Thursday, July 21, 2016

Book Review - "The Glittering Court"



I have very mixed feeling about this book to be honest...at first I was intrigued, then I was bored, then I was annoyed, and then I wanted to know what was going to happen.

The story starts with the Countess of Rothford whose name is Elizabeth. Her family is having money troubles and she is supposed to marry her 2nd cousin, but she refuses. She wants to be free. A man named Cedric comes to her home to recruit one of her maids, Ada, to The Glittering Court. Cedric's father started a company where they train young women of low stature and auction them off in the new world, Adoria, to be the new royalty. Ada gets very upset and Elizabeth comforts her. She's very drawn to Cedric, but has no idea why. After he leaves, Elizabeth pays off Ada and sends her home. Elizabeth assumes her identity- Adelaide Bailey, and runs away to join the Court. On her way to the manor house she is joined by 2 other women in the carriage. We meet Tamsin, a laundress daughter, and Mira, a Sirminican refugee who will become Adelaide's closest friends. On their way to the manor, Cedric and his father join them in the carriage. Cedric cannot believe what he is seeing and immediately recognizes Adelaide/Elizabeth, but says nothing.

At the manor, Adelaide tries to blend in and pretend that she is clueless per Cedric's request. She becomes close with Tamsin and Mira. Tamsin is extremely driven and wants to be the top girl in their class. She wants to be the diamond. Around Christmas time, Adelaide discovers that Cedric has a dangerous secret so they come up with a plan to make the best for everyone involved. Adelaide does a complete 180 in her classes and wins the top spot (as she should, since she has learned these things her entire life). With Adelaide as the Diamond girl and the most coveted woman of The Glittering Court, new complications arise.

The trip to Adoria proves to be dangerous and once they arrive, Adelaide catches the eye of the Governor's son. Out of everything that is going on in her life, the most dangerous complication will be the growing attraction between Adelaide and Cedric. Will she marry the Governor's son and help Cedric with his secret, or will she and Cedric be together in the dangers of the New World with targets on their backs?


Monday, July 11, 2016

"Captain America: Civil War" Movie Review




Holy Crap. This movie is freaking amazing. It is wall to wall action and heart...I don't even know what to make of it. 

SPOILERS AHEAD, SKIP TO THE END IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!!!!


Ok so wow. That first scene, Wanda is so cute just sitting there trying to be a spy. That fight got intense quick and Steve got distracted when Crossbones (the villian) mentioned Bucky's name. Steve was questioning him and Crossbones set off a grenande to kill them both. In an effort to protect Steve, Wanda moves Crossbones and the explosion, but she accidentally lets go of it in a building causing a lot of destruction. Once again, the Avengers aren't looking so good. It really sucks, because she's still learning to control her powers but she was just trying to save Steve's life. Later at the tower, Steve tries to comfort Wanda as she is very upset and the news is blaming her and the rest of the Avengers, but mostly her for the destruction and death of innocent people. 

Meanwhile, Tony is giving a speech at a college about being an inventor and he relives, in front of their eyes, the last time he saw his parents alive. He tells them that no one would invest in the glasses that made it possible, so he invested in himself and he was going to invest in all of their projects. Pepper's name comes up on the prompter and he ends his speech. Apparently he and Pepper are on a break. Tony goes backstage and tries to get the elevator when he is met by a woman. She proceeds to give him a picture of her dead son and tells him that he was killed after their stunt in Sokovia. This really gets to Tony.



The Avengers are presented with a deal by the Secretary of State from the United Nations basically saying that they will no longer act without permission and if they want to do something, they need the approval of the UN. It is a way to put the Avengers in check so that they don't get to just do whatever they want. Tony has already signed it and he tries to convince the others to as well. Natasha, much to the surprise of everyone, agrees with him and signs the deal. She says that they need to gain back the trust of the public. Steve disagrees. He has seen what happens when you blindly follow what the government tells them to do. After the situation with SHIELD/Hydra, he thinks that the safest hands are still their own. He thinks they can make the right choices and protect the world. 

