of the story in that short time period, but you do get to experience the atmosphere and gameplay mechanics.  You even get treated to two cutscenes!  Here’s the thing with the graphics: you can tell they were ported from a system that had a lower resolution.  Especially when they start talking.  The rest of the time, however, the game is beautiful.  I would say graphics equality is around the level of Resident Evil 0 or 4.

The gameplay is everything I wanted and yet didn’t get from Resident Evil 6.  It’s a lot like the older games in terms of style, and actually feels like a horror game.  That might change the further you get into the game, but from the demo, I’m ready to tell Capcom to take all my hard-earned overtime money this week and give me the game.  If you haven’t played the game on the 3Ds, I recommend trying out the demo.  It won’t even take that long.

Happy Mother’s Day

Tags

Family, Happy Mother's Day, holiday, Home, Mothers Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, the expectant mothers, those who will be mothers in the future, the surrogate mothers, those who have been moms in their hearts, to all the single fathers and to every man and woman out there who has ever selflessly helped someone else to live.  This one’s for you.

Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Tags

Augustus, book reviews, Books, Cancer, Hazel, John Green, the Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book came into my life at exactly the right moment. I had heard nothing but good things about it, seen a million pictures of it on the writing communities on tumblr, and yet I still resisted reading it because I was afraid it wasn’t going to live up to the hype. It didn’t, not exactly the way I was expecting it to. After a while, I finally caved and put a copy on hold at the library. They called me on a Saturday evening and told me they would hold it until Tuesday. Since my other books were due back that Tuesday, I decided to wait and pick it up on Tuesday. I began to read it right away because the library does not allow renewals on books that have been placed on hold by other users. That night, a very dear friend of mine passed away from cancer.

This book was exactly what I needed. The way Green handles matters of life and death helped me with what would have otherwise been a very difficult time. Sure, the teenagers seem to have the personalities of full-grown adults, but I’ve actually seen that happen first-hand. I know a girl who swears that she was born with a thirty-year old soul already inside her body.

The thing is, I think I liked this book for different reasons than everyone else did. Everybody was talking about their feelings, and how this book ripped their heart out of their chest and stomped on it. That didn’t happen for me. I understand there was a very strict no-spoiler policy in place for this book, and I can understand why. Knowing the spoiler for this book will definitely lower the emotional impact. The trouble is, when everyone is running around screaming about their feels and how they were trampled, certain readers will be able to pick up on that plot twist five pages into the book. Which is not a whole lot of fun. I don’t blame you guys for spoiling it for me, because, even if you take away the emotional aspect, there is so much good to love about this book. In fact, without the emotional appeal, it might actually become a little clearer.

I have to admit, my favorite parts of the novel were actually those dealing with Peter Van Houten. Because Hazel idolized him without knowing anything about him just because he wrote this amazing book. Then they finally get to meet him, and it turns out he’s human after all, because he’s a bit rude to them and has a bit of a drinking problem. Yet Hazel was so wrapped up in her idolization of him that she didn’t realize that he wrote his masterpiece from his own place of pain, so every time she did something in regards to his book, all she did was remind him of that place. Could he have controlled his reactions better? Perhaps, but the point is, the entire exchange is so realistic and so human that it becomes absolutely beautiful.

As of the time I am writing this, there are over 34,000 reviews for this book on goodreads. I know mine does not seem like much in comparison, but if you are debating whether or not to read this book, I recommend waiting for the right time. Because this is one of those books that will find you when you need it the most.

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Review: Inked Magic

Tags

book reviews, erotica, Plot device, Threesome

Inked Magic by Jory Strong
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My friend let me borrow a copy of this book because she thought I would be interested in the threesome scene. Those were the expectations I had when I started reading this book.

Inked Magic made a decent attempt at a plot that didn’t revolve entirely around sex. However, the characters spent so much time thinking about sex, having sex, or wondering when they were going to have sex next, that there were times it was difficult to remember that Etain had growing magical powers or that there was a rapist on the loose. Unfortunately, the book was also highly repetitive at times. There are only so many ways an alpha male can express how much he has to have this character right now on his terms before you’re just hoping that she ultimately ends up leaving both of them.

