Born of Fire - The League #2 - Sherrilyn Kenyon

11:00:00 Victoria 0 Comments


Sum up: (Goodreads)
In a universe where assassins make the law, everyone lives in fear--except for Syn. Born of an illicit scandal that once rocked a dynasty, he always knew how to survive on the bloodthirsty streets. But that was then, and the future is now…

Syn was raised as a tech-thief until his livelihood uncovered a truth that could end his life. He tried to destroy the evidence, and has been on the run ever since. Now trained as an assassin, he allows no one to threaten him. Ever. He is the darkness that swallows his enemies whole.

Shahara Dagan is the best bounty hunter in the universe. When Syn comes back on the radar, she's the only one who can bring him to justice. There's only one problem: Syn is a close family friend who's helped out the Dagans countless times. But if she saves him, both of their lives will be on the line. Is Syn's protection worth the risk? The only hope Shahara has is to find the evidence he buried long ago. Now it's kill or be killed--and they, the predators, have just become the hunted…

Born of Fire - The League #2 - Sherrilyn Kenyon

Some scenes contain sexual and violent contents that may offend sensibilities of readers. 

Plot:
Meet San and Shahara. Syn - we have already met him in the first book - but Shahara is a whole new character. Life has not been easy with our two main characters.

Syn has been abandoned by everyone. His mother left him to be raised by a father who was (literally) a psychopath who liked torturing people, his sister committed suicide and his wife left him and took their son with her. He is now bitter, drowning his sorrow in alcohol. That was until Shahara barged into his life. 

Shahara is one of the best bounty hunter in the universe. After a rape when she was younger, she feels like her only purpose in life is to bring justice and support her brother and sisters after their parents passed away. When her sister ends up at the hospital because of her gambling problems, she realizes she cannot afford to pay for the hospital fees unless she takes on a new bounty contract. She only believes in justice, so when she sees Syn's case accused of rape and murder, she made up her mind: he has to go to jail and she will do everything in her power to do so. 

But things are more complicated than it appears and she also has monsters she is trying to escape from. Be prepared for some twists and actions!


Opinion:
I have to admit that I struggled to go through the whole first book of this series. I was slightly apprehensive of this second book but I was curious to know what happened to Syn. This book is not perfect but at least I managed to finish it.

Syn is a very complex male character that I really liked to read about at first. He had a very rough childhood and an even worse adulthood. He is ready to give everything without expecting anything in return but he has only known deception. He wants to trust people again but he is scared. I only wanted to protect him against everything the world was throwing at him. 

Shahara could be annoying sometimes but compared to Kiara, she was so much more easy-going. Annoying, yes, but it was still better than with Kiara. She is strong, trying to support her whole family. She also knows what suffering is and it will affect her forever. 

I found they were kind of cute together even though both characters could easily get on my nerves.
“Save me, Shahara. Save me from the lonely nights that never end.”

Excerpts:
“You have some severe mental problem I need to be aware of, don’t you?""Just because I eat babies for breakfast and pick my teeth with their bones doesn’t mean I’m nuts.""Any other weird habits I should be aware of?""Just my need to dance naked in the streets under the light of a full moon."

“So how do you know him?""I knocked on his door one day and said, ‘Hi, I’m here to rob you. Hope you don’t mind. Oh, and by the way, will you be my friend?’"


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Born of Night - The League #1 - Sherrilyn Kenyon

12:46:00 Victoria 0 Comments


Sum up: (Goodreads)
In the Ichidian Universe, The League and their ruthless assassins rule all. Expertly trained and highly valued, the League Assassins are the backbone of the government. But not even the League is immune to corruption...

Command Assassin Nykyrian Quikiades once turned his back on the League—and has been hunted by them ever since. Though many have tried, none can kill him or stop him from completing his current mission: to protect Kiara Zamir, a woman whose father’s political alliance has made her a target.

As her world becomes even deadlier, Kiara must entrust her life to the same kind of beast who once killed her mother and left her for dead. Old enemies and new threaten them both and the only way they can survive is to overcome their suspicions and learn to trust in the very ones who threaten them the most: each other.

Born of Night - The League #1 - Sherrilyn Kenyon

Some scenes contain sexual and violent contents that may offend sensibilities of readers. 

Plot:
The story focuses on Nykyrian and Kiara who are the complete opposite of each other. He is a trained assassin who has been constantly abused and bullied during his childhood and adolescence while Kiara is a princess who is also a professional dancer. She brings attention on her. 

