L'Âme Part 1

Why, hello, lovely people of America! (Or, like, other parts of the world. Wherever you . . . you know, reside.) Soooo, I know Kalee's been posting a bunch of stuff and I haven't, and I apologize for that (whoops--this is JC, BTW), but there's been a bunch of school . . . stuff . . . plus some other obligations of mine . . . Aaaaanyways, Kalee's a bully (I'm kidding), so she's making me post a little of this story that I've been working on (okay, so, she didn't really make me . . . it was more of a persuading kind of thing). This story is still in progress (I've barely started), so the title could change, but for now, I'm calling it L'Âme (though it could very possibly change because now it looks like my story's called Lame. Oh, well. As I said, it's in progress, lol).

So tell me what you think--comment, or email us at theeggheadreviews@gmail.com. :) :) Okay. I've been talking your ear off. So . . . here goes, I guess. Please enjoy!

One day, I’ll own all of you idiots.

I bite my lip to keep from laughing at the thoughts coming from this kid’s mind. He’s a small guy, wearing thick glasses and suspenders, of all things. Plaid shirt tucked into his khakis, socks hiding beneath a pair of men’s sandals--the whole shebang. He’s like the poster boy for those poorly-portrayed nerds you'd see on TV.

I’ll hand out your measly paychecks and make you bring me coffee three times a day.

I sneak a peek at him. His brow is furrowed, and he’s gripping his pencil, knuckles white with tension. And when the recession hits, you’ll be the first people I lay off. Even without a recession--I might just fire you just for the fun of it.

Oh, boy. This guy seriously needs a lesson in Vengeance Fantasies 101. News flash--making people buy you coffee isn’t exactly torture. If you’re going to daydream about all the awful things that should happen to someone, at least make it something painful. I mean, honestly.

“Miss Fortier.”

My gaze snaps to Mr. Burke, who’s staring at me through his wire-rimmed glasses. I make my eyes big and round. “Yes, Mr. Burke?” Innocence bleeds through every syllable, and I swear I see him wince.

“I was wondering if you had any input on Stalin’s reign in the 1900s.” Hopefully, she has something useful to say about that tyrant. Though I doubt it. I’m starting to think that none of these nimrods are worth my time.

I bite my lip again. “Oh. He was . . . a tyrant, sir.” Mr. Burke raises a brow expectantly, obviously waiting for a little more detail. Fortunately, the bell rings, signaling the end of the last period of the day. I jump up, slinging my brown messenger bag over my head and stuffing my notebook and pens inside.

“I look forward to hearing more about that tomorrow, Miss Fortier,” Mr. Burke tells me as people filter out of the classroom.

“Not as much as I look forward to telling you about it, Mr. B.” I wave to him, and he just shakes his head.

Okay, that's it for now! Please send us some feedback and/or a message begging Kalee to post some of her story, because she's an awesome writer, AND HER GIFT NEEDS TO BE SHARED WITH THE WORLD. I'm debating whether or not to put the whole first chapter up . . . idk. Again, comment or email theeggheadreviews@gmail.com . . . yep, that's it! Thanks for reading, guys! As a reward, please enjoy this picture of a potato.

- JC <3

 

Legend Review by Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Synopsis and image from goodreads.com

