Merry Christmas!! How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

So today is Christmas. Which means several things, first and most importantly 2,018 years ago Jesus was born well most importantly for me being Christian maybe not for everyone this is not a place for religious discourse so I mean no offense to any one and presents. The second of which is how I stumbled upon Dr, Who quiet on purpose and not accidentally at all. But that's not what we're here to talk about. No we're here to talk about books, more specifically How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess. This is truly a Christmas classic ranking up there with A Christmas Carol,  The Polar Express (honestly not one of my favorites), The Gift of the Magi, and The Nutcracker. While I'm sure everyone has heard this story I'll go through everything anyway.

• The Grinch- Predictably the main character as his name is in the title. He lives just north of Whoville and hates Christmas. 
• Max- The Grinch's dog. 
• Cindy-lou Who- who was no more than two. She's the sweetest little thing. 
• Everyone else down in Whoville- the Whos. They all love Christmas. 

Ok so the story goes as follows, exactly as follows, being very simple. "Everyone down in Whoville loved Christmas a lot. The Grinch who lived just north of Whoville did not." So hating Christmas, the Grinch decides the only thing to do is "keep Christmas from coming" ie. steal Christmas. So he dresses up like Santa Clause and goes down to Whoville with Max as his reindeer. When he gets to Whoville he steals all the decorations and presents and "even the last can of Who-hash" At one house he encounters "Little Cindy-Lou Who who was not more than two" who sees him and questions him as to why he's stealing her tree. He lies and gets away with it. The next morning the Whos wake up and discover all of their decorations, food, and presents are gone. Still they celebrate gathering where their big tree would be and singing. Bada bing. Bada Boom. Grinches heart grows three sizes and he returns Christmas.

I love this story and always have. Apparently many others have too. Even after two remakes I hold true to my opinion that the first movie that follows the book to the letter is the best version. Though Benedict Cumberbatch is definitely better than Jim Carrey. I give it ten of ten paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merlin:)

Countdown to Christmas! One Day Left! It's Christmas Eve! The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan

khanIt's Christmas Eve!!!!
So this particular story is sadly not well heard of. I picked it up in my local library a while ago and since then I've read it several times falling in love with the story all over again every time. The Legend of Holly Claus is a fantastic Christmas fairy tale. Nicholas Claus, Santa, and Viviana Claus rule over the land of Forever home of the Immortals as benevolent King and Queen. And then one day they have Holly.

• Holly- Nicholas and Viviana's beloved daughter who posses the most compassionate heart ever born, which was promptly frozen by a villain. Unfortunately said freezing of Holly's heart puts a curse on the land of Forever, oops. She watches the mortal world and one day decides to go to the mortal world to help.
• Nicholas- Santa! He loves his wife and daughter and would do anything to protect them. He also loves the people of the Land of Forever but not nearly as much.
• Viviana- Mrs. Claus and the Queen of the Land of Forever. She cares about Holly so much and wants the best for her. 
• Sofya- Some kind of Russian fortune teller/wise woman who becomes Holly's godmother and teacher. She teaches Holly everything, including somethings that Nicholas would rather her not know.
• Tundra- One of my absolute favorite characters. He'a a wolf and Holly's protector.
• Lexi- A mischievous fox and one of Holly's best friend. 
• Euphemia- Isn't that just a great name, especially for an owl. Euphemia wants to be good owl but she just can's seem to get it right.
• Empy- The most adorable little penguin who follows Holly wherever she goes.
• Herrikhan- DUN DUN DUHHH! Herrikhan is you guessed it the villain. Trapped where even the ground sweats, he hears of a way to end his imprisonment. He must possess the purest most compassionate heart to ever exist, a la Holly, cue heart freezing curse,
• Christopher- A ten year old boy who asks Santa what he wants for Christmas in his letter.
• Mr. Carroll- the owner of a toy store in New York who seems to have lost some of his Christmas spirit.

So in the North Pole, sort of, there exists The Land of Forever home of the Immortals, where Nicholas and Viviana Claus rule. Every year Nicholas gets letter from hundreds of children tell him, Santa, what they want for Christmas. This year he gets an unusual letter from a boy. This boy, who is poor, says he has everything he wants and asks Santa what he wants for Christmas. This allows Nicholas and Vii. And so Nicholas and Viviana have a little girl named Holly. Elsewhere, Odyl, Herrikhan is plotting how to get out of his imprisonment. He finds out that the only way to break the spell holding him there is to posses the purest most compassionate heart ever born, which just happens to belong to baby Holly. So being the evil son of a nutcracker he is Herrikahn casts a curse on Holly freezing her heart. This has the side effect of keep everyone in the Land of Forever and everyone out as well, along with the fact that if Holly gets to warm her heart will melt and she will die. So Holly grows up loved and protected by her parents, but curious about the outside world where she can't go. Holly also feels like she doesn't belong in the land of forever because she did not earn it but was simply born to it. One day Holly decides to leave the Land of Forever and go to the human world to help and earn her place in the Land of Forever and break the curse. Of course her loyal friends Lexi, Tundra, Euphemia, and Empy go with her. In the human world they find many who need help and work at a toy store owned by Mr. Carroll. Holly has to break her curse before winter ends or she will die. Oh and because Holly has left the Land of Forever Herrikahn has his opportunity to get his hands on her.

I think that everyone should read this book at least once. A richly crafted world of fantasy and magic draws you in and the lovable characters steal your heart, and could thaw a frozen one. Holly is compassionate to a fault but not a goody-two-shoes. She genuinely cares about things and is the perfect role model for anyone. I want to be so many characters but Holly is definitely at the top of my I want to be you list. Ten of Ten paw prints 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Merry Christmas!

Merlin:)

Countdown to Christmas! Two Days to GO!! The Angel Tree by Daphne Benedis-Grab

Merry Christmas! Happy (belated) Hanukah! Happy Kwanzaa!
So after What Light and it's cheesiness we have The Angel Tree which is also kinda Hallmark movieish but in a better way than What Light. Less like Fir Crazy and more like The Christmas Heart. Every year in Pine River a large tree goes up in the square and everyone puts wishes up on the tree and they get them granted.

• Lucy- She's blind and her service dog Valentine is dying of cancer. Unfortunately her family can't afford the life saving treatment she needs. So her wish on the Angel tree is for that life saving treatment.
• Max- He's part of a big family and recently his house burned down. He and his family are now living in a cramped apartment. He wishes for a new house.
• Joe- He's new to town and lives with his uncle. All he wants for Christmas is to spend it with his mom. So after finding out about the tree that is what he asks for.
• Cami- She loves to play the violin but her grandmother thinks its a waste of time. She wants to make her grandmother proud.
• The Benefactor- the person who runs the Angel Tree. 

