Blackout [book review]

Blackout is the third and final book in Mira Grant‘s Newsflesh series and I think it’s safe to say it was my favorite part of the trilogy.

*Spoiler alert for the next paragraph*

At the end of Deadline, we discovered that Georgia was alive… or so we think. Because of this, the narration in Blackout bounces back and forth between Georgia and Shaun, which I thought was really unique… I liked it. Will the siblings find their way back to each other? Will the truth finally be exposed? Well, if you’ve already read Feed and Deadline, you need to read Blackout to find out. Like I said, it’s the best book in the trilogy (in my opinion).

Blackout undoubtedly had me on the edge of my seat. I absolutely loved it and I had a hard time putting it down. I really don’t want to give anything away, but  what I can say is that questions are answered and secrets are revealed. Oh, and people die. Can’t tell you who though… you have to find out yourself.

For more background on this series, check out my reviews for Feed and Deadline.

I give Blackout 5/5 stars. Overall, the Newsflesh trilogy was a hit for me. After reading this series, I became quite a fan of Mira Grant and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next.

Oh, remember the time Mira Grant let me interview her?

Deadline [book review]

After  Feed ended with a such a great cliffhanger, I couldn’t wait to pick up Deadline (the second book in Mira Grant‘s Newsflesh trilogy).

*Spoiler alert for the next paragraph*

If you enjoyed Georgia’s narration in Feed, I hate to break it to you, but Deadline is narrated by Georgia’s brother Shaun. For those of you who don’t remember, Georgia dies at the end of Feed, which explains the need for a change in narration. Georgia’s not completely gone though… she lives in Shaun’s head and offers her brother support and advice. Shaun realizes this is a bit crazy, but he rolls with it because it’s all he has left. Unlike Feed, Deadline is less political — it focuses more on Shaun’s pursuit to find the truth behind everything leading up to Georgia’s death and beyond. Shaun and the remainder of his team at After the End Times are unexpectedly teamed up with a CDC researcher, Dr. Kelly Connolly, when she randomly arrives at their doorstep. They proceed with caution though because the CDC is on a fuzzy line between good and bad. Can Shaun and his team trust Kelly? Will she have the answers they’re looking for?

I really enjoyed Shaun’s character in Feed, so I was happy to read the story from his point of view in Deadline. It took a little while to get used to it since I was so used to Georgia, but it definitely worked out just fine and it’s just as enjoyable as the first book (and now I’m used to Shaun). I’ve honestly never dealt with a series that switches narration — I think it’s an awesome way to throw the reader for a loop and I really enjoyed it. There were deaths, there were twists and turns, and there was action. While I enjoyed Feed a little more, I think Deadline had one of the best endings I’ve ever read in a book… major cliffhanger. It made me want to pick up the third book, Blackout, immediately. It’s too bad I finished Deadline in April and Blackout didn’t publish until May. It’s safe to say I have my hands on Blackout now and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

Overall, I give Deadline 4/5 stars.

If you haven’t read my interview with Mira Grant, check it out here.

Feed [book review]

My uncle lent me a book, Feed, by Mira Grant because he thought I would appreciate it because of its emphasis on blogging (since blogs are a major part of my job) and zombies, of course. Social media and zombies? Sounds like the perfect combination to me. I was more than willing to give this book a shot.

Feed takes place in the future after “The Rising,” a time when zombies started to roam the Earth after a cure for cancer gone wrong. The book follows the political campaign of Senator Peter Ryman of Wisconsin, who’s seeking to become the President of the United States. Ryman hires a team of bloggers, Georgia, Shaun and Buffy, to work with and get the best possible coverage for his hopeful rise to presidency. These bloggers prove to be a great asset, but they certainly encounter their fair share of bumps along the way, whether it’s flesh-eating zombies or not knowing who to trust anymore when things start to get fishy.

The story is told in first person by Georgia Mason, the head of her team. I loved the on-page relationship that Georgia had with her brother, Shaun, who was my favorite character. Shaun is the fun-loving, somewhat immature, adventurous brother, while Georgia is a bit more on the serious side and she’s definitely not one to mess with. Georgia and Shaun’s relationship reminded me a lot of the relationship I have with my twin sister, Dana, which is why I think I liked them so much. It’s always nice when you can find a person or relationship in a book that you can relate to.

I really enjoyed Feed a lot. For those of you who are thinking “why would I want to read a book about zombies?,” it’s not as zombiefied as you might think. The book has a great storyline and the zombies just make it more interesting and exciting. It’s a definite pageturner; there were times when I couldn’t put the book down because I needed to see what was going to happen next.

I give Feed 5/5 stars. If you’re a fan of social media and zombies, like me, this is a book for you. Also, if you’re a fan of thriller-type fiction, definitely give Feed a read. Feed is the first book, of three, in Mira’s Newsflesh triology. I’m reading the second book, Deadline, on my NOOK right now and the story resumes right where it left off. There’s an interesting transition in between the first and second books… quite the twist, but I won’t give anything away. Read and find out for yourself!

