Beautiful Darkness

Title : Beautiful Darkness
Author(s): Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Pages: 563
Summary: Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps, and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.
Rate : 10/10 stars

Review --
Wow. Just...wow.
Okay, so i literally JUST got done reading this book..and i'm thoroughly impressed.
So with out further ado, here are my top likes and dislikes..
Likes --
1. I live near south carolina, and they got the south right on the money. I know how small towns can be (thank god mines not like that), and they nailed it.
2. The main character Lena. She relates well to the reader (or atleast to me), and is also very much a girl. When i first started reading this i was like ' Lena's probably going to be a badass, and just going to blow everyone away.'...but no. She was a real girl (setting aside the fact that she can bring on a hell of a storm with just a thought).
3. I liked how the writers made the reader realize that Ethan, even if he hated it, was apart of that town. I guess why i liked it was because its SOOO TRUE!
4. Scene where their in the library...its just really cool.
5. The description was AH-mazing. Everything in my mind was sooo crystal clear, and thats really all the writers doing. So they did a good job doing that.

For the dislikes...i honestly dont have any. To me, this book was one of the best books i've read in a long time.

You can get the book here (Beautiful Creatures) and read more about the authors and their up coming books here (Caster Chronicles)

Later!
-- Holly

mini blog : i whip my hair back and forth

So, a song by Willow Smith called 'i whip my hair' is harmful to human kind.
I'm serious!

I was with my friend Sarah the other day, and we were making videos of us dance to songs...which are harmful to your eyes, so i don't suggest looking for them (:
Anyway, we were doing the head dance to that song, and i did it for 3. straight. minutes!

And now i have whip lash.

So...its defiantly harmful to people.

Most conflicted relationships/love triangles in YA novels

So, today during church, i was thinking (yes, i should have been listing, but thats beside the point) about the most conflicted relationships and/or love triangles in most YA novels. In most books, there's a whole triangle ( having one good relationship is soo yesterday ((i hope you picked up on the sarcasm in that, but if you didn't, then here's your clarification))), but there is some good books with the good old fashion love (:

1. Mortal Instruments Series - Simon/Clary/Jace
   

(by the way, this segment is loosely based on the first 2 books) Okay, so this is most possibly my favorite books of all time. And one of those reasons is because of the romance in it! Okay, so lets just start with Simon and Clary. They'd been best friends since they were little, and Simon fell inlove with Clary, but she didn't know. So this is the typical, i met you in dippers/small town romance. But then you get Jace, who is just...yum. Thats really all i can say about him. He's sexy, mysterious, kinda a jerk..which shouldn't be attractive, but it is. So theres an instant attraction there, but Simon feels out of the loop. So here comes the jealousy and all that. I'm not going to get into it all that much, because i don't want to ruin it for you, but its just drama drama drama! But i'd defiantly take Jace. Hands down.


2. Twilight Saga - Jacob/Bella/Edward

So...in every book of this series, there is a love triangle. Between the same people! Starting with Edward and Bella, they fell in love kinda fast. I mean, i know he's like, 107 years old, but still. They were all cute and cuddly in the first book, but in the second....oh HECK no. This is were the gorgeous Jacob Black come in. He lifts up Bella from where she fell, piecing her back together. He is there when Edwards off being stupid. In Eclipse, theres all sorts of crap. Like, THIS is THE books for a love triangle (personally, i think that Edward and Jacob deserves better). And honestly, if it was in real life, Bella would have stayed with Jacob...most likely. I can't say she 100% would have, because..well i'm not her. But....yea.

3. House of Night series -- Erik/Zoey/Stark

First of all, let me just say, i don't know if i get the names right, because i'm to lazy to go look up the names, and i read this book in middle school. So, with that outta the way, lets talk about them. Stark doesn't come into the books till the....sixth book...i think. Anyway. And Zoey and Eric were a couple til Zoey (the whore) slept with a teacher WHILE she was dating Eric (and she didn't understand why Eric was mad....), so they broke up. And they were going to get back together, and they did, til stark came. He started to kinda change things up a bit, and Eric becomes more possessive of Zoey, and she doesn't like that..at all. So they break up, and Zoey and Stark become a...thing i guess. Because they dont specify at first. And i'm not even going to get into Zoey's human boyfriend, Heath. She has a whole love square going on. So, all in all, Zoey is a whore, Eriks possessive, and Stark kicks butt.

