Título em Português: O Livro da Vida Realização: Jorge R. Gutiérrez Argumento: Jorge R. Gutiérrez e Douglas Langdale Elenco Principal: Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum Ano: 2014 | Duração: 1h 35mins
Sinopse:
Nesta celebração da vida, do amor, da música e da família, Manolo, um jovem sonhador, vai até aos confins da terra para provar a sua devoção e conquistar o coração da sua amada Maria
Opinião:
Este foi mais um daqueles filmes em que vi por acaso. Lembro-me dos cartazes quando o filme esteve em exibição, até me chamaram a atenção, mas nunca o suficiente para me fazer ir vê-lo ao cinema.
No entanto, The Book of Life mostrou-se num filme bastante interessante. Um filme que aborda o tema da morte de uma forma bastante interessante, segundo os rituais mexicanos do Dia de los Muertos - uma tradição que já existia na Grécia Antiga. As pessoas faziam comida e iam passar o dia festivamente, partilhando comidas com os entes queridos que já tinham partido deste mundo.
Confesso que o Dia de los Muertos é uma festividade que me fascina. A morte de um ente querido é um momento doloroso, mas não tem que ser uma sombra negra que paira sobre nós o tempo todo. Pode ser um momento de alegria, festejando os momentos e as recordações boas que temos daqueles que já faleceram. E esse é parte da premissa deste filme.
Um grupo de crianças problemáticas que vão a um museu e a guia leva-os por uma porta especial, mostrando e falando sobre esta tradição mexicana. A história de Maria, Joaquin e Manolo é a estória que a guia conta às crianças, através de bonecos. Um aspecto que achei muito bem pensado é que quando entramos nesta parte do filme – da estória contada pela guia – as personagens tem o corpo dos bonecos: são de madeira, junções de parafusos e anilhas, pinturas, etc.
Não vou abordar muito a estória em si, porque, sinceramente, não é nada de extraordinário e tem piada assistindo. Mas é um filme divertido, com uma perspectiva diferente, que mostra uma tradição que apesar de ser já alargada é, possivelmente, pouco conhecida num aspecto geral. É um filme cheio de cor, de movimento e alegria - e alguma tristeza também. Em resumo, um bom filme.
Title: The Book of Life Director: Jorge R. Gutiérrez Writers: Jorge R. Gutiérrez e Douglas Langdale Stars: Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum Year: 2014 | Duration: 1h 35mins
Synopsis:
Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart, embarks on an adventure that spans three fantastic worlds where he must face his greatest fears.
Review:
This was one of those movies that I saw by chance. I can remember the posters when the movie came out, and they even caught my attention, but it was never enough to make me go to watch it.
Nevertheless, The Book of Life was a very interesting movie. It’s a movie, which addresses themes such as death in a very interesting way, by the Mexican rituals of Dia de los Muertos - which was also a tradition used by the Greeks in the Ancient times. People would take food to the cemetery, where they eat in a festive ways, celebrating life and sharing food with their loved ones, dead or alive.
I must confess that Dia de los Muertos is a festivity that fascinates me. The death of a loved one is a painful moment, but it doesn’t have to be a dark loud over our heads all the time. It can be a moment of joy, celebrating the good moments and the good memories. And that’s the core of this movie.
A bunch of problematic kids goes to a museum and the Guide takes them through a special door, showing and talking about this Mexican tradition. Maria, Joaquin and Manolo’s story is the story the guide says to the kids, using wooden dolls. One really good thing about this movie is that when we emerge into the Guide’s story, the characters have the dolls’ bodies: they are made of wood, screw joints, paint, etc.
I won’t say much more about the plot itself, because, honestly, it’s nothing extraordinary, but it’s really good to watch. It’s a fun movie, with a different perspective about death, that shows us an extended tradition, but possibly little known in general. It’s a movie full of colours, movement, and joy – but also some sadness. Summing up, it’s a nice movie.
