Batman Beyond, Season 3 - Review

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen any of Batman Beyond, please leave the blog and return after you've watched it. Unless, of course, you just don't care, in which case, stick around and be spoiled. You choice.

Batman Beyond, Season 3 - Review

Characters:

• Terry McGinnis - Voice Provided by Will Friedle. Current Batman.
• Bruce Wayne - Voice Provided by Kevin Conroy. Former Batman
• Max - Voice Provided by Cree Summer. Terry's best friend.
• Inque - Voice Provided by Shannon Kenny. Villain. Amorphous black body.
• Barbara Gordon - Voice Provided by Stockard Channing. Gotham City Police Commissioner. Former Batgirl.
• Talia al Ghul - Voice Provided by Olivia Hussey. Bruce's old girlfriend. Daughter of Ras al Ghul.
• Dana Tan - Voice Provided by Lauren Tom. Terry's girlfriend.
• Charlie "Big Time" Bigelow - Voice Provided by Stephen Baldwin. Villain. An old friend of Terry's.

Review:

I know that episodes of cartoons are largely made to be played in pretty much any order the networks see fit. For the most part, that doesn't bug me in the slightest. However, watching this last Season of Batman Beyond and knowing it was the last made the last couple episodes really odd... which I will talk about later in this review. For now, I've got some other points about the Season.

I like how the Royal Flush Gang ended up, though I wasn't happy they appeared again to start with. I'm not entirely sure I liked how King and Queen were having issues, but it worked to get them in jail. It was nice to see Paxton Powers again. I'm glad they did something with him after the big pile of nothing from last Season. I do not like that there wasn't anything done after that and I'm disappointed Derek Powers didn't show up again, seeing as they sort of teased that last Season.

Inque's pair of appearances really killed her coolness from the last few. It was nice that both she and Terry learned new moves since their last encounter, but I didn't think it needed a sign post. I also didn't like that Inque had a daughter. That particular storyline is ridiculously played out. It'd have been slightly more interesting if the daughter had been Dana. She really needed something more to do than be the whiny, largely absentee girlfriend. As for Inque's second appearance... I didn't bat and eye until I remembered her daughter was supposed to have killed her. Not that that's really a giant obstacle, given the universe, but still. Even a line from Terry about it would have been nice.

And now for my favorite episode of the Season: "Out of the Past." I honestly had not expected Talia al Ghul to show up. I'd been expecting Selena Kyle or Dick Grayson. However, Talia was a nice blast from the past. I liked that Terry got to do her exposition, rather than Talia or Bruce. I loved, loved, loved the opening sequence. It was surprisingly hilarious. I would totally go see "Batman: The Musical." I didn't like the further Bruce/Barbara stuff. It makes me gag. I thought the twist of the episode was really interesting, especially because of the Damian Wayne hint there.

The Justice League Unlimited crossover was interesting, to say the least. Superman clearly had a different voice actor from the Justice League, which bugged me. I had no interest in any of the other heroes so them being put in peril did nothing for me. I also wasn't really impressed with the villain of the two-parter. They looked like a much more flexible purple Starmie. I did like that Terry had to fight the JLU, it was nice to see him hold his own, especially against Supes, with minimal help from Bruce.

Okay, now to the end of the Season. We got some crap about Kobra, the only good part of which was Alexis Denisof's voice. Then we got a cautionary tale about taking off the cowl and then Zeta was back for the final episode. Oh, and the Jokers reappeared after being mysteriously absent for the entire Season. It was really odd and didn't feel like the end of a Season, let alone the end of a Series. I'm not really sure how I feel about it, to be honest.

Overall, Season 3 was pretty solid. It had a good mix of good and bad episodes. All the characters were developed well and there were nice nods to the past. I really enjoyed it.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Max finally got to be more than Terry's tech support.
• The Big Time storyline would have been stronger if the flashbacks had appeared earlier.
• I've never liked DC's obsession with talking gorillas and I really didn't like that they just sort of recreated that mess in Gotham.
• Terry's suit got messed up in almost every episode. I affectionately called this Season "The Season of the Ripped Up Batsuit."