Before they can get more into it, Steve receives a text and finds out that Peggy has passed away in her sleep. He is devastated. Sam attends the funeral with him and he is a pallbearer for her. It was so sad. Then who gets up to deliver the eulogy? Why Agent 13 aka Sharon Carter. She explains in her speech how supportive her Aunt Peggy was of her career choice and how she never told people they were related because Aunt Peggy was a lot to live up too. After the funeral, Nat shows up and hugs Steve. Her only reason for being there is that she is still Steve's friend and wants to support him. After this she leaves to go to the UN for the meeting. 


She meets T'Challa, the prince of Wakanda and his father as they are signing in. The king of Wakanda is giving a speech when the building is attacked and he is killed. T'Challa takes his ring and mourns his father. Steve and Sam see what's going on on the news and are amazed. Sharon meets with them at the bar and tells them that her agency has security footage of Bucky Barnes at the UN. The footage is released to the media, so now it is a worldwide manhunt for Bucky. Sharon helps Steve get a head start. He calls Nat and she begs him not to get involved. 


Bucky is busy buying plums...yes plums...and he is returning to his apartment when he sees his face on the front page of a newspaper. He returns home to find Captain America waiting for him. He  asks Bucky if he recognizes him and Bucky tells him that he's Steve and he learned about him in a muesum. Steve tells him he knows that is a lie, but they have to go. He finds a journal where Bucky has taken notes about him. Before they can get much farther, soldiers try breaking in to arrest Bucky. Steve and Bucky fight them off, drawing them outside where Sam helps them. Bucky is running on the roof when he is attacked by a guy dressed like a cat. Hello Black Panther. They fight and Bucky is brought in. 

Meanwhile in New York, Vision tries cooking a Sokovian recipe in an attempt to cheer Wanda up and it is the cutest most awkward thing ever. You will ship them after this scene. Wanda says she is going to the store to get paprika and Vision won't let her leave. He says she is there for protection, and she says she can protect herself. He says it is for the protection of other people and he apologizes saying his orders are from Tony. He tells her that he hopes one day everyone will see her as he does, but right now that's not the case. Wanda is hurt that he's keeping her there. Obviously, Vision is on Tony's side on this. 




Back at the German headquarters, Bucky has been locked up and is going to be interviewed by a doctor. Tony asks Steve to sign the papers again, and Steve considers it but ultimately declines again. Sharon turns on the interview for Steve and he watches. He only gets a glimpse of the doctor before the screen shuts off. Steve and Sam run to the floor where Bucky is and find all of the guards are down. Meanwhile, the doctor (Zemo) is our villain and he is giving Bucky the Russian commands to bring out the Winter Soldier. He let's Bucky out and he goes on a rampage. Tony gets his butt beat trying to stop Bucky and so does Nat. Steve tries to stop him but Bucky gets in a helicopter, which Steve pulls back to the building. The helicopter goes down and Steve and Sam escape with Bucky. 

When Bucky comes too he apologizes for what happened and confesses to Steve what happened with the doctor.  He tells Steve that there are more "winter soldiers" and they are just as lethal. They agree that they have to get back to the lab where he was kept and destroy them before this doctor unleashes them on the world. Steve, Sam, and Bucky meet with Sharon in secret who gets them their gear back. Bucky and Sam totally stole this scene. They were in the car and acting like children. Oh and Steve and Sharon kiss. I'm not happy about it. This felt rushed and strange because she's related to Peggy. I don't like it and neither do a lot of people. But anyways...

While this is going on, Tony goes to meet with...dum dum dummm Peter Parker aka Spider-Man!! 
Peter comes home and sees Tony with his Aunt May. Tony says that he would like to work with Peter and they need to speak in private. In Peter's room, Tony tells him that he knows Peter is this spider guy hero that keeps showing up on the internet. Peter tries to deny it, but Tony fishes out the suit (makes fun of it) and Peter gets him with his web. Tony is really impressed and offers him a better suit and asks for his help. 