Título em Português: A Loucura de Lorde Ian Mackenzie Série: Mackenzies & McBrides #1 Autor(a): Jennifer Ashley Editora: Topseller Páginas: 352 Data de Publicação: 14 de Março de 2016
Sinopse:
A maioria das mulheres prestaria atenção aos avisos. Beth decidiu ignorá-los…
Por toda a sociedade londrina correm rumores de que Lorde Ian Mackenzie é louco, que terá passado a sua juventude num asilo, e que não é de confiança, especialmente com senhoras. Beth é uma jovem viúva, herdeira de uma fortuna, que está outra vez noiva e que deseja voltar a ser tão feliz quanto foi com o primeiro marido. Quando é apresentada a Lorde Ian Mackenzie, este apaixona-se imediatamente e não tem dúvidas de que a quer para si. Procura, então, convencê-la a deixar o noivo e a casar-se consigo. Beth acaba por se deixar seduzir e decide fazer tudo para ajudar Lorde Ian a superar o sofrimento que carrega, devido a um passado tormentoso. A partir de então, só uma coisa faz sentido na vida de Beth… a loucura de Lorde Ian Mackenzie.
Opinião:
Fazendo jus ao nome, o livro tem alguma loucura à mistura, com um enredo que nos faz pensar.
É um romance, sim, mas com mistério e um toque de policial à mistura – e diga-se, houve coisas que só descobri mesmo quando a autora o especificou, o que é bom.
Ian, a nossa personagem masculina principal passou por muitas provações ao longo da sua vida, e por essas mesmas razões sentimo-nos atraídos por ele e queremos protegê-lo, mesmo que seja um homem gigante com vários irmãos a cuidar dele.
Beth é uma personagem um pouco diferente, forte mas maleável ao mesmo tempo. Não se senti muito próxima da personagem, mas achei-a querida e amorosa, de qualquer maneira. Era ideal para o Ian.
A minha personagem favorita foi, sem sombra de dúvida, a Isabella, mal posso esperar para ler o livro dela e do Mac, onde espero que este casal possa resolver as suas diferenças.
Os irmãos de Ian são muitos protectores e nem todos gostam da Beth e têm medo que ela estrague o precoce equilíbrio em que ele se encontra. As histórias dos irmãos parecem ser mais interessantes que as do Ian, para ser sincera.
Gostava que tivesse sido um pouco mais divertido, menos pesado, que não mostrasse um amor instantâneo puramente com base no físico (que não se desenvolveu de desejo para amor, mas literalmente foi “amor à primeira vista”), ficou um pouco aquém das expectativas.
Se não leio um livro deste género em 1, 2 ou 3 dias, no máximo, é porque não me agradou muito – demorei uma semana a lê-lo. A melhor coisa do livro foi que me deixou a querer ler as histórias dos outros irmãos.
Title: The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie Serie: MacKenzies & McBrides, #1 Author: Jennifer Ashley Publisher: Topseller Pages: 352 Publication date: March 14th 2016
Synopsis:
The year is 1881. Meet the Mackenzie family--rich, powerful, dangerous, eccentric. A lady couldn't be seen with them without ruin. Rumors surround them--of tragic violence, of their mistresses, of their dark appetites, of scandals that set England and Scotland abuzz.
The youngest brother, Ian, known as the Mad Mackenzie, spent most of his young life in an asylum, and everyone agrees he is decidedly odd. He's also hard and handsome and has a penchant for Ming pottery and beautiful women. Beth Ackerley, widow, has recently come into a fortune. She has decided that she wants no more drama in her life. She was raised in drama--an alcoholic father who drove them into the workhouse, a frail mother she had to nurse until her death, a fussy old lady she became constant companion to. No, she wants to take her money and find peace, to travel, to learn art, to sit back and fondly remember her brief but happy marriage to her late husband. And then Ian Mackenzie decides he wants her.
The first of a new historical series.
Review:
Living up to its name, this book has some madness in it, with a plot that got me thinking.
It’s a love story, yes, but with mystery and a hint of a thriller – and there were some things that I only discovered when the author literally wrote it, which is good.
Ian, our male main character, has been through a lot, and because of that I felt like I wanted to protect him, even though he was a huge man, with several brothers that looked after him.
Beth is a character that is a bit different, she’s strong and yet malleable at the same time. I didn’t feel close to her, but I did think she was sweet, anyway. She probably was ideal for Ian.
My favourite character was, without a doubt, Isabella, I just can’t wait to read the book in which she and Mac are the main characters. I do hope they can work out their differences.
