Throne of Glass Sarah J Maas

So when all this started, I said I was going to blog more and actually be consistent with my reviews. But I didn't. At least I'm consistent with my inconsistency and not blogging. I read Throne of Glass several years ago and absolutely fell in love with Celaena Sardothien and all the characters and honestly it's a crime I haven't reviewed it sooner. One night I pontificated on for hours explaining the plot of the first four or five books however many were out at the time to CA because that's just the kind of person I am and that should tell you just how much I love these books. CA still reminds me of it when I talk too much. Anyway the series follows Celaena, an assassin through her various adventures.

Characters!

So bear with me as I try to remember who were the major characters were in the first book, and describe the without giving away anything more than is in this book.

• Celaena Sardothien- of course we have our main character. She also happens to be one of my absolute favorite characters. She's pretty badass even in this book. She's an assassin and thus trained in all sorts of deadly arts and generally keeping her head while having an amazing temper and ability to hold a grudge. She's spunky and determined and a bookworm to boot.
• Dorian Halivard- He's the Crown Prince of the Adarlan Empire and I love him a lot. He's a sweetheart and also a booklover and if you can't guess I love booklover characters. He disagrees with his father on pretty much everything and I really need to start rereading books before I review them. Honestly I know so much about his personality and character but I'm just not sure how much of it goes with this book and how much character growth is involved. So I'm going with sweetheart who stands for what he believes in.
• Chaol Westfall- No I don't actually know how to pronounce that, I think it's something like Kale but I don't actually know. He's the captain of the guard and Dorian's personal guard and best friend. He's not my favorite character and that's partly because of this book and partly because of the rest of the series and the way he acts toward Celaena. Anyway he's naturally suspicious and watches out for Dorian and wants the best for him. He's also judgemental, less so in this book if I remember correctly but he's still judgemental.
• Nehemia- She becomes one of Celaena's best friends. TBH I don't remember much about her but what I do remember is that she is sweet and strong. She comes from the the country Eyllwe, a former country in Erilea that Adarlan conquered. She encourages Celaena and helps her to continue on even when she's discouraged. I'm also not entirely certain she's in this book.

There are so many characters that I absolutely love and some I really hate but I can't talk about them because they haven't come in yet or the reasons I love or hate them give away too much. Basically from this point on I'm going to be screaming READ THIS SERIES! at you.

Plot!!

So the plot is a little fuzzy for me because it's running into the next book so bear with me here. So we start the book with Dorian and Chaol in the Endiover Salt Mines demanding that Celaena be Dorian's Champion for this contest his father is putting on. The reason they have for wanting Celaena is that she is or at least was before she got caught (and that's a whole other plot point that belongs in the short story collection) the most feared assassin in the entire empire. Here's the catch she's eighteen, and a girl. Her trial was held behind closed doors and after the trial all record of her was struck from the record. So she can't go by her actual name so they come up with an alias Lillian Gordaina and offer her relative freedom if she competes. If she doesn't she goes back to mining in Endovier and you don't really say no to the Crown Prince and Captain of the Guard. So she does and enters into a competition that should be to the death (it only kinda is). She trains and competes in various trials of fighting and poisons and other assassin skills. And of course dodges suspicion  from the other contestants all while trying to stay alive and facing off against magic. Magic that shouldn't exist. It disappeared from the continent ten years ago when the King took over. 

Review!

So I love this entire series, but honestly this book isn't my favorite. Celaena isn't as awesome here as she is in the next book even and the magic is kinda forced. It is however worth reading because it opens up the whole universe. I give it five paw prints with a note of you should definitely read the rest of the series and it gets so much better. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾   READ IT

Happy Reading!

Merlin:)

My Lady Jane by The Lady Janies (Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows)

