I've Failed You!

I was at my sister-in-law's high school graduation last night so I missed SYTYCD!!! I know! When I realized this morning that I missed it, I was devastated! Oh well, tonight!


--Me

SYTYCD Season 9 is Back!!!

I can't believe it. Another season of So You Think You Can Dance started last night! So thrilled.

They've changed the structure a little bit, so it will take some getting used to. Tryouts are the same as they always have been, and when they get down to 10 dancers, they're bringing back the all stars. But it's between those two points where it gets a little fuzzy. They're only doing one show a week (instead of the two) and that one episode is going to be 2 hours long.



My "predictions" and thoughts are at the very end of this post.


So! What were some of the highlights of the auditions? Let's take a look-see at my comments as the show happened:

New York

Always really good dancers here. We had Nigel, Mary and my favorite, Tyce, as judges. First up Amelia. Very cute look to her, a little weird of a personality. Amelia adorable according to Tyce. Loved her 1920s. Everything she did was big, moves gestures, smile, everything. Standing O from the judges. She kind of reminds me of my friend Kelsey in her personality. Toshihiko. I love how the Japanese bow after everything. Floor slide on his butt was awesome. So talented. Very good flow and movement. But, can he do anything else? Choreography. 

Hubby loves watching the ridiculousness of the crazy dancers like Austin and the Mr. Wiggles. It makes you wonder, with people like this, if they're serious or if they're just trying to get their 5 minutes of fame. Which this guy was obviously doing. "What are you do-ing-a?" ßTyce's words. Have I mentioned how much I love him? Leopard stretch pants? No! But I like that dancer. And she's going to Vegas. Shafeek is a flipper. I want his "I <3 me" shirt; it's awesome. Wow!!! What a crazy sick opening!! Shafeek! So much strength and control! And passion. He brought moves and a certain something that I've never seen before on SYTYCD. And the judges loved it! Oh no. Mary's gonna cry. I can feel it. Nope, I was wrong, but she really respected him. "You move like silk – effortlessly" Tyce. And the story behind the dance was just awesome, too. In choreography – the Japanese locker. He left. Dang.

Day two looked promising. Like, wow. Leo Reyes is dancing for his mom. "Life isn't forever. You aren't guaranteed tomorrow. I didn't expect that day". Tube socks. Heck yes. You know he can do hip-hop because of his video clip in his montage, but he can also do beautiful contemporary. Good dancer. Strong little man. Nigel looked really moved throughout the audition. The crowd loved it. Standing O in the room. All the judges' eyes were glistening. Mary's frozen Botox face. I love you, Mary. Straight through to Vegas. Poor guy didn't know whether to go crap or go blind, as my mom would say. Hugs and tears all around. I'm always so afraid that when they do their excited happy dance Vegas dance they're going to land wrong and twist or pull something. Ugh! That'd be terrible!

"I did not enjoy that at all." ßTyce. The looks. LOL. Haha. Love the clips of the bloopers. Chehon the Swiss Ballerina. He danced to my favorite song, so that was a sign. WOW. His moves and power. You wouldn't think that he'd only ever trained and danced ballet. Looked like he was losing steam towards the end, though. But he wasn't really dancing towards the end. Tyce used to dance Ballet??? News to me! But I'd love to see a clip of him dancing that way. I only ever know him as Broadway. I want more excitement from him.

38 total. 21 from choreography. 17 Straight Through.

Texas

Judges are Nigel, Lil'C, & Mary are judging this city. Is this their first time in Texas? I think so. Either that or it's been a while since they've been there before. Bree's kids and husband are in the audience. Great dancer. Cutest little boy yelling out, "Mommy I love you" from the judges table right in the middle of the performance the little boy walks up on stage and hands her mom the plane ticket to Vegas. The little girl dancing was the best. That whole first act was the best ever. So cute.

Oh my, the crazy people. Exorcist style. Zombie? No, thank you. But they were entertaining. We have some winners, here. Crushing up people's souls and running it through their veins and then giving it back. Holy crap. Zombie guy is very good, talented, but a Nigel says, he's not all there. It's like a fun house. But what else can he do? Standing O from audience. Oh, how I missed Lil'C. But where are his inventive words? Not one so far.

Horses: What the freak? Get out of our pasture you crazy humans.

Hampton the soul scrubber. He's so good at the popping and locking, such control. Even if he is a little….scary,…to Evanescence, wow. But so perfect. Mary's crying. He's good, but I don't know about that good. Cry worthy, I mean. But Nigel looks pretty moved, too. Maybe this guy's soul scrubbing work. I think it's the song. Looks like he's sliding on ice. I picture him starting a new religion in America. He'll be rich. Wowza. That lat part with his heart! Awesome. The audience judges and dancers were all in tears. Who woulda thought. Standing O from EVERYONE. Whether they say yes or no, you're going to Vegas I'll pay for you myself. These are the kinds of dancers I like seeing go all the way to the final 20 and really seeing them grow as a dancer and excelling in it. I hope he makes it far. 10 to Vegas (I saw 2 fall with their excited Vegas dance).