Ian’s brothers are very protective and not all of them like Beth and they’re afraid she’ll ruin the balance they all found with each other. The brothers’ stories seem more interesting than Ian’s.
I would have liked it to be a bit more funny, less heavy, I didn’t like the “insta love” purely based on their looks (it wasn’t the kind of thing like desire/lust that evolved to become love, it was literally “love at first sight” but not in a good sense), it just fell short for me.
If I can’t read one of these kind of books in 1, 2 or 3 days, it’s because I didn’t quite like it – it took me a week to read it. However, I did enjoy parts of it and, above all, I can’t wait to read the other brothers stories.
Título em Português: Anomalisa Realização: Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman Argumento: Charlie Kaufman Elenco Principal: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan Ano: 2016 | Duração: 1h 30mins
Sinopse:
Michael Stone, marido, pai, e respeitado autor de «Como Posso Ajudá-lo a Ajudá-los?», é um homem magoado com a mundanidade da sua vida. Numa viagem de negócios a Cincinnati, onde irá falar numa convenção de profissionais de apoio ao cliente, fica fascinado com a possibilidade de escapar ao desespero através de uma modesta vendedora, Lisa, que pode ou não ser o amor da sua vida.
Opinião:
Alguma vez vos disse um o meu tipo de animação favorito é o que usa a técnica de stop-motion? Bem, estou a dizer agora, não estou? Anomalisa estava na minha watchlist não só porque era em stop-motion, mas também porque era realizado por Charlie Kaufman. Para ser sincera, eu não vi muitos filmes de Kaufman, mas ele escreveu um dos meus filmes favoritos - Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Minds. E por essas razões, eu queria muito ver este filme; a nomeação ao Óscar foi apenas uma razão extra.
Kaufman é um génio no que toca à condição humana. Anomalisa tem a mesma vibe que Eternal Sunshine; envolve-nos de tal forma no filme e faz-nos criar ligações com as personagens a um ponto bastante profundo. Nós seguimos a estória de Michael Stone, um homem britânico de meia ideia que vai a Cincinnati a uma conferência onde conhece Lisa.
Deixem-me que vos diga, mas no início, o facto de TODAS as personagens – excepto Lisa e Michael – terem a mesma voz era enervante. Não interessava se era uma personagem feminina ou masculina, se jovem ou velho; todas elas foram dobradas pelo mesmo homem. Eu não gostei inicialmente, mas, então, começou a fazer sentido e fazia parte da estória. E de fato foi bastante inteligente.
Anomalisa é especial; é uma anomalia. Mas eu tenho que dizer que fiquei um pouco desapontada; não foi o que eu estava à espera, ou se calhar tinha expectativas demasiado altas. Ainda assim, eu recomendo este filme, porque é feito de forma belíssima e é incrível. Eu li algures que a cena de sexo demorou dois anos a fazer. Tens mesmo que amar algo profundamente para se forcar desta forma no trabalho, e Anomalisa é uma obra de arte e amor.
Title: Anomalisa Director: Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman Writers: Charlie Kaufman Stars: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan Year: 2015 | Duration: 1h 30mins
Synopsis:
A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary.
Review:
Did I ever tell you that my favourite type of animation movies are the ones using the stop-motion technique? Well, I’m saying now, am I? Anomalisa was in my watchlist not only because is a stop motion animated film, but also because it’s directed by Charlie Kaufman. To be honest, I haven’t watched many Kaufman’s movies, but we wrote one of my favourite movies – Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Minds. For those reasons, I really wanted to watch it; the Oscar nomination was just an extra reason.
Kaufman is a genius when it comes to the human condition. Anomalisa has the same vibe as Eternal Sunshine; it involves us into the movie and makes us care about those characters so deeply. We follow around Michael Stone, a middle-aged Englishman who goes to Cincinnati to speak at a conference when he meets Lisa.
I may say that, in the beginning, the fact that EVERY character – besides Lisa and Michael – had the same voice was enervating. It didn’t matter if it was a female or male character, young or old; they all were dubbed by the same man. I didn’t like it at first, but then it started to make sense, and was part of the story. It was actually clever.
Anomalisa is special; it’s an anomaly. But I have to say it, I felt a bit disappointed; it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, or maybe I had high expectations, which weren’t met. Despite that, I actually recommend this movie, because it’s beautifully crafted and it’s amazing. I read somewhere that the sex scene took two year to make. You got to love something to put so much effort into something, and Anomalisa is a work of art and love.