Hello and welcome back to we're all stuck inside for the good of all humanity so we might actually get semi-regular updates.
Today we're going to talk about My Lady Jane an absolutely fabulous magical historical fiction book. It was recommended to me by CA several years ago. And I'm just now reviewing it... Oops I guess. Well My Lady Jane is the semi true story of the woman who was queen for nine days before Queen Mary the First of England and after King Edward.  She was a real person and really was queen for nine days. History has pretty much forgotten her, except for maybe in England, but trust me she existed. Basically before Edward died of tuberculosis Lady Jane's father, Lord Henry Grey, convinced him that Jane, a protestant, was a better choice for a successor than his half older sister Mary, a catholic. So when he died, Jane was declared Queen of England. A month before she had married a man named Lord Guilford Dudley (who is also a character and I absolutely love him) who  took an army to stand against the people and Mary. With him gone Jane was declared a traitor and her reign came to an end. On July 20 she was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and Guilford was arrested. They were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death but due to their youth and innocence Mary wouldn't execute them. Unfortunately, early the next year Lord Grey, Jane's father, led a rebellion and thus to end the rebellion Mary had to execute all of her opponents including Jane and Guilford. On February 12 1554 both of them died and the executioner held up her head and said "So perish all of the queen's enemies! Behold the head of a traitor!" Well this is the story of Jane and Guilford with some magic mixed in and a healthy dose of fiction thrown in because why read what really happened when you can make it so much more interesting.

Characters!

• Lady Jane Grey- She's nerdy, she's badass, and she doesn't want to get married. She also wears pants which is very against the status quo in Edwardian England. She's awesome and really annoyed about being married off. Also she loves to read which is amazing.
• Lord Gifford Dudley- Call him G. He's sweet and not really what you expect. He's an Eðian (eth-y-un) which I will talk more about in a minute. He also writes poetry and is a romantic at heart.
• Edward- King Edward really the one before Mary. He's sweet and kind and wants to believe the best in everyone. He's also an Eðian. And that's all I've got for him partly because he's not a main character and partly because its been a minute before I read it.
• Gracie- She's Scottish and spunky. Being Scottish she really doesn't like the British. If that isn't enough she's an Eðian.

Plot!

So in this magical version of England and history, rather than being split between Protestants and Catholics England is split between Eðians and Verities. Eðians are those with magic, they can shape shift into another animal, just one though. Verities are those without this magic who hate it and believe all with it should be killed. Given that there are a fair few Eðians the extermination of them could cause some problems. You can also see how this could cause a problem for our characters. Anyway Edward is told he has less than a year to live and is convinced by G's father to name Jane as his successor over Mary or Elizabeth. Edward is true to his time and doesn't believe that a woman should rule the country so Dudley (G's father) arranges for her to marry G. G is cursed to stay in his Eðian form, a horse, from daybreak to dawn everyday and neither of the two can break this to Jane. Jane being the feminist that she is is very annoyed by being married off and goes to G's family to meet her soon to be husband. Being cursed, G is unable to meet her and his brother makes some crass jokes and comments about G being a womanizer , which he isn't, that kind of irritate Jane. In this time Edward has discovered he's being poisoned and flees. Jane and G get married at dusk, G gets drunk to tell Jane his secret, doesn't and passes out on the floor of their room, and Jane wakes up very surprised to find a horse in her room. It's announced Edward has died, and Jane is queen. Mary decides to take back her thrown, but unlike in history Jane and G escape and the story truly begins. There's an army or two and a group of Eðians running rampant. It's tons of fun.

My Opinion!

Personally I love My Lady Jane all the characters are great and funny. There's some swearing, and romance, and the very end is a little more risque than the rest of the book as it ends with Jane and G's second wedding night. But nothing too out there. Personally I say 14+ to read it just for some maturity but it's great. The Lady Janies have written another book too, My Plain Jane, which I will review soon, and another set to come out in June, My Calamity Jane. Ten of ten paw prints🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 

A Brief Word On The Current Situation

Let me begin with LET ME OUT OF THIS HOUSE. I can't stand it anymore. I need to see real life people in person. So to all of you people not staying at home because you just don't want to STAY HOME. If you're a healthcare worker or business owner or necessary personal I salute you, especially healthcare workers. Everyone else refusing to stay at home I hope you step on a lego. I've taken to putting together puzzles I've been meaning to do for a while. I just finished a 3D Diagon Alley which is super cool and now I'm working on a 3D Cinderella's castle. I've read, watched an inordinate amount of TV (hulu/netflix/dvds), and cooked. I want out. I want to go see people, I won't but I want to. So now that I've vented some of my crazy I invite you to do the same. Also go outside and enjoy the sun I know it makes me feel better.