Perhaps my biggest disappointment with this book revolves around the rapist subplot. Towards the end of the book, Etain is captured by the rapist, only to be rescued by her two lovers shortly after she is taken to his usual spot. You can’t even begin to understand how attempted rape as a plot device for the hero to save the heroine even begins to make me feel. And then when she gets home she decides she wants to have sex with both of them right now. On the other hand, you would think with Cathal’s cousin having been raped that the book would be a little more self-aware about rape issues. Yet, Cathal tells Etain that if she shows up at his club in a mini-skirt, he won’t be able to control himself. I don’t care if she acts like she wants you now, I don’t care what she’s wearing, if she tells you no later you better damn well keep it in your pants. Obviously because of the nature of the book, she was still going to want him later, but that doesn’t give him the right to say something like that to her.

The book does gain a star for amusement factor alone. Like, everyone in this town is massively endowed. Now, I can understand having the heroes well-endowed, even if I don’t necessarily agree with it. But commenting on the size of the gay guy who’s never going to show up again? Our sex-crazed heroine doesn’t even have a chance with this guy, and she still has to mention the size of the bulge in his pants. What happened to all the guys with average sized dicks? Did they take one look at the man standing next to them and just decided to go jump off a bridge?

As for the promised sex scene, well, I was disappointed. Since they’re all having sex from the beginning of the book, the “payoff” scene in this novel was the threesome scene, and it ended up falling flat. Seriously, it was like two one-on-one sex scenes fused together with the other alpha male hovering in the background and tagged a threesome. I was expecting something a little more, I don’t know, daring? It was pretty much the idle of what a man thinks a m/f/m sex scene should be like, and I was rather disappointed. They just, took turns. It was boring. And since the book had already been inundated with other one-on-one sex scenes, it didn’t feel like much of a payoff either.

Inked Magic is entertaining enough for a summer read, but ultimately I was left wanting something more from this book. Maybe the sequel will give it to me.

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Review: The Borgias: The Hidden History

Tags

Borgia, Cesare Borgia, House of Borgia, Lucrezia Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, Rome

The Borgias: The Hidden History by G.J. Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve made a point of reading just about every Borgia book I can get my hands on. This has included some that were so old that some of the information presented should not be taken seriously under any circumstances. Since we are always gathering additional historical evidence, naturally I wanted to read Meyer’s book as soon as I heard it was an updated history of the Borgias. Also, I was hoping to gather some information I could use for the Borgia novels I’m working on.

As a history book, it ranks among the most informative when it comes to the Borgias. The book starts with Calixtus and travels all the way down to Cesare. The biggest disappointment with this book comes from the cut off before we really start to delve into Lucrezia‘s third marriage. There seems to be this misconception that Lucrezia’s third marriage was not interesting enough for the historical record, or perhaps in this case, it was simply a belief that the information surrounding her third marriage is mostly accurate. This book is about cleansing the Borgia name, to take the myths and replace them with facts. Along the way, Meyer mentions specific incidents that most Borgia researchers are familiar with and dismantles them with opposing evidence, from the orgies supposedly held by Rodrigo Borgia to the fact that Lucrezia and Cesare were his children.

Perhaps it’s because I’m not Catholic, but I don’t understand how having children precludes you from being a good Pope. Obviously, it means you didn’t quite follow the rules correctly back when you were a Cardinal, but I don’t see how it could possibly prevent someone from being a strong leader, regardless of whether the children were acknowledged.

One of the things that unfortunately deterred me from this work was that we are supposed to believe that the rumors about the Borgias are lies because the sources were not always necessarily credible. For instance, Rodrigo did not have a mistress, nor was Lucrezia unfaithful to Alfonso d’Este. We are asked to put aside our preconceived notions of the matter and look at the hard evidence before we jump to any judgmental conclusions. The entire book is based around this premise. Yet when it comes to people who are not the Borgias, we are to believe the rumors. Specifically, della Rovere was nothing more than a jealous, blood-thirsty bastard and Sancia was a whore who slept with half of Rome. Seriously. Half of Rome. If we are supposed to believe that the stories of the Borgias were nothing more than unreliable rumors from Borgia enemies, and that a vast majority of the source material is not to be trusted, how are we then to turn around and judge other historical figures based on the same principal? Rumors. Stories. The sad truth remains that there is no way to validate any of these claims of any of the people who lived during the time unless you have invented a time machine. So why are we supposed to assume the Borgias are innocent, but the people who are not the Borgias are guilty?