Housekeeping

As I said in my Once Upon a Time review yesterday, same night reviews will be extremely rare, so today you got this thing I should have done last week. However, stay tuned tomorrow for my review of tonight's Sleepy Hollow episode.

Love ya, Jessie

The Heart of the Truest Believer - Review

Intro

Okay, I was really excited about this and got it done tonight... so I'm posting it. This won't be a normal occurrence. Enjoy!

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen all of Once Upon a Time, including the Third Season opener, please leave the blog and return later. There are bound to be spoilers, I just can't help myself.

Once Upon a Time - "The Heart of the Truest Believer" - Review

Characters:

• Emma Swan - Played by Jennifer Morrison. Daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White. Birth Mother of Henry Mills. Product of True Love. "The Savior."
• Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold - Played by Robert Carlyle. Father of Baelfire. Mentor of Regina Mills. The Dark One.
• Regina Mills - Played by Lana Parrilla. Mother of Henry Mills. Step-Mother of Snow White. The Evil Queen.
• Prince Charming/David Nolan - Played by Josh Dallas. Father of Emma Swan. Husband of Snow White.
• Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard - Played by Ginnifer Goodwin. Mother of Emma Swan. Wife of Prince Charming. Step-Daughter of Regina Mills.
• Henry Mills - Played by Jared Gilmore. Son of Emma Swan, Baelfire, and Regina Mills. The Truest Believer.
• Captain Killian "Hook" Jones - Played by Colin O'Donoghue. Pirate.
• Neal Cassady/Baelfire - Played by Michael Raymond-James. Son of Rumplestiltskin. Father of Henry Mills.
• Greg Mendel/Owen Flynn - Played by Ethan Embry. Kidnapped Henry for Peter Pan. Deceased.
• Tamara - Played by Sonequa Martin-Green. Neal's Fiancee. Kidnapped Henry for Peter Pan. Deceased.
• Mulan - Played by Jamie Chung. Companion/Body-Guard of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. Currently following Neal around.
• Princess Aurora - Played by Sarah Bolger. Former Sleeping Curse victim.
• Prince Phillip - Played by Julian Morris. Aurora's prince. Miraculously returned to Aurora and Mulan.
• Robin Hood - Played by Sean Maguire. Found squatting in Rumpelstiltskin's castle.
• Peter Pan - Played by Robbie Kay. Big Bad of Wonderland.

Review:

First and foremost, "The Heart of the Truest Believer" was a departure from the usual Once Upon a Time. this episode took place entirely in the present, rather than intercutting with flashbacks. It. Was. Awesome. Don't get me wrong, I love the flashbacks as much as the next person, but I thought having a storyline that didn't rely on past information was pretty darn cool.

First story-thread to talk about: Rumplestiltskin. His return to Dark One form this episode was awesome. I, for one, was glad to see he'd changed outfits. His Dark One outfit is much better for tromping around Neverland than the Mr. Gold suit. I'm extremely glad Rumple killed Tamara. There was no reason for her to be kept alive. My favorite bit with Rumple was the annoyed look on his face when he did the hand-gesture-thing he does. It made me laugh. Of course, like most everyone else, I'm wondering what the deal is with the doll. See my Theories section for what I think is up with it.

Off to Henry's story-thread. I was pleasantly surprised how much I didn't hate him this episode. I liked that he gave Greg and Tamara lots of lip about their dumb plan and not asking questions. I like that he referenced both his moms, rather than just Regina or just Emma. I really hope I don't end up hating Henry again, because I feel like it's not a good thing to hate him. I also really liked the Peter Pan reveal. I had a very small inkling he actually was Pan when he pointed to the clearing he and Henry should land in, but other than that, I was fooled.

As for the not-crew of the Jolly Roger, I totally called the storm being caused by their arguing as soon as ther mermaid told them they'd kill themselves. It reminded by of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Hearths Warming Eve." The horrible winter in the fable there was caused by ponies arguing instead of getting along, just like this storm was, only not as cold. Everyone was pretty much themselves here. I did wonder why Regina didn't jump into the mermaid fight earlier, but that's just me thinking she should have brought the awesome earlier. Speaking of which, I liked the mermaids. The bio-luminescence was a nice addition.