After reading this book, I really wanted to tell Mira how much I enjoyed it so I e-mailed her, asking if she’d like to answer some questions for Far Eric Movement. She got back to me and agreed to it! I’m very excited to have Mira as the first guest on my blog. Be on the lookout for the Q&A sometime soon!

Final Destination 5 [movie review]

I’ve always been a decent fan of the Final Destination movies, so I thought “why not?” when I heard that Final Destination 5 was coming out. After seeing it the other night, my thoughts changed to something more along the lines of “why?”

In Final Destination 5, a group of coworkers survives a bridge collapse, which kills over 100 people. How? Sam Lawton (Nicholas D’Agosto) had a premonition of the bridge collapsing, which killed him and his coworkers. Sam urges everyone to get off the bridge, minutes before it collapses just like he saw in his premonition. Looks like Sam saved some lives, right? Eh. Little do these survivors know… death doesn’t like being cheated. Freakish accidents start occuring after the bridge collapse, killing off the survivors one by one. Will death come a knockin’ and kill every single survivor, or will someone be able to intervene and save some lives? My advice? Don’t watch. Not really worth finding out.

I think it’s time to put an end to the Final Destination regime. A group of bad actors people escape death, death throws a hissy fit, people die, blah blah blah… it’s the same thing every time. I went into the movie knowing the acting would be bad, but c’mon… it’s just so bad. Also, not that this should take away from the movie, but the beginning credits were way too long. I felt like the movie should’ve been over after watching them.

I must say, the people behind Final Destination did think of creative ways to kill off the cast. After five movies, you’d think they’d have to repeat some of their death scenes, but they didn’t. And when I say gory, I mean gory. I’m not the type to turn away from a scene during a movie, but there were times when I almost had to (but I didn’t). These scenes definitely had me cringing in my seat.

I give Final Destination 5 2/5 stars. It’s not the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but I wouldn’t go jumping to recommend it. If you’re a fan of the Final Destination movies, maybe wait until it comes out on DVD.

Source Code [movie review]

Heather and I went on a Red Box run the other night and picked up Source Code on DVD. It looked interesting from what I remembered in trailers and I’m a fan of Jake Gyllenhaal so we both thought, why not? Good choice, I say.

Source Code begins with soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) waking up on a train in a body that’s not his. Colter soon finds out that he’s part of a government mission that requires him to track down the identity of a bomber in Chicago. This terrorist already bombed a commuter train and plans to set off another, bigger bomb that could put many lives at risk. The government needs Colter for their “Source Code” experiment, which allows him to enter someone else’s body within the last eight minutes of their life… and eight minutes only. Colter enters the body of one of the train bomb victims, allowing him to experience the last minutes on the train prior to the explosion over and over again until he retrieves the clues he needs. In his many visits back to the train, Colter encounters Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) every time and he starts to develop a certain fondness for her. Will Colter reveal the identity of the bomber and save Chicago? Watch and find out!

Source Code was an excellent movie. It was actually a lot better than I was expecting it to be. It was full of action and suspense… great combination, right? I was literally on the edge of my seat at times. Source Code definitely plays with your mind at times, but it’s all explained at the end, which I appreciate because I hate movies that end with a giant cliffhanger (not saying whether it ends good or bad… just saying it’s all explained). It might take a little bit of pondering, but it’s within your grasp to figure things out. There were a few crazy twists… one of which left my jaw dropped. This movie actually pulls at your heartstrings a bit, too, which is something I wasn’t expecting at all. There’s some comic relief dispersed throughout the movie as well — I actually laughed out loud quite a bit. Very well-rounded movie.

I think Jake Gyllenhaal did an excellent job, as did Michelle Monoghan — I thought they had good chemistry. Also, Vera Farmiga appears in the film (as Colleen Goodwin), which is awesome because I love her from Running Scared (one of my favorite movies) and Orphan. Lastly, the movie didn’t drag on — it was the perfect length, in my opinion.

If you’re looking for a good action/thriller type of movie, Source Code is a must-watch. I give it 4.5/5 stars.

Drag Me to Hell [movie review]

Last night, I watched Drag Me to Hell and I’m still not sure if it was real life or just a really bad dream.

Drag Me to Hell begins with Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a loan officer, denying an elderly woman, Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver), an extension on a loan. As a result, Sylvia is evicted from her home and let me tell you, she is the wrong granny to mess with. This old, haggard woman casts some sort of evil curse on Christine, causing a demon to start lurking in the shadow’s of her life. The curse causes this particualr demon to torment its victims prior to, quite literally… dragging them to hell. Will Christine be able to break the curse? Now, normally I would say watch and find out, but… don’t (unless you feel like laughing during a horror film).

I was expecting Drag Me to Hell to be a horror film, but it seemed more like a comedy to me. Now, horror films sometimes have their cheesy moments and I somewhat enjoy that about them. Drag Me to Hell was no exception to this, but in this case, there was way too much cheese for me. I couldn’t take this movie seriously whatsoever. I kept asking myself throughout the movie: “Is this for real?” The acting was horrible (especially Alison Lohman)… I felt like I was watching Horror Film Acting 101. Talking goats, dancing demons, old women gumming their victims, and violent napkins are things I’ve never witnessed in a horror film.