Clint finally shows up after trying to enjoy retired life. He "rescues" Wanda from Vision's hold and once they get him down, they head out to help Steve. Clint tells her that they have 1 more stop to make before getting to Steve though. When they reach Steve they introduce him to Scott Lang aka Ant-Man. Scott is very very excited to be helping Captain America and it's hilarious and awkward. 




Then the battle begins. Bucky and Sam mostly fight with Peter Parker and they are even more annoyed with him than with each other. This Spider-Man is great. I have never been a fan of Spider-Man, but I like this one a lot. He was funny and he just kept talking his way through the fight. It was great. Finally, Steve and Bucky break away and almost make it to a jet but are stopped by Nat. She tells them she has to do the right thing, and let's them go. Black Panther is pissed and she points out that she only said she'd help him find them. They escape and in this Rhodes gets hurt. Vision was distracted by Wanda nearly getting hurt and when Tony told him to shot Sam, he shot and missed therefore hitting Rhodes and causing him to fall out of the sky. Rhodes ends up being paralyzed from the waist down and Tony helps tweak his suit so he can still walk using the legs. 

Well by this point Zemo is somewhere else and sets it up so housekeeping comes into his former hotel room. They find a dead body in the bathtub. It turns out that this was the actual doctor who was supposed to interview Bucky. Tony realizes Steve wasn't lying and maybe he has been wrong this whole time. He flies out to where the Secretary of State wants him to. It turns out to be a giant prison in the ocean. He walks through and sees Wanda with a straight jacket and shock collar on. He sees Scott Lang who tries to bash him, but Tony says he has no idea who he is. Tony passes Clint and Clint is furious with him. Tony finally stops on Sam. He asks Sam where Steve is and then he trips the system so the audio goes out and the Secretary can't hear what they're saying. He tells Sam what he's doing and that he is going to help Steve and Bucky. Sam tells him where he is and Tony lies to the Secretary saying he still doesn't know. He leaves and rushes to Steve's side. 


Steve and Bucky break into the old lab, without knowing that Zemo is there. They look around and Tony surprises them there. He makes peace with both of them and they work together. They find the other soldiers in their chambers, already dead. They don't understand why. Zemo tells them over the PA system that he would never unleash them on the world because they're evil just like the Avengers. He admits to the attack on the UN which Black Panther overhears and then he tells Tony about a mission the Winter Soldier completed. He plays the security video which shows Bucky wrecking the Stark's car and killing Tony's parents. Tony asks Steve if he knew and he says yes, and that he didn't want to make things worse by telling Tony. The 3 of them go at it and Zemo is loving it. Tony shoots off Bucky's metal arm and Steve bashes his shield into Tony's chest. Tony just lets him. He could have killed him, but he didn't. They leave Tony there and Tony yells out that Steve doesn't deserve the shield so he drops it. Meanwhile, T'Challa finds Zemo sitting with a gun and revealing about what he's done to the Avengers. He challenges T'Challa to kill him and he refuses. He hands him in. 

Tony gets a letter from Steve where Steve apologizes for what he's done and tells him he's always there for him. Steve includes a flip phone and says if Tony needs him to call. 

Bucky has decided to go back to being frozen until they can figure out how to fix his brain. He doesn't want to ever be "activated" again. Steve watches him go under again and then thanks dum dum dummmm T'Challa for helping! Yup, Black Panther who has been trying to kill the Winter Soldier all movie, ends up helping him because he recognizes that Bucky is a victim like his father was as well. We get a nice view of Wakanda and the giant stone panther outside of T'Challa's home. 

We also see Steve drop into the Secretary's prison in front of Sam. He's there to get his team out.

Overall, this movie was great. It was seriously great and the Russo brothers did an amazing job. I'm excited for the future of Marvel, but I really hope Steve and Tony become close again and the Avengers become a tight knit crew again. 




This movie DEFINITELY gets 5 stars!!! Go see it, you won't be disappointed!