Enjoy social distancing,

Merlin:)

House of Salt and Sorrows Erin A Craig

Hello my dears,
Tonight brings you a review of House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig which is part fairytale, part Victorian England fantasy, part gothic Edgar Allen Poe-esque story, all amazing. House of Salt and Sorrows is a gothic retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" or "The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces" and I absolutely adore it. Mind you I love retellings (most of the time). In this story the princesses are *whisper* cursed. Slowly the sisters are dying. DUH DUH DUNN!

Characters!

• The Sisters (listed in roughly age order)
• Ava- We start the story with her dead so there's not that much to say about her
• Octavia- She's also dead to begin with
• Elizabeth- And her
• Eulalie- We start off with her funeral
• Camille- Finally a sister I can talk a little bit about. She's super sweet and helps Annaleigh with all the death in their families. 
• Annaleigh- Our main character. The one I remember the most about, because honestly I should probably reread this book before I review it but I'm not so bear with me here. I love her. She's inquisitive, and absolutely done with these rumors that her family is cursed. She doesn't like the way everyone says Eulalie died and sets out to find out what really happened.
• The Triplets
• Lenore- Approximately sixteen and a typical teenage girl.
• Rosalie- Much like her sisters she's very excited to be turning sixteen and wants to debut with a ball
• Ligeia- Also very much like her other sisters. A very typical teenager
• The Graces (Not triplets but very close and all named after graces of humanity)
• Mercy- Young excitable, sweet
• Honor- Also young and excitable and kind
• Verity- The youngest, excitable, and kind. Yes I know these are very vague descriptions but the story is all about Annaleigh and dancing and magical balls not all the sisters and who they are. Like I said I need to reread this but I'm not right now. Anyway she can see things that others can't.
• Morella- The girl's stepmother. She's from the mainland and doesn't quiet understand the traditions of the island. This is kinda important because she's pregnant. She has her moments but she's not the greatest. 

Thats all the characters I really remember anything about and that's a stretch. So moving onward.

Plot!

We start our story with a funeral. Eulalie has died and is being buried. Fun fact, I met Erin at an event at my local book store, won a contest for sparkly shoes (and impressed her with my ability to walk in heels which at 5'2" is not a really impressive feat) and won a face mask, a beach towel, and the necklace that Annaleigh noticed Eulalie wearing at her funeral. Yep I own a copy of the necklace a dead girl is buried in. Well Morella tells the girls' father that she's pregnant and they decide to end the mourning period that's been going on for years. One death after another after another has lead to years and years of mourning. And this ends. Annaleigh and the older sisters are not in favor of this and first and then they get into it. Annaleigh personally decides to figure out what happened to Eulalie because she doesn't want to believe she killed herself. And then the balls start. They start normal enough with an actual celebration of the triplets sixteenth birthday, and then lead to magical parties in different places each night. Annaleigh's investigation brings up some interesting things and that's all you get. If you want to know more read the book. CA if you're interested I might be convinced to loan you my signed copy.

My Opinion!

Personally I loved this book. To start with, all of the children of this Duke on this island are all girls and they aren't treated as inferior in anyway. This island that's part of a patriarchal society has it's own traditions where the oldest child of the family gets to inherit the Duchy. I love that so much. All of the girls have unique personalities and no one is shamed for their interests. It's awesome to me to see that in writing. I've never been shamed per se for my interests but when I say things that are scientifically correct and true or "I want to be a cardiac thoracic surgeon" I get looks like I'm crazy. My grandmother actually told me I should be a nurse instead. I have nothing against nurses, they do more than doctors do most of the time, their job is basically to make sure the doctor doesn't kill you. I just got offended because she told me she wanted me to be a nurse because who would take up for me if I was a doctor. So to see this in action in a book that is set to become a TV show at some point that I'm hoping will take the world by storm, is amazing. Also I love gothic retellings of fairy tales. The original fairy tales are really dark anyway but to spin them in a different way that brings a different darkness to light. And I enjoy reading Poe when I'm not being made to analyze it so adding Anabel Lee as twist to a fairy tale is like top level of awesome. Also the love interest who's just kinda there is awesome. He's a secondary thought though, her primary thought is always figuring out just what on earth is going on. Which is also really cool, a love interest that is a secondary thought. I love it. I cannot stop singing it's praises. Ten of ten paw prints 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Enjoy social distancing and stay healthy and safe,

Merlin:)

Sorcery of Thorns Margaret Rogerson

Are you an orphan who wants adventure? See your Great Librarian today!
In this world you have libraries and Great Libraries. Great Libraries house grimoires, books that let sorcerers use magic/house spells for those of you new to the fantasy genre, particularly high fantasy. Welcome! We're nerdier than you thought. Anyway to do magic sorcerers have to make a deal with a demon and so become evil. Or so commonly thought.