During one of his missions, Nykyrian saves Kiara's life. Despite their differences, they feel the pull pushing them to each other. When Nykyrian hears that Kiara's life is still in danger because of her father, he decides to step in and involve his best friends to help.

But things go rarely as planned. But the closer they get, the more dangerous it becomes for the two of them to be together...


Opinion:
This book started and I really liked it. It was a dark atmosphere where assassins can be your worst nightmare. I liked every reference and the characters all had a dark back-story. I liked finding more and more about them. 
“Baby, it's either laugh or cry and crying takes way too much energy. If you can't find humor in the shit life heaps on you, you really will grow miserable.”
The only negative point would be Kiara. She pissed me off so many times, I lost count. She is a true brat and she cannot fathom that not everyone had a beautiful childhood like hers and she keeps on judging people who are risking their lives for her. I was very tempted from time to time to give up on my reading. But I really liked all the male characters and I just wanted to know what was going to happen to them. 

It was probably the first time that I had a real "science-fiction" romance, so I had some troubles from time to time to be completely immersed in this whole new universe. But I just pictured the Ichidian Universe like some kind of Star Wars universe and it became easier to imagine. 

Excerpts:

He took a drink of the juice and cursed."What is this shit? Poison?""You can’t live on alcohol.""Wanna bet?""Wanna die? Drink it and quit bitching."
"You know, you’re a little hairy to be my mother."

“In your palms, I’ve placed my life, my secrets. I give you freedom to leave me at any time. I’m not easy to love. No one ever has. All I ask is that you always keep your silence, if not for me, then for the families of the others you’d destroy.”


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Big Little Lies - HBO Miniseries Review

13:12:00 Victoria 0 Comments


Big Littles Lies ended last night and it was an amazing show. It has been adapted from the book Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. For those who do not know what it talks about, here is a little sum up. 

During an event at a public school in Monterey, an awful murder occurred. We know neither the name of the victim or of the killer. Through the witnesses testimonies, we go back through time to focus more on three women who are highly suspected in this murder: Madeline, Celeste and Jane. 

Jane is a single mother who just moved to Monterey with her son Ziggy. On the first day of school, she hit it off with Madeline whose daughter is the same age as Ziggy. Madeline introduces Jane to Celeste who also has twin boys of the same age. 

All three of them may seem to have a perfect life but it is only a facade. Madeline is on edge since her older daughter asked to live with her ex-husband and his new wife. Celeste is physically abused by her husband, Perry, who is much younger than her. Jane is a young woman who was raped and assaulted by the man who is Ziggy's father. After the first day, Ziggy is accused by a classmate of assault and bullying. 

As months pass, the three women become closer and closer and they start opening more and more about their lives but they also get more and more ennemies... 




 /!\ SPOILERS ALERT /!\

This miniseries was so nice! I loved how it started with a murder but we have no information on who was killed and who killed him/her. Witnesses bring some small parts of stories but we understand very quickly that they are biased when it comes to share information about everyone in Monterey. Monterey is actually like a village where everyone knows each other and you cannot help but talk about people on their backs. We only have their outsiders' point of view on Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata and Bonnie's lives. In Monterey, everyone seems nice but don't pay attention to what it may look like. Real life is not beautiful! The only thing that is nice is the houses. I do not know where they shoot the series but I want to live on one of these houses. They are just MIND-BLOWING! 

You could say straight away that this series was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. There is such a beautiful, well-thought aesthetic used behind every shot. All these idyllic sceneries actually hide the worst nightmares of 21st century women. All these strong women have a breaking point. Rape, physical abuse, cheating, divorce, lies... All these themes have been covered without descending into cheap pathos.

Nicole Kidman was just fabulous. She showed how sensitive and strong she could be as Celeste. Everyone envies her and yet, her life ain't perfect at all! Her relationship with Perry - her husband - is probably the most heart-wrenching point in this miniseries. We watch them tear each other apart. Perry keeps beating her every day and we feel Celeste being torn between what she should do and what she wants to do. She knows that for her safety and her children's she needs to leave but she also loves her husband. He was there when she needed him. 
Alexander Skarsgard was perfect as Perry. He embodied a very complex character. He managed so well to play the role of a psychotic husband who loves his wife and yet, who is not able to control his impulses. 

Anyway, it is a most-watch!!! 

