The Hobbit: Book vs. Movie

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It's time for another movie adaptation review! Yay! Come on say yay with me! On the count of three. One! Two! Three! Yay! Why are we yaying? Well, we are yaying because the last Hobbit movie has arrived in theaters and guess who saw it? I did! Now, I might get some facts wrong because it has been awhile since I have read The Hobbit but don't do any hatin' please. I would prefer constructive criticism more than anything, if you wouldn't mind. 

Okay onto the good stuff. As you know, I saw The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies, the last installment of Peter Jackson's Hobbit franchise. I thought it was great with excellent battle sequences and everything but of course there were parts I was questioning. But I don't want to focus on the last movie but all three movies together with book. 

I must say that the movies were definitely action-packed and had the budding romance but the movies weren't as faithful to the book as the Lord of the Rings were. For the next part, there will be spoilers but I think, if you were a book nerd like me, you would have already seen it. I will give you three examples of how the movie strays from the literary counterpart. 

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One example is the character, Tauriel. She made her appearance in the movies because Peter Jackson really liked (not romantically) the actress, Evangeline Lilly, and invited her to act in one of J.R.R. Tolkien's other stories. Tauriel's presence, for me, was to strengthen the girl power in the movie because there weren't many women who were kick-ass in The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. Truthfully, I liked her because she had a Legolas quality in her. 

Another example is the love triangle between Legolas, Tauriel, and Kili. In the book, Legolas and Tauriel weren't not supposed to make an appearance at all, but every movie has to have a romantic aspect. But in the end, Tauriel had to choose someone and that someone was Kili. Sadly, the growing romantic atmosphere wasn't as strong as it was in other movies and books, therefore I was not impressed. 

The last example I will rant about is Gandalf's side quest to find the coming darkness or whatever it was called. The darkness turned out to be Sauron, who later is the antagonist in the Lord of the Rings franchise. As I recall, I don't think Gandalf was searching for anything in the book. Sure he was absent a lot but I don't think he was trying to find something. It was cool to see Gandalf, Elrond, Saruman, and Galadriel all together for a intense battle scene though. That was pretty wicked.

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I apologize for attacking The Hobbit movies but I thought the book was a bit better, of course. I don't mean any harm but there were a lot of problems I saw in the three movies but overall, I really liked them because they were action-packed and funny, at some parts. I think Peter Jackson needed to add more characters and subplots so that the movies could be made into a not needed trilogy but hey, it kinda worked. 

If you agree, disagree, or just plain hated what I wrote, please leave something in the comments... And make sure it is constructive criticism! Thanks for listening to my ranting!

Oh! I want to share this cool website that I found but it is more irrelevant than relevant to what I was talking about. Hopefully, you will enjoy it as much as I did, so here!

Most Anticipated Books in 2015

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2014 has reached its end and 2015 is beginning with a whole lot of promise. Especially in the book world. During the course of the 2015 year, authors are going to release books that will either start or end a series. Since I can't wait for the 2015 releases, I will get you pumped up as well so we can fangirl together! I need to tell you: there are going to be spoilers... You have been warned. 

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The first book that I can't wait for is The Heir by Keira Cass. This book is going to take place after the Selection trilogy. Prince Maxon and Princess America are have a baby girl! Her name is Princess Eadlyn and the book is following her journey through the selection process. The book is going to be released on May 5th; you should preorder it now... Unless you haven't read the Selection books yet.

The second book that I cannot wait for is Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer. Yep... RICK RIORDAN IS WRITING NORSE MYTHOLOGY!!!!!!!! Aaahhh! I can't wait for this book release. I feel like I have grown up with Rick's amazing writing and it gives me the chills. This book will be released in the fall of 2015... More specifically, October 6th. And for those Rick Riordan fans out there, Magnus's last name, Chase, is not a coincidence! If you don't believe me, Rick Riordan said it himself.

The third book is Winter by Marissa Meyer. I don't know a lot about this book but Marissa says she is releasing the book in November so hopefully before then, we will have more information. I speculate the book is a retelling of Snow White but you can tell me if I am wrong. Nevertheless, I am so excited for this book release because Marissa's books are amazing, unique, and pull you in on the first sentence.

The fourth book is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I can't wait until this book arrives (May 5th)! If you like faeries, you might want to try this book for a spin. Feyre, the main character, is dragged to a magical kingdom (faerie land) because she murdered a faerie. Her captor, Tamlin, hides behind a jewel-encrusted golden mask and Feyre's feelings are turning from hostility to passion towards him. And of course, Feyre must break an ancient curse to keep Tamlin in her reach. Doesn't that sound good? Plus, Sarah J. Maas wrote it! She is such a good writer. 

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The fifth book is The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons and will be released February10th. I don't know much about Kristen Simmons or the books she has written but The Glass Arrow sounds promising. Apparently, there was a time when men and women were treated equal but now women are sold off as property and their population is managed by a strict census. But the main character, Aya, is born in the wild where those rules are not obeyed and she lives peacefully, caring for her family. Until Trackers come and steal her away to be groomed for an auction. Aya doe not want that fate so with her trusty wolf pup and not-so-trusty-mute sidekick, can she escape?

All five of these books will arrive in the year of 2015. Four-fifths of the books mentioned, I am confident they are good but the other one-fifth of the list is on my not-sure side. Hopefully, I got you excited for these new arrivals! Happy New Year everybody!