Vampire Diaries: The Fury

OMG.
As a rule, crying during teen romance novels is unacceptable behavior.
It almost happened though, almost but not quite.
Maybe it's because I got up so early. We'll blame it on that.

Thus far, The Fury is my favorite of the Vampire Diaries, which really should have all been one book...but what Stephenie Meyer can get away with today might not have flown so hot nearly twenty years ago (wow, let's not put it in those terms again!). The Fury is filled with awakenings and realizations and I was nervous for Elena and the gang, scared for them at times and then suddenly....my tiredness nearly allowed me to cry.
LJ Smith accomplishes what Meyer never did for me...she made me nervous. Yes, I've read the books time and again but every time that concern wells back up. I know these characters, they're old friends of mine and I want things to go well for them....but sometimes things just don't. And that is something else. LJ Smith is willing to allow her characters to go down paths that might be less than favorable. She is willing to shock and to let go.
It still makes me angry that these books were made into a television series (atrocious as it is).
They're making Outlander into a movie and The Vampire Diaries into a series. How backward is that?

At the end of the They Fury I ran back to my room, to my favorite shelf filled with old-school reads (which, I realized to my horror...I am missing a TON of my Christopher Pike books. Where did they go? Where is Chain Letter? And the Final Friends, hmmm? Ich weiss nicht.) and snatched Dark Reunion. Unfortunately, mommyhood duties called and it was time to feed the children. They are in bed now and I'm done talking to you, so now FINALLY I can get back to the gang.

New Moon~ The Movie

My husband is a flippin' comedian.
For my birthday he got me bookcases, 24 season 7 on DVD, and New Moon on DVD. Although I had told him I really just wanted video of him going up to the cashier and buying New Moon (maybe having 24 in his hands offset the embarrassment of buying a teenie romantic thriller), he failed to record the event.
Again, I think they did a tremendous job with the adaptation. Was it exact? NO. But it couldn't be. But Rosenberg was faithful again, finding the essence of the story and the characters, preserving the emotions from the book.
The first thing that struck me was the difference in color. Twilight was all cool blues and New Moon has more of a Rembrandt feel to it. Which was fine, the story's in a different place now. But what bothered me, and I don't know if it could be helped but everyone looked five years older. And I still hate Jasper's look and blatant over-doneness. That's probably not a word, but I'm using it anyway.
My absolute favorite part of the movie was Edward's appearance in the school parking lot, the morning of Bella's birthday. The laughter exploded from me as the music rose and, in slow motion and in step with the beat, Edward Cullen strode toward Bella Swan. It was so 80's, I just lost it. My husband, swallowing his manly pride, looked up to see what was so hilarious and I backed it up so he could partake of the hilarity. We had a good laugh.
What was with the extreme close-up of the Jacob-the-wolf's eye with Bella's reflection? That was so throwback and sentimentally squishy, stomach churning and somewhat depressing. And the first wolf scene was just corny and yea....
I found myself wondering if Chris Weitz, the director, had started his career off in music videos, what with the increased artsiness of New Moon. And I have to give props, where props are due...the scene where Bella is seated at her computer and it cross dissolves and she's sitting on the couch...that was awesome and took a lot of planning and skill to execute so well. This praise also extends to the garage scene with Jacob. It was not only brilliant editing and directing but also writing. It was a great way to show the passage of time (much better than spinning around a rocking chair) and to show the building of Bella and Jacob's friendship.
But it was all almost lost on me when Bella dived from the cliff and she's sinking and there's Edward, it was very Beatles'ish and belonged in a music video, not this movie.
My favorite character.....toss up. Either Jacob (yes, I am a member of team Jacob...although I do appreciate Edward's morals, Edward's just so boring and he's a vampire!) or Charlie. I love Billy Burke's portrayal of Bella's father. Excellent! He always makes me laugh.
Overall, New Moon was certainly an improvement over Twilight. Everyone seems to have grown as actors, there was more emotion and suspense, better pacing...but a lot of that has to do with Meyer's increased skills as a writer. I can see why teen girls get all overheated watching it. But I must say, I am looking forward to watching the documentary on Forks. That looks infinitely more interesting than either New Moon or Twilight.