Overall Review:
    I like this author and this book. JC and I were originally going to review together, but school is a pain. So you guys are stuck with just me. Back to the book, because I have an uncanny ability to go off topic (and spell peek wrong). This will be a short review and will only contain the overall review. Just a heads up, this review does not contain any major spoilers, but it does contain a predictable one.
    Before I get started on the book review, I want to say something about the author Marie Lu. Not only is she an amazing author, but she's a great artist as well. I look up to her as both an artist and a story writer. Now onto the book review itself.
    The story and setting itself are not anything that unique. Legend is set in an era where the people are ruled by their suppressive government. Only the best of the best (and the luckiest), like June get to live good lives. When I first read the synopsis of this book, I thought, "Oh, gee, another dystopian novel." The way the author presented the characters and the story made it worth reading. The little details that she added into the society made it seem very original. The story was very well done, too.
    Lu took the simple concept of a girl attempting to get revenge for her brother and a boy trying to keep away from the authorities to a whole new level. Inevitably, the two end up meeting, and I love how their relationship develops. (Very minor, but predictable spoiler) Day and June do end up getting together, but the relationship seems predictable given the circumstances. There are a few problems and ... issues that come up in later books though.
    I loved both Day and June. When the story was being told from their point of view, you could tell who was narrating. It was not just the color of the text was different either. There was no need to keep on flipping to the beginning of the chapter to see who was narrating the chapter. (Allegiant, anyone?) I don't know how the author did it, but she really effectively told the story through both of their eyes well. June is the girl who is too smart for her own good. She's a bit naïve, but well educated. Day is the tough guy who is not as cold-hearted as he seems. As the synopsis says, he has an underlying purpose and his purpose is, to say the least, understandable. If I had to choose a character out of the two, I'd have to say I like Day better.
   The side characters were nicely developed as well. It has a bit of everything. Each character introduced ends up have a bigger purpose in the story. Legend has many strong female characters, and none of the characters feel overpowered. I especially love Kaede, who is an (for lack of a better word) awesome character.
   I don't know how to write about the conclusion without spoiling it. All I will say is it felt very satisfying. It wrapped up the story all, but it still made me want to read more. This is definitely a book that you should check out and the rest of the series (although not superior to the first book) is also very good! Even my sister, who is not an avid reader, enjoyed this series. I did also hear rumors that there might be a movie in the works, but don't take my word for it. Thank you for reading!!

Overall Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Kalee

Getting to Know your Main Character

Hello, Kalee here! JC and I have been too busy to do a full review but I decided to do a little interview of sorts instead! What you need for this little "interview" is a character that you want to develop and, of course, yourself. I've always found it more captivating when characters were developed and contained more detail than expected. Maybe it's because I watch too much anime, where all the characters have birthdays, meanings behind their names, and are really groovy, haha! Nobody likes a bland character. Even side characters should be at least slightly developed.

For this interview, I will be using my characters from one of my many stories, primary the main character as examples. (And I like using my characters because I know I won't make a mistake in the information :,D) Please enjoy and if you answered these questions, feel free to send your interviews to us at theeggheadreviews@gmail.com!

 1. Name
Every character has a name, of course. It's the basic stuff, but does your character have a meaning behind their name? Do they have a meaningful last name and maybe even a cool middle name? Is there a story behind where they got their name and does it play a significant role in the story? Do they have a nickname?
Example: The main character in my story's name has a meaning behind it. The first part of his name, Kai, represents fire (in Japanese), and the second part, Ren, is derived from the name Reyn (which means to rule). His middle name, Inzei, is the same as one of his ancestors (but I won't go into detail), but it also means royalty. His last name, Aberash, means "giving off light" in African.

2. What makes him/her the main character?
What is unique about your character? How are they different than all of the other characters? Or is their lack of uniqueness what makes them special?

3. Birthday
This is just a little detail I like to add. Do they have a birthday, and if so, does their birthday hold a significant meaning?

4. Are any of your characters an allusion to history?
Are they based off of a real person? If so, did you vaguely hint at it throughout the story? Maybe your story can emulate how you would like to fix a real world problem.
Example: One of my characters, Artemis is obviously based off of the Greek God Artemis for they share a name. (My) Artemis is also good with a bow and took on the name Artemis because of the Greek stories she had heard as a child.

5. Family
What is your character's family like? What relationship do they have with their family? Who do they have the best relationship with or the worst? Does your character value their family as they should? Where are their family now? Does your character have anything to do with the current state of their family? Family is important and can shape your character greatly.
Example: Kairen, mentioned earlier has a negative relationship with his parents, but he had a good relationship with his late older brother. His parents are distant towards him, because of his involvement in his brother's death. After the tragic event, Kairen becomes distant from his relatives.

6. Actions
Do they deal with the consequences of their actions or maybe they spend the whole story avoiding those consequences? Do their actions all make sense (they shouldn't)? How do they make decisions? How is their decision making based off of their personality?
Example: Kairen is used to being sheltered and taken care of his whole life so he is not used to making decisions on his own. Whenever he made a bad decision, someone would deal with the co sequences for him. Usually, when he makes a decision, it's hasty and he has a hard time dealing with the consequences.

