I feel a strong sense of achievement at finishing this book which perhaps is not surprising considering it took me 2 full months (and various attempts to read it beforehand).

This is not usual of me so I will put it down to the flow of the book. The first two thirds was painfully slow with a high number of POVs and story lines some of which seemed entirely unnecessary. In fact, one POV is Quentyn of Dorne whom we follow throughout his journey from Dorne to Meereen for many chapters in his quest to marry Daenerys. In the end he gets burned. I can't see why GRRM has thought it's a good idea to introduce, write hundreds of pages about and then kill off a character when they do nothing remarkable to add to the story. There are more rather pointless additions to story line which do nothing for it but to make the sense of achievement upon completion even higher. 

I suppose GRRM's fondness for detail and lists has been oft mentioned so I needn't venture into details on that as well. 

The last third has been significantly less painful to read. I suppose this is because the focus has been on a few central characters and the story gets moving again. 

I'm sadly bought in to the story and will probably continue to read the series but the last two books haven't even been close to being good.

Title: The Tent
Author: Miral al-Tahawy
Language: 4/5
Content: 4/5
Overall: 8/10

This novel reads like a fairy tale, or a dream. Time seems to play no part and images flow into each other seamlessly. 

This is a story told from the eyes of a Bedouin girl, Fatima, who floats between reality and dreams. Zahwa, her imaginary friend seems to be a counterpart to Fatima- living a parallel life. Fatima's life, as is typical of Bedouin girls, is spent amongst women. There is a depressed and hence absent mother, older sisters and a dominating and cruel grandmother. Her father, often absent, is like a distant, loving memory.

The novel is so beautifully written that the reader feels this incredible sense of suffocation whilst reading the book. It's as if we are in the story spiraling further from reality and into dreams with Fatima. The second overwhelming feeling is femininity. Something from the translator's notes stuck with me as I believe it is probably the single best description of this piece of literature. 

'There is no 'women's n' (nun al-niswa) in English, no feminine plural endings, no feminine nouns and adjectives, and it is hard to recreate the scent of woman that permeates the Arabic original of The Tent.'

Almost definitely not to the extent of the original, but the scent of woman permeates the translated version as well.

*The product artwork I use within this review is taken from Goodreads in order to identify the subject of the review. It is low enough in resolution such that it could not be used as counterfeit or pirated material

Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
Language: 3/5
Content: 2/5
Overall: 5/10

Having read and enjoyed Divergent, I decided to give this a go as well. The language is to the same standard as Divergent but the story falls behind. There's a lot of repetition as well as the feeling that the characters are just going around in circles. 

Spoiler: They leave the city, they go back into the city and then leave the city again. Most of their actions seem to have absolutely no cause and the book fails to keep the reader interested. The final 'revelation' at the end of the novel also doesn't make much logical sense. 

All in all, I would give this book a miss- I am curious about the third novel in the trilogy but doubt I'll actually read it.

*The product artwork I use within this review is taken from Goodreads in order to identify the subject of the review. It is low enough in resolution such that it could not be used as counterfeit or pirated material.

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Language: 3/5
Content: 3/5
Overall: 6/10

I decided to read this book after watching the film which may have influenced my opinion on it. The story is set in a dystopia where there are five sections which have set jobs in the city. These are Abnegation, Amity, Dauntless, Erudite and Candor. Without going into much detail: Abnegation are known for their selflessness and hence they run the government, Amity are peaceful and they work in agriculture, Dauntless are brave and they are the soldiers for the city, Erudite are clever and they work as scientists and teachers and Candor are honest and they run the legal system. In this universe children grow up in their parents section until they are 16 at which point they have an aptitude test telling them which section they would be best suited to. After this aptitude test they take place in the Choosing Ceremony where they can choose any section regardless of whether it is the one they are most suited to. However, once they choose a section they cannot really leave it or choose to do a job from a different section.

The universe reminded me slightly of the Hunger Games. However, I believe it is a successful book regardless. The story is definitely good and it is also extremely captivating. I had many a sleepless night caught up in the flow of the events.

The language is simple but easily readable. It does a good job of not taking away from the story. All in all, I would say that this was a good book and incredibly fun to read.

Title: Frozen
Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Score: 8/10

Disney have produced a new film- and it has princesses. I know what you're thinking; I thought the same thing (same old, same old...). However, Frozen was a brilliant surprise. I hadn't seen the trailer and so didn't know what to expect but the film proved that Disney have now completely changed for the better.

The film starts off in typical Disney fashion: pretty princess meets handsome prince. They sing and dance in the moonlight, decide they are each other's true love, get engaged and announce this to the world. What happens next is unexpected (and realistic). 'Wait, you got engaged to someone you just met that day?' says Kristoff, a goofy guy whose best friend is his reindeer, voicing the thoughts of many.