BONUS > the soundtrack ;) 



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13 Reasons Why - Netflix Series Review

08:26:00 Victoria 0 Comments


As some of you may know, 13 Reasons Why has been adapted into a show by Netflix. I had already heard about the story when the book was released a couple of years ago. I bought it but I haven't read it yet. I think it is the kind of story you need to read when you are in a certain state of mind: not too happy, not too sad, not too angry... And I felt like it was never the right time.

When I heard about the series, I wanted to give it a try though. The trailer made the story pretty interesting and I really wanted to see how the scenarists put it all up together.



/!\ SPOILERS ALERT /!\

I heard that many people were disappointed by this series. I also know that some of them read the book and they didn't think the series was good enough for it. As I haven't read the book yet, I have no point of comparison, which I guess makes more encline to like this series. 

Sum up:
Clay Jensen is a just normal teenager who goes through high school unnoticed. He is shy, clumsy but above all, he doesn't care what other people think of him. 
One day when he came home from school, he found a package waiting on his doorstep. Inside of it was thirteen tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - one of his classmates and lover - who killed herself a few days ago. Each tape points out one person who was directly linked to her suicide and Clay is one of the reasons why she ended her life... 

Opinion:
I finished this Netflix series in 24 hours and let me tell you, it is quite intense. I do not think you can possibly come out of this series without feeling anything. It gives us a true glimpse of high school life. It is all centered around one girl committing a suicide and yet, it was so much more than that. 
Bullying, assault, rapes, depression, body shaming, guilt, sex, alcohol, drugs, false rumors, homosexuality, stalking... There are so many topics covered in this series. Topics that we hear from time to time on the news but that we never truly talk about. 

Sure, in this series you have high school cheerleaders, popular kids, normal kids and the outsiders who do not fit anywhere. But it was so much more than just the typical American high school clichés. It makes us face the fact that high school is the moment when you start understanding and taking responsibilities for what you do or do not do. You start to differentiate what is right and what is wrong. But taking responsibilities isn't always easy and it's damn right scary!

It all started with a girl who committed suicide for no apparent reason. Everyone kept blaming her saying that if she really wanted to kill herself, no one could have done anything to change her mind, or that she is a drama queen looking for attention. But what is striking in this show is that, through Hannah's voice and Clay's discovery of all the reasons why she killed herself, we have a gripping and alarming dark drawing of life in high school. 

The tapes all start with reasons that are ranked from minor to major reasons why she killed herself. At the beginning, the series uses suspens to keep people watching. We are just too curious to know what happened exactly and when Clay's name will appear in these tapes. When you see him, you just feel like he is a nice guy who wouldn't hurt anyone. Yet, he was one of the reasons why. 
I have to admit that the four last episodes were intense and very disturbing and I am not ashamed to say I may have shed some tears. 

This series is a huge emotional roller-coaster. You feel the guilt of some characters, you feel the anger, you feel the pain, you feel Hannah being desperate to hold on to something or someone... And you are just here thinking "It could have been avoided". This series strips you of your feelings to basically leave you naked when you watch this. We witness Hannah's and Clay's parents wondering if they ever truly know/knew their children. This series makes you wonder if it is possible to truly know someone. 
I liked that they addressed all these high school problems as if they were talking to young adults and not just teenagers. It may also be interesting for older adults to watch this series.

13 Reasons Why you should watch this show:
  1. The story is heartbreakingly intense, amazing and disturbing 
  2. The actors were really good
  3. It has been adapted from a book that had quite some success 
  4. It will remind you of your high school period (yeah... maybe it's not really a good reason actually)
  5. Because at some point we have all known what it was like to be either stalked, bullied, assaulted, uncomfortable, lost... (please don't tell me I was the only one in this case!)
  6. Because you understand that things and people need to change 
  7. This series talks about everything and knows no taboo 
  8. It is not because it talks about teenagers that it is necessarily a teenager series. Trust me, I think adults should also watch it!
  9. Because we have all done things at some point that we were not proud of but we didn't take responsibility for it
  10. We should all understand that sometimes "just" saying mean things - even if we don't mean them - could have a greater impact than we thought
  11. Because rapes are still not considered seriously in our society
  12. We all heard rumors in middle schools, high schools or colleges and sometimes we didn't try to look further for what truly happened. 
  13. It has been produced by Selena Gomez (could be reason enough for some people ^^)

P.S: I would not advise "sensitive" people to watch this series as there are some scenes that are really graphic and hard to watch. 

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