Six of Hearts by L.H. Cosway

"The world thinks I killed a man, but I didn't. Bear with me. It’s all a part of the plan.

Revenge is what I want. I want it for me and I want it for her.
I want it for all six of us." -Goodreads

"Do your worst, for I will do mine"

Yeah Imma say it.... Magic hasn't been this hot since Harry Potter. It also feels like forever since I've really been excited to write a review! Mark your calendars folks! Today Magic hotness was brought back and a full review will be written!

Six of Hearts was a huge surprise to me. When I read the synopsis I remember hollerin' "HA, CHEESE!". I'm happy to announce I was correct! Because SOH is a fine aged cheese, the kind you find in the fancy cheese case in the deli section of at Harris Teeter. So yummy. This book was unique, fun, and wasn't too heavy on the romance. I know that sentence might be hard seeing, being this book revolves around romance... I stick to what I just said though the alluring pull of the plot and the lusty romance are very well balanced. 

This book will have me leaving a lot plot wise to your imagination. Luckily we can talk about characters. Matilda and Jay; oh how I loved these two. Matilda is working as a receptionist for her father's tiny law firm when Jay, an illusionist, comes in seeking him out to be his attorney. He is wanting Matilda father to represent him in suing an entire newspaper company. Matilda is instantly drawn to this strange bad boy... I mean who wouldn't be with his confident mysterious charm (I know I was). These two of course have an instant bond, that only grows more teasingly good when Jay takes residence in Mat's father's house. I want to just do an entire review where I just quote these two, but then that wouldn't really be a review, but I PROMISE it would be amazing. These two are guaranteed to have you grinning and giggling the entire book. Not only are these two so lovey they are both incredibly charming. They both have such unique character traits and talents that give the both such life. It did take me a little longer to get into Matilda's character than it did Jay's. This has more to do with me than it does with her. I usually like male characters first... and with Jay being so cunning, fine, and hilarious there was really no way around it. Also didn't hurt that ya boy is book smart. Kept imagining him with the attitude of Jesse Eisenberg, but with the face of Alex Pettyfer*schwing*.

The side characters in this book too. Be still me heart! Loved them. Jay's best friend Jessie is great. She funny, blunt, and a good time. But Matilda's best friend, Michelle.... Just killed me. Everything she says had me rolling. I knew as soon as she said "TOLO- Tits Out Legs Open" I was completely sold. Then the drunken scene where they dance and talk in British accents, amazing! The plot of Six of Hearts is good, but it has nothing on it's characters.

Six of Hearts' plot will drag you in as soon as you read the prologue. Right away I was pulled in and was  frantically flipping too get to the end. I had to know how things would end. I was also finding myself excited for something other than romance. I was waiting around for the moments when Jay got to preform and for the two of them just to be talking. I usually hone in on the romantic pacing of a book, but when I realized I wasn't I was actually set back. The romance and big secrets are revealed in the perfect manner. The only reason I couldn't give this book a perfect rating is because I knew what was going to happen at the end. I was hoping for something a little more jaw dropping (the ending is in NO way bad!), but found it a little predictable. That being said there was one thing that I didn't see coming that did shock my socks off a little. Oh and in case you were wondering the same thing I did, this does have the same feel as the movie Now You See Me, yeah which means it's great.

I wish I would have read this book during the summer because I think it'd be the perfect beach read. Not only did this book win me over, but the cover did too. At first glance I thought I hate it, but once I got deep into reading I realized how much I love it. If you're just getting into NA books I think this one would be a good fit and the perfect place to start. I really look forward to picking up more books by L.H. Cosway.


9/10 Stars 
-Angela 

Perfectly Casted Characters Pt1

We've said it a million times, we love when books become movies. We also go gaga over when a casting director nails their choices. It's not just about finding someone who just happens to look like the character... because lets face it sometimes they end up not looking anything like them. It's about having the right attitude, about being able to capture the emotions we felt towards the book, and about having a certain presence that will capture our hearts. Here are our choices for actors we thought nailed or will nail their page to premiere roles.

