"Weregirls: Birth of the Pack" by Petru Popescu

Lily and her friends have finally succeeded in making an all-girls soccer club at their school, and are on a roll. The Weregirls (that's their team name) practice on the run-down field with beat-up  goals and play other teams, winning constantly. Lily, Nikki, Arielle and Grazia are ecstatic... until someone else comes into the play (pardon the pun). Andra Hewlit appears to be your-average pretty rich blonde girl, but underneath she's really much worse than that. She wants control of Lily's soccer team (insert fainting and screams of terror)!!! To Lily's friends, Andra seems innocent enough – and even better, if she gets to be the captain of the team, they'll all get new uniforms and shoes, and even be upgraded from just a club to a school team! Yay!

Nikki, Arielle and Grazia are all for it, but Lily isn't so sure. There's something weird up with Andra – she seems almost obsessed with the soccer team, and is convinced that Lily has "magical powers" of some sort. Lily refuses Andra, obviously. So Andra gathers together her own team, even stealing girls from the Weregirls to make an elite force. Her intention is obvious, and after a few pages, Andra challenges Lily and her team to a match; if Lily wins, she keeps the team. If Andra wins, she takes over. Of course, the Weregirls win. But Andra kicks Lily viciously in the leg, so Lily has to go home and care for her leg. At home, she finds a strange mirror, and when she looks in it, she sees a cute puppy dancing around, and she hears the spirit of her dead father telling her that she is a weregirl, meant to fight against the evil Breed that threatens the world. As it turns out, all of Lily's friends are wolves, too! And there's this super hot guy who is obviously interested in Lily, even though her dad warns her that they can't be together because she's a wolf. Sigh. Of course Lily disobeys dear old dad and pursues the hottie anyway. Anywho, it turns out Andra is in league with the Breed, la-de-la-la. Etc, etc.

This book is literally the worst book I've ever read. The plot is utterly predictable, the characters unoriginal, and the writing boring. The author tries to save the book with a forbidden romance and a big fight scene at the end, but ugh. And in the epilogue, she tries to get a little sympathy for Andra, but eh. All I saw was that Lily and Andra both refuse to obey authority, the Breed are waking up (boo hiss) and there is no hope for the next book.

Erm... one out of ten waves for trying. Otherwise – nah, there's nothing.

I have edited this post so you can't read it! Muahaha! Anyway, it's not anything you'd be interested in. I was wrong, anyways

Assistance, s'il-vous plait! 

You can tell when I start speaking French that I'm either a) frazzled, b) excited or {in this case} c) eeek!!!

Has anyone here ever had appendicitis? Anyone? I'm looking for some advice... what happens, how long the surgery takes to remove that damned little appendix, etc. 

Pro: This isn't for me, fortunately.

Con: This is for my little sister. Hm, lower right abdominal pain, not eating, other things I'm not going to talk about – all points to appendicitis. Right now my parents are driving her down to the hospital to get checked out and figure out if this is really appendicitis or just some overreaction... my grandma (who, coincidentally is a nurse) thinks it's gonna blow soon if we don't get it out. I'm stuck with sitting at home with some guests (but you guys are awesome to be stuck at home with, Liesl and Carla) writing this post in hopes for some real-time info. I'm too nervous to go google it and surf through a hundred billion answers.

HELP! Pretty please? *hopeful smile*

"Enter Three Witches" by Caroline B. Cooney

The book starts in a kitchen, with the cook, Swin, telling of her alleged  visit the Weird Ones on the moor last night. Mary of Shiel, a young ward of Lord and Lady Macbeth, is shocked, so when Swin escapes again to the moor, she follows.

In the meantime, told from the points of view of Fleance and Seyton, one the coddled son of Banquo, the other Macbeth's squire, a battle rages outside of the castle. Fleance is ordered to stay away from the fighting, with Seyton to watch over him. The shame is overwhelming – doesn't his father think he's good enough? But when Seyton kills and Fleance takes the credit, the young lord is satisfied.

Mary, however, is not. She's currently terrified out of her wits. After following Swin across the moor for a ways, she quickly got lost and ran into the Weird Ones. She demands to know what they've done with Swin – but when the three witches tell her to run, she gladly does. On the way, she sees the triumphant commanders of the army, Banquo and Macbeth, on the heath. What are they doing here?  she wonders, and listens in.

"All hail the Thane of Cawdor... All hail Macbeth, who shall be king hereafter!"

And so begins a bloodbath that leads to the rule of King and Queen Macbeth, the murder of wives and children, and moving forests come to battle the blood-crowned king...

In this clever retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth, told from five different points of view, our young heroine goes from cowardly little heiress, to cowardly little penniless girl, to brave (in some circumstances) little heiress again. The style is quite unique and sucks you into the dark story of madness, hatred, and unexpected heroics against unexpected villains. I give this book 4-5 waves (as in, ocean waves).

Exciting new thing!