Last, but certainly not least, The Enchanted Forest made its return with Neal, Aurora, Mulan, and Phillip. Ah, Phillip... why are you back and how? I'm not happy that's just being glossed over. I was, however, quite happy with Mulan. It's clear she learned something from being around Snow, Emma, and Aurora. I thinks she and Neal make a good team, and just a team, mind you. I liked that Neal was uncomfortable telling the trio that his father is Rumplestiltskin. It made me chuckle. I also really enjoyed the "Blood Magic" and the return of Robin Hood... though he'd now played by a different guy. And uh... yeah... the Mulan movie references were... there. That'll appease some people. I didn't like it as much as Neal apparently did.

Overall, I had a lot of fun watching "The Heart of the Truest Believer." I thought the intercutting of the stories worked well. I thought the CG was as good as it usually is. I had a slight problem with the slow-mo shot during the wave, but the rest of the episode was fine as far as that goes. Lastly, I'm very, very glad Greg and Tamara are dead and were killed in pretty short order. They were dumb and made me want to punch them. I can't wait for next week!

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Liked the call-back to what Greg told Regina about "Happy Endings."
• The Shadow was a bit less scary this time around, despite the murdering Greg bit.
• I liked the mermaid.
• Regina got all the best lines.
• David is a moron. He teamed up with Hook, Regina, and Rumple before ever setting foot on Neverland.

Theories:

I think the doll Rumple cries over is Baelfire's... or some other unknown child's that he got attached to... or something.

Extras:

DVMPE's Once Upon a Time Podcast - Though not the most knowledgeable of Once Upon a Time podcast hosts, these guys are enthusiastic about Once Upon a Time. This one's worth a listen. And no, I'm not a member of the DVMPE, I just like their podcasts.

Favorite Lines:

"You'll win her over with your rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers?" - Regina Mills

"I'll just bring up water and half her leg." - Regina Mills

Housekeeping

Tomorrow I'll post my Batman Beyond, Season 3 review... and then we'll be back on schedule for reviews.

Love ya, Jessie

The Crazy Ones - Pilot - Review

Intro

Okay so, today I've done some job hunting, babysat for about ten minutes, attempted to fix one of my fans, and gone to Sam's. I'm currently hot, kinda sweaty, and still somewhat ocillating between reviewing The Crazy Ones and Batman Beyond, Season 3 or just one or the other. Presently, I'm going with just The Crazy Ones.

And that, my wonderful readers, is why I'm kind of stressed right now. Please excuse any ramblings I might go on today, The Crazy Ones review hasn't been pre-written so... this is going to be interesting and horribly structured, I think...

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen the first episode of The Crazy Ones, please leave the blog, watch it, and come back. I will most likely be spoiling stuff.

The Crazy Ones - "Pilot" - Review

Characters:

• Simon Roberts - Played by Robin Williams. Ad company executive.
• Sydney Roberts - Played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Ad company executive. Simon Roberts' daughter.
• Zach Cropper - Played by James Wolk. The pretty-boy ad company guy.
• Andrew - Played by Hamish Linklater. The somewhat awkward ad company guy.
• Lauren Slotsky - Played by Amanda Setton. Ditzy receptionist?
• Kelly Clarkson - Played by Kelly Clarkson. Singer.

Review:

I think it's pretty clear, considering the very brief and obviously uninformed character descriptions, I don't have a really good grasp on the characters. That's not to say I didn't get who they were and what they were supposed to be doing, it's more like I'm not sure how to describe them. I thought they were all pretty good in the limited roles most of them played in the pilot. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see Hamish Linklater. I quite like him.

I was not incredibly amused during this episode. There were a few parts where I giggled to myself, but it didn't make me laugh so much. I laughed a lot more at the Season Premiere of Two and a Half Men that aired after The Crazy Ones than I actually did watching The Crazy Ones.

I felt The Crazy Ones was attempting to find a happy medium between drama and comedy, but it largely failed on both counts in this episode. The entire show was essentially split up between Sarah Michelle Gellar being the straight man to Robin Williams and Kelly Clarkson acting like a diva. I thought the dynamic between Simon and Sydney to be realistic, considering I have a lifetime of first hand experience with a comedic dad. I was not at all impressed with Kelly Clarkson. She made me want to punch her in the face.