So every year a tree goes up in Pine River for wishes. This year there are some pretty big wishes, life-saving cancer treatments for a seeing-eye-dog, a new house, and spending Christmas with mom something many of us take for granted that turns out to be a little difficult in this situation. So when all these wishes get granted, the kids decide to band together to find out who the benefactor is and thank them. Which turns out to be a little more complicated than they thought. In the process they all grow closer and Joe opens up about why he lives with his uncle.

I got this book years ago and fell in love with the story. Even now as my reading interests have changed and grown I still love this story. It truly captures that spirit you find in Christmas, one of giving and giving back. A sweet, slightly cheesy, heartwarming Christmas story. Nine paw-prints and a whisker.🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾⚟⚞ 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merlin:)

Countdown to Christmas! 3 Days to go! What Light by Jay Asher

Merry Christmas to All!
While I realize that there are some people out there who are total Grinches and don't like Christmas, even on a superficial commercial not Christian way, I love Christmas and honestly I should have started this countdown a while ago, but the idea just occurred to me now. Oh well. So now I sit here watching A Miracle on 34th Street, unfortunately battling my sinuses just over two days (counting today but not Christmas), and brining you my thoughts on one of the best Christmas books I've read,  What Light by Jay Asher. I got this book for my birthday, which is about as far from Christmas you can get, a couple of years ago from CA and since then I've read it several times and every time is as good as the last. Still haven't loaned it to CA to read though...

• Sierra- Her family owns a Christmas tree farm in Oregon and every year they go down to California to set up their lot. See the Christmas already? She's been doing this since she was a baby and has friends in both Oregon and California and has friends in both places. Everybody likes her and she's unfortunately kinda stereotypical. Beautiful and everybody likes her. 
• Caleb- Ah Caleb, also just a little stereotypical. Adorable bad boy. Yeah he's sweet but *SPOILER* HE STABBED HIS SISTER'S DOOR!! Hello! Who the frick does that?! And yes I get that people make mistakes but yeesh, that's pretty bad. *SPOILER ENDS* He does all sorts of good things and has dimples.
• Hannah- Sierra's California friend. They've known each other for a long time and are total besties. 

Looking back this is probably only one of my favorite Christmas books because its a hard genre to find. It's like reading a Hallmark movie. It even kind of follows the ROM-COM pattern. Guy meets Girl. Girl and Guy get to know each other and fall in "love". Something happens they have issues. Guy and Girl end up together. Why oh Why can't there be more books set a Christmas that aren't cheesy. Thinking about it a mouse would have a great snack out of this. Christmas always puts me in a cheesy mood so honestly this idea is genius, but objectiveishly and critically if I read this any other time of the year I would DNF it. 

Ok so Sierra and her family go to California to sell their trees for possibly the last time. Her friend Hannah wants her to have a holiday fling so they can double date, but Sierra has high standards and her dad won't let her date any of the guys who work at the lot. So what to do what to do. Enter Caleb the bad boy with the cute dimple. Against the advice of everybody, even Hannah who wants her to date, Sierra pushes past the rumors and bad boy reputation as discovers a sweetheart who loves Christmas. And then well it gets cheesier and the characters get shallower. In the end Sierra and Caleb decide to give it a try and she goes back to Oregon.

And I googled it there are at least three Hallmark movies that revolve around Christmas tree farms. Wow. I personally enjoy because its one of the few Christmas books I can find. Even so I give it four paw prints and a whisker. 🐾🐾🐾🐾⚟⚞ So cheesy. And the Characters really are shallow. Hallmark movie as a book. I still say that it's one of my favorite Christmas books but those are limited in quantity.

Merry Christmas!

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie

HE HAS ESCAPED!! SIRIUS BLACK HAS ESCAPED AZKABAN!
So, this is like my favorite Harry Potter movie. It holds so true to the book, its amazing. Once more movie review = SPOILERS
My least favorite things about this movie

• The very beginning. The movie just completely skips where Harry asks to go to Hogsmead. And all of Harry's gifts don't get shown. *sigh*
• Harry spends several weeks in Hogwarts not just one day. He sees Neville, and many other fellow Hogwarts students, and gets all his books. Then Ron & co along with Hermione come the day before. That's when Hermione gets Crookshanks. Also Scabbers is supposed to be sick. Ron is also supposed to be attacked by the cat. 
• The Dementor train scene bothers me too. Everyone is supposed to feel the effects of the Dementors not just Harry. Yes Harry feels it the most, but Ron, Hermione, and Neville all talk about the Dementors. 
• This particular thing bothers me in all the movies but the layout of the Great Hall. From the books what I got was that you had Slytherin Ravenclaw Hufflepuff Gryffindor. In the movies its Slytherin Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff Gryffindor Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff. G and S are on opposite sides of the hall. 
• This just bothers me for reasons. One of my very favorite quotes is from this movie "Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.". That is one of the most Dumbledore things ever and its not even in the book. It just bothers me because I love this quote but its only in the movies. 
• They skip Christmas. Ok so Harry and Ron stay at Hogwarts for Christmas as usual. This year so few people stay for Christmas so for the Christmas feast they just have one great big table in the Great Hall and all the professors and students sit at the table. Then Trelawney comes down to the feast. And Dumbledore tells her to sit and eat with them and she says something like "No I can't because if I sit we will be a gathering of thirteen. And when thirteen dine together the first to rise is the first to die." Ya know her normal crap. Well this is home to one of the greatest bits of foreshadowing EVER. So there were only twelve people sitting at the table right? Wrong. Scabbers was in Ron's pocket. And as we all know Scabbers is the infamous Peter Petigrew. That makes thirteen people sitting and eating together. And Dumbledore is the first to rise. Dumbledore is also the first to die. 
• They gloss over Ron and Hermione's fight over Scabbers and Crookshanks. But thats not the worst part. No they also take out where Ron works tirelessly to help Hagrid defend Buckbeak. But worst of all, They remove so of the best dialogue. Chapter Nine, Grim Defeat Snape calls Hermione an insufferable know-it-all. And Ron who constantly calls Hermione a know-it-all defends her saying “You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don’t want to be told?” In the movie he doesn't, no no he says "He's right you know."
• Another small problem that I can understand is that they only have Buckbeak in the movie when in the books there are three hippogriffs. 