The biggest disappointment in this book was the blatant disregard for the television series. You know the one, the one they were marketing the book with by making the release date close to the season 3 premiere? The show that is possibly going to give Meyer a good portion of non-historian readers because they wanted to learn the real history behind the show. Granted, if you don’t like the show, you don’t like the show. However, it seems like Meyer has not even watched the show since he seems to think that Rodrigo Borgia is portrayed as a monster, when, fans could tell you, he’s played as a multi-faceted human being.

Other than that, it’s a thorough history (of the males), and the information on the Borgias themselves is incredibly well-researched and thought out. I just ask that while you are reading it, you keep the same open mind towards the other historical figures that Meyer asks you to keep towards the Borgias.

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Related articles

• The Borgias Season 3 Preview Buzz (lynnebubbles.wordpress.com)
• The Borgias and Their Enemies

The Borgias Season 3 Preview Buzz

Tags

Banquet of Chestnuts, Borgia, Borgiacest, Caterina Sforza, House of Borgia, Lucrezia Borgia, Neil Jordan, Sean Harris

The Borgias Season 3 returns this Sunday night at 10/9c for it’s third season.  Rumor has it that this might be the final season, so we should all enjoy it as much as we can while it lasts.   This season starts off with Rodrigo suffering from the aftereffects of an attempted poisoning and Caterina Sforza on a mission to kill the entire family.  Spoiler: I’m pretty sure they escape since all three of them are listed in the episode synopsis for the remainder of the season.  Notably absent: Joffre.  Then again, I’ve about given up all hope that the show is ever going to remember that Joffre exists again.  Now, I have yet to actually watch the entirety of the second season, but I’m pretty sure from what I’ve seen he was barely in it.

What can we expect from the Borgias Season 3?  Things both wonderful and distressing.

First of all, we are getting official Borgiacest.  If this was surprising to anyone, I’m sorry if you haven’t watched any of the trailers yet.  The only thing that disappoints me with this is I remember Neil Jordan saying at the very beginning that he was not going to go that route.  Going with the incest route is hardly revolutionary, especially in the case of the Borgias.  Instead of being shocking, it’s simply the same old song that countless other writers have sung before.  What would have been different in this case, and more of a pleasant surprise, would be not going the incest route.  Especially since the Canal+ version has been going the incest route since the first season.

In more exciting news, Micheletto is getting his own story arc this season.  Not only his own story arc, but he’s actually getting a love interest.  Although, I am rather disturbed by how secretive they are being about the character’s gender.  Most of the summaries refer to the love interest by name or as Micheletto’s lover.  we already know he’s into men, so unless the character actually turns out to be a girl, I don’t understand what the huge secret is.  If he is, in fact, supposed to be presented as bisexual, I don’t understand what the huge secret is there either.  Still, for any fans of Sean Harris‘ Micheletto, his separate character arc is fairly exciting news.

I’ve read the promos for all ten episodes, and at the end of the list, I started to despair we would ever get a season 4.  First of all, the Ballet of Chestnuts was pushed to an early episode of this season.  For those who don’t know, the Ballet of Chestnuts was a party held in celebration of Lucrezia’s third marriage.  So, by advancing it historically, they’re pretty much admitting that they don’t believe they will get to Lucrezia’s third marriage.  Although, the description of the Ballet proves problematic.  Apparently, in The Borgias, it was an orgy designed to record the various sexual activities of the cardinals for blackmail purposes later.  Stop putting your twenty-first century morality into a historical time period.  The Ballet of Chestnuts was a celebration, not an attempt at blackmail.  What’s wrong with having an orgy just for the sake of having an orgy?  Besides that, there’s a good possibility that the real Ballet of Chestnuts was not an orgy at all, given the shoddy historical records of the time from Borgia enemies.  It is far more likely that it was simply a feast given in celebration of Lucrezia’s third marriage, and the prostitutes were probably there as an act of charity.  Because that was the type of generous spirit Pope Alexander really was.