Characters! (low-key one of my favorite parts)

• Elisabeth- She grew up in a Great Library, which is something that never happens. Apprentices are taken in at thirteen. She's spunky, determined, and doesn't take crap from much or anyone, This is set in a time where women are considered weak and Elisabeth destroys that stereotype.
• Nathaniel Thorn- Sorcerer! He's a necromancer of House Thorn. Necromancers are generally regarded as the most evil and Nathaniel seems to go with this and pushes people away. He's really a softy and relies on his demon like father. I want to give him a hug, a big cup of coco, and a good book. 
• Silas-Nathaniel's demon. I love him so much. He also appears as a cat.

Plot!

So Elisabeth grew up in a Great Library and knows all about magic and how it makes you evil. Then she meets Nathaniel for the first time, and nothing really changes. But then, the Library gets sabotaged and she sorta gets blamed. Re-enter Nathaniel tasked with taking Elisabeth to the capital, where they discover a plot much bigger and nefarious than they could imagine.They have to stop it and then shenanigans.

Review!

So I was given this book and told I HAD to read it, that it was amazing. Well, ST (who works at my local bookstore), was right it's SO good.  I love it! It's got this really cool Beauty and the Beast feel to it. As one one who loves a good faerietale re-telling its great. I love the rules of magic and regulations for Librarians. Not to mention Silas. One of my favorite character tropes is a character who's supposed to be really tough is really sweet. Another one of my favorites is a sweet character who has a dark side. You get both of them with Silas. The characters are amazing and well rounded. And the world is so rich. I read this on a road trip and I didn't look up from it the whole time except to make a comment about forgetting how people used to think reading too much could make you cray. Honestly this is an amazing book that everyone in to fantasy should read. Ten of ten paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾 

Chao, 

Merlin:)

Side note: This comes to you from my bed where I'm celebrating final posting a review. First there just wasn't time for me to post them and then I didn't. I have like five or six written out to type up and post but I haven't yet. Oh well. I'll get there eventually. Sorry it's been so long. I'll try to be better about it.

The Queen's Rising by: Rebecca Ross

Bonjour mes chéris,
Why the French Merlin? Well you see the book I'm reviewing today isn't set in France or this world at all but it still has a French feel to it so I figured I might as well set the mood for this review. As you can tell from the title this is about the book The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross. I honestly can't believe I let this sit in my drafts for so long. I fell in love with it and the characters from the beginning and yet this has been sitting here for like a year waiting to be published. Opps... Oh well, better late than never.

Characters!!

• Brienna- She's my fav. So in this world you have two kingdoms, Valenia and Maevana, and Brienna hold citizenship in both, which is quiet unusual. At the age of ten she begins to study at Magnalia, as a passion of Art but over time switches to History. 
• Cartier- He's Brienna's teacher of knowledge. There's soo much more to him, and I love him dearly but that would give away the story.

There are many many more characters, but they all have rolls later in the story that I think should reveal themselves in the story so I shall say no more.

Plot!

At age ten Brienna begins study at Magnalia, a school where young girls study for seven years to passion. After they passion, these girls are chosen by a patron and begin a career. Brienna is unusual though in that she studies all of the passions before settling on History. On her seventeenth solstice, Brienna is set to passion and be chosen by a patron. Only, she isn't chosen. All the patrons decide she is not what they want. So several months later, when a disgraced Valenian lord offers her patonage, she takes. Which ends up taking her to Maevana and revealing a plot to overthrow the king. It also reveals somethings about her past (which that and her resulting actions are what make her my fav). 

Review!!

When I picked up this book I wasn't really sure if I was going to love it but it sounded interesting. I ended up loving the world, the story, and the characters. The world is so rich and wonderful. I wish I could go, even if there is a revolution going on. The characters are realistic and flawed which makes them more perfect. This was honestly amazing and I can't wait for the sequel (it comes out March 5). Ten of Ten paw prints. 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Happy reading!

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:)

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 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:)