The Gemma Doyle trilogy

This trilogy of books by Libba Bray include "A Great And Terrible Beauty","Rebel Angels"and "The Sweet Far Thing."I have a previous post about the first book in this trilogy, which you can be sure to check out.
Gemma Doyle arrives in London to attend the famous Spence Academy for Young Ladies after the tragic death of er mother. Having spent her while life in India, Gemma enters a lonely new world of confusion and grief. She quickly befriends her roommate Ann, a scholarship student destined to be a governess for her cousins. Subsequently she meets Felicity and Pippa, Ann's daring friends. However , new friendships are not all that hahahahaha come to Gemma, as strange visions begin to appear. She finds a mysterious diary, of a girl named Mary who once was a student at spence. The diary tells a thrilling tale of a magical world known as "the realms" which is governed by women soreceres known as The Order. With the help of one of their teachers, te girls begin to search for the difference between fairy tales, and reality. Gemma begins to learn that she is no ordinary girl and that her mother may not have been who she seemed. As they delve deeper into the story of the realms they learn of a rouge member of the Order, a woman named Circe. Much to their surprise and horror, they begin to unravel the mystery of the realms and the deadly fire which destroyed the east wing of the school and killed the founder and two girls . The four girls realize they've been reading a dead girl's diary, or are they? Adding to Gemmas confusion is a gypsie boy named Kartik who warn her of the powers of the realms. Although they are destined to be enemies, Gemma beings to have feelings for the strange secretive boy. The four girls travle into the realms, but return as only three. Gemma and her friends return to the realms often, to find it changing and becoming increasingly inpredictable. Plauged by visions, power, and heartbreak, Gemma MIT figure out what to do. Meanwhile they must continue with their schooling to be proper ladies and deal with gossip and family drama. Everyone is not wjo they seem, and it seems as though everyone is a small pawn in a chess game. The time draws near for Gemma to join the battle for power in the realms, but suddenly it pours into reality. Gemma must return to the realms with her friends, and some former enemies, to restore the peace and power of the realms.

I really enjoyed this trilogy, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. There is enough love, fantasy, and mystery to make you believe it is a fairy tale, but but also be realistic. I read the first book last summer and the second and third this summer, and they are all beautifully written. It's set in England at the turn of the century when times are changing and the place of women is starting to be questioned. These books are very much about how women have the power to do many things, if they try. I hope you pick up these books soon:)

The 13 Reasons Why

A while back I read The Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. I have to say that it is a wonderful book and one of the most moving stories I have ever read. This story is about a girl who committed suicide in high school. Before she died she made tape recordings that were sent to 13 people. Each person who on the list had their own tape dedicated to them. They were the 13 reasons why she decided to end her life. This book follows Clay Jensen, one of people to get the tapes. He had a crush on Hannah for a long time, and it horrified by the tapes. Over one night Clay wanders around his town listening to Hannah's voice in his head as she explains what happened to ruin her life.

I thought this book was very well written and realistic. Each page leads the reader to a devastating realization of what actions can cause. This book makes you want to stop reading and yet it's addicting. It is the type of tragedy when you already know who dies at the beginning of the story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is 12 and older.

kathryn

The Hunger Games Movie

Yes! It's finally coming next month! The Hunger Games Movie will be in theaters March 23. I highly suggest going out to see it because I loved the books. I personally really hope the movie stays true to the book and doesn't change the story line. Also, I love Taylor Swift's song, Safe And Sound which will be on the soundtrack. Be sure to check it out:)

kkuhar

Thoughts: friendship

I haven't posted a while lot of thoughts, so I decided to start. Today's post is on friendship. Friends are some of the mist confusing people you will ever meet. Everybody as their own pack of 'besties' and are kinda expected to hang out with them. Of course the world doesn't work out like that. Sometimes you need to get away from the people you care then most about and just make new friends, build new bridges. That's the beauty of true friends, they won't ever stop caring about you even when you stop hanging out. Once a friend, your always a friend. I hate it when people have huge fights, and I truly believe that people never truly loose friends, they might just push them away. You'll always have those memories together.

