TV Review: Outlander 1X06: The Garrison Commander

OUTLANDER this week was so good. Finally we're back to stuff happening and it being all awesome. I am completely looking forward to more!

Full on Anger going on here!

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It might have been awesome this week, but it was heartbreaking and makes you despise the person who was front and center this week, Randall. This whole episode was about Randall, which it was nice to dedicate an episode to him to get into what type of character he is more. He is evil and vile. And I am disgusted.

Many of you who have watched the episode probably won't want to relive the flogging scene. It was described as a flashback here and was horrid. I will only watch once. I won't watch it again, but my thoughts on it were that Jamie's back was already cut and damaged when he removes his shirt and he is still going to whip him and he does it to the point that Jamie may be on the point of death. Where his back is ripped open. I mean it seems like he is going to get to the bone. Ugh. Like I said I won't watch that again. UGh!

 

Emotions happening in this episode!

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I hate how the red coats treat Dougal, much worse than Claire was treated earlier on. I have to say Randall gutting Claire and having one of his soldiers repeatedly kick Claire! I wanted to murder him. Thank god for you Dougall! Thank god for you! Dougal leaves with Claire but is told he must give claire up to Randall the next day to further questions her, well he actually means further torture her. Dougal test Claire for her truth to find out that she is truly not a spy and proposes she do what he says if she wants to be kept out of Randalls hands. He says she must marry Jamie. He opposes it, but she must if she doesn't want to submit to Randal again.

Finally the wedding is happening next!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="221"] Source: captainzoe[/caption]

I was kind of disappointed with this scene. I felt the whole episode was so dedicated to Randall, that the scenes with Dougall telling her she must marry and Jamie and her talking about getting married was done far too quickly. They should've ended it when Dougal telling her she must marry to give us more time, for the Jamie and Claire talk. I don't know. It just seemed like they zoomed through that scene too quickly. But even though I was horrified with this episode a bit. I loved it a lot more than the last couple of episodes. And finally Alas! the Wedding episode. I am so happy I can't freaking wait!!
 

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Review: Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Title:  Shadow & Bone
Author:  Leigh Bardugo
Series:  The Grisha, #1
Publisher:  Henry Holt and Co.
Release Date:  June 5, 2012
Pages:  358
Rating:  

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

I have not read any Young Adult for at least a year, maybe even longer. I definitely wanted to get back to Young Adult, because I know there are so many great ones, not to be missed. To get out of my Young Adult reading slump I decided to go for The Grisha Series. I've been seeing 4-5 star reviews like everywhere, barely heard a bad thing about it. I was prepared to be amazed and I'm a hard cookie to please these days. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! Where has this book been on my life? Well, I guess on my TBR for the past two years.

SHADOW AND BONE has everything you are looking for in a Young Adult book! A strong heroine, epic fantasy setting, amazing writing and dialogue, all the main/side characters are awesome, heartwarming love interest story, and psycho psycho that you love to hate. Well, maybe I'm not usually looking for all these things in a Young Adult book, but I'm glad SHADOW AND BONE had all these elements! This story is about the greed for great power and using it to control and the world. We have the Grisha with special powers. Our heroine, Alina is a sun summoner which is really rare and she is the salvation of everyone, but The Darkling plans to use her to for his own personal plans. I'm not going to really go into summary mode, because it will probably take me all day.

I loved Alina. She was a strong heroine and was able to hide her Grisha abilities for a long time for the hope to stay with her childhood friend, Mal. But she ends up saving his life with her powers and gets found out and get taken to be trained with her new powers. The world of the Grisha was beautiful, but everyone has their own agenda, you can't really trust anyone. Although I didn't really get to get to know Mal too much until we got more than halfway though the book, I loved him and his gentleness and love for Alina. It makes you want to root for him.