7. Value
What does your character value? Why do they value what they do? How is characters beliefs different from your own? Would you agree with all of the decisions that your character makes? It makes a character more interesting to read and write about if they're different than your own.
Example: Artemis values honesty, because lying got her into a bad situation while she was younger.

8. Fate
I've been learning about fate at school and reading multiple books, such as Julius Caesar were the concept of fate is discussed. Fate is important, because it can affect how your character makes decisions or how they behave. Does your character believe in fate?

Thank you for reading (and listening to me prattle on about my story as well)! We hope to be able to get a review to you guys some time soon! Thank you for sticking around :)

-Kalee

Writing Prompts Round 2

One more thing: if you decide to write a story based on one of our prompts, we'd love to read them! Email your story to theeggheadreviews@gmail.com, and if you'd like, we'll post them on our site as a token of our appreciation for your awesome story! If you'd rather us not post it, that's totally fine, too; we're just really excited to hear what you guys have written.
I totally did not just copy and paste what JC wrote. Nope, nope

Thank you for reading and please enjoy!

Writing Prompts Round 1

Hey, guys! So we've been thinking about it, and we thought that it would be cool to come up with some writing prompts for you awesome writers out there. We hope you like what we've come up with!

One more thing: if you decide to write a story based on one of our prompts, we'd love to read them! Email your story to theeggheadreviews@gmail.com, and if you'd like, we'll post them on our site as a token of our appreciation for your awesome story! If you'd rather us not post it, that's totally fine, too; we're just really excited to hear what you guys have written.

Okay, that's about it for now! We can't wait to see what you guys think of, and we hope you enjoy the first round of our writing prompts!

Okay, thanks, guys! Hope that these are helpful :)

- The Eggheads





Grave of the Fireflies Movie Review

Synopsis:
A tragic film covering a young boy and his little sister's struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.

Synopsis from imdb.com

Overall Review:
    Grave of the Fireflies, destroyed my heart and soul. This movie is beyond sad, but it really works. The sadness of this movie fit in well with the plot line. This movie takes places during WW2, when the Allies are bombing Japan. Inevitably, every possible tragedy that could occur conflicts the two main characters. I have a love-hate relationship with this movie. I hated it for a while, but when I thought about it later I realized that this movie was powerful enough to move me.

    I'm a sucker for animated films, especially films by Studio Ghibli. Some time two or three years ago, I decided that my sister and I would watch as many Studio Ghibli films as possible during summer break. My Dad had told us he didn't want us watching the movie because it was too sad. A year or so later, I decided to revisit Studio Ghibli and watch Grave of the Fireflies. Then I felt the need to review , because JC just reviewed a sad movie that was set during WW2.
    If you like sad movies, this is your movie. I don't really have a preference for what kind of movies I like to watch. As long as I feel some kind of emotional change, I'm satisfied with this movie. Although this movie is sad, it brings WW2 in the eyes of the Japanese alive. You can really feel the pain and anguish of the people in this movie. Each person's lives are affected in one way or another. You know that the main characters are not the only ones suffering, which makes it even sadder. Every person has their own story and motives if you look into it more, including the Aunt.
    The characters are all great. They make mistakes and really suffer from the consequences. The main characters, Seita and Setsuko are both really well written. Seita just wants the best for his little sister, Setsuko, but is too proud to admit when he does something wrong. Setsuko really feels like a small child and it makes you feel bad that she is stuck in such a horrible situation. And as always, the animation was top notch.
    Everything from the color choice to the animation of the characters themselves was beautiful. The darker color patterns really added to the sadness of the story and bright colors were like rays of light in the darkness. The animation was fluid. The angles and perspective were well done as well. The english voice acting was great, too.
    I don't really care for the dubbed vs. subbed debate. I prefer dubbed, because I find it hard to draw while trying to read subtitles, but that's just me. There are some anime or movies I absolutely can't watch dubbed though, such as No.6, but there are dubs I really love, such as Code Geass. Anywho... Back to Grave of the Fireflies. The dubbing was nice in this movie was great as always in Studio Ghibli movies. The voice actors had a lot of emotion, when they speak. You could really feel the anguish that the characters are feeling. The ending was fitting for the movie as well. This movie took me on an emotional roller coaster and recommended it for people who enjoy sad movies, animation or anything about history.