As I was strolling along throughout the various blogs in my bookmarks, I happened to spot four wonderful words:

Book Blogger Appreciation Week! 

Honestly, I have no idea what this (fabulous) idea contains, but it sounds good to me! So, head on over to whatvanessareads.wordpress.com and figure out what she's talking about!

Also, a word of advice: never make quesadillas while checking your blog. You will burn it.

 

Gnawing unhappily on blackened tortillas and cheese,

Cassandra

"Angels on Sunset Boulevard" by Melissa de la Cruz

There's a new star in the sky, and his name is Johnny Silver. Rising from the depths of a poor life in the outskirts of LA, his music is entrancing, heart-touching and crowd-enticing. The headlines scream his name. He's started a new era of music.

But his girlfriend, Taj, has had enough. She's tired of seeing him with other girls, tired of life in the spotlight. So on the night of his biggest concert, she leaves him...

But she's watching as he ascends the stage, listening as the crowd roars his name loud enough to shake the sky down.

And she sees when, as he strikes the first chord, a blinding light flashes. And when her eyes clear, he's gone.

But Nick has his own problems, including that his hot and popular girlfriend, Maxine, has broken up with him and the disappearance of his sister, Fish. He shrugs these things aside – he can deal with a breakup, and Fish has vanished before, but she always comes back. Only when he meets Taj does he start to see the rising number of missing kids with suspicion.

In the middle of this mess is TAP. It's a website, where one can chat, laugh, and post up a "wish list" of anything you desire... but on TAP, people get you the things you ask for. And what about the mysterious back room at all of the TAP parties, hosted by the missing Johnny Silver's manager, Sutton?

Questions, questions, questions – all revolving around The Angels Practice (TAP) and the strange, intoxicating drink served in the back room.

My review is a resounding eh. This book falls somewhere between Twilight and Weregirls: the Birth of the Pack, the former being a Oh my god I've found the next Harry Potter! and the latter being Good god run screaming!! 

Angels on Sunset Boulevard is a far cry from the enticing Blue Bloods, but you can read it if you want. Again: eh.

One Looong Playlist (AKA, "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist")

Would you mind being my girlfriend for five minutes?

Would you ask that question? No, of course not. But what if you'd just seen your wonderful ex-girlfriend with someone new after a nasty breakup, and were desperate to avoid talking to her? Nick would.

Would you do it? Would you spontaneously make out with a total stranger (who may or may not be gay) who just asked you this relatively insane question? Norah would.

And so begins a wild and unpredictable night for Nick and Norah – two total strangers going on a strange semblance of a date, Norah because Nick's friends paid her to; Nick... well, he's not exactly sure. Maybe because she stole his jacket.

This rough and elegant novel spans just one night, but (despite the overuse of the word fuck) delves deeper into the characters' minds than any book I've ever read as it darts back and forth between the voices of the two main characters.

To sum it up, I loved this book!

Note to self: come up with rating system...

I decline, thanks very much

I vehemently (don't you love that word?) refuse to review Breaking Dawn. Maybe because I'm too chicken to put up my own opinion on the last of this internationally acclaimed author's series?

Yeah, that's probably it. I am chicken. Hear me squawk. Buck-buck-bucAWK! 

So. Yeah. Um, that's it.

Okayokayokay, I do have one tiny little comment: (spoiler alert!)

Why, I ask you, Stephanie, why did she have to get pregnant, for god's sake?! WHY? 

And, honestly, Renesmee? Yes, she is an adorable little girl (despite the fact that she'll be physically mature by the age of seven. That's a bit creepy.) but honestly: Renesmee? I know you could do better than that. Also, to have Jacob imprint on her was a bit over-the-top. 

And (Will it ever stop? you ask. Be patient. I'm venting.) why didn't you make the Volturi go bye-bye? I do NOT like those creepy old guys. I literally had a nightmare about Aro. You could've killed him off, but nooo.

Okay, I'm done. No more comments. I'll have a book review for the rest of y'all in a few days. I've read eleven books in the past week, so bear with me here. Just sorting out my head...

OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!

Oh my goodness gracious/ Oh me oh my/ I see a pie/ Fall from the sky/ And in its tin/ Held out to me / Sat Breaking Dawn/ for all to see!

Breaking Dawn comes out tonight at midnight!!!! Right now I'm just venting my hysterical-ness to cyberspace so I don't explode in anticipation that in three hours (THREE!) the fourth (FOURTH!) book to Twilight will... not be in my hands?

What is this? you ask. What do you mean, a crazed Twilight fan like you won't have Breaking Dawn in your hands as soon as you can get your grubby mitts on it?

Well. I was so foolish as to pre-order it on Amazon, and now it's not coming for like two (TWO!) whole days! And – groans the agonized typist – I'm going to be away from the modern mail system for a week (SEVEN!).

Oh, the unfairness of it all!

(Ends self-pity mode)

Have a lovely evening!