I didn't like that the McDonalds product placement was so blatant. I get that Roberts and Roberts is an ad company, but I didn't feel like McDonalds should have been the client. It was an excuse for the product placement and to have Kelly Clarkson sing a raunchy song on screen.

My favorite scene, mostly for the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer flashback was the one in the restaurant where Kelly made Sydney sing. I knew that would be amusing, considering Sarah can't really sing.

Overall, I thought The Crazy Ones pilot could have been a lot better.

Housekeeping

I will definitely have the Batman Beyond, Season 3 review up tomorrow. When I typed up my new post last night, it was late and I'd forgotten about The Crazy Ones review. Also, I'm sorry for using character names and actor names interchangeably, I would have just gone with actor names, but... there were points where I was talking about the characters and not the actors so... yeah...

Again, sorry for the rambling and whatnot. I'm stressed and my eyelid is twitching.

Love ya, Jessie

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - "Pilot" - Review

Characters:

• Agent Phil Coulson - Played by Clark Gregg. Not dead. Leader of Level 7.
• Agent Melinda May - Played by Ming-Na Wen. Pilot.
• Agent Grant Ward - Played by Brett Dalton. Black Ops Specialist.
• Skye - Played by Chloe Bennet. Computer hacker. Member of Rising Tide.
• Agent Leo Fitz - Played by Iain De Caestecker. Engineering.
• Agent Jemma Simmons - Played by Elizabeth Henstridge. Biochem.
• Michael "Mike" Peterson - Played by J. August Richards. Main antagonist in the Pilot.
• Agent Maria Hill - Played by Cobie Smulders. Agent Nick Fury's right hand gal.

Review:

In my humble opinion as an avid TV watcher and reviewer, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Pilot" was stellar. Random dangling plot threads from The Avengers were tied up nicely, though with a bit of mystery. The characters were set up well, both those who appeared in the Marvel movies and those who didn't. The world around them was fleshed out well. Overall, we got a very solid "Pilot."

First and foremost, I have to talk about Coulson. I thought Clark Gregg did a great job reprising the roll. I liked the way Coulson's reappearance was explained, though I wonder what Hill was talking about and hope that gets explained at some point. It makes a very nice little mystery that I sincerely hope doesn't get dropped. I also really liked the way Coulson was portrayed. He's a nice mix of "secret agent" and caring human being. I like that he cares more about helping people than collecting them.

So far I like the team of Fitz and Simmons. They're wonderfully quirky and nerdy. Yes, those are two separate things. The way the pair interact with each other amuses me. I'm not entirely sure where I stand on Ward and May. They're cool, but I don't quite have a handle on them yet.

Skye kind of reminded me of a cooler, hacker-y version of Gwen Cooper from Torchwood... kind of. I just mean Skye is both in her element and out of her depth. She's different from Gwen in that she's full of that classic Whedon-y spunk. She's definitely got a lot more heart than Ward seems to. I really loved how she interacted with Coulson, Ward, and Mike. The bubbly nerdy-ness was awesome. I'm also intrigued by the fact that Skye seems to have deleted herself from a technology standpoint.

Last on my list of people to talk about is our antagonist for the episode, Mike Peterson. I thought J.August Richards really brought out the emotions of the character. Mike entered into the study-thing for all the right reasons, the effects of the study-thing just made him send up making the wrong decisions. He was extremely relatable in a way characters like Tony Stark and Thor just aren't. I'm glad he didn't end up dying at the end of the episode, though I totally fell for that fake out.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• S.H.I.E.L.D's tech was awesome and imaginative.
• Loved the nerd references. I caught Terminator and Snow White on first watch and a Harry Potter reference on the second.
• I love that Ftiz named his droids after the Snow White characters. It's cute.
• I was surprised and pleased that Lola flew.

Extras:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Official Website - I know some people are probably wondering where they can get a S.H.I.E.L.D. badge like the one at the top of this post. Well look no further than the official site. I had a poke around and it's pretty cool. You will definitely need a computer or other device that can keep up with a lot of moving images and sound. I'm pretty sure the site runs on Flash so... make sure your device can handle that, too.