Título em Português: -- Série: World of Aluvia #2 Autor(a): Amy Bearce Editora: Curiosity Quills Press Páginas: 219 Data de Publicação: 9 de Maio de 2016
Sinopse:
Fourteen-year-old Phoebe Quinn is surrounded by magic, but she can’t muster any of her own. Her sister is a fairy keeper. Her best friends are merfolk. And all she does is dishes and housework. When Phoebe finds out a terrible sea creature is awakening that preys upon the peace-loving merfolk, she becomes determined to help them, even though it means going with Tristan and Mina to their home deep in the sea. Beneath the waves, Phoebe learns she’s more like her sister than she realized. The merfolk are drawn to her, and she can sense the magic of the sea all around her. Magic is finally at her fingertips, but that’s precisely why the stirring dark power under the waters decides it wants her most of all. Now she must not only help the peaceful merfolk escape this ancient enemy, she must master her out-of-control powers. If she fails, she will die and darkness will rise and enslave the merfolk once more. But embracing her full power could cost her the very people she loves the most.
~ Recebemos este eARC directamente da editora Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~
Opinião:
O primeiro livro desta série não foi nada de extraordinário, mas deixou-me curiosa o suficiente para querer ler o segundo – e ainda bem que o fiz, pois este foi melhor que o primeiro.
Enquanto que no primeiro livro tínhamos a história de Sierra, aqui temos a história da sua irmã mais nova, Phoebe. Esta jovem foi muito maltratada no primeiro livro, e mexia especialmente com o leitor pois ela era uma (na altura) criança, muito querida e amorosa, que não fazia mal a uma mosca. Agora, e com a ajuda da sua irmã e dos jovens Tristan e de Mina, a irmã deste, Phoebe aprendeu a lidar melhor com o mundo e tornou-se muito próxima de Tristan e Mina, duas sereias (um tritão e uma sereia talvez mais politicamente correcto?).
Tristan tinha-a salvo no livro anterior e um romance começa a desenvolver-se (tardiamente) entre estas duas personagens. Enquanto que Sierra tinha magia (a sua ligação com as fadas – que é explorada no primeiro livro), Phoebe sempre se sentiu um pouco à parte da família e dos amigos, pois não tinha qualquer forma de magia – ou assim se pensava.
Se leram o primeiro livro, sabem que o namorado de Sierra, o fauno Micah, consegue sentir fragâncias que distinguem pessoas com capacidades mágicas. Neste livro aprendemos que, quando conheceu Phoebe, Micah sentiu um breve cheiro a mar, mas tinha-o relacionado apenas com a magia temporária que os amigos da jovem partilhavam com ela durante os breves instantes que lhe permitiam respirar debaixo de água. Depois de circunstâncias extraordinárias que não irei desenvolver (se não conto a história toda), percebemos que Phoebe sempre tem alguma magia ligada aos oceanos.
Todo o livro revolve à volta do problema que o povo do mar tem – os seus poderes diminuem e há a possibilidade de um antigo monstro estar a voltar à vida depois da libertação de poder e energia que Sierra e as fadas causaram no primeiro livro. Ora, isto parece confuso, não é? Se houve uma libertação de energia e o monstro dos mares a consegue captar, porque não o povo do mar? Pois estes foram perdendo a sua capacidade de absorver e aproveitar a magia que lhes pertencia depois de serem escravos dos humanos durante dezenas de anos.
Phoebe, com a sua magia agora descoberta e outras peripécias, decide ajudar Tristan e o seu povo, pois quer corrigir o mal que o ser humano lhes fez e quer, acima de tudo, agradecer a Tristan e a Mina a sua ajuda pelo seu salvamento das mãos de um homem asqueroso. Mas o povo do mar, com razões justificadas, tem medo que Phoebe os queira enganar e escravizar, e ela quase perde a vida ao tentar prová-los errados. É aqui que toda a aventura acontece, nas profundezas do oceano, com templos destruídos e abismos escuros.
Não vou desenvolver mais o enredo do livro, mas digo apenas que a sua história e a resolução dos problemas está muito bem pensada e acaba por trazer aos leitores, se não o fim que se queria, um fim com que nos contentamos alegremente.