Don't continue to read if you don't want to be spoiled --

Plot:

       It is simple: survive. Seita has to figure out how to keep himself and his little sister afloat. I don't have much to say about the plot. It progresses nicely and the situation continuously gets worse and worse. At the beginning, their mother dies and then they run away from home. Just when you think things are turning good, they take a turn for the worst. Surviving isn't a very original plot, but Miyazaki takes the idea and propels it forward. Even though it's not original of a concept, Miyazaki does make it feel new and fresh. I would give the plot a 9.

Characters:

        It's hard to dislike any of the characters in this film (besides the people who are bombing Japan, which are the Americans) Even if a characters seems to be acting selfishly, they probably are not. For example, the Aunt, who seems cruel to Seita, actually is suffering herself. (I had to think about it for a while but) I think it was correct for her to act, so meanly to Seita, because he really wasn't doing anything to help the war effort. He was just camping out at her house and eating the food that she and her working family could be eating. She kept on telling him to help, but he refused.

       Seita and Setsuko both feel very real. It made me want to cheer for the characters the entire time. Normally, I want to jump into a movie and yell at the characters to do something, because everything they do seems illogical. During this movie, I felt just as at a loss as the characters did. The choices they made all had their reasons to it, and when they were stuck living in a war bombing shelter (thing) I really didn't know what else they could do. Setsuko is cute, too.

Setsuko is the kind of kid you want to pick up and hug. She's a child; a good child at that. It's hard not to like her, and it really made me sad, (major spoiler alert) when she died at the end. I would give the characters a 10.

Conclusion:

The beginning was the end. I didn't realize that until ten minutes after the movie ended... The ending was very fitting. A sad ending to match with a sad story. I was seriously crying. Especially when my Dad came in and saw Setsuko's spirit playing happily in the garden. He said, "Oh, it looks like she's okay now!" Dad, no; it's not okay. She dead.

So basically they both die. After Setsuko's death, Seita succumbs to depression, starvation and sickness. He dies in an area surrounded by other people his age, who are in similar situations, which just makes it sadder. It makes it sad, because you know that his story is not anything too special. There are children just like him who didn't have a chance to have their stories told. Yes, it's a sad ending, but it seems very fitting. I spent a lot of time wrestling over the idea of there being a better ending, but in real life, not everyone gets their happy ending especially during wartime.

It gives you a good idea of what happened during WW2. There was no sugar coating, just harsh reality. Really harsh reality. Another part that struck me was the Mother's death. (Not really part of the conclusion, but it was the mother's conclusion to life)

She died burnt so badly that you could barely tell what she looked like. She didn't look any different from the corpses. After her death, she was unceremoniously dumped into a grave. The image of her dead body did make me recoil in shock... Overall this was a really emotional movie and I don't recommend it for a person who is not ready to take the heavy storyline. I'd give the conclusion a 10.

Overall Rating: 9.67

Formatting will be the end of me,

Kalee

Arigatou

P.S. Formatting's better now. - JC <3

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas Movie Review

Hey, so before I get into the movie, I felt the need to talk about this new poetry obsession I have. Two words: Erin. Hanson. She's a really great poet, and I think that you guys should check out her poems on www.thepoeticunderground.com. Okay, that's all :) enjoy the review!

WARNING: THIS IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE VERSION OF THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS. NOT THE BOOK.

Synopsis:

Set during World War II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.

Source for image and synopsis: www.imdb.com

Overall Review:

    Okay, so I know that we’ve never done movie reviews before (though we’ve been planning on doing this, we’ve never really got around to it), but I seriously just needed to rant about this crazy movie. I know that the Holocaust was an awful event--we’ve talked about it in school countless times, like when we read The Diary of Anne Frank, when we went on our study trip to the east coast, and when we learned about WWII. But watching this movie still left me with this disgusting, awful feeling in my stomach.

