Review (TV Series) - The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

*Contains Spoilers*



Screenplay Written by Sarah Phelps
Directed by Johnny Campbell
UK Premiere: 15 Feb '15
US Premiere: 29 April '15
Number of Episodes: 3

Overview:-

Whilst browsing BBC iPlayer I came across a new miniseries called The Casual Vacancy and, being the bookish nerd I am, I thought to myself "Is this based on the book by J.K Rowling?" After researching  a little bit into the program I found that it was indeed based on the book. So, I decided to check it out and see if it was any good. I haven't read the book yet but after watching the first episode of this miniseries I will certainly get round to it sometime soon.

Plot:-

To me, it seems like this book/miniseries is focused on a power struggle between the high-class and middle-class residents of Pagford. The first episode sets up the rest of the series as we are given the complication, there is a council meeting and the high-class residents want to join "The Fields" to the local city Yarvil and turn methadone rehabilitation clinic into a spa where as the middle-class residents think it should be left as it is because it offers help to those who need it the most, like the low-class residents of Pagford. After it comes down to a vote, the middle-class residents win by one vote which the high-class residents aren't too pleased about.

At the start, the story is centered around one of the characters, Barry Fairbrother, who everyone seems to love as he is a caring and considerate person. He is the one who stands up and says they should fight to keep "The Fields" and methadone rehabilitation clinic part of Pagford instead of turning it into a spa. Near the middle of the first episode Barry dies which then leaves his place in the council vacant. Three or more residents decided, through different circumstances, that they want to be elected to take Barry's place on the council.

Personal Thoughts:-

Personally, I think that this TV series has been written and directed with the standard it deserves. I recommend checking this miniseries out because I really enjoyed this first episode and can't wait to find out what happens in the rest of this series. If the book is anywhere near as good as this episode portrays it to be then I'm definitely going to be checking it out soon.

Rating:- ★★★★

Thursday's Random Quote

Okay, so in all honesty, I don't have any reviews written up nor do I have all that much time to write one up so instead I decided to start a meme/write a random post. I don't know if there is already a meme like this one so please excuse me if there is. Basically, I'm going to pick up a random book, open the book to a random page, pick a random quote from that page then write about it. It's just for a bit of fun and I'm sure it will help to keep my blog active if I make it a weekly thing.

"Beds empty! No note! Car gone... could have crashed... out of my mind with worry... did you care? ... never, as long as I've lived..." - Molly Weasley

So, the quote I picked was from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling which I am currently reading. Molly Weasley is the perfect doting motherly figure who is constantly in the books. She gives the books a homely feel and the way J.K. Rowling has written her is outstanding. She is fierce, protective and loving towards her children. I really enjoy all the parts of the books that she's in because there's always a few funny one liners.

Happy Reading

:)

xx

Review - The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, Part 2

I went to Paris for a few days and ended up not finishing or posting this review so I've decided to do two posts this week. One today and one on Thursday, which is my usual blogging day. I'm sorry it took so long for me to get this post written up and posted. I really need to start keeping on top of my blog posts. Hopefully you will enjoy my personal ramblings about this book and feel free to tell me your thoughts about it in the comments section.

Personal Ramblings :-

*SPOILER ALERT*

Don't read this part unless you've read the book.

"It's too much like [insert book name here]" :-

After finishing this book, I snooped around the internet to see what other people thought of it and found out that quite a few people felt like it was a rip off of Harry Potter. This is mostly because Cassie Clare started out writing H. Potter fan-fiction. I, on the other hand, don't feel this way. Yeah, there were a few similarities like the fact that it was centered around a young boy who was starting at a new "high school" where he didn't know anyone and ended up making friends with a guy and a girl, but I'm sure that was only for some variety. There were loads of differences, like the fact Call may possibly have died as a child and Constantine may have placed his soul inside Calls body. Whoa! And who saw Drew's betrayal coming? Not I! I honestly believed Drew was so innocent. Let's face it, the "magic" part of the story was different too, H.P uses wands and Latin words where as The Magisterium Series uses feelings and the magic comes from with-in them. The story may have been based on the idea of Harry Potter but the authors have made it their own.

Personal Predictions :-

Personally, I kind of hope that Call and Jasper become friends and all the students end up banding together to defeat whoever the villainous character is because a sense of teamwork is always nice to read about in a book. It's quite obvious that something important is going to happen with certain characters as their names are mentioned quite a lot. For example, Call, Aaron and Tamara are the main trio so they're going to be brought up a lot in the books. Jasper is supposedly Call's arch-enemy, the none-main-character student that belittles the supposedly-heroic main character, he's brought up enough to make him seem like he's going to be quite important to this story. There's also Celia, who we get glimpses of, she seems to be fond of Call and talks to him in quite a few parts of the story. It is quite clear why Drew is constantly mentioned from the ending of the book, as he turns out to be one of the bad guys.
At the moment, it is quite unclear who the villainous character is because Constantine's soul is apparently inside Call. There's the possibility that Call could end up becoming the villain which would be interesting to read about. An innocent, to-himself child turning into a rule defying villain because he has a villainous soul inside him. On the other hand, maybe it will be Call's life lessons and his own personality that rules his actions which makes him into the hero. Who knows? There's also the possibility that the villains are going to be Constantine's followers, as with this first book. It seems that maybe they'll try to persuade Call to become like Constantine was. Another theory would be that one of Constantine's followers knew how to shift souls from one body to another and takes Constantine's soul out of Call to put back into his original body. I have no idea and my thoughts are running away with me!