Enquanto que no primeiro livro fiquei um pouco de pé atrás com a escrita que me parecia demasiado juvenil, neste já não me incomodou e deixou-me a querer saber o que ia sempre acontecer no capítulo seguinte. Foi uma história cheia de aventura e um romance muito suave e querido. Ainda bem que continuei a série.
Title: Mer-Charmer Serie: World of Alluvia #2 Author: Amy Bearce Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press Pages: 219 Publication date: May 9th 2016
Synopsis:
Fourteen-year-old Phoebe Quinn is surrounded by magic, but she can’t muster any of her own. Her sister is a fairy keeper. Her best friends are merfolk. And all she does is dishes and housework. When Phoebe finds out a terrible sea creature is awakening that preys upon the peace-loving merfolk, she becomes determined to help them, even though it means going with Tristan and Mina to their home deep in the sea. Beneath the waves, Phoebe learns she’s more like her sister than she realized. The merfolk are drawn to her, and she can sense the magic of the sea all around her. Magic is finally at her fingertips, but that’s precisely why the stirring dark power under the waters decides it wants her most of all. Now she must not only help the peaceful merfolk escape this ancient enemy, she must master her out-of-control powers. If she fails, she will die and darkness will rise and enslave the merfolk once more. But embracing her full power could cost her the very people she loves the most.
~ We received a digital arc from the publisher Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~
Review:
The first book of this series wasn’t extraordinary, but it left me wanting to know what would happen in the second book. And I’m glad I did read it, because this book was better than the first one.
In the first book, we were told the story of Sierra, and in this one we have the story of her younger sister, Phoebe. This young lady was very badly treated in the first book, and it made the reader feel protective towards her, because she was a very sweet and loving child, that didn’t hurt a fly. Now, a bit older, with the help of her sister and the young merfolk Tristan and Mina (Tristan’s sister), Phoebe learns how to deal with what happened to her and becomes quite attached to the merman and the mermaid.
Tristan had saved her in the last book, and in this one a romance begins between these two characters. Sierra always had her magic (her connection with the fairies), which was developed in the first book and Phoebe always felt a bit left out, from her family and friends, because she didn’t have any magic –or so everyone thought.
If you read the first book, you know that Sierra’s boyfriend, the faun Micah, can smell certain fragrances that distinguish people with magical abilities. In this book, we learn that when he met Phoebe, Micah smelled the sea in her, but it was so subtle he thought it was related with the “borrowed” magic her merfolk friends would give her to allow her to breathe underwater. Something happens and we realize that Phoebe really does have magic connected to the sea and the ocean.
The whole book revolves around the Merfolk’s problem – their powers are diminishing and there’s a possibility that an ancient monster may be coming back to life, after the release of energy/magic/power that Sierra and the fairies caused in the first book. Now, this sounds a bit confusing, right? If there was a release of magical energy, then why can’t the merfolk use it? Well, they lost their ability to channel, absorb and enjoy their magic, after being enslaved by humans for many decades.
Phoebe, with her newly discovered magic and some other adventures, decides to help Tristan and his people, to correct the wrongs mankind had done to them and, above all, to thank Tristan and Mina for saving her from a disgusting man. But the merfolk, with good reason, don’t trust her and they’re afraid that she’ll try to enslave them again, and Phoebe almost loses her life trying to prove them wrong. It’s at this point in the book that all the major adventures happen, so I won’t develop it much more. It’s an adventure full of magic, ancient temples and dark abysses.
The story and the resolution that the author presents the reader with may not be the one we ideally wanted, but it’s a very clever way of solving everything, with an ending that will please most readers.
Although in the first book I wasn’t quite pleased with the writing that seemed a bit youngish, in this one that didn’t bother me and I was always anxious about reading the next chapter. It was a story full of adventure and with a very sweet and innocent romance. I’m glad I read it.
SOBRE A AUTORA/ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Amy writes stories for tweens and teens. She is a former reading teacher with a Masters in Library Science. As an Army kid, she moved eight times before she was eighteen, so she feels especially fortunate to be married to her high school sweetheart. Together they’re raising two daughters and are currently living in Germany, though they still call Texas home. A perfect day for Amy involves rain pattering on the windows, popcorn, and every member of her family curled up in one cozy room reading a good book.