I give this movie 1/5 stars. I honestly can’t understand how this movie made it to theaters. I’m only giving it one star because it at least made me laugh. I’m not sure if director/writer Sam Raimi‘s intentions were to garner laughs from viewers… or if it was just that bad. While there were some scary/suspenseful moments throughout the movie, it was pure absurdity as a whole.

Scre4m [movie review]

I think I may have seen one of the Scream movies in my lifetime; I never got around to watching them, which is odd because I absolutely love horror films. Although I didn’t really watch these movies when I was growing up, I did dress up as Ghostface one year for Halloween when I was younger. The mask kinda got in the way of my breathing and I had to take it off… it was a mess, really. Anyway, I kept seeing trailers for Scream 4 and I had a strong urge to see it.

There’s honestly not much to say about the storyline… we all know what happens in these movies. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns home to promote her new book (she should’ve hired PTA), and just as she returns, the infamous Ghostface killer starts yet another murderous rage in Woodsboro. Ghostface is just like that annoying friend you can’t get rid of (in a psychotic killer kinda way).

Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers show their faces again in the fourth installment, which could’ve been a little awkward for Courteney Cox and David Arquette since they’re no longer married, but it seems like they still have a decent post-divorce relationship. I’m a huge fan of Courteney Cox, and I loved her character in the movie… she had me laughing out loud a lot. There were a bunch of other big names that had small roles and appearances in the movie as well, such as: Lucy Hale, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson, Emma Roberts, Adam Brody, and Heather Graham.

To be honest, I found myself laughing more than I felt frightened throughout Scream 4. It wasn’t a horrible movie though. I love horror films… even if they’re typical and cheesy at times. To say the very least, Scream 4 was extremely entertaining. It kept me guessing who the killer was until the very end of the movie. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, my suspect got slashed to death (to put it nicely). Overall, I’d give Scream 4 3/5 stars. If you’ve been thinking about going to see it because you’re a Scream fan, go for it. Personally, I love seeing horror movies in the theater… it just makes them that much better. After seeing Scream 4, I kinda wanna rent the first three and have a little “Stabathon” of my own.

The Lost Symbol [book review]

I just finished reading my fifth Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol. If you’ve read The Da Vinci Code and/or Angels & Demons, then you’ll recognize the main character, Robert Langdon, Harvard symbologist. Langdon is unexpectedly summoned by prominent Mason and longtime friend, Peter Solomon, to give a lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Upon Langdon’s rushed arrival to Washington D.C., he soon realizes that we was tricked into this trip and Peter was not the man behind this last-minute request.

We soon learn that Peter has been kidnapped by a crazed, tattooed, lunatic named Mal’akh. Mal’akh informs Langdon that he must follow his instructions carefully to ensure Peter keeps his life. Langdon’s main objective is to solve an age-old Masonic mystery to unveil the “Lost Word” so Mal’akh can complete his “transformation.” In the mix of it all, Peter’s sister, Katherine, a researcher of Noetic science, is dragged into the mess to join Langdon in his efforts to solve the mystery and save their beloved friend and brother.

The Lost Symbol is another great suspense novel by Dan Brown. I genuinely enjoy all of his books because he writes with such a great style that keeps me so engulfed in the material, and this book is just another great example of that. The Lost Symbol has an insane twist… Literally jaw-dropping. I give this book 4.5/5 stars. Definitely give it a read if you haven’t already — especially if you’re a fan of Dan Brown, or suspense/thriller novels in general. Can’t wait for his next book!

The Roommate [movie review]

After much excitement (for me at least), The Roommate finally debuted in theaters this past weekend. The movie is about two girls, Sara (Minka Kelly) and Rebecca (Leighton Meester), who are assigned to room with one another during their freshmen year of college. The two roommates start out as friends, but there’s something noticeably wrong about Rebecca. Throughout the movie, Rebecca’s tendencies become progressively stranger to the point where she becomes psychotically obsessed with her roommate. Rebecca will do just about anything to have Sara all to herself.

Overall, I give The Roommate 2.5/5 stars… It just wasn’t scary enough for me, and the acting was subpar. Leighton Meester did play a good psychotic roommate though. It certainly wasn’t the best thriller I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t the worst either… It was entertaining to say the very least (let’s just say I was laughing at points). If you really wanna see this movie, I suggest you wait until it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray.

The Human Centipede [movie review]

The Human Centipede is one of those movies I watched because I heard so much about it (whether it was good, bad, or indifferent).

The movie is about an evil surgeon, Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser), who kidnaps tourists to surgically connect them to create… Well, you guessed it… A human centipede. The movie revolves around these tourists’ horrifying experience.

The Human Centipede was easily one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen. It definitely had me on the edge of my seat with some jaw-dropping scenes. The acting, especially in the beginning, was pretty atrocious, but it was to be expected. I give credit to Dieter Laser though… He played the role of creepy villain very well.

Supposedly, a second installment is in the making… Not sure if I’ll be seeing that. I give The Human Centipede 2.5/5 stars. If you like twisted films, then this is for you.