4. Gallagher Girl Series -- Josh/Cammie/Zach

So, they really don't have a HUGE love triangle, cause both of them are really in different books. But you kinda put two-and-two together. Josh and Cammie are kinda cute together, you know...first love and stuff. I think Zach and Cammie are SO much better because Zach gets her. He understands her and all that jazz. He's sweet and caring....you know what? Josh and Cammie are cute, cause i want Zach.

5. Hush, Hush -- Patch/Nora

So this is the one i love the most, for many reasons. One, because i'm obsessed with fallen angles. I love books about them. And this is the classic romance of two people that can't be together, but they're with each other anyway. Patch is the classic bad boy who has a soft inside...like truffles. And i just really like Nora as a character too. She's pretty awesome. So, if you just want a classic romance with an AWESOME twist, this is the book you want.

Well, my fingers are killing me. I'm reading a book called Beautiful Creatures right now, and when i'm done i'm doing my first REAL review of it (:

Later!
Holly

PS -- Its finally Christmas music time!

Diary of a Country Girl -- A few of my favorite things...

So, today i was listing to the love of my life (aka my i-pod) and ' my favorite things' from Sound of Music came on, while i was updating a picture of my two most favorite things. So that made me start thinking...
What was a few of my favorite things?
So, heres a list of things that 'When I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things..and then I don't feel so bad'

1. Reading. Just...reading. Is there any other explanation? I know a lot of people despise reading, but i honestly just cant wrap my mind around it. They can take you anywhere, and you get so wrapped up in it. You can immerse yourself in it. People say they can do that in movies, but i just cant sit still. I mean, if its a good movie (see Harry Potter - strike out or home run) then i can sit. But if its just...horrible (Percy Jackson) then i cant sit at all. But i can sit for 3 hours at a time, just reading. So this is probably my most favorite thing...ever.
2. Music. Music...is well...music. I can't really describe it, just because it means soo many things to soo many other people. You can listen to one song, and get something totally different out of then the person sitting beside you, listing to the same song. The singers (or musical instruments) can tell you things that NO one could be able to write down on paper, cause there are no words. A lot of people say that Miley Cyrus* and all of those teeny boppers don't do real music, and i used to agree. But the more i think about it, the more i'm changing my opinion. People out there probably think their music is life altering, and who are you to tell them their wrong? Thats what i LOVE about music. There's never a right answer.
   
3. Photography. I never really understood photography until this year. I'd always loved taking pictures, but now i'm starting to take it a little more seriously. I really like capturing things out of in the world, that some people would never have looked at before. And i love taking pictures with my crappy kodak camera, showing people that you don't have to have the nicest camera in the world to still see beauty (:
4. The last thing is writing. I've always loved to write, and i still love it, but its rare when i do. Its almost like its sacred to me. I know that sounds crazy, but hey, to be a writer you have to be a little off the straight line.
   

So those are my favorite things (: Sorry in advance for everything i missed spelled! This is the picture that also inspired this post --

Later,
Holly

*So..another thing about Miley, i herd her parents are splitting which is kinda sad. /:

Diary of a Country Girl -- Sundrop and Beauty and the Beast

Sundrop.
Gods gift to the southern man.

Now, most of you are probably thinking right know...what the heck is sundrop?
Well, for most everyone else in the continental US know it as Mountain Dew. But sundrop is ten times better.
We still have mountain dew down here, but its not as good as the real thing. They have this magical drink in NC, GA, and SC. I think...
Here is a picture of the wonderful goodness..


In other news, lets talk Disney princesses. The one i'm going to focus on at them moment is Belle. So, as a little girl, this was my FAVORITE princess. Like, i was a huge Belle fan. But the more i watch the movie as i get older, the more she gets on my nerves. I mean, for real.
Now, your probably wondering why an almost 15 year old girl would want to watch a Disney movie. Well...i'm a sucker for musicals.
Anyway
The reason that Belle gets on my nerves?
Well, first of all, she goes into the beast...study? and then gets MAD at the beast for getting mad at her. What the heck? I would be pretty pissed too if someone went into a room i'd TOLD them not to go into. And then she makes him feel bad.
What. a. douche.
She just....gets under my skin.
Plus, she has a nasally voice. There's nothing i hate more than a nasally voice.