Título em Português: -- Série: The Kepler Chronicles #1 Autor(a): Jadah McCoy Editora: Curiosity Quills Páginas: 226 Data de Lançamento: 04 de Abril de 2016
Sinopse:
She struggles to feel human.
In 2256, the only remnants of civilization on Earth’s first colonized planet, Kepler, are the plant-covered buildings and the nocturnal, genetically spliced bug-people nesting within them: the Cull. During the day, Syl leaves her home in the sewers beneath Elite City to scavenge for food, but at night the Cull come looking for a meal of their own. Syl thought gene splicing died with the Android War a century ago. She thought the bugs could be exterminated, Elite city rebuilt, and the population replenished. She’s wrong.
Whoever engineered the Cull isn’t done playing God. Syl is abducted and tortured in horrific experiments which result in her own DNA being spliced, slowly turning her into one of the bugs. Now she must find a cure and stop the person responsible before every remaining man, woman, and child on Kepler is transformed into the abomination they fear.
He struggles not to.
For Bastion, being an android in the sex industry isn’t so bad. Clubbing beneath the streets of New Elite by day and seducing the rich by night isn’t an altogether undesirable occupation. But every day a new android cadaver appears in the slum gutters, and each caved in metal skull and heap of mangled wires whittles away at him.
Glitches—androids with empathy—are being murdered, their models discontinued and strung up as a warning. Show emotion, you die. Good thing Bastion can keep a secret, or he would be the next body lining the street.
He can almost live with hiding his emotions. That is, until a girl shows up in the slums—a human girl, who claims she was an experiment. And in New Elite, being a human is even worse than being a Glitch. Now Bastion must help the girl escape before he becomes victim to his too-human emotions, one way or another.
~ Recebemos este eARC directamente da editora Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~
Opinião:
Este é um livro bastante bom. Eu não estava à espera de gostar tanto. Bom trabalho, Jadah McCoy!
Artificial é o primeiro livro de uma estória distópica; a Terra como nós a conhecemos não existe. Humanos criaram os androids, que por sua vez evoluíram e nos ultrapassaram, criando algo para destruir-nos como uma praga. Sylvia, ou Syl, é humana e vive nos esgotos com os outros humanos – a que chamam a “cidade” de Elite. Eles caçam durante o dia, e escondem-se nos esgotos à noite, fugindo dos Cull – algo semelhante a insecto, meio-humano-meio-qualquer coisa estranha, criada pelos androids para matarem os humanos. É uma morte horrível.
O que a Syl não sabe é que existe uma outra cidade – chamada de New Elite – onde os androids vivem “pacatamente”. Se um android tem sentimentos é chamado de Glitche, e supostamente devem ser destruídos, tal como qualquer simpatizante dos humanos. Syl é capturada e levada para New Elite, onde lhe fazem várias experiencias. Ela não sabe o que lhe fizeram e precisa de ajuda. A única coisa que sabe é que não pode voltar para Elite e viver com os outros humanos, porque ela pode se tornar num desses Cull e matar toda a gente. Em New Elite, ela conhece B4st10n – ou Bastion – um Glitche.
Eu não vou avançar mais em relação ao plot. Terão que o ler e se sentirem envoltos nesta estória fantástica. É bastante cativante, e faz-nos querer continuar a ler e descobrir o que mais irá acontecer a Syl, e se ela será capaz de resolver as coisas. Eu quero muiiiiito continuar a seguir esta estória!
Title: Artificial Serie: The Kepler Chronicles #1 Author: Jadah McCoy Publisher: Curiosity Quills Pages: 226 Publication Date: 4th April 2016
Synopsis:
She struggles to feel human.
In 2256, the only remnants of civilization on Earth’s first colonized planet, Kepler, are the plant-covered buildings and the nocturnal, genetically spliced bug-people nesting within them: the Cull. During the day, Syl leaves her home in the sewers beneath Elite City to scavenge for food, but at night the Cull come looking for a meal of their own. Syl thought gene splicing died with the Android War a century ago. She thought the bugs could be exterminated, Elite city rebuilt, and the population replenished. She’s wrong.