So I know that's a lot for this to be my favorite movie and really close to the book, but I nitpicked this movie, soooo much just because I love it so. If I had to pick a Harry movie for someone to watch and they were only going to watch this one, and no matter how much they loved it they would never watch another Harry movie, this would be it. Definitely watch it. Nine of Ten paw-prints (which is the highest I'll ever give a movie-book adaptation).🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Watch out for Dementors

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Movie

"Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Me. Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class; Honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League and five time winer... of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile award. But I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon banshee by smiling at him"-Gilderoy Lockhart
Ok so I was going to start with Parseltounge but I couldn't figure out how to write in Parseltounge so I figure a Lockhart quote would be just as good. Forewarning there are SPOILERS in this review. 
This movie follows the book fairly well. As in basically every book to movie adaptation ever, there are a few small errors and things left out. 
My top problems:

• The beginning bothers me because it leaves out a little with Harry having to do yard work.
• The degnoming scene got left out, which yeah isn't that big of a deal but I love that part in the book so I wish it was in the movie.
• Harry doesn't really give Ginny his books in the movie. In the book Harry gives Ginny his Lockhart books because he knows how expensive they are and he has plenty of money and its kinda sweet and cute that he gives his to Ron's family. 
• Lucius and Arthur don't get into a fight. That part really bothers me. Lucius insults his family and then he doesn't actually get to fight him? I think they handled that very well though. 
• You miss Lockhart being really vapid and not taking them to class like he's supposed to and then Harry and Ron go visit Hermione. 
• The Deathday party. Does that not being in the movie bother anyone else? I mean I get why they didn't include it with all the CGI they'd have to have and all but substituting detention with Lockhart just bothers me. I mean he did get detention with Lockhart but he has detention before that. 
• Lockhart's detention. So Harry does indeed have detention with Lockhart for being late and crashing into the Whomping Willow, which will from now on be WW. And he does hear voices. However, Lockhart doesn't show up outside the bathroom where they find Mrs. Norris. No that is after the DEATHDAY PARTY^^.
• The complete absence of Penelope Clearwater as a character. I mean she gets petrified with Hermione and is Percy's gf. 
• Also Ginny loses a bit in the translation to movie. Not much but you never see her get pale and jumpy and try to tell everybody about Percy and Penelope.

So those are my biggest problems with the movie, yes the scene in the forrest bothers me a little but it isn't one of the worst parts. I give it seven of ten paw-prints🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 It's a definite need to watch. I love it because it's Harry even with its flaws.

Always look around corners,

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie

Ah the Goblet of Fire. Or Harry Potter and the Year Nobody Got a Haircut. Or HP and the Goblet of Flowing Locks. This one is pretty good, there are problems, as to be expected but it's pretty good. SPOILERS
My big problems

• The beginning. Ok so one of the best parts of the entire book is when Harry gets a letter, in the Muggle post, for the Dursleys from Mrs. Weasley. All but one square inch is covered in stamps. It infuriates the Dursleys. Not in the movie. Harry's power move intimidating the Dursleys with Sirius. Not in the movie. Sirius' tropical birds. Not in the movie. All of Harry's food gifts from Ron and Hermione because Dudley is dieting. NOT IN THE MOVIE. 
• We never get to see the Weasleys come and get Harry from the Dursley's in the movie. In the book they get stuck in the Dursley's fireplace, they being Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron. Mr. Weasley blows out the wall of the fireplace to get out. Naturally this disturbs the Dursleys. Then Fred and George give Dudley a tongue-ton-toffee that makes Dudley's tongue swell up and grow. I love it.  
• Sadly we only see Harry waking up in the Burrow and Hermione is there. But she just got there. Um no Hermione is already there when Harry gets there from the Dursleys.
• At the Cup apparently, they're in the cheap seats, but the cheap seats are like nosebleed section. But in quiddich the higher up you are the better. Also Ludo was up there along with Crouch, well where he's supposed to be.That leads me to my next point. 
• After the Cup, the deatheaters show up. In the book they like have muggles levitating in the air and are lighting things on fire. Only the fire happens in the movie. And when the Dark Mark is created you actually see Crouch jr. (Who is played by David Tennant) instead of Winky in the bushes with Harry's wand. 
• Back to the Cup though, in the movie you don't get to see Fudge and the Bulgarian minister having communication issues, and you miss some of the best dialogue. 
  • “Vell, ve fought bravely,” said a gloomy voice behind Harry. He looked around; it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.
  • “You can speak English!” said Fudge, sounding outraged. “And you’ve been letting me mime everything all day!”
  • “Vell, it vos very funny,” said the Bulgarian minister, shrugging.”
• You also miss the Leprechauns and Veela, but lots of CGI would be needed for that so I can forgive leaving that out.
• Time constraints also cut out the camping with Bill, Percy, and Charlie who all com the the Cup. But I find it very hard to forgive leaving out Bill and Charlie Weasley. And Fred and George's bet with Ludo. Ireland wins but Krum gets the Snitch. 
• Lots of other little things are left out too. Like Fred and George threatening Bagman because he won't/can't give them their money. And Harry splitting Cedric's bag so that he can tell him about the dragons.
• Also, Malfoy & co made the Potter Stinks badges.
• Furthermore, and this really bothers me, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are both Co-Ed. As in Flamel himslef is a Beauxbatons alumnus and the first head teacher of Durmstrang was a woman.
• Harry's dragon in the first task doesn't ever leave the spot that it started at, unlike in the movie where the Dragon dies. 
• Second task, Harry gets there first yes, and the Cedric. But he spends a fair amount of time trying to rescue the other people. As in He spent so long trying to save everybody that if Cedric finished first in over an hour, then he was definitely over an hour by a lot. You also had more creatures. 
• Third task sooo much is missing. Like all the magical creatures, Blast-Ended Screwts, the Sphinx. And then Harry saves Cedric from an Acromantantula, and THEN they go, you take it, no you take it until they decide to both take it at the same time.
• When they get back to the school, there's more reaction to Cedric being dead. And then Moody takes Harry and that's when Dumbledore knows that he's not Moody.
• Also can we take a minute to talk about the casting of Lily and James. They're supposed to be 21. TWENTY-ONE!! Not as old as they're cast.
• Also, Harry tried to give Cedric's family the money he won, but they said no. So instead he gives it to Fred and George. With the condition that they buy Ron new robes. Which they do.
• Worst for last. Right after Harry gets picked to be in the Triwizard Tournament, all the heads of school, the minister, and Ludo come back to talk to Harry. They're all yelling at Harry and then “Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?” he asked calmly." That's Dumbledore. and please direct your attention to the adverb of how he said it. CALMLY!!!!!!!  In the movie he spins Snape out of the way. Pushes Minnie into a wall. And then
  

Even though they do all this wrong, this movie has one of the best lines ever. It's the scene where Ron's robes come in the mail and Harry sees them and then goes "Is there a bonnet? There is." It's the most Harry line in all the movies.

