Jack Sparrow

Well I find this funny, I like the randomness, the poor disappointed boy singers, and michael bolton as Jack Sparrow :P Watch, listen, laugh..... and a reminder if you have time, or the glorious twitter I don't seem to be able to use follow @JustThisTeenage ..... I need you guys!! ;) :P except of course you creepy old man You will be blocked.... several times over.

Chips & Sims

Two things to talk about..... Chips & Sims - case you didn't bother to read the title

Chips
So the chippie re-opened today in the town after being closed for New Year..... grrrrrrr.... and I just had to have some chips for lunch.... and a smoked sausage....  yummmee :D the salt on my lips, the warm chips, the crunchy smokey sausage.... it was fatty unhealty food heaven.... I think the first mouthful gave me a food orgasm... it was so sweet and I'd missed them so much..... Don't get me wrong I'm not a total chipholic or a binger but I love chips, and the fact they weren't available made me want them more!! My friend had chips too but couldn't finish them...the sadness in my brain as I watched those delectable little niblets chucked away.... well it wasn't as great as I'd have thought... the hold chips have over me is obviously slowly leaving me..... I no longer feel the need to fight seagulls over dropped chips ;)

SIMS!!
So I was at my friends house the other day and she has Sims 3..... I'm officially addicted - it's so cool :D getting to control these little people, make them have great lives, horrid lives, okay lives, (really, it's like owning a stud.... I know crude but you can't really describe it much simpler). I'm hoping to get Sims 2 for my birthday on Sunday.... I don't think I can live that long.... I might have to assault my family and friends to get it off them earlier.... claim it's necessary for my survival or something :P

Ach well that's my day......... Sims and Chips have been floating around in my head all day.... Yummee and Coool :D :P
Have a good day!
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Twitter :O

Yes, I've done it, I've fallen to the low sad level of Twitter...... I know I know, yes I'm a complete hypocrite, yes I said I'd never do it, but I have..... but in my defence it was in the name of my blog..... @JustThisTeenage on Twitter ;) Follow it, share it, re-tweet me, please let's get this blog out there..... A couple of people have implied that they thought I should join Twitter to hopefully increase my page views and likes on my book reviews.... 'cos although I love you guys, my regular listeners, publishers are unlikely to send me books if they think I'm not very wide spread..... I'm doing okay at the moment but I need you guys to help me out. Puhleaseeee? So please follow me, please re-tweet me, please get me out in the scary stalkery world of Twitter....
So follow
@JustThisTeenage                Maybe I'll be able to get the handle on concise writing through tweeting as well.... I do seem to ramble a bit :P
You're the best! Also I've got a good story for you guys..... involving chips and what I think could be described as a food orgasm.... intense delight from the consumption of chips! Coming soon!
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Skinny

Skinny by Donna Cooner made me seriously re-think all my ratings for this blog, because it is definitely worth the top mark I can give it perhaps more so than some of the other books that got a 5. I conclude I shall create a new top rating even higher than the 5 and it shall be called the Skinny rate...... (a 5.5 - 6 in technical terms!). It was incredible -  Cooper tackles the issue of obesity so well through Ever, a 15 year old girl who weighs 302 pounds (21.5 stone). Ever has a tinkerbell goth girl in her head who whispers to her what people are thinking 'Look how fat she is'. 'Kill me if I ever become like her', I found this incredibly sad and I admit this is one of the places where I cried. Her mum also died from cancer which is one of the reasons Ever became fat, she didn't end her mother and Ever's tradition of eating chocolate at bedtime and she quickly gained weight because she was now doing it all by herself.

Happily ever after? Or never ever, Ever. Ever's mom loved fairy tales, but at fifteen-years-old and weighing 302 lbs, Ever Davies is sure that "happily ever after" was never written for her. She lives under the constant scrutiny of everyone around her, and "Skinny" - the voice in her head - makes sure she never forgets how fat and ugly she is. That is, until Ever decides to take drastic action. With the help of her long-suffering friend Rat, Ever embarks on the risky, terrifying journey of gastric surgery. But while Ever's body gradually changes on the outside, she soon finds that changing the person on the inside is much harder. And silencing Skinny is the hardest task of all.

Ever
Ever is really interesting to follow as you can literally see how she changes, both on the outside and inside. She starts off isolated, unhappy and alone apart from her best friend Rat. After a talk with her stepsister Briella where they insult each other, Briella calling her fat, and so she embarks on gastric surgery. Following this and her drastic weight loss she begins to see how fickle people can be and how she has perceived everything, what she wanted she actually already had. 

Rat
Rat's a science geek, pure and simple, but he's also really sweet and cares a lot for Ever. He doesn't mind she's fat but she doesn't realise this instead Skinny convinces her it's because he pities her and doesn't know how to tell her. Rat supports Ever through her gastric surgery helping her draw up charts etc to map her progress.

Briella
Ever's stepsister at first Briella and Ever don't get on, Ever always being jealous of Briella's skinny body and gorgeous looks. Ever can't see past the physical attributes of people and with Skinny whispering in her ear over reads situations and can't accept compliments or offers of friendships when they're offered. Finally Briella and Ever get on and Ever discovers they have a lot more in common than she previously thought. Briella's cute, spunky and caring, though she feels quite insignificant next to her glamourous cheerleading sister Lydnsey.