Favorite Lines:

"With great power comes... a ton of weird crap that you are not prepared to handle." - Skye

"Whedon-verse" Alumns:

Actor	AoS Character	"Whedon-verse"
J. August Richards	Mike Peterson	Charles Gunn
Ron Glass	Dr. Streiten	Shepherd Derrial Book

Love ya, Jessie

Nuzlocke Challenge - Day Twenty-Nine

Intro

Just off watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I loved it! I can't wait for next week! Heck, I can't wait to watch it again before I review it tomorrow. This time without baby screaming or interruptions or people at the door...

But this is a Nuzlocke Challenge post so... let's get on with that shall we?

Nuzlocke Challenge - Day Twenty-Nine

The Game: Pokemon Fire Red

The Character: Vera

The Rival: Master

The Pokemon:

Frankie - 44

Ms.Feather - 44

Rogan - 44

Bo - 44

Izzy - 35

Henry - 37

Day 29

Omega

So today I finished off my Mt. Ember run by running into a cave. Since I count inside places as different places from outside places, I caught a Machop. His name is Omega. I also fought a Geodude and two more Machop before getting out of the cave.

At the top of Mt. Ember sits the lovely Moltres. A Moltres who took two Power Points for every Yawn. A Moltres who used up all 11 of my Great Balls and all but one of my 22 Ultra Balls. A Moltres I was really worried about not catching. But I did. That's Legendary Bird Number Three in the bag. And in order... which I did not do on purpose.

???

Ms.Feather than flew us to Two Island where we climbed up Cape Brink. I caught a Psyduck and named her... I forgot what I named her, isn't that ironic? I forgot to write it down and now I'm kicking myself... But anyway, there's this Channeller who lives at the top of Cape Brink. She taught Frankie Hydro Cannon.

Artie

We took the Seagallop back to Vermillion City and then flew from there to Viridian City. Just off Viridian City is Route 22 were we faced off against Master. We trounced him soundly. I say "we" but Frankie and Bo did all the work. Izzy fought three Ratatta after that before we ran into a Mankey. I caught him and named him Artie.

Cam

We then began our journey through the gates of the Pokemon League. On the water there we ran into a Psyduck that Frankie Rapid Spinned out of existence. We then ran into a Fearow in the grass, which Frankie Bit out of existence. And finally we ran into a Primeape, which I caught. His name is Cam.

Next time: We brave Victory Road and flail as a good chunk of my team has issues with Onix.

Housekeeping

I am very much planning to review Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tomorrow. I am also planning on updating my earlier Sleepy Hollow review because I was in a hurry when I posted it and forgot some things. There will also be some updates to the "Lists" page and, of course, the "Reviewed" page.

Love ya, Jessie

Sleepy Hollow - "Blood Moon" - Review

Characters:

• Lieutenant Abigail "Abbie" Mills - Played by Nicole Beharie. The "Second Witness." Saw the Four Trees as a child with her sister.
• Ichabod Crane - Played by Tom Mison. The "First Witness." Sort of time traveled from the Revolutionary War to the present because of his magical blood connection with the Headless Horseman.
• Captain Frank Irving - Played by Orlando Jones. Sleepy Hollow's Police Captain.
• Katrina Crane - Played by Katia Winter. Ichabod's wife. Apparently a witch of some sort. Shows up as a Hawk and in mirrors.
• Sheriff August Corbin - Played by Clancy Brown. The second modern day victim of the Headless Horseman. Abbie's mentor.
• Andy Dunn - Played by John Cho. Undead demon minion.
• Jennifer "Jenny" Mills - Played by Lyndie Greenwood. Abbie's sister. Saw the Four Trees as a child. In a mental institution.
• Luke - Abbie's ex-boyfriend. Also a cop.
• Serilda of Abadon - High Priestess of the evil coven. Brought back to serve the demon.

Review:

I have to say, Sleepy Hollow just keeps impressing me. "Blood Moon"s best aspect was the atmosphere, which I will discuss in just a bit. I was also impressed by Abbie and Ichabod's chemistry. Even at this early stage in their development, I can see they're definitely meant to be partners. It's also very hard to see anyone else playing those roles.

