Mike Tompkins (Again)...

So I have been featuring Mike Tompkins, a boy who went to my high school, quite a few times over the past 2 or so months. First he came out with an amazing version of "Fireflies" by Owl City (one of my most favourite musicians) and then "Teenage Dreams/ Just the Way You Are" by Katy Perry/ Bruno Mars (I am seriously obsessed with this mash-up). Then he came out with a great version of "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz, he was featured on Ellen, and then he was on the Today Show. What is so amazing about Mike's music is that it is completely a capella. What this means is that every sound you hear is made entirely from his mouth- that's right, there isn't any band or background music, he does that ALL HIMSELF. Anyways, he has come out with a version of "Only Girl in the World" by Rhianna.

 

PS. don't forget to check out MY FANTABULOUS FIRST GIVEAWAY!

 

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

From Goodreads: "Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours.

But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal."

Right off the bat, if you find the slightest bit of superficiality in YA books as a turn off, or just not your cup of tea, then stay away from this book. I mean, sparkly pink taser named Tasey? Lots of "You are so hot!" banter, a character who is very much obsessed with how she looks "I felt so uncomfortable without my make-up on!", "Do these pink high-heeled boots match my zebra print wrap dress?", "Shopping always makes me feel better", maybe not in those exact words, but you get the point... These aren't the sort of things that personally interest me, but if they do, heck, will you love this book, if they don't- well, I still think that you will like the book (just maybe not to the extent that sparkly pink taser toters will ;) )

That being said,  I couldn't not finish the book (due to the superficiality aspect of it), because if I didn't finish it, I would never learn more about Lend. Oh Lend, probably the bestest good boy I have ever read about and actually loved (seriously, I am usually all over the bad boys- Jace? Marc? Yes please!). He wasn't the wishy washy good boy we sometimes see that it a complete push-over or too nice for his own good. He was a strong character, helping Evie out whenever he could, extremely talented, and a pretty funny guy. Plus, his ability was pretty awesome, the ability to turn into whoever you want? Yep, that is pretty neat-o...

And what about Evie, the main female character of the book? Well I had hoped that she would be super kick-ass, independent and whatnot, but clearly as mentioned, she was pretty superficial (I will give her credit though, when Lend took on the body of a less than attractive teenage boy, she didn't even bat an eyelash, she didn't care about the looks, just the personality), but more than that, she was just a puddle. I lost track of the number of times she felt like crying or actually did cry. And yes, I understand that your life as you know it, is falling apart- but you have to get it together girl! There is so many people relying upon you and by not being strong, how can you ever help them? Seriously, if I were to find out that I possessed a supernatural ability, I would be ecstatic ;)... Simply finding out that you have a power does not make you a monster, it is how you use those powers that determines whether or not you are a monster (ie. I run around and kill everyone I encounter, using my powers, for sheer fun versus, I run around helping people, using my powers).

And the bad "guy" Vivian? I felt so gosh darn bad for her throughout the novel. She never chose to have the abilities she possessed and as she was raised by fairies for her entire life, she had clearly not experienced much in the way of love and having been raised by fairies she would have experienced so much of the evils of the Seelie/ Unseelie courts, and therefore it only stands to reason that she, also, would resort to being evil... She just wasn't dealt a good hand in life. And you know what? I don't think she even understood the whole extent of her powers... I think that the fairies showed her only how to use one (the evil) aspect of her powers, without explaining to her the good that she could do. 

I must say that I do love the world that Kiersten has created. A sort of CIA dedicated to helping rid of the world of creepy crawlies and whatnot? Awesome! The fairy folklore/ prophecies? So intriguing! I cannot wait to see where the next book in the series, "Supernaturally", runs with the fairy idea.

Rating: 9/10

And for those of you who may have already read the book, what is your take on the whole Evie still has fire/light floating around in her heart and through her veins? I think that it is love! I think that it would just make a lot of sense.And I found this music video and I thought that it perfectly showed how I imagine the light/fire would look in both Lend and Evie (well not the part with Nicole running around in the see-through dress):



PS. Don't forget to check out MY FANTABULOUS FIRST GIVEAWAY!