 I really loved this novel - it made me laugh, cry, sigh and fall in love with it. Cooner portrays the struggles of obesity and the pain and hardship Ever has to go through as a result of the gastric surgery. Her personal experience adds a credibility to this novel and I really enjoyed the breath of fresh light and the realistic nature of this novel. Skinny wasn't written to be a love story or a portrayal of school life instead it is a honest account of a fat girl attempting to become thin in order to fit in and be happy with her body.

I give Skinny the Skinny rating, 6 out of 5. It was great, eye-opening and loveable in three words. It's coming out in paperback on the 4th of February 2013 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon.co.uk for £5.24. I really really do recommend this, it's an amazing insight into the turmoils of a teenage mind, one whose is insecure and struggles to cope with her body image, even if you're not overweight I promise you can relate to it and this is one of the reasons I strongly suggest it and the main reason I loved it. It's published by Electric Monkey an imprint of Egmont Publishing UK.

En Bon Lu!
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Grapes Are Like Jaffa Cakes

In  my opinion grapes are like Jaffa Cakes, admittedly not in shape... or size... or taste.... or nutrition content but DESPITE this they are like Jaffa Cakes. My reasoning, and I may be the only person to do this. They can be eaten in the same way...... with grapes you can use your teeth to peel away the skin, and you have to make sure you can get the skin away with out disturbing the actual flesh.... with Jaffa Cakes you attempt to peel away the dark chocolate on the top without taking any sponge or any of the orange gel pad thingy....... Yeah neither the grape nor the Jaffa Cake tastes better as a result but there's something addictive about attempting to do it perfectly..... and it can waste time perfectly.... also I've been told it can be quite sexy for guys to watch ;) There you go girls, get a grape or a Jaffa Cake and you can turn on your guy..... though I would think there are easier ways to do so!

Echo

Echo by Alyson Noel is the second book in the Soul Seekers series and follows Daire as her and Dace try to face the Richters (Coyotes) and stop their evil from spreading.
Personally, I enjoyed Echo more than Fated as, because all the characters had been introduced in Fated, Noel was able to develop them further resulting in more 'airtime' on Daire's interactions with Xotichl and Lita for example.

Echo was split between Daire and Dace this time as Cade manages to prevent them from seeing each other by implying their love feeds his evil power.....

Noel continues to weave her own magick in this story as she did in the first and I enjoyed the continuation of the plot, Daire's own magick's power increased in this novel as she continued along the path of her ancestors guided by her grandmother Paloma and Paloma's sort of boyfriend Chay. Have a look at my review of Fated for some character information but I'll put one in here for Lita who didn't feature much in Fated.

Lita
Lita was bit of a biatch towards Daire in the first book but by Echo she's integrated herself into Daire's crowd and cares about her fiercely.... Constantly reminding Dace that he better treat her right! She's good fun and sarcastic and a bit bitchy but a good friend!

I loved Echo and it's a great addition to the Soul Seeker series and I can't wait to read the Mystic the next in the series! July's too long to wait! Echo gets another 4 and Dace is going to be swimming in my dreams the night! You can get Echo of Amazon.co.uk for £5.03.... (strongly recommended! I can't put it much clearer!)

En Bon Lu!.....(you know, it's just occurred to me that that's probably not the proper French.... ach well it's Scottie style ;)

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Strange Angels

The Strange Angel series by Lili St. Crow were pretty darn amazing. There were 5 books in the series and each one was a decent length adding something to the story as well as giving you more book time with your favourite characters.... and they will be your favourites after the first 30 pages of book 1.

The SA series follows Dru Anderson, a Night hunter, as she copes with various things, the loss of her family, the discovery of her true identity, two boys vying for her affection, for all you paranormal, romantic readers - this book brings it all! If you like Twilight, The Vampire Academy, House of Night, Wolves of Mercy Falls then you'll like Strange Angels.

For me there were three important characters....

Dru
Dru is strong, passionate, big on rights and wrongs, compassionate and really great fun to follow. Her voice is funny, dry and sarcastic bringing a bit of light to serious situations that she finds herself in.... which she does a lot! She ends up with two sexy boys fighting over her and she has to find ways of keeping them both happy without leading them on too much!

Graves
Dru meets Graves after her father's death and Graves becomes Dru's rock. He's strong and loves Dru, prepared to do everything and anything to keep her safe.... not always something she appreciates but I like it! Graves competes with Christophe for Dru's affections and doesn't necessarily win or lose......

Christophe
A dhjampir Christophe has commited himself to protecting Dru from everything that tries to help her, while managing to make her feel included and independant. Christophe provides a connection to Dru's mother and really, I find him pretty fit though in the book he hasn't eyes for anyone bar Dru, darn! I'll settle for Graves!!

Strange Angels is set in modern time in America and follows the idea I love, that there are paranormal things around us we just don't pay attention to it! I like that idea! I really enjoyed the series and the 5 books was just enough to bring the story to a dramatic sexy close! The only thing I didn't like about the ending was that there wasn't really any conclusion on the love relationship side.... you don't know who Dru chooses in the end and I like to know for sure!

Strange Angels is published by Barnes & Nobles and most of the books can be bought from Amazon.co.uk for around £5.24 or for as little as 2 - 5 pence if you buy from some of the other sellers! I really suggest at least getting the first book just to try it - you really won't regret it and I promise they're amazing! I'd give the whole series a 4 out of 5.

Buy! Buy! Buy!

Good Reading!
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