I enjoy this movie soo much. Definitely watch it. six of seven paw-prints🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Constant Vigilance!

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Movie

Welcome to Hogwarts, again
So all my movie reviews are going to be full of SPOILERS because I need to compare them to the books. Therefore, if you haven't read the book or watched the movie and don't want to know what happens don't read my movie reviews.
All in all this movie is done really well and does the book justice. There are somethings that get left out but there are time constraints and the first movie in the series so the budget wasn't as high. The casting makes me so happy with these movies, even though Rupert isn't tall and gangly like Ron they are their characters. HPSS is definitely not the worst movie but it's not my favorite either. The parts with Harry's letter is wrong and they leave out some of the most fun in Diagon Alley. One of my biggest complaints is that Hagrid goes off and gets Hedwig for Harry rather than Harry picking her out. It also irritates me that Harry doesn't go to Madam Malkin's and meet Draco. Honestly though this is one of the better movies.
This is one of my favorite movies Harry Potter wise. If you've read the book you should watch the movie. I give it eight of ten paw-prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Happy Watching,
Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling (but not really), John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne SPOILER FILLED

Hello my dears,
So I'm trying something new. This brilliant idea came from my friend CA. This review is for you CA. This is a complement to my non spoiler review of The Cursed Child and is full of SPOILERS and just basically a rant about the atrocity of The Cursed Child. So I'm not going to tell about characters so to get a feel for them read my non spoiler filled review .
Ok this play was written not by J.K. as we have been led to believe but by Jack Thorne, which honestly explains a lot. I mean first of all Harry James Potter who his whole life just wanted a family would not tell his son "Some times I wish you weren't my son. No just no. But more importantly the plot just didn't make sense. Delphi who is some how Voldemort and Belatrix's daughter, wants to bring Cedric back because according to this prophecy that will allow Voldemort to win the Battle of Hogwarts??? Yeah that is confusing and then you add time travel into the mix to make it all possible and it gets crazy. But there is one major problems here. Cedric Diggory would never become a death-eater and definitely not because he was humiliated. But the AUs that happen with time travel are hilarious. But don't forget that Scorpius is also rumored to be Voldemort's son. The rumor is that Draco and Astoria couldn't have a child and so the Malfoy's sent Astoria back in time to have a child with Voldemort. And so at one point because he and Albus are having problems because Harry is sooo out of character rather than use his influential position in the ministry and as the Boy Who Lived to dispel this rumor Harry investigates it because he and Malfoy can't get along at all. But they go back in time several times and at one point in a present day AU Hermione didn't go to the Yule Ball with Krum and so never got together with Ron and Ron married Padma??? After they successfully bring Cedric back for Amos, because they think that they're just bringing back a sad old man's son, Albus doesn't exist, Hermione and Ron never got together, Scorpius is the King of Hogwarts, its Voldemort day, and the salute "For Voldemort and Valor" OMG. But best of all Snape's alive. How you ask. Well I don't know. Honestly this breaks so many laws of time travel. All Cedric did was kill Neville before he could kill Nagini, which wouldn't keep Snape alive. But somehow he's alive in a way the defies all logic. Then everybody goes back in time and Harry gave Albus this blanket in the present day "normal", I use this word lightly, universe and love potion got spilled on it and then they write a message on the blanket by putting some kind of ingredient on it that reacts with the love potion and Harry, Draco, Ron, and Hermione all end up in Godric's Hollow the night Lily and James died. Harry turns in to Voldemort to fool Delphi and save the world because he can speak Parseltongue. It's complicated. However the best parts are when Albus has to kiss Hermione because he's disguised as Ron to steal a time-turner from the Ministry, and the past when Scorpius sees Bathilda  Bagshot and says "Wow. Squeak. My geekness is a-quivering". And no squeak is not a stage direction. All in all this play was horrible but hilarious. Definitely my least favorite book.
Hope you enjoyed this,
Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling (but not really), John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne SPOILER FREE

Hello my dears,
I'm sorry to burden you with this book/script but it must be done. Believe me I know that this script is something, but before we get in to that- Characters
Being set nineteen years later, the cast of this play is vastly different from the books. Im just going to give a general description of the group.

• The next generation- Albus Severus Potter, Rose Granger-Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy, James Sirius Potter, Lilly Luna Potter, and Hugo Granger-Weasley. So by last name you can tell who their parents are and they're all sorta friends-ish. Yeah that's all I got.
• Delphi- She... Well she... I... I got nothing. Major character I can't describe with out spoiling a lot.

Main characters done. To sum up. The Cursed Child is nineteen years later and about the golden trio's kids, specifically Harry and Ginny's son Albus. Albus Severus Potter, where does one even begin with that child. No matter, a lot of stuff happens, everyone is out of character, and nothing really makes sense. There's a prophecy and time travel, you can see the kind of misadventures that happen here right. 

I HATE this play. Yes I want to see it on Broadway because it's Harry but the fact that it's in the Harry Potter Universe is the only good thing about this play. Nothing really makes sense, everyone is out of character, and laws of time travel are broken. I can't even with this play. However, it's quite entertaining. I laughed so hard reading this. I laughed at parts that weren't really supposed to be funny but they were. So three paw-prints because its horrible but its Harry and I laughed so much. 🐾🐾🐾

Read and laugh my dears,

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

IT ALL ENDS 9. 15. 11.
So that's not true because Harry will NEVER end, but I can remember seeing those posters everywhere and being excited to see it. So this is the last book in the series, I will however be reviewing The Cursed Child for two reasons a) to laugh and b) it is a Harry book even if I refuse to call it canon. Anywho, character time.

• The Carrows- Alecto and Amicus. Death-eaters but thats all I can say.
• Presenting for the first time ever MRS. FLEUR WEASLEY- It's Fleur but she married Bill so she's a Weasley and I felt like she needed a proper introduction.

So there are several other characters you meet in this book, like Andromeda and Ted, but they aren't major characters even though I love them to death. 

Sum up time! So... wait CA don't read this because I have to slightly spoil the previous book to sum up this one. So Voldy has horcruxes and Harry has to destroy them to defeat Voldy once and for all. This leads to a grand adventure and several slight misadventures. Then it all wraps up in what at the time was a fantastic ending but now its more eh. I'd explain it if I could without spoiling it and I probably will in a later spoiler filled review.