Whoever engineered the Cull isn’t done playing God. Syl is abducted and tortured in horrific experiments which result in her own DNA being spliced, slowly turning her into one of the bugs. Now she must find a cure and stop the person responsible before every remaining man, woman, and child on Kepler is transformed into the abomination they fear.
He struggles not to.
For Bastion, being an android in the sex industry isn’t so bad. Clubbing beneath the streets of New Elite by day and seducing the rich by night isn’t an altogether undesirable occupation. But every day a new android cadaver appears in the slum gutters, and each caved in metal skull and heap of mangled wires whittles away at him.
Glitches—androids with empathy—are being murdered, their models discontinued and strung up as a warning. Show emotion, you die. Good thing Bastion can keep a secret, or he would be the next body lining the street.
He can almost live with hiding his emotions. That is, until a girl shows up in the slums—a human girl, who claims she was an experiment. And in New Elite, being a human is even worse than being a Glitch. Now Bastion must help the girl escape before he becomes victim to his too-human emotions, one way or another.
~ We received a digital arc from the publisher Curiosity Quills. Thank you! ~ ~
Review:
This is a really good book. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much. Good Job, Jadah McCoy!
Artificial is the first instalment of a dystopian story; Earth as we know now doesn’t exist. Humans had created android, but those androids had evolved and surpass us, creating something to destroy us like a plague. Sylvia, or Syl, is human and lives in the sewers – they call it, Elite – with the other humans. They hunt by day, and hide in the sewers by night, running away from The Cull – something kind of bug, half-human-half-something created by the android to kill humans. It’s a horrific death.
What didn’t Syl know was that there was another city – called New Elite – where the androids lived in “peace”. If an android had feeling it was called a Glitch, and was supposed to be destroyed, as any the Human-Sympathisers. Syl is captured and taken to New elite, where she’s experimented on. She doesn’t know what was done to here and she needs help. The only thing she knows is that she can’t go back to Elite, and live with the other humans, because we might turn into one of those Culls and kill everyone. In New Elite she meets B4st10n – or Bastion – a Glitch.
I’ll not say anything else about the plot. You’ll have to read it and be immerse into this awesome story. It’s a quite captivating story and you just want to keep reading to discover what else can happen to Syl, and if she’s going to make it. I’m totally in for the next books!
SOBRE A AUTORA/ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jadah currently lives in Nashville, TN and works as a legal coordinator. When not babysitting attorneys, she can be found juicing her brain for creative ideas or fantasizing about her next trip out of the country (or about Tom Hiddleston as Loki - it’s always a toss up when she fantasizes.)
She grew up in rural Arkansas, yet can still write good and sometimes even wears shoes! She did date her first cousin for a while but they decided against marriage for the sake of the gene pool.
Her true loves are elephants, cursing, and sangria - in that order. If you find an elephant that curses like a sailor whilst drinking sangria, you’re dangerously close to becoming her next romantic victim - er, partner.
She cut her writing teeth on badly written, hormone-driven fanfiction (be glad that’s out of her system), and her one true dream is to have wildly erotic fanfiction with dubious grammar written about her own novels. Please make her dreams come true.
Com mais livros que filmes, Março foi um mês ocupado e agora vemos o nosso tempo livre para leituras e filmes a diminuir consideravelmente, mas não será por isso que nos verão menos por aqui. Para Abril já temos algumas coisas planeadas, mas outras serão, certamente, acrescentadas. Não se esqueçam de participar no nosso desafio literário no Goodreads, que podem ver aqui :)
[Livro] Escape from Witchwood Hollow, de Jordan Elizabeth Mierk
[Filme] Anomalisa, de Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman
[Filme] Macbeth, de Justin Kurzel
Joana V.
[Livro] Mer-Charmer, de Amy Bearce
[Livro] A Loucura de Lorde Ian Mackenzie de Jennifer Ashley
[Livro] Uma Viscondessa Fascinante de Jennifer Haymore
[Livro] O desejo de Lady Cassandra de Madeline Hunter
With more books read than films watched, March was a very busy month; and we’re starting to see our free time vanishing, but don’t worry, you’ll still see plenty of us in here. For April, we already have some things planned, as usual, but other will, certainly, be added to our lists. Don’t forget to join us in our goodreads challenge for April here :)