Right, I was going to talk about atmosphere. Sleepy Hollow has the same kind of hyper-realistic yet creepy atmosphere all the good supernatural/horror movies have. I was strongly reminded of the atmosphere in The Covenant and Cabin In the Woods. I really love it and I hope they manage to keep it up.

I also really loved the special effects and makeup. Serilda's pre-reconstitution look was awesome and really well done. I wasn't expecting to see Andy back at all, but they way they brough him back was amazing. I liked the way they had him walking around with his neck all bent backward, though it had me cringing the entire time. His death palor and neck folds were nice to see, too. I also thought the burned up guy in the car was impressive. It reminded me of an episode of Fringe, only all black and stuff.

Speaking of Fringe, apparently Ichabod has an Eidetic memory, like Olivia. That should come in handy down the line, I think. In addition to Ichabod and Abbie's interaction, I enjoyed seeing him interact with other people. My favorite exchange was his conversation with Luke. It amused me. As did the sticky notes Abbie left all over his hotel room. That was great. I found Ichabod's fascination with light bulbs to be really endearing.

Finally we come to Lt. Abbie. I liked her a lot more this episode. She didn't flinch as much and we got more insight into her background. I'm wondering how long her hallucinating/seeing Corbin is going to last. I also can't wait to see how Abbie and Jenny end up interacting. Should be fun finding out.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• The upside-down shot is already old.
• Love the opening sequence!
• Sisterhood of the Radiant Heart is Katrina's coven.
• Loved the ashes in the urn twist.
• Pilot vs Series inconsistency #1: Irving suddenly not so gung ho about the supernatural stuff.

 

Theories:

• The tunnels are going to be very much like the sewers were on Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Angel.
• I'm going to like Jenny.

 

Extras:

DVMPE's Sleepy Hollow Podcast was my first choice for podcasts about Sleepy Hollow. The DVMPE is very consistent in their quality and so far, I've been loving The Sleepy Hollow Podcast.

Love ya, Jessie.

Nuzlocke Challenge - Day Twenty-Eight

The Game: Pokemon Fire Red
The Character: Vera
The Pokemon:

Frankie - 44

Ms.Feather - 44

Rogan - 44

Bo - 44

Henry - 35

Izzy - 35

Day 28

Okay so, I didn't actually get very far today, but I did make a little bit of progress while I was watching Sleepy Hollow tonight. My team and I hit Mt. Ember. Bo learned Strength because I had previously taught it to my Nidoqueen, Jordan. We fought 3 Trainers, 2 Fearow, 2 Ponyta, and a Spearow. The Pokemon I caught for Mt. Ember is a Geodude I named Luke. Also, Henry evolved from Venonat to Venomoth.

Hopefully my next Nuzlocke Challenge update won't be this short. See you tomorrow for the Sleepy Hollow review.

Love ya, Jessie

Divergent Summoning

Intro

Last night/this morning during a random bout of insomnia, I wrote a review, finished a book, and wrote another review. Since it's Monday and there aren't any Sunday night shows I'm watching quite yet, I thought I'd go ahead and post my reviews. I'm also a little foggy and rambling a bit so I'll just jump into the spoiler warning now.

There is a short Housekeeping section after the Long Hot Summoning review.

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not read Divergent or any of The Keeper's Chronicles, please leave the blog and return later. It's not actually my reviews with the spoilers this time, it's the character lists I've decided to start including. I think the spoilers are minor, but even minor spoilers can annoy people so... spoiler warning.

Divergent by Veronica Roth - Review

Characters:

• Beatrice/Tris - Main Protagonist, Chooses Dauntless over Abnegation, Divergent.
• Caleb - Tris' brother. Chooses Erudite.
• Four - Dauntless initiate trainer. Tris' love interest.
• Will - A Dauntless initiate.
• Christina - A Dauntless initiate.
• Jeanine - Erudite leader.
• Eric - Dauntless leader.
• Peter - A Dauntless initiate.
• Tori - Dauntless tattoo artist. Had a Divergent brother.

Review:

I had honestly forgotten I'd wanted to borrow my sister's copy of Divergent until she came into my room and handed it to me. I didn't even start reading it right away. I was, after all, in the middle of two other books. However, once I started Divergent, I couldn't put it down. Divergent took me three nights to read. Not because it's short, but because the pull of the story made it hard to stop reading.