So I love this book so much and to see the growth that all the characters have had throughout the books lead up to this book is amazing. Throughout the series you see the characters go from frightened, skeptical, scrawny first years to brave, less skeptical, teens who know what has to happen and are will to do what it takes to make it happen, and this transformation is amazing. Seeing everything come together end the end is amazing even if this is in my opinion the saddest book of the series. Yes at this point the ending is a little bit of a let down but honestly I'm okay with it because its fitting. So ten of ten paw-prints 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

May your love of book, reading, and Harry never end

Always,

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Baby its cold out side!
I mean its November and its freezing? If you can't tell from my confusion I'm from the South where this time last year I had just pulled out my thinnest of sweaters and now I want a ski suit. Anyway, HPHBP. I love the book but the movie sucks. And before you say "They have to leave out stuff because of time constraints" I know, but don't add stuff in for the sake of it. *cough* burrow scene *cough* Characters:

• Horace Slughorn- He's an interesting person. Former head of Slytherin and a true snake. I say that as a compliment, not an insult. Slughorn's pretty cool, but Minnie is still my favorite.

Yeah that's like literally all the new characters. Wow. Well anyway to summarize. The Wizarding World is in a panic because "Voldy-Moldy really is back!!" Whoops you should have listened to Harry and Dumbledore last year. Also death-eaters are up to more no good than usual. Harry and Dumbledore get into some adventures and there's several plots gone wrong. 

I love this book like all the others because its Harry and Harry is amazing. This book makes me sad and happy all at the same time. The last four honestly make me sad, but what can you do. Everybody should read this, although I probably should have mentioned earlier that as the books go on they get darker. So keep that in mind but if you've gotten this far you can't stop now. Ten of Ten paw-prints 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Enjoy the early winter wonderland

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

He hem.
Ah it's fifth year. The year of O.W.L.s, Umbridge, and sadness. But still it's Harry and so I love it. But that's not important yet. First the characters.

• Delores Jane Umbridge- This years DADA professor. I only have one word to describe her. PINK. Sooo much pink. I can't say anything else or I'll spoil it.
• Luna Lovegood- Unique to say the least. She belongs to Ravenclaw. I adore her. On a slightly related note Evanna Lynch is in the finals of DWTS!!!
• Tonks- Awesome. That is the only way to describe her. The only way. She is the most Bad___ Hufflepuff ever. I loved her before I knew I was a Hufflepuff and before I knew she was a Hufflepuff. Honestly she's one on my favs.

So there are several other fairly new characters, but I can't really talk about them with out spoiling stuff. 

So brief summary. Voldy-Moldy is back but the Wizarding world doesn't believe Harry or Dumbledore. Umbridge appears at the behest of of Fudge and is generally horrible. Ron and Hermione are prefects and lots of twists happen. The ending bothers me the most.

I absolutely adore this book, but the ending makes me sad. So it's not my *looks around suspiciously* *whispers* favorite *horrified gasp*. However, everybody should read this book. EVERYBODY. I think everybody should read Harry anyway but this book speaks out against bullying more and oppressive people and you have Luna and Tonks to top it off, so its great. Ten of Ten paw-prints🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

On a totally unrelated note, Its NOVEMBER and its crazy cold and SNOW???

Happy Freezing!,

Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Come one! Come all! To the once of life time event, The TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT! Yes my dears, we have indeed reached The Goblet of Fire. Ahhhh. The sweet smell of brewing darkness.
Given that this is the fourth book there really aren't many new characters but here we go:

• Mad-eye Moody- This year's DADA professor is none other than slightly insane ex-auror Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody. Moody is well moody. Catching dark wizards comes with its price after all. Basically Moody is one of a kind (well sort of anyway)
• Barty Crouch- Picture Uncle Vernon's ideal man. You know, follows rules to the letter, neat, absolutely perfect and annoying about it. Yes that guy. There no you know Barty. For my Potterheads out there- I feel No sympathy for him. None.
• Ludvic Bagman- Crazy sports fan to the extreme; but he actually played. And now has a government job about sports.
• CEDRIC- OMG I love Cedric. He's like one of the best reps for Hufflepuff, the house to which I happen to belong. He's so sweet and amazing. No I'm not crying you're crying. (my potterheads know what I mean and why I'm crying) I love him.

All the other characters are a) the same b) boring or c) characters I cannot introduce because spoilers!

No matter which the character falls into I love them all, except Barty. I have a series of problems with him. No matter, lets move on.

PLOT! Ok so last year Wormtail *shudder* *snarl* escaped to rejoin the Dark Lord Voldy. Sirius escaped and Harry had to go back to the Dastardly Dursley's. Snape had his moment as a hero which was promptly snatched away. So now its time to go back to Hogwarts but first Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley clan get to go to the Quiddich world cup! Where its revealed that something is going to happen at Hogwarts, Percy is a prick, and disaster strikes. Then we're off to Hogwarts, where we meet Moody and find out what the mystery event that is happening at Hogwarts is. Cue adventures and problems.

So while this may not be my favorite Harry Book, I'm not actually sure which that one is, I still love this book and you meet some of my favorite all time characters. So I definitely give it ten of ten paw prints and you should definitely read this book, or ya know finish it *cough* CA *cough*. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Happy Halloween!
Merlin:)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

RUN!! Run my darling bibliophiles! There's been a prisoner break and they're coming this way!
Yeah, I know its out there. my opener doesn't really make sense does it. Well this book is called The PRISONER of Azkaban. But before I get into that. I feel I must talk about Dobby. I love Dobby. He's a free elf now and it's awesome. Dobby is absolutely my favorite non-human character. (I am excluding halfbreeds as non-human. I'm not a monster.)
Character wise it's the same game as the last review, only a couple of new characters.

• First of all, true newby number one: Remus J. Lupin- With Lockhart's memory gone they needed a new DADA professor. So enter Lupin. He or the next is my favorite DADA professor. (Not really the professor but the professor, if the potterheads get my drift.) Sweet, ratty, worn-out Lupin.
• True newby two: Sybill Trelawney- Third year you take electives, and at the end of CS Harry picked Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. Trelawney is the Divination professor. Really Divination is mostly smoke and mirrors but it can be real. Sometimes...
• Rubeus Hagrid- Yes, yes I know Hagrid has been around since book one so he's not a new character. All I'm going to say is that his job description changes slightly. 

