Hood's Obsession Book Review

Credit: www.amazon.com

Hood’s Obsession is the ninth book in Marie Hall’s Kingdom series. The book is available in eBook format and in paperback. The story is about Lilith Wolf, the daughter of the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. It is also the third book in the dark princess saga.

This book has memorable characters, a great storyline and man-eating dwarves. What more could you ask for?

Lilith made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin many years ago, when she was young and naïve. Now his butler Giles Damien has come to collect her debt. Rumpelstiltskin sends Lilith and Giles to fetch the Chalice of Hope. Rumpelstiltskin’s son is dying and the Chalice of Hope is his only chance of surviving.

However, little does Giles know that Lilith is an alpha werewolf in heat. This means that while on their journey they will face males trying to break her and make her their mate. For you see an alpha female is a rare occurrence. When one is born, she is shamed and isolated from the rest of the pack. The alpha males don’t want a female as strong as they are or even stronger. They seek power, but not in the form of an alpha female.

Throughout the journey Lilith faces many obstacles but the one that is the toughest is her falling in love with Giles. Giles is a demone, however, and they don’t typically mate outside of their species. Lilith cannot stop her feelings from growing, however, and this is her undoing.

Giles was a charming and sweet character and often confused by Lilith’s interactions with him. For example, Lilith licked his finger once and in wolf language that means she liked him. Giles seemed emotionless and unreadable at first, but like us all, he had emotions and desires. Throughout their journey, he began to fall in love with Lilith and he was baffled by these feelings. He knew that if he mated with Lilith, he would become her mate. He didn’t want to though because if a demone mated with anyone other than their own kind, they could not produce offspring. That quelled the passionate fire he had for Lilith. However, after speaking with Lilith’s fairy godmother, Danika, he realized he might be Lilith’s only salvation.

The deal Lilith made with Rumpelstiltskin when she was thirteen was that she wouldn’t mate with anyone outside of her species. If she did so, she would die. The reason she made this deal was because she was ridiculed mercilessly for her mother and father’s love. Her mother was not a wolf shifter and it was frowned upon to mate with anyone outside of their species. Lilith knew that because of her mother and father no one would accept them in any other village. They were stuck in their village and Lilith couldn’t stand seeing them suffer. She made the trek to Rumpelstiltskin’s fortress to protect her family. However, because of the deal Lilith thought she could never mate with anyone other than her own kind. There is always a loophole though. When Rumpelstiltskin asked her what type of creature she wanted to stay away from, she mentioned them all except for demone. Giles was the only one who could be Lilith’s salvation. Rumpelstiltskin would never permit her to enter his castle and look for a suitable mate. The only reason Giles was chosen was because of Danika. She knew that Lilith and him were destined for one another.

In the end Lilith and Giles become mates. The journey and hardships they faced all lead up to this point. I loved this book and I give it a 5 out of 5 because of the lovable characters and because of its descriptions. This book really does have beautiful depictions and you can actually see what the author is describing, whether it be a valley or a murderous dragon. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy and romance. Once you start this book, its almost impossible to put down. The story sucks you in and when it’s done, you are left in awe. This is definitely a book worth reading.

Inside Out Will Bring You To Tears

Credit: Pixar

“Inside Out” is a movie that will not only make you marvel at its depth, but also bring tears to your eyes. The movie’s protagonist is an eleven-year-old girl named Riley. The movie doesn’t focus on her as much as it does the personality traits inside of her head.  These characters have a lot of unique characteristics to them. Joy, a happy go lucky personality, is in charge of Riley most of the time. There are other personality traits, however, such as: Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness. These personality traits don’t play as big of a role in Riley’s life as Joy does, but they are all vital to her as a person.

Riley’s life is turned upside down when she moves from her beloved Minnesota to San Francisco. Joy tries to make her see the positive side of this bleak situation. She manages to make her feel happier, but then the unthinkable happens. Joy is separated from Riley along with Sadness. With these two personality traits gone, Anger, Disgust, and Fear are left in charge of Riley. They try to keep a semblance of normalcy with Riley, but they fail miserably. Without Joy, Riley can never be happy again. Sadness doesn’t seem to be missed as much, but she plays a vital role later on in the movie.
This movie, like many other animated cartoons, has a deeper plot than originally advertised. I believe it is more of a grown-up film, than a children’s film. There are too many adult themes that a child would not understand. I’m not sure a child would enjoy the movie as much as an older child or adult. I personally loved the movie, because it was beautifully animated, emotional and focused on abstract themes.