Day two. Daniel from down under. Ballet dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. I'm  glad I'm not the only one who thought he kept saying he was a belly dancer. Amazing power and skill. Such a good dancer. Straight through to Vegas. 

Lots of people made it to Vegas in this round. 3^rd injury on Vegas dance. Sam. Autistic guy who has the courage to dance on stage. People like this you can really appreciate what they're doing, even if they aren't any good at it because you understand what it took for them to get up there and do it, to overcome their difficulties challenges. It's simply amazing.

Von Kipper auditioning for the show but doesn't want to. It's the hamster. Cat asked him why he's here if he doesn't want to be on it. But he never gave a reason as to why he's trying out if he thinks it's selling out to be on the show. He's a horrible guy. Arguing before he even started dancing. Boooo!!!! Get him off the stage!!! That guy, that's what I sounded like after coming back from the dentist.

Jarell Suspenders!! I'm trying to get Hubby into those. Dad looks a bit like an older Samuel L Jackson. "Don't touch my water it's vodka" Such a great dancer. That's why I really like Contemporary dancing there's so much room and opportunity for emotion. I like how he put in other types of dancing – popping, a little ballet, miming, etc. and Broadway with his face and emotion. Good, good dancer. Standing O from the audience.

Lil'C's new word for the season: Millisecond.

12 after choreography several direct.


Predictions: I think that All the video'd people will make it to the top 20. I think that Amelia from the 20's will really show how much she can shine in Vegas and I think that Reverend Hampton will surprise everyone and be one of those dancers who you think is really limited but just has so much pure talent, he excels. I think that Chehon the Swiss Ballerina is a little arrogant of himself (but he is that good), but will probably have some trouble with Broadway and the Latin dances. I think Daniel from Down Under will excel. You saw how the girls reacted. I think his personality and talent will carry him pretty far in the competition. Mommy Bree, as much as I like her and think she's good, I think she'll get voted out early in the show. (But then again, she also strikes me as the Dark Horse type). What about you?

Juggling Act

I haven't been here in a while. Sorry 'bout that. I missed (I think) the last two Freebee Fridays! and I feel horrible. Since Book Addicts is so new, it's requiring a lot of time. Plus everything else that's going on in Life right now.

One of the main Time Suckers is the new blog for Book Addicts. It's over at WordPress, and I have to say, that blog platform is pretty dang sweet. Check it out. We're using that one instead of Blogger because it's supposed to be "compatible" with our newspaper's website (at some point).

Anyway, wonder wander (sheesh, it's been a long day) over there and check it out. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and hopefully I won't be spending ALL my time over there. To tide you over, how about a poll? Book-to-Movie to be precise. :)




--Me

Code Name Verity Book Report

Code Name Verity
By: Elizabeth E. Wein
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Pub Date: May 15^th, 2012
Rating: PG-13 for scenes of torture
Coffee Beans: 5/5
Spoilers: No way, José!
Favorite Line: "It was cozy in perhaps the way you'd be cozy in hell." (ebook, pg 62)& "It's like being in love, discovering your best friend." (ebook, pg 80) & "And that I don't believe in God but if I did, if I did, It would be the God of Moses, angry and demanding and OUT FOR REVENGE,and…"(ebook, pg 318)

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review


Publisher's Summary:
Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page.

My Review:

I really hate Microsoft Word. It randomly "stopped responding" and erased everything I wrote about this book. I'm going through breathing techniques right now, trying to resist the impulse I have to throw this computer through the back yard and into the sprinklers right now.)Let's try this again, shall we?

There's not much I can say about this book without giving away the plot—which I don't want to do. This book is about the strength and love shared between best friends. About people banding together, risking everything to fight for strangers because they believe that they deserve more than what they have. It's about the deep, deep hollow that's created in one's soul at the pain someone they love is suffering through.

My throat tightened, my heart ached, my fingers kept turning pages. And at the very last page, I mourned the losses and I cherished the victories and I had hope for the lives of those who survived.

This is a fictional story, but the events that happened—the war, the Holocaust, the killing, the torture, the loss of so much—that is what I mourned at the last page of the book. Because in the end, what happened between these covers is only one of a million stories or possibilities of what some of our grandparents, parents, great-grandparents lived through. And like Wein's very last words: LEST WE FORGET.

Now, on to a more specific review. I'm not a fan of historical fiction, normally, but I decided to give this one a go (mostly because I was in an ARC requesting frenzy), and I'm so glad I did. I'm also pleased as punch that I'm reading so many good authors, as of late. Elizabeth is one of them. She is, in one word, brilliant. The story she wrote is astounding in its complexity. But you don't realize it until the last third of the book. And here's why:

The last third is told from someone else's point of view.