Plot time, imagine that in a sing-songy voice. Harry is preparing for his third year at Hogwarts and has to have a permission form for field trips to Hogsmead signed, which makes things interesting. Then things happen, very vague I know. Well anyway at the same time Prisoner Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban. For those of you who don't know Azkaban is the wizarding prison. This causes panic, as any prison break out does. More things happen, items are found, and plot twists occur. It's all good fun.
I love: this book. I know that sounds redundant, but get used to it because I am going to say it over and over again. It's Harry, It's AWESOME! I would once again recommend for, everybody with the warning that it is rather suspenseful and could potentially be scary to small children. If you get the illustrated version, it probably wouldn't be as bad though.
I give it thirteen paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Goodbye for now my dears,
Merlin:)

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

My dear bibliophiles,
My father once told me that all great stories begin with "It was a dark and stormy night".  This series proves that statement false. For none of the Harry Potter books begin with that sentence. Hopefully you read my review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and have been awaiting the next installment which is this: Harry Potter and the Chamber of the Secrets. I also hope that you enjoyed reading Harry.
Soooo, characters. Since this is the second book you already know about the majority of the main characters which leaves me with this guy:

• Gilderoy Lockhart- Since something happened to Quirrell at the end of PS (I am going to refer to the books by the letters of the secondary part of the title so PS is philosophers stone) a new Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) teacher is needed. Enter Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. He's quite the piece of work. Not in a psycho way but more of an arrogant celeb way. Blond, bright white smile, cocky grin, etc., etc. Everyone knows the type. 

More importantly: The Plot! (and yes to all the potterheads out there, I do know I left out one character. Yes of course I love him, but I want him to be a surprise. Don't fear I maybe a pureblood but I'm not an elitist who ignores him.)

So from the second book you can guess the plot has some thing to do with Lord Voldy. And perhaps you are right but that would ruin your fun. Basically Harry goes back to Hogwarts for second year, which is an adventure in and of itself. When he gets there, its pretty normal other than Lockhart and voices. Then the Chamber is opened and nine kinds of chaos ensue, providing lots of whacky hijinks for the trio to get into. It gets pretty hairy at one point.

I love this book just as much as the first. And don't ask what my favorite Harry Potter book is because like any true potterhead I could never choose. So yeah I loved it. I would recommend for the same age group as PS but with a little more caution around bed time with small children as while its not Stephen King material it's still more frightening than PS.

I give it twelve paw prints.🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Tata my dears,

Merlin:)

Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton

Hello my dears,
Tis I your wonderful blogger. Yes I did just say tis, how medieval of me. It just seems to fit with the book I'm going to talk about today. A medieval book you say? Why, yes a medieval fantasy book.Its called Heart of Thorns by: Bree Barton. This book takes place in a world not unlike our own in the medieval period. Witch hunts, fear, wanting magic yet fearing it at the same time, not to mention that the only people suspected of magic were women. So according to my friends, MMP and CA, tell me that this book sounds just like every book I ever read. Sadly that seems to be true, the summary sounds the same but then the story is original. They don't see the details just the bare bones of the story, magic, female character that has to save the people, sounds familiar right? Well that would be what I read most of the time. Because of these friends I have decided to branch out a little, which you'll see in upcoming reviews. However, this book fits my typical slot.
Character time!!
Mia Rose: So in this world only women can have magic right, and its virtually undetectable until its used so every girl or woman is suspected of having this magic. Mia's mother was killed by a Gwyrach, a half-girl half-god or demon as some people think they would be the ones with magic, and now all she wants is revenge. But whoops, turns out she's a Gwyrach herself.
Crown Prince Quin: There's really not that much I can say about him other than he's obviously the crown prince its in his name. He's pretty cool when you get into the book. I really want to tell you more but I can't without spoiling and part of it will fall under plot anyway.
Angie Rose: She is Mia's sister and that's about all I can say about her without spoilers.
Plot! Plot! Plot! Plot! Plot! Plot!
So in this world only women have magic and are considered half-girl half-gods and demons. In the particular kingdom that Mia lives in Gwyraches are considered demons and there is a special group called the Hunters who exist for the sole purpose of hunting the Gwyrach which happens to be headed by Mia's father. The reason he heads the Hunter's is because his loving wife and mother of his children was murdered by a Gwyrach years before. Mia herself has trained to become a hunter to avenge her mother, but now her father has other plans. She is to marry Crown Prince Quin and eventually become queen. So then things happen lots of things that result in Mia's discovery that she is a Gwyrach which means her mother probably was too. Whoops. *cue adventure to discover her past*
So I really enjoyed this book. It contained all the things that seem to be my stereotype. That's not to say its not good. No no no. It was really good. Not necessarily my favorite book ever no that honor still goes to Harry Potter. I had a lot of fun reading this book. I mean, who doesn't love a good fantasy, magical book right? I think if you're over thirteen years old you would enjoy this book. Assuming you're into fantasy, that is. I give it nine paw prints and a whisker. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾⚞
Bis später,
Merlin:)

Surprise review of famous book

Hello my dear bibliophiles,
Today I'm going to do something I have wanted to do for a very very long time. I am going to begin reviewing the Harry Potter™© books, scripts, and movies. I've held off on doing this because I didn't want to tighten you with all my nerdy glory, but I have finally decided to do it. So buckle your seat belts folks, its going to be a bumpy ride. We have seven books, a play and nine movie to get through and 106 days to do it in. If anyone is curious abut why because in 106 days on November 16, 2018 Fantastic Beast and the Crimes of Grindewald comes out!! that comes to about 11 months so with seventeen things to review I'm going to be busy.
To begin our little crusade we'll start at the very beginning, The Philosopher's Stone. Surely everybody has at least heard of Harry, if not what are you doing with your life. I'm not entirely sure how this is going to work because I know way too much a lot about Harry and everything so bear with me here

• Harry James Potter- This is literally his series. Its called Harry Potter. He's a wizard. Has a scar. Very special known as the chosen one. 
• Ronald Weasley- So, Ron is Harry's best friend, or one of them. He's redheaded, freckly, and the member of a large family. 
• Hermione Ganger- Harry's other best friend. She's bushy haired, smart, and muggleborn. 
• Neville Longbottom- He's a secondary character in the series and kinda a downer here, but he gets better. He has a toad.
• Draco Malfoy- Ahh Draco, he's your typical schoolyard bully who thinks he's better than everyone. I love him <3. Tons of development. 
• Minerva McGonagall- She is the bomb. Minnie McG and Dame Maggie Smith both are AMAZING. I can't really say a lot about her because spoilers, but I assure she is perfect. 
• Dumbledore- He's headmaster and that's all I will say on him.
• Snape- Snape is Snape. There is no other way to describe him. 
• Rubeus Hagrid- 😍😍 I loooove him. One of the greatest characters of all time. You just have to read him to understand who he is and I can't possibly describe him without spoiling the series.

So plot wise this will be brief. If it isn't then I will go into WAY too much detail.

So, we have Harry. He lives with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon who are perfectly normal thank you very much. His life is less than perfect and rather boring until his eleventh birthday when he receives a letter. Life gets very different for Mr. H. Potter after that letter. Adventures and chaos ensue in the best possible manner.