Mary, Bloody mary

In the classic story of King Henry VIII and his many wives one person who often gets looked over is Mary. She was the 1st daughter of the king, and by far the oldest. She was a catholic, and daughter of a Spanish princess. During her reign as queen England had a very dark period of slaughter and religious persecution. This book delves into mary's life as she sees her father change from a good king to a tyranny. She is forbidden to see her mother and deemed illegitament, her title taken away. She is personally humiliated by Anne bolyen, the woman who changed her father, and the eventual threat of execution. Mary's life is full of danger, deceit, change, and chaos. From a princess to a lowly maid Mary is a very compelling character often forgotten by history. Personally I loved this book and found it very interesting and great historical fiction.

Fall reading

I can't believe it's already october, were heading into fall. I have some reviews that could go along with Halloween, Fall, and spookiness. Check back each week for a new review :)

Kathryn

Updates, Gordon Korman,

Sorry i haven't posted in a REALLY long time, but I've been pretty busy. There are a bunch of new books I've read, but unfortunately I cannot do a review on all of them. Below is the list of my recent readings:
Deep and Dark and Dangerous- Ghost story that was sorta spooky but really good
Wings- A Fairy Tale- Interesting plot line, but a very fantastic book. It's about fairies.
Eleven- Pretty good, about a 11 year old girls' life.
Twelve- The continuation of the girl's life when she's twelve.
Thirteen- The same series, about the girl when she's thirteen.
Access Denied[and other eight grade error messages]- Drama that goes on in 8th grade
The Fifth Of March- Good, interesting historical fiction about the Boston Massacre.
Tuck Everlasting- Interesting plot line, sorta, but pretty boring and short.
Witch & Wizard- Very good series about magic in the real world. I may do a post as the rest come out and I am able to read them.
The Book Thief- Great Historical Fiction book. Set in Germany during WWII and narrated by death. I would highly recommend it, unless you hate great loss.
Breathe, A Ghost Story- Kinda strange and creepy. Don't read if you're the type who freaks out.

Gordon Korman
He is a really great author and I wanted to point out two books of interest that just came out by him. The first is The Medusa Plot. It is the first book in the continuation of 39 clues series, and it's really good. I'll put my review on the 39 Clues tab so it'll be there, long with he rest of the new series

The next new read from Gordon Korman is the TITANIC Trilogy. In order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's horrific sinking he wrote this new trilogy. It follows four kids who end up on the Titanic's maiden voyage. Trouble seems to follow them on board the ship, and that's before the events of the fateful crash bring us to the legendary events of April 15th. It's well written and interesting once you get past the beginning. I would recommend it, especially if you're interested in the Titanic.
:) kkuhar

Hey!

I know I haven't posted in a really long time, so here's a bunch of updates.

1.This summer I went to Turkey for vacation. It is such an amazing place, with so much ancient history there. I was lucky enough to go to an ancient marble quarry, and gothic churches. It was a really interesting trip, so I would suggest Turkey to anyone.

2. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out as I'm sure many of you know. I have to say it was a great end to such an amazing series. I personally love Harry Potter, the books and the movies. I was really happy with the way they finished it, even though it was different from the books. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's disappointing by the fact it's over, but it's a great movie.

3.39 Clues update! The first book in the new part of the series, "The Medusa Plot" comes out August 31st. http://www.the39clues.com/part2 You can read a bit about it at the link before. It sounds interesting so I'll be sure to add a review when that comes out. You can also check out the prologue at http://cdn.static.the39clues.com/pdf/medusa_prologue.pdf.SInce tragically Borders is closing I'm also going to try and find new places to buy books

Alphas

Shira Brazielle has everything, billions of dollars, merchandise, and fans. Her teams, inventing all kinds of amazing gadgets, and a school. The super exclusive Alpha Academy, on Alpha Island. There, the 100 most talented girls on the planet are assembled. The best dancers, writers, musicians, and inventors, all girls. But of the 100 there can only be one Alpha left to win the worldwide fame.

This series follows Skye, Charlie, Allie A., Allie J., and Triple. They live together in Jackie O's house and quickly become friends, and enemies. Everyone seems to have a secret they're hiding, and everyone seems to have set their sights on the forbidden fruits, Shira's sons. Soon a network of lying, cheating, destroying and backstabbing is wound through the girls weak friendship. Only one can win, and what will each do to stay at the school?

I liked these books a lot. They were intresting and I'm waiting for the next few to come out. I would suggest these books for anyone who likes adventure, romance, fighting evil, and fun.