I'll admit, at first this really threw me for a loop. I didn't like it. I thought it was dumb. Why the heck do I want (excuse me while I obsessively save my work in Word, lest we have another melt down), why the heck do I want to read this story from another pov? I like the one I'm in (she's funny and snarky and very specifically random). And to be honest, I don't like the new voice. At first. Then I fell in love.

Both parts of the narrative are distinctly different, but neither is whole without the other. You start to pick up on clues with what the first girl had to say and how it plays into what's said in the second part. Then you start to think about the brains Wein has to construct both parts to make them independent but then a terrific mind puzzle when they're together. So brilliant.

I won't say anymore, sorry for the abrupt ending, but I don't want to risk saying anything that would ruin the story. Please, I implore you, if this book sounds even remotely interesting to you, pick it up and read it. And share it with others. It's that good.

Happy reading, my friends!


A Note on the Cover: There are two. My ARC had the two hands tied together, which is an odd cover for the type of book it is, the scene it refers to, I think was not entirely the best choice. Although it's artistically stark, I think I might slightly prefer the second cover, although, I think the girl is supposed to be Queenie on the cover, but Queenie has straw blond hair so they got it wrong. I doubt it's supposed to be Maddie. Anywho, which cover do you like better?

The Immortal Rules Book Report

Title: The Immortal Rules
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: YA Paranormal Dystopian
Rating: PG (Awesome violence)
Coffee Beans: 5/5
Spoilers: No major plot points
Favorite Line:The air was thick with the smell of mold, dust and vegetation, and the house seemed to hold its breath as I stepped inside. (ebook, pg 33)
Disclaimer: I received this book free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for this unbiased review.

Publisher's Summary: In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die…or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

 
My Review:


I hate reading a book like The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa.


Now I have to wait an entire YEAR (if I'm lucky) before the next installment comes out.


Seriously, books like this one—engaging and addicting and AMAZING from the very first word—are dangerous. Personal relationships are in danger of neglect. You're brought to the cusp of wasting away from sleep deprivation and lack of food. Your social life suffers. You've been called into the boss' office a few too many times because you've been reading when you should've be working.


But it's all worth it? Isn't it?


Julie, simply put, is one of the most talented writers I've read. This book is going on The List. They way she weaves together layers and layers of plot is just astounding. And the fact that she does it with such ease and skill—that on the surface it looks like nothing when in reality it's a very precise story and snare she's created—knocks my socks off.


The world in which Allies lives was set up so naturally and believably, I could envision what it looked like, and most importantly, what it was like to live there, by the end of page one. People, that's hard to do, and enough to make anyone stand in awe and drool at that kind of talent.


All of the characters in The Immortal Rules are deep and multi-faceted. You know their motivations and their reactions even though they might only be a secondary character. Every single one of them had a separate and convicting drive to their actions and it's plain what that is. The best character she's created is her protagonist, Allison Sekemoto. A kickass Japanese girl with a hard attitude and mad katana skills.


One thing I was completely impressed with: This book is around 500 pages, and every single one of them is jam packed with tension and risk for Allie. The struggle to stay alive, to find food, to keep from becoming a snack for a vampire, rival gangs, the rabids. Then, as the story progresses, the balancing act Allie has to maintain of keeping people from figuring out who she really is and keeping herself from being killed by the people she's with and a raider biker gang. There's no time for Allie to breathe or relax, so why should there be for the reader?


It's 100% AWE.SOME.


This book is the perfect blend between the stories 28 Weeks Later, I Am Legend, The Road, Resident Evil, and Daybreakers. Seriously, perfection between two covers (or in my case, perfection in Nook form).


It begs to be said again: Kagawa is one of the most skilled YA writers out there right now, expertly weaving a complex and layered story with ease. Grabbing her reader by the shirt and ripping them into the story yelling, "Sink or swim, baby!" on the way.


There were two things I didn't care for in the story.


Number one: That it ended. But, Julie has another series out for me to read until book two in the Blood of Eden series comes out (a New York Times best selling series, the Iron Fey. Which, I have purchased on my Nook as of…now), so at least I can fill some time with more of her amazing writing.


Number two: Sometimes I felt a little lost, like I'd missed something that just happened. I think Kagawa was going for the whole "I'm not holding your hand to tell you that they got a glass of water, I'm going to let you assume that they got off the couch and walked into the kitchen to get that water" thing. Sometimes I felt too much was left out. But that was only towards the end and a few times.


C'mon. I really had to dig to find that criticism. Give me a break.


Pick up a copy, read it, and decide for yourself. Seriously, I doubt you'll regret doing so.


Happy Reading, my friends!

Freebee Friday!

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--Me