The second reason why it seems unlikely that we will be getting a season 4 is because if Neil Jordan caved and included Borgiacest, how would he possibly be able to deal with the backlash of separating them in season 4 when he ships Lucrezia off to Ferrara?  Either that or TBTB did not think Holliday Grainger would be able to carry the season on her own, which is doing her a huge disservice.

Speculation of Season 4 aside, make sure you tune in on Sunday at 10/9c for The Borgias.

• Review: The Borgias Season 1

• The Borgias: Micheletto Corella

• Character Profile: Ferrante d’Este

Review: Spartacus War of the Damned: Spoils of War

Tags

Crixus, Donar, gannicus, Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, Saxa, Sibyl, Spartacus, television, things that will never be okay, tv reviews

Run, Team Germania, run!  Run faster.  Faster.  You guys are quite possibly the most fascinating characters on the show, and you need to run away faster.  Well, things were not as dire as I had originally predicted, because Spartacus took a small group with him to check to make sure the gates were sealed.  I think that’s why he decided to magically show up when he did.  Thus saving Saxa, Agron and Donar from an early death.  Crixus, on the other hand, manages to look impressed at Spartacus’ skill, like he had never seen him fight before or something.

Once they kill some Romans, they quickly assess the situation.  Gannicus volunteers to serve as a distraction to give the rest of them time to get out the northern gate and into the mountain passes.  Also, he has no plan and has decided to make it up as he goes along.  Saxa looks genuinely sad to see him risk his life for the rest of them, and once Gannicus is left, he finds Donar has decided to stay with him.  Because Donar believes that his passing would be of even lesser concern to the group than Gannicus.  No, Donar, no, because after Gannicus’ actions in this episode, I would much rather see Gannicus pass than you.

While wandering through the city, they happen across Sibyl, who had not managed to escape at the time when the Romans came in.  Quite conveniently, I might add.  Gannicus tries his epic distraction, but it doesn’t work, because Crassus is smarter than Gannicus and recognizes the distraction for what it really is.  What are you going to do now, Gannicus?  The answer to that one is get Donar killed.   While they are fighting in the streets, Donar takes a blow somewhere and falls to the ground unconscious.  Gannicus takes one look at him, doesn’t even really check to see if he is dead or not, decides he already has one liability in the form of Sibyl, and leaves Donar in the middle of the street.  Guess what, Gannicus?  He is dead now, because you decided Sibyl was more important.  Haven’t you ever heard of bros before hos?  I mean, if Gannicus was unused to injuries on the battlefield, that would be one thing.  But Gannicus has seen people survive far worse, and he just leaves him there without checking to see if he was alive.  After Donar so bravely volunteered to go with you.  So now I really don’t care what happens to Gannicus, or Sibyl at this point.

Back with the Romans, Caesar got a haircut and is actually starting to look rather pretty.  He goes to pick up Laeta to deliver her to her new pretty bath.  I hate the fake pubic hair.  It’s actually rather disturbing looking.  Meanwhile, Crassus tells his son that he is to throw a party in Caesar’s honor and sells Laeta to the pirates.  Not Queen Laeta, you jerk.

Gannicus and Sibyl are hiding underneath the floorboards of the stable where Laeta had been hiding the Romans earlier.  He wisely deduces that they can’t stay there for ever, and gives Sibyl a dagger to slit her throat with if he should not return.  Now, here’s the problem I have with Sibyl.  Up to this point she has done nothing to live her own life.  Everything she does, she does because of Gannicus.  When I say I want a strong female character, I don’t mean a character who can fight.  I mean I want a female character who can exist on her own, especially without the aid of a man.  We have two other women on the show who aren’t going to be winning any sword contests any time soon, but they’re still strong characters.  Because they both take their fate into their own hands instead of waiting around for someone else to take care of it for them.