Imagine moving to a place you’ve never been to and you’re expected to pretend everything is the same as your old home. It can’t be feasibly done, because everyone will rebel against the new place in some way.

The movie focuses on core memories, memories that cannot be forgotten and islands. These islands are like the fundamental parts that make us who we are. For example, Riley’s islands consist of: Family, Friendship, Honesty, Hockey and many more. This can be related to, because we all have metaphorically speaking, islands that make us who we are.

There are some comical events in the movie such as when a memory of a gum commercial is played in Riley’s head over and over again. Anger gets mad and says, “Not this again!” It’s funny because we can all relate to something that keeps popping up in our minds time and time again, be it a commercial or an event. Another comical part of the movie is when it changes from Riley’s mind to her mom and dad’s. The mom’s personality traits are all wearing glasses like the mom is wearing. They look like Riley’s personality traits only older. The scene depicts the mom trying to get the dad’s attention, when she notices Riley is acting strange. The movie goes into the dad’s head then and the personality traits are all wearing mustaches like the dad’s. The funny part is the dad is imagining a sports game and is not even paying any attention to the situation at hand. The dad looks at the mom confused and she is seething inside. Her personality traits say in an annoyed voice, “We should have gone with the other guy.” It then pans to a handsome man with flowing dark brown hair.
The movie makes it a point to emphasize that Joy is not the only important personality trait in Riley’s head. Sadness plays a big role in Riley’s life, because without Sadness, Joy would never have been able to be a part of Riley’s life again.

“Inside Out” will mostly make you feel sad, but there will be a myriad of emotions that will go through your head as you watch this film. I give it a 5 out of 5 because its plot and comical moments will truly resonate with memories old and new.

Pronto’s Italian Restaurant Review

4 out of 5 Stars

On 47 U.S. Hwy 380, Bridgeport, TX, a rare gem can be found. This gem goes by the name, Pronto’s Italian Restaurant. Driving into the restaurant, a sign can be seen displaying the name of the establishment and underneath it reads “Homemade Pasta & Pizza.” The front of the restaurant is a mahogany red and a green, white and red awning can be seen on the right side. A stone fountain is near the front entrance and several bright green bushes can be seen, adding to the aesthetics of the place. On the right window, a blue and red open sign flashes, inviting all who wish to enter.

Upon entering the restaurant, friendly waiters and waitresses greet you, their smiles warming your heart. Once greeted, they escort you to a table or booth and hand you a menu once you have been seated.  They have soft drinks, coffee, hot tea and ice tea available as beverages. Their menu is extensive and has a variety of dishes to order.  Italian music can be heard playing in the background, as the clatter of forks and spoons scrape against plates. Patrons can be seen in the background, enjoying their meals and laughing and talking about their days.

The dish I ordered was Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. The pasta itself was amazing. The texture was smooth, yet firm, which made for a good taste. The chicken tasted soft and rich, and you could taste the fettuccine Alfredo sauce in every bite. The sauce itself was rich in taste and was a pleasant surprise. It tasted creamy and it wasn’t too salty. I myself have had dishes that were too salty. The Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo was not one of those dishes.

However, while the Fettuccine Alfredo was good, the sweet tea did not taste right. It had an off taste, almost as if it were brewed differently than normal tea. I attempted to add sugar to it, hoping it would remedy the problem, but the off taste was still there. I ended up returning it and asking for a Coke. The Coke tasted right and I happily gulped it down.

Another dish, the Supreme Pizza, which has mushrooms, green peppers, red onions, tomatoes, pepperoni plus mozzarella cheese, beef, mild sausage, ham, Italian sausage and bacon bits was too salty. The taste overall was good, but it was salted too heavily. The dish was too salty to eat all at once and I ended up taking it home.

Overall I give this restaurant a four out of five, because of the poor taste of the tea and the overly salted Supreme Pizza. It is a nice place to eat at and I highly recommend it. However, go eat here and decide for yourself whether or not the food is good or not. If you are a fan of Italian food, this restaurant is a must to eat at.

Pronto's Italian Restaurant

All photos were taken by me.

Papa Roach: Face Everything And Rise

           

Credit: Rolling Stone

“I will face everything and rise, never gonna quit until I die.”

            
These lyrics sent goosebumps down my arms and the rest of the song had me captivated.  If you thought Papa Roach was done creating meaningful and awe-inspiring music, think again.  Their first track of their album, F.E.A.R., looks very promising.  The amount of depth put into this song astounds even me.  I could tell from the very beginning that the band was alluding to conquering hardships that we all face.  Now these hardships are all different for everyone, and I thought that made this song even cooler.  For example, a quiet girl could be shy for a reason.  She may have been abused or taught that silence was better.  Someone else could take this song as conquering inner struggles.  Perhaps a person is mentally ill and struggles with depression all their life.  Depression is a serious matter.  However you look at this song, you have to admit it is stunning to listen to.  It invades your brain and worms into your insecurities, brining them to the front for you to see. 