Past The Breaking Point

Page 453.
Hasn't it ended yet?
There comes a point when you just have to let go.
When you keep pushing your story eventually it comes to a place where it's just ludicrous and you're beyond your own abilities .
The baby has been born and I am ready to call it quits on the whole thing.
Seriously, Meyer, let it go!
Breaking Dawn is way past its breaking point.
I wasn't stunned or shocked by the big revelation. Like with most things in this book I just found myself rolling my eyes and doing the mental math to see how many more pages are left to suffer through.
There comes a point when your story begins to detract from your talent.
There are other books I could be reading!
But, let's see what other nonsense goes on.
Are we just writing for the sake of a good box office finale? That's what it feels like. Like Thomas Harris's "Hannibal." It read like a flippin' screenplay.
My apologies. It was necessary to vent.

Thanks for no sleep Mrs. Meyer

Well heaven help me.

Eclipse is now gathering dust on my pile o'books beside our bed.

Something strange happened about halfway through Eclipse...I couldn't put it down. I was up until nearly 3 this morning, knowing that I would be getting up with my husband at 420 in order to see him off to work. (If I don't make him toast and coffee, who will? Him? Laughable!) When he left, just after 5, it was my intent to go back to sleep....well, maybe I would just read a few more pages.

I never did go back to bed.

All but one of the questions I expected to throw out as inconsistencies or sloppy writing, Meyer answered. All but one.

That one being: Why didn't Victoria just go around the other way? Why did she have to pass through the Quileutes'? Is there only one way for a vampire to get into Forks? Made no sense to me.

My emotions were so tormented through this whole experience.

First I just wanted her to go back to Jacob and then Edward was suddenly gaining some substance.

With Eclipse Stephenie Meyer has begun to master her craft.

Beyond the stupid selfishness of Bella and the amazing selfless and moral Edward and hotheaded Jacob, the most thrilling aspect for me was witnessing Stephenie Meyer truly step into her own as an author. Crap books sell all the time. They get some good marketing, develop a following and suddenly a mediocre author has a phenomenon with something that someone else had already done a decade before. Eclipse deserves its spot on the best seller's list.

Such amazing growth.

Well done Mrs. Meyer. Thank you for keeping me up so late.

Although, honestly, the story could end here and I would be okay with it.

There's still something not clicking. Edward, though gaining substance, still seems like a cardboard cut out to me. Actually a lot of it is that way for me...but it was so, so much better than Twilight or New Moon. Amazing leap.

Impatience: Red Box or Netflix?

Go ahead and laugh.

I'm trying to decided if it would be best to wait and get New Moon from Netflix or if it would be faster to try my luck with Red Box? And I will still have to mail back my current Netflix rentals and that would mean waiting for New Moon to arrive. Of course, more often than not, the videos I want from Red Box are gone by the time I get there and I wind up waiting anyway.

Strategy, folks. It's all about strategy.

My husband's laughing at me again.

Why?

1: Still haven't sent Twilight DVD back in. It's been weeks. It helps okay? On the days when the teenage novelist groove is hard to find, just takes poppin' in Twilight to get my muse infuriated.

2: I promptly bought Eclipse after finishing New Moon.

3. There's a bit of anticipation to see New Moon.

Despite warnings that he was going to be the end of my blogging career, he continues to laugh. Makes me so angry, which is why he does it. I am not in love with Bella and Edward. I actually find myself rooting for Jacob a bit. That's Meyer's fault, she put a lot more work in to make that relationship tantalizing and believable.

My main passion for them is curiosity about the author. Did she get better? Has she grown as a writer since the last novel?

I've only gotten through the first chapter of Eclipse and the growth is obvious. She's even gotten better about weaving in the mandatory recaps from the previous book. Now, the burning question is: How badly did they screw up the New Moon movie? Is it possible that they pulled off two amazingly faithful adaptations?

I still have some qualms with New Moon, beyond basic writing skills. Story issues. But I am getting cramped under my desk. Yes under my desk. Network cord isn't long enough. My real house has high-speed, wireless internet.

Retro Books?