This is only one of the things that makes this animated film extremely mature. It questions love, the types of love and the place it has in our lives as well as family and the importance of family despite the many difficulties life throws our way.

The animations itself are simplistic and beautiful making this film a delight to watch. The songs however are the real wealth of this musical. It's not often that the soundtrack of a Disney movie makes music charts but this film has managed it. The songs are beautiful independently but they also fit the film perfectly.

I believe this is a great film that will suit all audiences. It's perfect for families who are tired of the traditional sexist princess films but it's also great for adults who want to enjoy a great and fun movie.

*The product artwork I use within this review is taken from Wikipedia in order to identify the subject of the review. It is low enough in resolution such that it could not be used as counterfeit or pirated material.

Title: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Director: Peter Jackson
Score: 8/10

When I first heard that they were turning The Hobbit (a 400 page book) into three movies, I thought they were overdoing it a bit. Nevertheless, I am glad they are overdoing it.

This movie was far better than the first one which only seemed to serve as an introductory episode. The Desolation of Smaug was action-packed, hilarious at times, had a very solid storyline and was a visual spectacle (what else does anyone need from a good film?).

First of all, there are a lot of elves (the best nation of creatures in my opinion) which makes a lot of the characters beautiful to look at. There's a strong and independent female character, and there's the amazing Legolas. I had a feeling the script writers were reading my mind by this point.

The film also provides a more in-depth background of what happened to the dwarves in the past and even Gimli's father is included (who has an amazing conversation with Legolas regarding the photo of Gimli he carries on him).

Smaug himself is a visual spectacle. I had wondered how they were planning on depicting him in the film and he really didn't disappoint. The detail was spectacular (too many spectacles and spectaculars in this review). It can easily be seen that a lot of work must have gone in to create him.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this film and I believe everyone will leave it feeling slightly bewildered and significantly entertained.

*The product artwork I use within this review is taken from Wikipedia in order to identify the subject of the review. It is low enough in resolution such that it could not be used as counterfeit or pirated material.

Title: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Director: Francis Lawrence
Score: 7/10

I have just been to see this movie and I must say I was impressed. It was a marked improvement from the first movie in terms of plot and cinematography. Having read the books, I actually thought it followed the plot almost to the letter (which is rare for films based on books).

However, and this is a bit of a large however, I wasn't thrilled by the acting. We all know Jennifer Lawrence can act; we've seen her in Silver Linings Playbook, but somehow I found her acting slightly theatrical at times. The same certainly goes for Josh Hutcherson playing Peeta. Sam Claflin made a wonderful Finnick on the other hand; he was everything I expected from the character (including the good looks!). Oh and how could I forget Jena Mason? She really did make the perfect Johanna.

The film was beautifully made but I thought the soundtrack somehow felt rushed in certain scenes. For instance, Coldplay during the credits? I mean, I love a bit of Coldplay myself but that really felt random-like someone literally pressed random on their phone and Coldplay happened to blast out.

This brings me to my major problem with the film: the ending. I'm ok with cliffhangers as long as the scene is cut at the right point. Leave it too long and the ending is ruined, which is what happened here. Watching an actress look severely constipated made for a poor finale to an otherwise decent movie.

*The product artwork I use within this review is taken from Wikipedia in order to identify the subject of the review. It is low enough in resolution such that it could not be used as counterfeit or pirated material.

Title: Damned
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Score: 7/10

Damned is the story of 13 year old Madison who dies of a marijuana overdose (I know what you're thinking but there is an explanation in the book) and ends up in hell. Most of the book covers a very detailed, stomach-turning and ingenious description of hell. This description includes the geography of hell, of course, but also the social ladder. As we all might guess, hell is very crowded.

Where to begin? Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favourite authors. Invisible Monsters was literally like a punch in the face and I've come to the conclusion that there are two sides to every one of his books: the 'weird' side and the 'punch in your face social reality' side.

I will have to say that this book was more the latter than the former. The reality of children born into privileged families and spending their lives in boarding schools on different continents without the support of their caring and yet seemingly too busy and incapable parents is covered. But how could we forget details such as the Steaming Dog Pile Mountains and the Swamp of Rancid Perspiration?

Madison shows a remarkable degree of self-awareness and creates herself a new life in this new world, making friends along the way whilst slowly revealing her innermost thoughts and feelings which she initially hides behind a façade of teenager angst.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book although it is very much an 'adult' book and is not for the weak hearted or those prone to involuntarily losing their lunch.