Reading The Riot Act: adaptation

Tuesday, 6 October 2015

My Book Kryptonite

There are some books, you think you're above. You snort at "tweens" reading twilight or roll your eyes dramatically at the thought of Shakespeare, but then there are those other books. Those books that you have a weakness for. If your reading ability was Superman, these books are your Kryptonite. You are defenseless against them and as soon as a book presents itself in that way, it is immediately in your basket.

For me, it Fairy tale re-tellings. I want to pretend I'm above it, silly little genre with barely any originality - but I don't. Fairy tale re-tellings are some of the most outstanding literature I have read. They are so original and it is so interesting to have people take the same story and twist and manipulate it into something completely new. So to honour my book kryptonite, here is a list of my favourites, and if that's not enough, you can find more of the genre here.

1. Angela Carter

Angela Carter was an English Novelist. She wrote Angela Carter's Book of Fairy tale and The Bloody Chamber and other stories. These are by far her most popular books and they aren't like regular re-tellings. Often seen as feminist literature, Carter's writing is violent and terrifying and really takes a good look at the female position within fairy tales and society. She looks at the impact of fairy tales on our society and flips them on their head. I would highly recommend any of her literature to any human person ever.

2. Leigh Bardugo

If you have not read Leigh Bardugo - do it now. Don't even bother with finishing this article. Just go. For a little context Bardugo's fairy tale stories are all companion novellas to the Grisha Series:
The Witch of Duva
Little Knife
The Too Clever Fox
Little Knife is my favourite and all of them are so mystical and amazing. The world she builds in these tiny little stories are just stunning.

3. Marissa Meyer

Cyborg Cinderella? Moon-person Rapunzel? NUFF SAID! Lunar Chronicles are amazing.

4. Sarah J Maas

Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses, do seem far away from a fairy tale, but in fact TOG was originally based on Cinderella and ACOTAR is based on Beauty and the Beast. These series are both amazing representations of the ways authors interpret different stories. It is one of my favourite aspects of this genre. One of my all time favourites.

5. ONCE UPON A TIME

I'm afraid I am about to be a cheater. This series is not a book, but it is still a masterpiece of fairy-tale makeovers. ABC'S Once Upon a Time is one of the most enjoyable shows I have watched. I adore the series and Emma and the way it uses contemporary life and society in order to highlight the characters past lives. Evil Peter Pan? Whhaaaatt? I love it. I love it so much, it has snuck it's way into my book blog. DAMN YOU EMMA SWAN!

So that's it, a few of my favourite book kryptonite. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this quick little bit and I urge you to let me know in the comments, what your kryptonite is.

Happy Reading

Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Louise Wilkes 05:52:00 0

Warning: Spoilers (duh)

The heroic son of Poseidon makes an action-packed comeback in the second must-read installment of Rick Riordan's amazing young readers series. Starring Percy Jackson, a "half blood" whose mother is human and whose father is the God of the Sea, Riordan's series combines cliffhanger adventure and Greek mythology lessons that results in true page-turners that get better with each installment. In this episode, The Sea of Monsters, Percy sets out to retrieve the Golden Fleece before his summer camp is destroyed, surpassing the first book's drama and setting the stage for more thrills to come.

After being incredibly impressed with the first book in this series I was expecting big things from Sea of Monsters. It was an excellent book but I did only give it 3.5 / 5 stars. There was nothing necessarily wrong with it, it just didnt excite me as much as the first book.

I think it was the format was pretty much the same as the first so I kind of got the feel about everything that was gonna happen.

Percy was at school, gets expelled due to monster shenanigans, we get a little camp drama and then quest time. In the quest they constantly run into trouble that they overcome in each chapter and eventually succeed. Now there is nothing wrong with this format, it worked well in the first book and was just as good as the first book. I just wanted more, a little more edge. Percy's abandonment issues didn't really come forth as much in this book and seem a little forgotten but hey ho.

I loved Clarisse in this book, I think she's the character in which its easy to imagine then very two dimensionally, yet in this book she got some depth which is really beautiful to see. Annabeth and Percy's relationship has already changed without me even noticing which is also really lovely and I thought Grover's storyline was hilarious and gave me many belly laughs imagining him in a wedding dress.

I am loving this underlying plot of Kronos though, and Thalia coming back to life, I've seen the film so I knew this would happen, but it did still make me scream out at 1am like 'WOW!' it was an excellent ending.

MOVIE COMPARISON TIME!

I couldn't help but compare it to the movie of course and this one was a lot closer to the book than the first. It was still incredibly different though, I really don't understand the filmmakers desire to turn its back on the original plot. Very frustrating.

Overall, Sea of Monsters felt like the first book but not as fresh and insightful but it is setting up a very interesting narrative, the whole prophecy idea I am just dying to figure it out. Now however I am in uncharted territory. I don't know what happens next and I am going to be avoiding spoilers like the plague or that one really drunk girl at a party. I can't wait to find out what happens and watch the plot unfold.

P.S I hate the movie cover so much.

Tuesday, 6 October 2015

My Book Kryptonite

Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

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