Overall, as I said in my other review, I'm quite intrigued to find out what happens in the next book and will certainly be buying it as soon as it comes out.

Happy Reading
:)
xx

Review - The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, Part 1

This part of the review doesn't contain any spoilers, if you haven't read the books this review is still suitable to read.

Fire wants to burn

Water wants to flow

Air wants to rise

Earth wants to bind

Chaos wants to devour

Summary :-

The Iron Trial is the first book in the Magisterium series written by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. It follows Call, Callum Hunt, a seemingly ordinary 12 year old boy but all is not what it seems. The time has come for Call to take The Iron Trial, a series of magical tasks he needs to pass to achieve a place at the Magisterium. All Call's life his father has warned him about the dangers of magic and of the Magisterium. Call tries to fail the tests but ends up failing at failing, now he must take up his place at the Magisterium and along with his new friends, Tamara and Aaron, he must find out what happened to him in his past and what lies ahead for him in his future.

Review :-

This book has been on my to-read pile ever since I found out that Holly Black and Cassandra Clare were writing a book together. I really wasn't sure what to expect from a collaboration by these two authors but I had the feeling that it was either going to be spectacular or a bit of a flop. I brought the book almost as soon as it came out, mostly because I was going to the book signing in October with a friend from university. The book signing was unlike anything I'd ever witnessed, it helped me to understand the book a lot better, which always adds to the overall effect of a book.

I did start to read this book in October but then ended up putting it down and reading other things as I didn't feel ready to dive into a new Cassie Clare fictional world quite yet. I decided to make it one of my to-be-read books for January/February because my curiosity hitched and I wanted to know what happened and decided I was ready to sit down and get through it. I'm glad I built myself up to it as I think if I'd forced myself to read it in October I possibly wouldn't have liked it as much.

I have to admit, I felt that the start of the book was quite slow but the pace quickened as the book progressed. In fact, the pace quickened so much that near the end of the book some parts of the action scenes seemed rushed and unpolished. I did get a little confused as to what was going on and it read so disjointedly that I could no longer picture the story in my mind. It appeared to me that Black and Clare had focused more on the plot twists and getting the writing done than on polishing the story up. 

Overall, I'm quite on the fence for this book, I neither love it nor hate it which deeply saddens me because of how much I love The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices written by Cassandra Clare. As for Holly Black, I've only read a short story by her so I'm not sure if  I do enjoy her writing. One thing is for sure though, I'm certainly going to check out one of Holly Black's books. My on-the-fence feeling isn't going to stop me from picking up the second installment of this series in September though. I am intrigued to find out what happens. 

Rating :-

★★★ - 3.5 stars

I plan to post Part 2 of this review soon, where I ramble on about the characters and what I predict might happen in the upcoming books. Please keep an eye out for it.

Happy Reading

:)

xx

February TBR

The Iron Trials by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare



I started reading this book in November and ended up putting it down then picked it back up in January but never got to finishing it so this month my main goal is to finish this book. So far I'm really enjoying it and I can't wait to find out what happens at the end. This is the first book in the Magisterium series, the second book is due out later in 2015 which I'm looking forward to.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling



Last month I reread the first Harry Potter book and obviously enjoyed it so this month I'm going to read the second book in this series. My aim for this year is to read all the Harry Potter books as I've only managed to read up to the fourth book before. I'm also using Pottermore to learn more about these books which is quite fun as I get to see illustrations from pieces of the chapters. I recommend trying Pottermore out for yourself.

The Shadowhunters Codex by Simon



This book has been on my shelf for a while so I decided to pick it up and read it. I thought this book would be a good way for me to get back into the shadowhunter world before I started reading the sixth The Mortal Instruments book which I plan to do next month. This book may also be ideal to take to Paris with me seeing as I'm going for 3 days and don't want to take anything to bulky.

Into The Still Blue by Veronica Rossi

I read the first two books in this trilogy last year and completely enjoyed them so I decided to finish the trilogy this month. I really like the characters in this book and the plot lines are cleverly thought out. This is also a book I could possibly take to Paris with me because it's quite small and thin so it would easily go in my bag or suitcase.

Happy Reading
:)
xx