A Harry Potter Let Down

To continue with my earlier thread of thought....
Writing book reviews is a difficult task for me. I don't want to let on too terribly much for those who haven't read the book already (not that I have any delusions about the number of people who read my blog...but just in case someone happens to meander across my path).
I was digging New Moon. And then Edward came back and the story just kind of crumpled again. Everything happened too quickly and shallowly. It became trite and it felt like lines of dialogue had been copied and pasted from Twilight into New Moon. And I got so tired of her always screaming. Who screams that much? She would annoy me. Then Edward thought he was dead and she thought she was dead and she was certain she was dreaming....crazy, delusional writing. The biggest let down for me though (story-wise) was the Voice in Bella's head and the explanation for it in the end. I call this a "Harry Potter let down." Why? Because you wait and wait to find out what it is that makes Harry Potter special and you find out: Nothing. It's just that Voldemort went to the Potters' instead of going to the Longbottoms'. And Harry's mother loved him enough to throw herself in front of him. Apparently, love is all you need...to cop out of applying a little more imagination to your writing. Such a horrible disappointment. And I swear I just might start screaming if Robert Pattinson hasn't perfected his vampire growl in New Moon. Did he look a little confused, a little wimpish growling in Twilight? It was almost as painful to watch his snarl as it was to read some of the passages in Twilight and New Moon.
Confessions:
I bought Eclipse....and I was in a hurry to do so.
Bella's Lullaby is my current ringtone...shut up, it's a pretty song.
And I hope when he grows up, Bruce looks as suave and plays as nicely as "Edward."
I am looking forward to watching New Moon, curious to see how faithfully this one was adapted.

New Moon ~ Stephenie Meyer

Perhaps a better title for this entry would be "Foot-in-Mouth Disease," which I suffer from horribly.

I am trying to understand why people don't like New Moon.

Twilight was a struggle to read. I just didn't buy into it.

In the beginning, New Moon was worse. But then, something amazing happened. Stephenie Meyer hit her stride. She figured out to weave a story and pace it to tantalize the reader. Don't get me wrong, she's no Diana Gabaldon. She still has a long way to go, but she is going there. Maybe that was the most exciting thing about New Moon for me, seeing the growth of Meyer as an author. Some of the writing was still excruciating (like when Bella realizes she is the zombie) but some of it was so real (maybe because I have lived through similar romantic dramas?) that I was drawn in. She spent so much time developing the relationship between Bella and Jacob that I bought it and suddenly I was conflicted. I believed in their relationship more than I do Edward and Bella's.

Crap, I will have to finish this later. Class time.

Anyway, props to Stephenie Meyer for an amazing show of growth.

New Moon Shocker

Last night was one of those nights.
My body wasn't tired but my brain was exhausted. As such, I couldna sleep. (Listening to Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Galbadon brings out the Scot in me....Glasgow, Illinois was actually started by my great, great, great, great something grandfather...Edward McGlasson? My mother's maiden name is McGlasson.) Anyway, this imbalance put me in a precarious spot. I was awake, but not really. It was one of those moments when all you really have the strength to do is sit there and stare blankly at the wall. Feeling that catatonic stares would be a great waste of time, I picked up New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. (Given to me by a wonderful Christian girl.) I am only halfway through now, but I believe my review will shock you. But, we will wait until the end to see.
I must go tend to my sick child now, but had to take a moment to share this startling tidbit with you.

The Writer's Bane

Why is it that every sequel must try to artfully weave in information from the first book?
It's painful for people that actually bothered to read the first book and pay attention to its content. It has been no different with Stephenie Meyer's New Moon, the sequel to Twilight. Oh it's painful. It was with great effort that I pushed myself through the first chapter. Only when things started to go wrong for Edward and Bella did Meyer seem to somewhat regain her voice. How difficult it must be. as a writer, to have to weave all the highlights from your previous book into the first chapter of your sequel. A full criticism cannot yet be offered as I have only finished the first three chapters. As of yet, it is not looking promising. Meyer seems to be struggling through this one and there seems to even be hints of either her defense of Twilight or her self-consciousness for the blunders she made in it. Such as? Immediately plunging into Edward's plan for he and Bella. (I don't want to say to much and deny those who have not read it yet.) Oh and there was another point, which I, in my weariness, have forgotten. It will come back to me later and I will edit it in.
Anyway, it isn't looking favorable for New Moon, but maybe it's just a late bloomer.
But I am still incredibly grateful for the book, it's just as much fun when they're bad...just in a different way.