Later,
Holly

Harry Potter -- Strike out or Home run?

Okay, so i just went to go see Harry Potter.
O. My. God.

Okay, so just to get it out of the way, I LOVED IT! So, up next is going to be spoilers. If you haven't read the book, or seen the movie, shield you eyes. And hang your head in shame for not reading the most awesome books known to man.

So, since i REALLY liked this movie, i guess i'll start with the good things (:
-- Almost everything they did, even down to the SMALLEST detail, was in the movie. This is a good thing, cause to me, the 6 movie just didn't hold up to the books potential. This one did.
-- So the whole, ice diving and horcrux killing thing was pretty cool. Its been a while since i read the book, so i don't really remember the whole...sex thing. But, i mean...you know. It was pretty beastly all the same (:
--Bathilda and the snake coming out of her body was FREAKING AWESOME!! O MY GOD!! Just as i envisioned it...just wow. Good job.
-- Bellatrix? Pretty much a b.a right there. Love her. She's a freaking awesome actress.
-- Dobby. Just Dobby. I literally walked out of the theater sobbing. O my gosh.

Somethings I didn't like, just cause i like to follow the book;
-- They didn't give the theater enough time to morn for Hedwig. (<-- This isn't really in the book, just my own selfish desire)
-- The fact that nobody talked about Lupin and Tonxs (<-- Did i spell her name right?) being pregnant. I mean, maybe thats in the second part, but...
-- The changed the minister. Even though he only had like...10 lines, still. If its not broke, why change it?
-- Ginny and Harry's kiss is in the bedroom. And Ron walks in on them. Not a huge detail..but still.

Still pretty kick butt movie. Two thumbs up (:

Later,
Holly

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hello bloggers!
Its thanksgiving! For some...
Yea, for me, today isn't thanksgiving. Which stinks, cause i can't celbrate with everyone else.
See, my dad was on call today, so he couldn't be here, and so naturally my mom didn't want to do it without him.
So MY thanksgiving is tomorrow.

Okay, for all of you who watched the 'Macy Thanksgiving parade'.....did you see those cheerleaders? There was like...300 of them?
I mean, good for them for doing that..but why in the world would you want to be 1 of 300? I just like the smaller cheer leading groups better i guess.

So, anyway, in honor of thanksgiving, i wrote a letter to tom turkey. I seriously think tom turkey gets over shadowed. Like, for real. Who do you know talks about 'Tom Turkey' ? Bless him, he gets WAY overshadowed by Santa.
I mean, i know Santa is like, great in all, but if you really, really get a good look at santa, you'll see and fat man, who wears to much blush and makes little people his slaves.
But Tom Turkey? He would NEVER do that! So, to show respect, here is my letter to Tom Turkey.

Dear Tom Turkey,
Well, to start out, i think you are just wonderful. And i want to apologize to you, for not getting any notice. You only get one day a year, but it always gets over looked, because of Santa. Personally, I think you look and taste better and better each year, and we should celebrate you with song and dance. So its settled. I hear by decree that there will be a Tom Turkey song and dance in your honor.
Best wishes, till next year,
Holly Miller

Okay, now i think EVERYONE should right a letter to tom turkey, telling him how much he is appreciated.

Till next time,
Holly

Inside the mind of...me (:

Hi!
So, i've made blogs before, and never really kept up with them, but i'm dedicated now! I really need an outlet, til drama, so...here we go.

For some back round info on myself..
-- I love music
-- I've been trying to write a book for...3 years. Yea..its going pretty slow.
-- I'm an avid reader.
-- I love books. Love them.
-- I walk the halls of CHS.
-- ^ I think that is a really gay saying, but all of my friends say it.
-- I'm about to turn fifteen
-- I drive a '72 white Chevy truck. I love it.

So, be looking for updates soon! (:

Later!
-- Holly