But here's the thing, I never became emotionally invested in any of the characters. If I'm not emotionally invested, then I don't usually keep reading. This time I was much more interested what was going on in the wider world of Divergent than any of the character drama. The tiny bits we got were intriguing. I wanted more. I didn't get it. I'm going to blame that on Tris. She wasn't nearly as curious or intuitive as she should have been as a main character. She's isolated, confused, and reacts more than acts throughout the entire book.

It really bugs me, now I think about it, that I have no emotional bonds with any of the characters. Emotional bonds are what usually keep me reading a book or watching something. It's what I tend to focus on while reviewing, too. But I have nothing to say about any of the characters of Divergent or what happened to them. I am ambivalent to them all, even, and perhaps most disappointingly, Tris. I should care about the main character and I don't. That signals a problem.

I am now going to talk about the end of Divergent, because it above all else bugs me. The story had finally started to pick up. There was actual tension going on. And then it just stopped. There were some speculations on Tris' part as to what the next step would be and she expressed uneasiness about her situation and the people she was in it with. And then it just stops. There isn't an actual resolution. There aren't any mysteries solved. Just nothing. Done. Huh?

The copy of Divergent I was reading had a chunk of the next book, Insurgent, in the back. I took a peek at it and, well, it picks up directly where Divergent left off. It's like someone had taken a larger book and chopped through the spine only to recover both halves as different books. Again: Huh?

My recommendation, if you are at all interested in reading Divergent is to have Insurgent on hand. I'm not even sure if it's out yet, to tell the truth. I also don't really care at this point. I most likely won't be picking up Insurgent. Divergent just didn't grab me like it should have. Yes, I finished it quickly, but that had more to do with the pacing than anything else.

Extras:

My copy of Divergent had a Faction Quiz at the back. It's essentially a test to figure out which faction you would be in if you lived in the Divergent universe. Mostly A's = Abnegation, mostly B's = Amity, mostly C's = Candor, mostly D's = Dauntless, and mostly E's = Erudite.

I am happy to report that I do not fit into a faction. I chose 3 C's, 3 E's, and a B. Mostly nothing. If this quiz was The Sorting Hat, I'd be a Hatstall between Candor and Erudite, apparently. Or else I'm Divergent. Meh.

If you'd like to take the quiz yourself, you can do so HERE.

Long Hot Summoning by Tanya Huff - Review

Characters:

• Diana Hansen - Keeper
• Claire Hansen - Keeper, Diana's older sister.
• Dean McIsaac - Bystander, Claire's love interest.
• Austin - Cat, Claire's partner.
• Sam - Cat, Diana's partner.
• Kris - Mall Elf, Diana's love interest.
• Arthur - Yes, that one.
• Lance - Not Australian
• Meryat - Evil Mummy
• Hell - Snarky hole in the ground. Root of all evil, yada, yada, yada.

Review:

As I get more and more of these reviews under my belt, I realize there are just some books I can't go into very in depth at all. That's not necessarily because they're bad, but because I don't really have much to say about the intricacies of character and plot. This last installment of The Keeper's Chronicles is one of those books that's really brilliant, but you have to read it to understand exactly why.

The story starts out fairly simply with Diana's first real Summons following her graduation from high school. It then expands to include Claire, Dean, and Austin before splitting off into the A Plot and the B Plot. The A Plot follows Diana, Claire, and Sam while the B Plot follows Dean and Austin. The story rattles along between the A Plot and B Plot until it hits a refrigerator and further splits into the C Plot and D Plot. The C Plot follows Claire and eventually Lance while the D Plot follows Sam and Arthur. Everything eventually melds back together following a pink explosion and we end up with: "Oh. Happy endings all around, then."

Despite the somewhat convoluted plot explanation I just gave, Long Hot Summoning is fairly easy to follow. Add in the usual Pop Culture references, literary references, and Rules and you end up with a mostly satisfying read. I don't exactly understand the connection between minivans and Hell, but that didn't detract from the story at all.

I highly recommend picking up Long Hot Summoning, especially if you liked Summon the Keeper and The Second Summoning. You won't regret it.