Review time!! I adore this book are series. It is my number one favorite series of all time. The plot and characters are fantastic. I would recommend to anyone at all. Ages zero to two hundred. Yes, I know that if you aren't even a year old you can't read, but it could be a bed time story. I give it twelve paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 

Read it, I say, read it!

Caio,

Merlin:)

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Hello my dear bibliophiles,
This is my review and opinion of Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian. So if you are into fantasy, like me, this book might remind you of Red Queen or Throne of Glass if you've read them. I definitely got a feel of both the books in this one. So if you liked those this would be good.
Anyways, the main characters that I can talk about without spoiling stuff.

• Theodosia- So her name was actually the main reason that I decided to read this book. I saw Theodosia and immediately thought of Hamilton. Yeah that has become a recent obsession, thanks CA, anymore Hamilfans out there? Comment if you are. Back to Theodosia. She's the Queen of a nonexistent country (like I said Throne of Glass feel to it) and has become part of the conquering country's court. One night she is forced to kill someone and discovers a truth within herself. This is no longer the time to hide but a time to take back her kingdom.
• The Kaiser- He is the Villain. The Big Bad. The worst of the worst. There that is all I can say without spoiling it for you

So yeah that's two characters, and there are more important characters in the book but I can't explain them or like name them without spoiling things. Sorry 😢. But hey that gets you wondering doesn't it? 

The plot, DUN DUN DUUUU! Yes, I know its not a bad thing but I'm feeling dramatic/extra today so  I decided to go with it. Any-who. So Theo is the princess of this conquered country called Astrea. She has been in this conquering court for ten long years as Lady Thora the Ash Princess. One day she is forced to do the unthinkable, kill someone. After this event, Theo discovers that she can no longer stand idly by and survive but take action and reclaim her throne and country. 

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was FANTABULOUS! One of my favorite things about it is that the main character is a girl right. Not only that but she's a girl with her own mind and thoughts. No one tells her what to do, well aside from the kaiser but he's the king and in charge of everything. I say 13-14 as a minimum age or a mature 12 year old. I give it ten of ten paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Tootles,

Merlin:)

Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz

Bonjour mes chers,
This review goes out to all my fellow Hamilfans out there. You probably figured out that this was about Alexander Hamilton and Eliza from the title and you would be right This tells their love story in more detail than Hamilton does, but takes shorter periods times. When I read this book I thought it very inaccurate because of certain things involving their relationship but I then found out that it didn't cover the entire relationship just the first part of it. So please bear in mind that this book only covers part of the relationship.
Character time!!!
Alex-ander Ham-il-ton: He is the ten dollar founding father without a father. But during this book he's just an orphan member of the revolutionary army, CA feel free to inform me if I'm wrong about that if you ever read it *cough* *cough*. He stays true to the historical figure for the most part but there are a few differences, particularly with a romantic interest.
Eliiiza- The middle Schulyer sister. In Hamilton you never hear much about her other than she's Alex's wife, mother of Phillip, sister to Angelica and Peggy. In this book you get to find out a little more about her. However, I'm not going to tell you about her anymore tan this because I want you to read it.
So there aren't any more main characters for me to tell you about because this book tells their love story. Of course characters like Angelica, Peggy, Hercules Mulligan, America's favorite fighting Frenchman LAFAYETTE!!, Laurens, and Washington are present too but they aren't that big of characters.
But now, on to the plot.
This book occurs during the Revolutionary War beginning around 1780 and the time of Winter's Ball. Alex and Eliza meet here and from this point eventually fall in love. Their love isn't without its fair share of twists and turns. So I really can't go into any detail at all about the plot but just know that it is amazing!
I personally loved this book. It wasn't my favorite book ever but its fab. I give it eight paw prints and a whisker. CA tell me what you think if you ever read it. Which you totally should because its amazing. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾⚟
Tootles,
Merlin:)

The Creativity Project

Happy Spring or close to it my dears,

So this review isn't gong to be like my others, see this book is a collection of writing prompts and responses by various authors. So no real plot summary or character introductions, just my opinion and maybe a prompt. 

This was called the Creativity project and that's literally what it was. Different authors created and responded to prompts in their own style. These authors include Lemony Snicket, Kate DiCamillo, Chris Grabenstein, Javaka Stepoes, Lisa Brown, and many more. You might think that with all these different styles this book would be a disaster but it actually turned out to be great fun.

This book really made me want to write stuff and you know have fun with it. Not only that but it was a lot of fun to read. I personally recommend this book to anyone at all. I really think that if you need inspiration for a short story or book this would be a great read. So my recommendation is six years or older. Ten of Ten paw prints 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Tootles,

Merlin:)

Rick Riordan Presents- Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

*Briiiing* *Briiiing* *Click* Hello,
So first of all, yes I did just open with phone noises. Second of all, YES this is about Rick Riordan's imprint book Aru Shah and the End of Time. So Uncle Rick (for those of you out there who are sadly uninformed on the world of Percy Jackson Uncle Rick is what we call Rick Riordan. He's not my actual uncle. That would be cool though.) didn't write it but he had to do with the process and chose the author. You can tell he was involved by things like the chapter titles and some of the characters and their actions.
The characters:

• Aru: She is like any girl, she wants to have friends, people to talk to. She attends a fancy school and doesn't exactly fit in so she makes up little lies and stories about things she does/has done. In reality she is the daughter of the curator of the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture.
• Sleeper: He's the bad guy who is released from the Lamp Bharata, because of course there are people getting released from lamps Rick had something to do with it. He is going to wake the God of Destruction if Aru cannot stop him in time.
• Boo- I couldn't talk about characters and not mention him because well he's Boo. He's the Grover/Coach Hedge/Bes of this series. 

So this series is going to be about Aru Shah (and no I do not know haw to properly pronounce her name so don't ask. However, if you are Indian Hindu and know how to properly pronounce it please comment and tell me.) and her adventures as a reincarnation of one of the legendary Pandava brothers. Yes brothers, because it is the reincarnation of the soul not body so a Pandava brother can indeed be a girl. This book centers around her finding out that she is a reincarnation of one of these brothers and before that accidentally releasing the Sleeper who wants to destroy the world, whoops. 