Before the celebration, Julius Caesar gets a gift of two women who are pretty into each other.  What happened to this show?  I miss the women with different breast types.  I miss the naked men.  I miss Lucy Lawless.  This scene is also proof of why  they should never attempt to do lesbians as main characters, because they seem to be impossible of doing lesbians without pandering.  Their decision to stick with gay males is widely regarded as a wise one.  Afterwards, the Romans are treated to a celebration that seems like it was inspired by too many Saw movies.  Tiberius, being the little snake that he is, releases Donar’s bonds in the hopes that Donar will be able to kill Caesar.  He made a good run for it, and let’s be honest, we were all rooting for it despite what history says, but Caesar plays dirty.  Before he can finish him, however, Donar takes his own life to deny Caesar the pleasure.  Filing this under things that will never be okay.  Also, let’s talk about the bad writing surrounding Donar’s death.  It seems like we killed him for no other reason than to have a main character die at this point, but we thought it was still too early for one of the series regulars.  Poor Donar was the last one who had been around since Blood and Sand, so he was put on the chopping block.  We already discussed the bad writing surrounding his capture.  After all, Gannicus had seen people survive far worse.  He only assumed Donar was dead because  it was easier for the writing if they only had to have Gannicus and the two girls escape, not to mention the issue of their desire to kill off a major-minor character.  I don’t actually complain about the Spartacus writing alot, if at all, but this really struck me the wrong way.  It would have made much more sense had Gannicus and Donar been separated in some other way than Gannicus couldn’t be bothered to check to see if he was still alive or not.

Gannicus and the girls make it out of the city, but not before my Queen Laeta gets speared in the side.  Yet another thing that will never be okay.  They make it back to the new rebel encampment, and we find out that Crassus has them trapped in the pass by a giant wall and trench he had built somewhere earlier in the season.

Revolution: The Stand

Tags

Billy Burke, Charlie, Danny, David Lyons, Monroe, NBC Revolution, Rachel, Revolution, television reviews, tv shows

After a four month hiatus, Revolution finally came back.   I had some misgivings about the second half of the season due to some unsavory spoilers I heard about what we were to expect, but I decided to give it a go anyway.  Mostly because David Lyons is perfect and Billy Burke is a close second.  Only time will really be able to tell us if the second half of the season is actually worth it, but, right now, it’s not looking so good.

So, we start off exactly where we left off with Monroe using his newfound power to chase down Charlie and Co with some helicopters.  The gang runs into an abandoned store and hide in the industrial freezer as the helicopter launches a missile at them.  Note to self: in the event of World War III, hide in the freezer at work.  That’s sure to protect me from all sorts of evils in the world.  The next step is getting out of Philadelphia, which isn’t going to be easy since everyone knows what Miles looks like.  So the show gives us a wagon with dead bodies to secret everyone out of the city, with Charlie using her brand to fool the guards.  So, we only branded Charlie as plot device, right?  Are we ever going to do something on this show that doesn’t turn into a walking plot device?  More on that later.  Meanwhile, I wasn’t all that concerned with how they were going to get out of the city; now I’m just concerned over where they got the bodies and horses from.  And what they did with the bodies in the coffins the living people were hiding in.

I think this was about the time where we had a brief Monroe scene.  I’m just going to condense them all into one, because I didn’t take notes, and I don’t quite remember where exactly in the episode they took place.  Despite orders that Miles is to be killed with the other traitors/rebels, Monroe seems to be having a hard time convincing himself that he actually wants Miles dead.  If anything, the more he tries to avoid talking about Miles, the more you can tell that is exactly what he’s thinking of.  I really hope they aren’t planning on killing Monroe at the end of the season, because quite frankly, he’s the only reason I’m hanging on at this point.

After some happy family time with the group, Rachel says they need to get some power of their own.  And she just happens to know someone who lives nearby.  Close enough that even though she and Miles go one way while Charlie and Danny go with Nora to the rebel camp, that they are only twelve hours apart from each other by horseback.  Uncanny.  That pendant was right under Monroe’s nose the entire time!  And no one noticed that this guy had electricity!

Jason and his dad have a falling out over the fact that Jason has an annoying tendency to see the world in black and white.  It’s war, boy, people die.  Do you honestly think the rebels would really care that much if militia children died?  The militia recruits young, obviously, and if the rebels would attack Philadelphia, a lot of civilians would die in the process.  Then again, this is probably just another problem with the writing, where no matter what atrocities the protagonists commit, they are still pure but the antagonists are evil because the show tells us so.  At this point, all I see in Monroe is a broken man.