Throughout the entire movie, I was basically thinking WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! I mean, honestly. The topic is one that everyone should be familiar with, and to have kids in the movie? I’m not talking teenagers or, like, 11-year-olds, even--I’m talking eight-year-olds. Little tiny people who should be playing with toy cars and stuff.

Oh, my gosh, I was pretty much freaking out throughout the entire movie, just like whatintheworldiswrongwiththeseawfulpeoplewhatwhatwhatwhatwhat. Well, I was thinking that and How in the world are things supposed to get better? HOW IS THIS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING?! And then, when we finally got to the ending . . . well, I’ll get to that in a minute.

The acting was great--I was especially impressed with Asa Butterfield’s performance as Bruno. The emotions were raw and tangible. Jack Scanlon wasn’t as convincing as Shmuel, but he was adorable and tiny, so I still felt awful for him when he was in the concentration camp. The older actors were great, too, and the whole movie was intense and brought up lots of intense feelings in my parents and myself. Mostly anger. Because some of the people in this movie were just awful.

The story was interesting and unique, though I probably wouldn’t watch it again. Mostly because it’s super depressing, and I had to watch Pitch Perfect afterwards to cheer myself up. Seriously, I’m not kidding. I would not recommend this movie to people who hate sad movies. It’s not even remotely in the rom-com or feel-good family movie genres.

I’ll sign off now and give my rating, but if you want to see my thoughts on the conclusion, feel free to read on. But there’s a MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, so beware. Don’t read on if you don’t want the entire movie ruined for you. SERIOUSLY. Okay, thanks for reading!

Overall Rating: 6.7 out of 10

Adios, guys,

JC <3

Again, *SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!* I WON’T BE GOING INTO A WHOLE LOT OF DETAIL ON THE CONCLUSION, BUT THE GIST OF IT IS THERE. SERIOUSLY. DON’T READ ON UNLESS YOU WANT THE ENTIRE MOVIE RUINED FOR YOU. IF YOU DON’T CARE, THEN FEEL FREE. :)

The Conclusion:

    Okay, that ending just, like, blew my mind. And not in a good way. As soon as Bruno decided to sneak into the concentration camp, I knew things weren’t going to end well. My mind went from whatintheworldiswrongwiththeseawfulpeoplewhatwhatwhatwhatwhat to nonononononothisisbadthisisbadthisisNOTGOOD. And then it happened. He snuck in, and guess what? HE AND SHMUEL DIED.

Gosh, could this movie be any more disturbing? And talk about an open ending; lives were ruined in the last five minutes of the movie, and they just left us hanging. Well, lives were basically being ruined throughout the whole movie, but I was definitely not expecting Bruno to die! He was the most adorable little boy, and he just. Died. It was awful and disturbing and very sad, and I don’t really like sad endings.

I like sad movies that end happily. I like happy movies that end happy. I’m that kind of person. I don’t like it when they leave you with these unresolved sad feelings. It does not feel good. Which is why I had to watch Pitch Perfect right after.

That’s basically why my rating of the movie is so low; the ending just wasn’t for me. And Bruno’s poor mom and sister were so sad. The dad was sad, too, but a part of me felt like he had bad things coming to him. He wasn’t a good person, in my opinion. Bruno definitely did not deserve what he got, and neither did poor, sweet Shmuel.

The ending definitely caught me off-guard, which is kind of . . . good? I guess? I mean, it’s not predictable. But I didn’t necessarily like it . . . but that’s just due to my preferences. I’m sure that plenty of people love the movie . . . but it just wasn’t for me. Sorry. Do you get now why I gave so many spoiler alerts? Maybe you felt like I was overdoing it, but I don’t think so. If I know that a main character is going to die in the end, I usually don’t have much motivation for watching it.

Alright, I’m done. Hope you enjoyed my review more than I enjoyed that ending. Thanks again for reading, and I hope I didn’t ruin anything for you. Okay, thanks, bye! <3