This book was गजब का (which is the word for amazing in Hindi). I loved it. Aru is kind of like Annabeth in The Heroes of Olympus and the Olympians series. If you are unfortunate enough to not have read these series she's smart and powerful and doesn't take crap from anybody about anything. So Aru's a bit like that but a bit more uncertain of herself so more Olympians than Heroes of Olympus. But anyway she's awesome and then the plot was amazing. Not to mention the chapter titles. So I say 9-10 is when it would be okay to start reading it. I personally give it ten of ten paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Tootles,
Merlin:)

One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

Hello my dear bibliophiles,
So this one was recommended to me by my friend, looking at you CA. I really enjoyed it am and really glad I read it. It really gave me a little bit of a Riverdale™© feel. By that I mean some of the relationships and action remained me of season two of Riverdale, which I stopped watching like halfway through because I got bored. I'll watch it on Netflix when it gets there. So now that I've made you curious I'm going to tell you about the characters.

• Bronwyn- She's the perfect, straight-A, Ivy League bound student. Everybody knows one. Heck I am that person or at least strive to be that person. So yeah, she's that person. Some people love her others not so much.
• Addy- She's your popular girl. Not a cheerleader per say but she's at every gathering and social event. She's dating a football player for heavens sake.
• Nate- He's the bad-boy. He deals drugs and everything like that.
• Cooper-He's the jock. He plays some other sports, but he is the king of baseball (and honey you should see him in a crown). He is an all-star pitcher.
• Simon- He's the outcast. He created a gossip app and tells everybody's secrets.

There you have your main characters with slightly more information than the cover. Do you see where I'm going with the Riverdale thing? 

So here's your story. All five of these kid's end up in detention one day. Only four come out. Simon dies that day and everyone in detention is a suspect. See Simon was planning on revealing secrets on his app the next day. They don't seem like the kind of people to have secrets that they would kill to keep from coming out do they? Well everybody has their secrets.

Like I said I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a really good mystery and it kept me guessing throughout the book. Somewhere around half way through I thought I had it figured out and I was going to be very disappointed. I was very wrong. I give it ten of ten paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

13-14 years old minimum so like eighth ninth grade.

Tootles,

Merlin:)

Zenith: The Andromeda Saga by: Sasha Alsberg and Lidsay Cummings

*Hat Tip*

Yes, I did just make you picture a person you've never seen before tipping a hat in your direction as a way of saying hello. Don't y'all just love me? If I were you id probably be picturing a shadowing figure somewhat like a demon standing in a corner with a big ten gallon hat on tipping it. And yes I just called myself a demon. 

Anyway, I do have a purpose for this post not just, you know, having a one sided conversation with imaginary people. The purpose is to tell all y'all about a fabulous book. This book is called Zenith and it is the first book in the Andromeda Saga. I thought it was absolutely fab for several reasons which I may or may not reveal later in the review.

The Characters:

• Andromeda Racella- Andi. She is the captain of the Starship Marauder and a feared mercenary known across the Miracle Galaxy as the Bloody Baroness. 
• Breck- Very strong powerful alien who due to her species is virtually indestructible. 
• Gilly- So take a nine or ten year old girl and give her the rage of a teenager in abad mood. That basically gives you Gilly. She is pretty awesome if I say so myself.
• Lira- She's much less violent than the other three and calmer. Andi calls her the best pilot in the Galaxy

Where are all the male characters? you ask "All of the characters here are girls who are kick-butt (feel free it insert stronger language if you wish) and thats great but they can't be all the main characters, right?" Well you would be marginally right. These are four incredibly amazing kick-butt female main characters, but there are two guys and I can only tell you about one of them. So here goes. I present to you, the only male main character I can describe without spoiling things, 

• DEXTRO- he comes in in chapter four and that itself would be a crime to reveal anymore than this. But, I will say this he is one of the main causes of the girls adventures.

So now that I've infuriated you or on the other hand made you curious with those character descriptions on to why I loved this book. So first of all who doesn't love a good sci-fi/adventure story? However, the real reason for my absolute love of this book lies in the amount of power in the female characters. FOUR, I repeat four female main characters that aren't a love interest. Four girls with their own individual backstories and complicated histories, and guess what their part in the story isn't as a love interest. That never happens anymore. I mean yeah you can argue that Katniss was a character like that but she ended up a little like every other cliché female character ever but also a little in reverse. She became just the daring archer who fell in love with someone she originally had no chance with and defied all the odds. Bit like Romeo and Juliet. Anyway, that makes all these characters that much more awesome. 

I recommend for thirteen/fourteen year olds and above. especially girls. Everybody deserves representations like this. Ten of Ten paw prints 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Farewell, 

Merlin:)

Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely

Happy New Year my dears,
So this is my first review of the year, note before any of y'all, my currently nonexistent readers, call me a liar because I posted yesterday that was not a review but a salutation and a well wish. As much as I wish my first review was more of a holiday related review, its not. No this falls well within what my friends refer to as my circle of weird. But before I get into this, my tedious PSA must come. This is a TEEN book, I repeat a TEEN book. Not an upper middle grade book but TEEN. It deals with some slightly more mature themes and ideas that are not necessarily what your parent(s) (unless you are a parent, in which case you (Or you're a teacher in which case the parents of your students)) would want you to read. If the authority figure which may be your parent(s), the parents, or you the parent says go for it, have fun, or if you have any questions come to me etc., then fine by me go ahead but as the friendly blogger behind the screen I feel the need to present this information before I delve into the nitty-gritty stuff.
I hate saying that every time I post a teen book. Maybe y'all can come up with something a little different. Anyway as I was saying, this is Gunslinger Girl. Its a James Patterson Presents book. Its set in the future after a second civil war so right in my circle of weird. The main characters are-

• Serendipity "Pity" Jones- She ran away from her father wo wanted to force her into marriage for money. She ended up in Cessation a true wild west city where most crimes are legal and only one person can control that madness. Its a great place for Pity because she's the greatest sharpshooter of this new west.
• Max- He's one of the people who brought Pity to Cessation in the first place. As with almost everyone in Cessation he as a past that he hides. 

Those are the only main-characters that I can reveal without spoiling anything. So to meet the rest of them read it. This book was amazing. I totally give this book eleven paw prints out of ten.🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 It was that PRODIGIOUS. However be warned as you were in the beginning that this is a teen book and therefore contains some more mature themes. I recommend for ages thirteen an up. 

Here's hoping y'all have a good year,

Merlin:)

Happy New Years!!

Happy New Year everyone!
I meant to post this yesterday but I was traveling so it didn't happen. Oh well. Anyway I just wanted to wish all of you a Happy New Year.
So does anyone have and New Years resolutions they'd like to share. Mine are to post more and to be more organized. Please comment any of yours that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them.
As a side note, the snow in Pigeon Forge, TN, over the weekend was absolutely gorgeous. I mean I had absolutely no clue what to do with all of it or like get around in it but we managed.
Anywho, that was all I had to say so farewell.
Wishing you a prosperous year,
Merlin:)