Rachel and Miles share a “moment,” which made me want to throw my tv out a window.  Really, we do not need Miles to be involved in some teenage hormonal love triangle.  Not to mention, if we’re supposed to be seeing them in this black and white universe you want to create with your characters, what are we supposed to do with the implications that Rachel was cheating on her husband with his brother?  If not physically, then at the very least, emotionally.  Either realize your characters don’t fall into the black and white morality and deal with it, or stop trying to craft your universe around that black and white morality.  You can’t have both.

Charlie and Danny are with the rebels when Jason tells them an air strike is coming.  Charlie begs with Danny to sit this one out, but he insists that he’s old enough to make his own decisions and she doesn’t have to hold his hand anymore.  Oh, look, I see where this is going.  We all see where this is going.

The air strike starts, and instead of using those missiles we know the helicopters have, they spend a lot of time wasting bullets.  I thought an air strike would involve some type of explosive, not a ridiculous amount of bullets wasted despite the alleged bullet shortage that’s been going on for years.  Rachel and Miles show up just in time with a rocket launcher, and Rachel somehow figures out which helicopter has the amplifier on it.  Miles is about to take aim when he looks over his shoulder at his girls, apparently deciding which one he was going to tap tonight.  Or something.  Miles, now is not the time to be dealing with your sordid love life.  Look at what it did to your nephew/son.  Look.

Anyway, Miles drops the rocket launcher and Danny rushes forward to pick it up.  He shoots the helicopter with the amplifier despite a complete lack of military training, and then instead of running away, just sort of stands there in awe.  And gets shot down by the other chopper.  Now, this is the part that really bothers me.  Because the amplifier was already destroyed.  Right?  That’s why the choppers were going down.  And a machine gun on a black hawk is usually going to be electrically fired.  Do you see where I’m going with this?  A black hawk that has lost all electric power is not going to be firing anything.    Not only is Danny’s death pointless, it doesn’t make any sense.  And yes, it was pointless.  Because it was included as part of character motivation so the rest of them would take down Monroe.  Because he didn’t kill Ben.  Or keep Rachel hostage for years.  How much motivation does Charlie really need?  Maybe we should kill Miles as well, just to make sure that girl is well and truly committed.

Review: Organize Your Life: Free Yourself from Clutter & Find More Personal Time

Tags

book reviews, clutter, Time management

Organize Your Life: Free Yourself from Clutter & Find More Personal Time by Ronni Eisenberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is not for everyone. I originally picked this book up because I thought it might actually have some useful advice for the common person, but it doesn’t. It puts you into a cookie cutter mold, and if you don’t fit the shape, this book doesn’t help you. This book gives you the impression that it doesn’t even want to help you, because, quite frankly, you do not meet their qualifications.

What exactly do I mean? This book works under the premise that you have a 9-5, Monday – Friday job. It assumes you have a family, and if you have children, it assumes you have a spouse. All of the advice is geared towards people who fall into this category. At one point, the book even suggests that if household chores are simply bogging you down too much, hire a maid. Hire a nanny to help you with the kids so that you have more time for you. Who has that kind of money?

The people who really need help in making the most of their time are the ones who are actually struggling. The ones who are not covered by the topics presented in this book. Where is the advice for the single mother working two jobs while trying to raise her kids because there is no child support? Where’s the advice for the single person trying to pay off student loans? Forget about having a family to help with their problems; that person doesn’t have time to be focusing on finding a spouse to make a family with.

Let me put it to you this way; if you have a steady job, with steady hours, and enough money to pay a mortgage and hire a maid yet you still have the audacity to complain about how terrible your life is because you have people coming over for a dinner party and, oh my god, you absolutely don’t know what to do with that pile of unpaid bills sitting out on the counter, I don’t want to hear from you. The only person who wants to hear from you is the author of this book, so she can take your money while telling you simple common sense things that you want to hear. There are people with real problems out there, people who could actually benefit from finding more time for themselves so they can get out of whatever situation they’re in. Why don’t we try helping them for a change?

Oh, and while I have your attention: finding good chunks of time is like finding a good sex life. Little ones are all you’re going to get, so you might as well make the most of them.

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