If I Stay and Where She Went - Gayle Forman ★★★★★

If I Stay by Gayle Forman, is a beautiful and well written tragedy of Mia Hall. She is forced to make the decision to live without her parents and little brother Teddy, or leave her boyfriend, friends, and extended family behind. 

Stuck between life or death, Mia experiences the responses of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Some of them asking her to stay, some telling her its okay to leave. All the while remembering all the memories that she's had with each and every one in that hospital with her.  

This novel shows just how everything can change in a split second, and how much people really take for granted. It also shows how much one person can affect the lives of several.  

If I Stay will be showing in theaters on August 22nd and I am looking forward to seeing it. I will post a review of the movie shortly after. 

 

Where She Went continues three years after Mia's accident through the point of view of her boyfriend, Adam. He has become a successful rock star under the name of Adam Wilde, but he finds himself feeling depressed and lonely, and seeking answers. Mia Hall suddenly leaves him hanging after he had done everything he could to help her. From the pain of losing Mia he and his band become successful almost overnight. Then one day, he meets Mia and it's not how he always imagined it would be, until after the truth comes out and everything is brought to light.

With Adam you find out how one person made his world come crashing down, and within a day, fixed it again. 

If I Stay and Where She Went illustrate how two people can over come even the worst of tragedies, and how resilient people can be.

Link to Gayle Forman's website: http://www.gayleforman.com 

Link to If I Stay the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1355630/?ref_=nv_sr_1

God's Not Dead ★★★★★

God's Not Dead is an uplifting and enlightening movie, about the strength and courage of a young man and his faith for God. The movie highlights a handful of other characters and shows how they are all connected, and how they come to believe in God. It is largely based off of the novel God's Not Dead: Evidence For God In An Age Of Uncertainty by Rice Broocks. 

Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper) defending the existence of God

The movie was well cast especially the lead role. Shane Harper himself is a Christian and that shows when he is made to defend the existence of God in this movie. For people who are agnostic (those who don't know if there is a God) this is an excellent movie saying as Josh, the main protagonist, uses facts to prove the existence of God. The arguments are valid and at the very least, intriguing. 


Though this movie was not heavy on sound or visual effects there are a few to be noted, and were executed well. 

Duck Dynasty Robertson Family

God's Not Dead also featured the Robertson family from the popular reality TV show, Duck Dynasty, and the well known Christian band, the Newsboys. 

 
The Newsboys even had a God's Not Dead tour. They have just released their new album, Restart, with a hit new single "We Believe". They will being their We Believe tour this fall.

The Newsboys

As they performed they asked the audience (of the concert) to send out a message, "God's Not Dead." and that  concludes the movie and leaves the actual audience with something to think about, and perhaps a renewed faith. 

Link to God's Not Dead: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2528814/
Link to The Newsboys: http://newsboys.com/

Soul Surfer ★★★★

Bethany Hamilton

 Soul Surfer is a wonderful portrayal of the story of Bethany Hamilton. 

Anna Sophia Robb did an outstanding job showing her character's excitement and joy in the beginning  as well as her frustration and devastation after the shark attack and finally her hope and courage towards the end.

Anna Sophia Robb

They could not have cast a better actress. She has acted in the well known productions of Race to Witch Mountain, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bridge to Terabithia, and Because of Winn-Dixie.

 The music and the shark's eye view before the attack combined with the view of Bethany led to suspense and underlying knowledge of what is about to happen (for those who have not seen it or do not know of the story).

 The movie shows the hardships of the teen and her family, but also gives perspective of the hardships of others and the support they give her for her courage in continuing to compete in the surfing competitions. There is hope, courage, and love in this movie that makes it a must watch and a great movie to watch with the family. 

Link to Soul Surfer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596346/
Link to Bethany Hamilton: http://bethanyhamilton.com/soul-surfer/ 

The House of Night Series - P.C. and Kristin Cast ★★★

The first book in the series, Marked, was the best out of the rest of them. It had an interesting plot, a strong female character, and it kept me wanting to read the other books in the series. 

However as I kept reading the story line seemed to have declined a bit. It got confusing at times and sometimes it was slow. There was a lot of filler with annoying teenage drama, and although a little drama isn't bad, there was a lot of it.

 

 The main character, Zoey Redbird, was initially this strong female character who was kind and humble, but as the story goes on, she becomes whiny and to be honest, a little pathetic. I understand that she has gone through some hardships and has the weight of the world on her shoulders, but she blows them completely out of proportion and she has some strong friends to help her out. 

Her friends also could have been developed more, they are also powerful and unique, yet the author does little to show that, instead they are seen trying to console Zoey or gossip.

 

House of Night Series

 

 Many of the books could have been combined into one, but instead were their own individual books that got tiring to read. 

Throughout the books certain places are described quite beautifully and I would love to jump in the books and see them for myself if I could. 

The language was interesting and it's an interesting concept, but it was, unfortunately, drawn out too long. 
 

The tenth book is coming out soon and though I am tired of the series, I have invested so much time into reading them that I almost have to see how it plays out. 

Link to House of Night website: http://www.houseofnightseries.com/
Link to P.C. and Kristin Cast's website: http://pccast.net/ 

Prophecy of the Flame - Lynn Hardy ★★★★★

Prophecy of the Flame is a great book for D&D fans and just anyone who loves a good fantasy adventure story. The plot line is one that anyone might dream of - being pulled into another dimension based on a game he/she is playing - however, the events that unfold are unique and keep the story invigorating.

Archmage Reba

 The characters are all very different from being arrogant and annoying to somewhat cute and childish. 

The main character Reba is a head strong woman who takes advantage of her new found power but has a good heart and thoroughly tries to help everyone. However the more she uses her magic the more dependent she becomes on it which could lead to some major problems down the line in the coming books. 

Her friends all have dynamic personalities that are used sometimes as comedic relief and support Reba throughout the story. 

Archmage Reba and the Crusaders of the Light

Though the book does not focus on character development as much as it does the plot line, the reader is still able to see their development through their actions and Reba's thoughts. The personality of the characters seem very realistic and they all have their flaws and back stories (though they are not talked about much) which make each character interesting to read (even if the can get annoying and make me want to slap them sometimes).

 The downside of this book (there's one in every book) is that there are a few points in the book in which the characters get rather intimate that would be inappropriate for the youth, but they are easy to skip over and does not take away from the story. It is heavy on the action with some romance and thus makes a great read for all readers. 

I am interested in reading the second installment in the series and am looking forward to seeing where the story goes.










Link to Lynn Hardy's website: http://lynnhardy.blogspot.com/
Link to Prophecy of the Flame book one: http://www.amazon.com/Prophecy-Flame-Book-Lynn-Hardy/dp/0615170765 
Link to Prophecy of the Flame book two: http://www.amazon.com/Prophecy-Flame-Book-Loves-Price-ebook/dp/B004KKXSOQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406676248&sr=1-2&keywords=prophecy+of+the+flame