Sunday, January 6, 2013

The Maze Runner by James Dashner book review

This is truly an amazing book. It is the first in the trilogy preceding The Scorch Trials. It follows Thomas' story from waking in a box up to his and the Gladers' escape from the Maze. They all start out the same when they arrive. Their memories have been wiped out except for the basics like their name or how to walk. Thomas wants to satisfy his curiosity by pushing questions like that of why were they sent there? who sent them there? what are their ages? Unfortunately, not everything has an answer and as I've said earlier, their memories have been wiped. Everyone is left to figuring out how to get out of that place, however, a series of unfortunate events occur that end up pointing fingers at Thomas.

Thomas is one of the major characters in this trilogy. He is very inquisitive and finds it difficult to contain himself when his desire for information exceeds his need to shut up at certain times and/or just saying the wrong thing as a whole. He is braver as well as smarter than the rest of the Gladers. Despite being the second-to-the-last sent to the Glade, he reacts faster and manages to keep himself together far better than the others did when they were first brought into the Glade. He, along with Teresa, Newt, and Minho are somewhat the strategists in the story and find the escape route towards the Creators and to give them what they deserve.

Their desperation to leave the Maze is due to a couple of factors, the most important one being Hope. Hope that there is a way out even if it takes a long time to find that one exit. It is what driving-force them to continue with their lives by building a community-like life in the Maze by having systems/jobs to keep the Gladers busy. 

The second factor is that after Thomas had been sent by the Creators, everything changes like the day after he arrives they send another one, which everyone finds unusual because the Creators only send one every month. To make him look even more suspicious is that they sent a girl who at first the Gladers thought was dead and then suddenly startles everyone by waking up yelling "Everything will change" then back to unconsciousness. And of course, the heroic act of Thomas, outsmarting a Griever, a vile creature that kills anything in its way that is not of its kin, must not be forgotten because no one has ever survived in the Maze at night and yet not only did he survive it but managed to save Alby, the leader of the Glade who was at the point of death before the Grievers even arrived.

After The Ending has been triggered by Teressa, everything has been fast paced from then on. The sun disappears and the sky turns grey. The doors don't close, which means protection from the Grievers at night is lost. The Creators no longer sent food via the box. Everyone starts to hustle and bustle and so does the reader.

The language/dialect the author used is interesting. Such that the Gladers are speaking in English and yet they way they speak it is as if it were another and once again we start to learn how to speak the same way they do via Thomas when he tries to use it every once in a while.

It is a very exciting book and it has a lot to offer. There is always something happening even in silence and I find it almost impossible to let go of my copy to eat or the like. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who takes pleasure in reading adventure/action, dystopian, mystery books.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Wreck It Ralph Movie Review

Before going on our lovely trip to Paris, David and I decided to watch the long awaited Wreck it Ralph. It's about a video game villain called Ralph in a video game called Fix It Felix set in an arcade. It follows Ralph's story of wanting to change from being an evil character into a good character.

Ralph's job is to destroy the apartment building, which would be repaired by Felix and then tossed off the building by the tenants. After being insulted in his game's 30th anniversary, he feels that he has to prove himself.

In the film, the term Turbo is used when a character decides to jump to another game and act as one of the characters there. Unfortunately, when that character dies in the other game he doesn't revive, which means that game and his own game's plugs would be pulled.
Because of Ralph's want for change from good to bad he heads off to another game called Hero's Duty to win a medal signifying him as a good and rewarding character because it is mentioned in the movie that evil never wins.

However, a problem occurs after receiving his medal delaying his victory and he ends up facing new challenges. It leads him to another game called Sugar Rush, a racing game and is at first bugged by a glitch character, which then becomes his friend.

He makes new friends along the way and faces enemies that could destroy all the games in the arcade. It is a really great film that not only has great animation but also has an actual story worth following.

Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year!

Happy new year! Heureuse bonne annee! Feliz año nuevo! Fröhes neues Jahr!

Welcoming a new year filled with fun and surprises. Have you made your new year's resolution list yet?

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Season's Greetings!


I want to thank all my readers for your presence on my blog. If it wasn't for you and my loved ones, I wouldn't be where I am today. Thanks to everyone and enjoy the rest of you Christmas/winter break!

Monday, November 26, 2012

On My Watchlist



Recently, I have been looking through my IMDB account and I started watching the trailers of upcoming movies and I really looking forward to what I've found so far from the site. But there are those that I saw from watching other movies too, I just decided I'd add them here too. These all range from drama to comedy and for you to better understand why I am looking forward to these films, I find that it will be much easier if you watch the trailers.

  • The Hobbit




  • Les Misérables


  • Oz: The Great and Powerful

  • Wreck It Ralph



  • Beautiful Creatures


  • Safe Haven


  • Any Day Now


  • Quartet


  • Struck by Lightning



  • Flight



*Note: The list does not have a specific order that show the rank of these films reflecting my interest in movies.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

The fall of childrens' tv shows

Hey moms and dads! Haven't you ever wondered what your kids are getting exposed to on TV? Just think about how much crap they're being fed. I am not a mother yet but I do plan on having a collection of former kids shows aired in the 1990s and early 2000s to show my kids in their developing years. Let's have a look at what's in store for this generation, shall we?

  • Yo Gabba Gabba!
For some reason, it happens to attract children but when you see for yourself what it contains, you might end up thinking whether or not the creator was high on drugs or something.

  • Back at the Barnyard
I'm not sure if you want your kids watching some ring-leader cow persuade everyone to perform mischievous tasks and in the end find their way out of it without the truth coming out. With this embedded in their minds, they may or may not realise that the next time they decide to go one way or another, it might be something that would be regretful and probably too late.
  • Lazy Town
I don't know about you but the guy is freaking creepy, just the way he looks says it all. There is nothing appealing in this show and your kids won't learn anything other than to be big-headed, but if that's what you want then by all means go right ahead.
  • Shake it up!
Sure it's nice to have some fashion idols but to the point that the idols don't even know how to bring a point and ending up to rely on exaggerated facial expressions is not a practice that they should do. They may end up doing exactly what their idols in this show do that in the end they grow up without having to realise how it's unacceptable at certain engagements in the future.
  • Sonny with a chance
When I was channel surfing 2 summers ago, I had to stop at Disney of course to see what's on because I usually watched cartoons from there or on Nickelodeon. However, this show came up and I saw Demi and thought oh Camp Rock, I was able to tolerate that, so I was willing to give it a shot. 3-5 minutes later I immediately switch the channel to Nick, not because my fave show there was on but because the show there was much more tolerable than watching Demi act even more shallow than on Camp Rock.
  • Goodluck Charlie
Same with "Sonny with a chance". I saw this show and noticed that Bridgit Mendler was on it and I thought she was good on The Clique. But I couldn't stay on the channel whenever this show was on because the acting was stupid which made the story boring.

You know what would be nice? If we could just speak up and start spreading the word about how much the entertainment industry has gone down in producing worthless children's tv shows since the early 2000s. Help us to help you. Follow us on facebook or on twitter and share our posts to your friends and families. You'll never know, we just might get what we need to get the kids of this and the future's generation back on track.