Housekeeping

Don't forget to A) comment below and B) come back tomorrow for the Sleepy Hollow review. Oh, and definitely don't forget that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is premering tomorrow at 7PM US Central Time on ABC. I can't wait!

Love ya, Jessie

Nuzlocke Challenge - Day Twenty-Seven

The Game: Pokemon Fire Red
The Character: Vera
The Pokemon:

Frankie - 43

Ms.Feather - 44

Rogan - 44

Bo - 43

Izzy - 35

Henry - 34

R.I.P. Jordan

Day 27

My day started out pretty well. My team and I challenged the last four trainers in the Viridian City Gym and went on to challenge Giovanni... again. Jordan was unfortunately killed by Giovanni's Nidoking before being avenged rather quickly by Bo. I received an Earthbadge and went off to replace Jordan with Izzy.

After agonizing over Jordan's death, I decided to go catch me Mewtwo. However, I'd forgotten that you have to defeat the Indigo Pokemon League before you can do that so... we went to Route 10 and the Power Plant to capture Zapdos instead. The Power Plant yielded a Magnemite I named Tiny and Zapdos itself. Zapdos, however, killed Bri as I was trying to capture it.

Tiny

R.I.P. Bri

Zapdos

Bri was replaced by Henry before we flew down to Vermillion City. From there, we caught the Seagallop to One Island. Along Kindle Road we battled 3 Meowths and 7 Trainers before reaching the Ember Spa. There we got Rock Smash from the man that apparently runs the spa. I taught it to Rogan and proceeded to collect some items that were behind some smash-able rocks.

On the last leg of today's journey, we battled 2 Tentacools and 2 Trainers. We stopped just outside the Ember Spa until next time.

Housekeeping

I finally uploaded Knight's tombstone to deviantART, as well as Jordan and Bri's. Just click the "My Art" button up there in the navigation bar. They're in the "Nuzlocke Tombstones" folder in my Gallery there.

Love ya, Jessie.

Nuzlocke Challenge - Day Twenty-Six

The Game: Pokemon Fire Red
The Character: Vera
The Pokemon:

Frankie - 42

Ms.Feather - 42

Bri - 42

Jordan - 42

Rogan - 43

Bo - 42

Day 26

There was a lot of running around willy-nilly today. Well, technically there was purpose, but it was mostly just running around.

On Kindle Road my team and I battled two trainers before flying back to the Pokemon Center. From there we took the boat to Two Island, where we should have gone instead of Kindle Road in the first place. Once there, we went to the Game Corner to deliver the Meteorite only to be immediately sent out again to find a lost little girl named "Lostelle."

"Lostelle" is a crappy/lazy name. It's like the translators just stuck the feminizing "elle" onto the end of "Lost" and called it a day. I think it's dumb and they really should have given the girl a better name.

Izzy

Henry

On Three Island, where Lostelle was lost, my team and I took on a Biker gang. We beat them pretty handily before heading off to the Bond Bridge and Berry Forest. On the Bond Bridge, we fought two Pidgeys and a Gloom before finding a Venonat. I caught him and named him Henry. In the Berry Forest we fought to Pidgeys, three Pidgeottos, and a Gloom before finding Lostelle. Lostelle was apparently being terrorized/hunted by a Hypno. That Hypno is now in my possession. Her name is Izzy.

We returned Lostelle to her unnamed father and gave him the Meterorite. We then went back to One Island and met up with Bill and Celio. Bill proceeded to drag us back to Cinnabar Island.

Naavi

From Cinnabar Island, my team and I headed up to Pallet Town along Route 21. Bo and my previous Snorlax, Sleepy, have made me love Snorlax. I think they're pretty indispensable. No lie, Bo took out all the Pokemon when we battled with the other trainers along Route 21. In addition, I was really surprised we didn't run into a single Pokemon until we reached the grassy patch just below Pallet Town. There we found a Tangela. I caught him and named him Naavi.


After arriving back in Pallet Town, we flew up to Viridian City in order to challenge the returned Gym Leader there. So far we've made it through four trainers. I may or may not return to the game tonight to finish the Gym. I haven't decided yet.

Love ya, Jessie.