            
The music video is even more striking.  It brings forth a visual to the song, and one that is very effective in my opinion.  It starts out with a man in a gasmask, staring at a screen of TVs.  He is tied in a chair and a hard looking woman appears, grabbing his gasmask, taunting him.  The scene switches to the band then and all of them are bouncing up and down to the beat of the music.  They begin to sing and their gestures take your breath away.  They appear so passionate about what they are doing and it spellbinds you.  The room with the man in the gasmask appears again, and this time the TVs are on, depicting catastrophes.  Fires, bombs, and men in black suits assault your eyes.  There is a ball of energy next to the man in the gasmask.  The scene shows the chair that the man occupied empty.  Then he knocks out a guard and takes a black car.  He drives on a road with two bikers.  They are chasing him and in a panic he brings the car to a screech, runs out and scrambles into the wild.  He runs until he sees men in black hoods, and gasmasks holding flaming arrows.  They release them and as the arrows fall, the man takes the ball of energy into the palm of his hand, raising it in the air and dispelling the enemies.  This indicates to me, that he has faced his fears. 

       
 I believe Papa Roach has produced good music since day one and this song proves that they can still make amazing music.  I’ll let you be the judge of what you think of the song though. 

Credit: Kerrang!

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9z4DWB7Iy8

Preorder the CD here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/f.e.a.r./id934533198

Kindle Fire HD 8.9

Credit: Online Gadget Store

I have had the joy of owning my Kindle Fire HD 8.9 for a year and six months.  In the time owning it, I have gotten great satisfaction from it, but also have encountered a few frustrations.  Now don’t get me wrong, the Kindle Fire is an amazing device and I would highly recommend it to a friend or family member.  Without any prior knowledge to the Kindle Fire, one might not easily assume what kind of tablet this device is.  A quick search would show that it was an android tablet, but some may not know how this tablet functions. 

According to Amazon.com The Kindle Fire comes in four different memory types: 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB.  I personally own a 16 GB version and have found that even after all of the hundreds of books, plus dozens of apps and games, that I still have over half the memory.  If you are looking for a good tablet reader that is less expensive than say an iPad, then I recommend the Kindle Fire.  When I bought my Kindle Fire it cost around $400, but this included the wall USB charger, a $60 case cover, and I kept the special offers.  Special offers are not that big of a deal.  They are basically ads that pop up every time you start up your Kindle Fire, or unlock it.  Honestly, they aren’t that annoying, in fact they can be quite helpful.  For example, these offers will showcase deals with books that are on sale, and similar deals concerning digital items.  Items such as: music and magazines.  If you wish to get rid of these ads, you can pay $15 at any time to get rid of them.  The price for a Kindle Fire on Amazon as of now, is $229.00, for a 16 GB, including special offers, and Wi-Fi connectivity.

The Good:

1.     The Kindle Fire has a decent battery life.  I have gotten 8-10 hours out of mine, which on Amazon is the same. 

2.     It has anti-glare technology, which helps when trying to read in direct sunlight.  When turned on either automatic brightness, or high brightness settings, you can read on your Kindle Fire without any difficulties.

3.     The books on amazon are cheap and there are dozens of free ones you can find if using the appropriate wording.

4.     The android interface is easy to handle, and before you know it you’ll be a pro on your Kindle Fire. 

5.     The Kindle Fire is considerably cheaper than a 16 GB iPad Air, which costs $499 as stated by Apple.com

The Bad:

1.     In my experience the iPad seems to have more apps and games. This may be a problem for some, who are avid app and game users. 

2.     For Apple users the interface of the carousel wheel on the Kindle Fire may appear clunky.  It is a matter of preference, but some people dislike drastic change.

3.     The iPad Air has folders, while the Kindle Fire has categories at the top of the screen labeled Shop, Games, Apps, Docs, Music, Videos, Newstand, Audiobooks, Web, Photos, Docs and Offers. There is also a search bar in the same area.

Conclusion:

While the iPad Air seems the superior choice, it comes down to preference, what you plan on doing the most on it, etc. reading or apps and games, and how much you have to spend.  I would personally choose the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 again if given the chance, because of the cost and because I own an android phone.  However, the choice is always yours dear reader.

Amazon and Apple.com