Delivered today: The Casual Vacancy

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty fa ade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

Yes, it finally is release day for The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. I pre-ordered it a month ago to make sure I would have it on the release day as I am really excited about the book. I am not even sure if I will really like it, because it is quite different from what I usually read, but I am just so curious to read a novel bij J.K., that is not Harry Potter related. I will review the book (without spoilers) as soon as I am finished, which might take a while as I'm quite busy due to school.

Any of you who received the book today as well or is just beyond excitment to read it, or maybe dreading to read it? Let me know!

Fashion: Chique Summer Evening Look

I've wanted to write fashion blog for ages (as the pictures are from almost a month back), but I kept forgetting about, so here it finally is.

The look is from my parents anniversary dinner party, which was in August on a quite hot day, so the look turned out quite well. I bought the white dress when I was in London, it is from the brand 'Apricot'. The under layer of the dress is a kind of beige, which sets off the whiteness of the dress a little. I combined it with off-white heels that I actually got from a friend as she didn't want them anymore. To make it a little more special than just the white/brownish colours, I painted my toe- and finger nails a bright red and wore a golden cuff with it.

What do you guys think, repeater or not?

My Passion: Writing

Some of you might know how much I love to write, either because you have read the introduction to this blog or simply because I told you or maybe because you have (once) read any of my drabbles/fanfictions. I really like doing drabbles/short stories and fanfictions, but my real dream would be to ever publish my own novel. I have some ideas, which I have had for a very long time, but that is something that is in real beginning phases so that is not really what this blog is going to be about.

You might wonder, then what is it going to be about? As someone who is Dutch, my English isn't perfect. I know my English improved a lot over the years, but there will always be flaws as it is not my mother tongue. However, the real dream for me would be not to only publish a novel, but actually write it in English, simply because I like the language a lot more and everything I write just sounds better in English.

My biggest problem when writing in English, however, is explaining. I can sometimes realy envision a particular scene, but have trouble to put it down in words. Therefore, I got the idea to publish some writing exercises here and I would be absolutely delighted if you guys could leave a reaction, either positive or negative, all very much welcome! Any other comments about blogs or sites that have great writing tips etc., very much appreciated as well.

Avelyn walked through the forest, knowing she was alone here. The idea was both assuring and haunting at the same time. The slim, but tall trees always casted long shadows at twilight, which frightened her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, casting out all the shadows that were surrounding her. Now that the shadows weren't present for her anymore, she could concentrate on all the good things around her. She could feel the grass playfully tickling against her bare feet and the soft breeze playing with her long blond hair.
Avelyn deeply breathed in and out, giving the nature the pleasure of calming her down. If she listened very carefully she could hear the water rattling down the rocks, which was the most perfect sound for her right now. The waterfall had to be close by, peace and safety was close by.
Her eyes snapped open, her feet moving as fast as they could, to go back to what she had been searching for, for so many hours after she got lost in the woods, home.

Alright as mentioned above, any comments on my writing style, way of describing, please leave it all in the comments, every comment will be very very much appreciated. If you leave a comment feel free to leave your Twitter, Blog, Site or anything as well, so I can leave some nice credits/thank you's over time. Thank you guys and hope to do this soon again!

Book Review #5 Wither by Lauren Destefano

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.
More...

The first time I heard about this book, I had quite high hopes. A dystopian novel with a total different world than presented in any other book I had read so far. The beginning of the book was promissing. The writing style was easy and well to follow. However, soon I got distracted. There were some things that -even for a dystopian novel- didn't want to sink in. The whole world flooded besides the USA, yeaah I still don't get that. Another thing is that sometimes Lauren Destefano skips from one scene to the other, without giving us a small break (not even a white line), it just happens and that was quite confusing now and then.

Though, besides the negative points, I did enjoy the story. There are some serious heartbreaking moments in this book and you really do grow closer to Rhine and the people around her, when she does as well. The emotions in the book were described well and the flashbacks given in the book to Rhine's "old world" provided a good balance with the her "current world".

I would probably give it 3/5 stars. I liked the story yes, but wasn't overthrown by it. Sometimes it seemed to much of an introduction towards the next book 'Fever' as there never really was any real "action" in the book that kept you reading on and on and on. I am looking forward to be reading 'Fever', but other books will have priority for sure.

Fashion: Emma Watson @ Jimmy Fallon

I think this is my first fashion inspired post, hopefully more to come. Fashion doesn't play the biggest role in my life as I like to wear what I like and not necessarily what is the latest trend, though I love to flip through fashion magazine and to have a peek into the designers certain celebs wear.

On the photo you see Emma Watson at the Late Night Show of Jimmy Fallon. She was wearing a dress by designer J. Mendel. I absolutely love the model of the dress and the flower print. It is a quite simple dress, though it still stands out because of the colours used.
It probably isn't a dress that I would wear very quickly myself, mostly because of the figure of the dress, though if I could wear it I most certainly would buy it (if it wouldn't be a designer dress and therefore not ridiciously expensive). What do you guys think of the look? Would you like to wear it yourself, yes no?

p.s. Finally found out how to mega tag the posts, so it is easier to browse through the posts if you are intrested in a certain subject

Book Review #4 Inbetween by Tara Fuller

Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky — and unending — lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left…his soul.

In the beginning of this book I had to get used to it for a while. It was my first book I read that concerned repears, but luckily for me the book explains quite well what repears do and how it all works in this world. It is explained part by part and not all at once, which makes you longing for more information.
The book is written from two perspectives, Emma and Finn, which is a nice change now and then as you get to see the story from two totally different points of view. What I liked most though about this book is the amount of emotions that is wrapped up in one story, love, hate, jalousy, anger, loneliness and I could go on for some longer if I want to. The amount of emotions just has a great impact on the reader, especially some of the flashbacks or the moments Emma spends on her own really leave you breathless now and then.

The story is sort of rounded off - for now - but still has an open ending, especially for some of the characters, but you'll have to read the book to figure out who I mean. I at least can't wait for the second installment in the serie.

                             "Please forgive me, pretty girl"

The Bourne Legacy

Yes, Bourne is back! Alright not Jason Bourne, the main character of the first three movies, but finally there is a new Bourne movie. The Bourne Legacy centers around Aaron Cross and Marta Shearing.
I've been doing my best to find a proper plot summary for this movie, but I guess the movie is just too hard to explain in a few sentences as it is a runner up from already three movies that aren't the most straight forward. It is good to know that the movie takes places during the story line of The Bourne Ultimatum, a few parts from that movie have been used in this one to clarify when in the story it all takes place.

I have always liked the movies, though I have to admit that in the beginning I had really no clue what exactly was going on and had to see the first movie a second time to grasp everything. That made me prepared for this movie as this one isn't straight forward either. The story has been put together very well again, some mind twists you really don't see coming and a very very open ending. Like, because that means there probably will be another one (there are about 6 more books), but on the other hand I hate open endings.

Anyway, I don't want to go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil the movie for those who still want to see it. Did any of you already see it and what were your thoughts about it? Or maybe still longing to see it?