Shall we start with the most obvious one??? The entire cast of The Harry Potter Series... DUH Right!? But of course the even more obvious ones are Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. We don't think the movie franchise would have been nearly as successful with anyone else playing Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The added bonus was for us getting to see them grow not only in age but in their acting. I think we can all agree that The Harry Potter Series is the most successful and well done book to screen.

Our next pick is Ansel Elgort as Augustus Waters in The Fault in our Stars. Wow, just wow. I think we really got everything we wanted when they cast him to play the tear jerking Augustus. His boyish charm, sweet persona, and down to earth attitude pulled from his real life ways made him the perfect match. Ansel has such a way about him and we think this was the perfect movie character for him to play. Being no stranger too the Ya book to film world we've also been able to see him play Caleb Prior in the Divergent Trilogy. As much as we love him in that role we just can't get enough of him in TFIOS. This gripping and emotional role might have been hard for most to reach, but dang it if he didn't make us feel all the feels that the book left us with. Well done movie world! Well done!

Next up we have a newbie to the book to film thing, and that is Mae Whitman in The Duff. We loved her version of Bianca. So comical and confident. Bianca's no care attitude was nailed by Mae. Bianca in the book might not have been our favorite, but movie Bianca was someone we loved. I mean when she wears that outfit made up of crocs and pajama pants I about died! She really brought all the sarcastic mojo needed to nail this roll. Everyone's calling this the new version of Mean Girls, and I think they would definitely fall into the same genre.

Don't have too ask me twice

Theo James as Four in Divergent! What? You've never heard of him? Ha, yeah we were just kidding... We know you have. Theo is an amazing example of when not just the actors attitude fits the person but so does their looks. Besides the eyes Four sounds like he was written based off of Theo James himself. "Spare upper lip, full lower lip, deep-set dark blue eyes (so dark they are almost black) long lashes, deep voice, more than six feet tall, muscular, ears that stick out, short hair, and large nose"... So mmm yeah pretty sure that sums up both Four and Theo description well. Theo did an amazing job portraying the tough as nails Four as well. We loved that Theo makes us feel like were still reading the book while we're watching the movie. Think we can all agree this casting director deserves a raise! Thank you!

On to the next one... Robert Sheehan as Simon in The Mortal Instruments City of Bones. We know a lot of people don't think Lily Collins was the perfect Clary, or that Sexy Campbell Bower was the best pick for Jace, but we think we can all agree that Robert Sheehan is an amazing choice for Simon. He has the I've been friend zoned so many times- best friends forever- I'm the one you should be introducing to your mother because hey I'm not your brother thing down. We love seeing Robert do interviews, his overall attitude both on and off the screen are so captivating. He brought all the heart eye for Clary and nerdy friend charm we were hoping to get.

There are a few people we would like to "Pre-mention"... We say it like that because they haven't actually starred in the film yet. BUT, we still think that they are going to portray their soon to be Page to Premieres perfectly.

Thomas Mann as Greg Gaines and RJ Cyler as Earl in the film version of Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl. Even though psychically both Thomas and RJ don't fit the part, the scenes we have already seen lead us to think that maybe changing their appearance up a bit was a good idea. RJ seems to have the sarcastic and surprisingly good friend attitude down and Thomas seems to have the I'm to awkward for this world idea nailed. We are both so excited to see this movie hit theaters.

Chloe Grace Moretz as Cassie Sullivan in The 5th Wave. This is the movie I (Angela) am most looking forward to seeing in 2016. I remember reading the book even before the movie was opted and thinking how amazing she would be as Cassie. Just seeing her in KickAss 1&2 sealed that deal for me. She's sassy, strong willed, and always says what shes thinking both on and off scree. She's also no stranger to P2P, staring in both Carrie and If I Stay. We know that she can do emotional while still giving us all the "Cassie is a complete bad ass" feels we need. It doesn't hurt that she is so close in age and physical appearance. The main reason we think she's going to nail this?.. Is because the book is all about the unbreakable bonds of family, and we all know Chloe and her family are tighter than glue in real life. January 2016 can't come soon enough!

And to wrap this all up we leave you with this.... The steamy fine and the man designed to blow girls minds... Nick Bateman as Miles Archer in Ugly Love. This film might actually defy science and get us pregnant. But why do we really think that he will crush this role with high standards? That's easy to answer, because the fans chose him. We as readers asked for him to play Miles Archer. And having an author and film makers listen makes all us coho fans very happy campers! We haven't gotten to witness a lot of his acting skills (only seen him in Hobo with a Shotgun) but I'll be honest... this film could just be him standing drinking a Capri sun for two hours and I wouldn't complain. He has the look and were hoping he has the attitude to to knock this role out the park. Seriously, why is 2016 so far away???

Unbroken Movie Review

As y'all might know, occasionally Leah and I will go outside the Ya/Na world and read a fiction. memoir, poetry, contemporary, and so on. I recently read  Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. When I decided to read it it was because I saw it was becoming a movie. I had no idea how moving this story was going to be.


I did a short review on the book after finishing it, which I'm posting below.

    "I managed to squeeze this book in between several others I'm reading and I wont lie I saw the movie trailer and knew that I had to read it. This book is BEAUTIFUL, sad, and made me cry. It's a heart breaking and moving story that everyone should pick up. How one man could go through so much and not be broken by it is what will bring you to tears.

I hope too one day find the same courage and strength that Louis Zamperini had. And that when the catalyst of my life happens that I will come out stronger and wiser because of it. This book will give you hope. I absolutely can't wait to see this play out on the big screen. I'll be there Christmas Day tissues in hand."

I unfortunately didn't get to go on Christmas day because of family scheduling BUT I just left the theater about a hour ago from seeing it and figured I'd do a review while it was still fresh.

I have never before left a theater after seeing a page to film and had nothing at all the say negative about it. You know how it is... You leave and right away you and your friend start listing off and comparing between the two. I have no negative feedback to give. This movie was breathtaking and left me speechless.  

Everything from the scene set up to casting in my opinion were flawless. Seeing such well known authors in a new setting was amazing. You might not even have known there were such big names in this movie (that is unless you're like me and love books to film). Jolie cast Domhnall Gleeson who you would know as Bill Weasley from Harry Potter Series, About Time, and the upcoming Star Wars film. Another actor you might have heard of was Jai Courtney. He is mostly known for playing Eric in The Divergent movies, but is also set to be in the the new Terminator film coming out next year. Even with those names present there is no doubt who stole the show... Jack O'Connell. He is who plays Louis Zamperini in this film. I have only ever seen him in one other film and that was 300. With that being said he will be an actor I will keep an eye on in the future.

Unbroken shows the life of Louis Zamperini, who was a an Olympic athlete who joined the armed forces
during the second world war. Only to be captured by the Japanese navy after a plane crash in the Pacific. After surviving at sea for over a month in a raft he was then captured by the Japanese only to be thrown into several POW camps. The flow from one scene to the next, the depiction of how a person can be so torn apart, to the dramatic conclusion has me struggling to even write a review for this movie. It was just simple a film that I feel everyone needs to go see.

How someone can go through what he went through and come out of it as well as he did is something in itself. There is no way I could have gone through or done the thing he did to survive. This was a film I was so glad I got to see before the year ended. I know people keep saying that Angelina Jolie is still such a mystery when it comes to directing but if this is what we have to look forward too in the future from her, then I am on pins and needles until the next film she releases. A strong book and an equally strong movie.

“A lifetime of glory is worth a moment of pain. Louie thought: Let go.”

 10/10 Stars
-Angela