Now, The Darkling. I hear everywhere that readers love him and consider this a love triangle between them and everything. And I just don't get where that is coming from. In the beginning we don't really know much about him. He is mysterious and that's what truly drew me in about him. But when we find out what his real agenda is and see how he truly is by the end of the book, I wanted to stab him in the eye. I have had my share of love interests that love the heroine but are really evil. From what I have read it seems like The Darkling's only agenda is enslaving Alina and he only wants her for her powers. But I have seen the cruelness and evilness in him. So, right now he isn't a love interest to me.

Right now at this point I have finished the book. Seriously you shouldn't read this book at work. It got so good, and then my lunch break was over. I ran into the bathroom to finish reading it. I got all happy and excited and angry and enraged and went into my fangirling mode! This was just one damn fine epic book. I'm glad I read it and I'm glad this is the book I chose to get my out of my Young Adult reading slump. And I am fucking starting the next book ASAP, because I just have to know what happens next. If you haven't read this series yet, do yourself a favor and read it.

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TV Review: Outlander 1X05: Rent

This week on OUTLANDER I was pissed for Claire. I truly feel for this girl! Ugh! and cliffhanger! Looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Full on Anger going on here!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="221"] Source: fyesoutlander[/caption]

This episode of Outlander really pushed a lot of buttons. I found myself so incredibly pissed while watching. I was put off by the way Claire was treated in this episode that it sickened me. I wanna say, why even bring her with you on this trip then? I know that is how it was back then, women didn't really have a voice and all that, but it still sickens me. I mean when the red coats came at the end I just wanted Claire to shout that yes! I'm being held against my will!! That's how mad I was. And what Dougal did to Jamie! Fuck you, Dougal! So many sad and mad emotions going on.

 

Cliffhanger alert! Cliffhanger alert!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="221"] Source: bethwoodvilles[/caption]

And little comments I wanna make. Jamie's hair is longer!! I like it shorter much better and Claire looks so beautiful with her hair down. She needs to wear it down more often! The ending did end on a cliffhanger. Oh, the agony! But I am looking forward to the next episode, because we meet Jack Randall again. And I am looking forward to the confrontation between him and Claire again. And then after that, finally The Wedding Episode will be here! Yes! I'm so happy! Been looking forward to that since the beginning.

Can we please attack Dougal?

        

credit: killiansdevotedheart

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TV Review: Outlander 1X04: The Gathering

Ahhhhh! So sorry for the late review. Jeez. I didn't get to watch OUTLANDER til a few days ago and already the next episode comes out tomorrow.

Escape at all cost!

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For this week on Outlander there wasn't too much going on. We have Claire planning her escape and getting oh, so close to leaving again. We have The Gathering where many people are pledging themselves to Colum. Dougal's drunken kiss. The hunt where out big boys go hunt a boar. And at the end the games. Yea. It looks like hardcore hockey to me. And the horror, barely any Jamie. He didn't show up til halfway through the episode. Disappointed. This probably would be my least favorite episode of them all, but it was still pretty good. Maybe I'll like tomorrow episode much better.

 

More Jamie? “Je suis prest.”

        

credit to gifs: henricavyll

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Most Wanted Reads: Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews

Most Wanted Reads is inspired by Waiting on Wednesday hosted/created by Breaking the Spine. I just wanted to personalize it a little bit for me.

Burn for Me
By Ilona Andrews
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Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.

Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.

Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.
 

 

Ilona Andrews? Say no more!

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Review: Armed & Dangerous by Abigail Roux

Title:  Armed & Dangerous
Author:  Abigail Roux
Series:  Cut & Run, #5
Publisher:  Dreamspinner
Release Date:  May 18, 2012
Pages:  330
Rating:  

Left alone in Baltimore after his unpredictable lover bails, Special Agent Zane Garrett takes his frustration out on everything in his path until he is ordered to Chicago to back up an undercover operative. When he gets there, though, he finds himself face to face with his wayward partner, Special Agent Ty Grady. They have to deal with the uncertainty lingering between them while they work to retrieve their intended mark, a retired hit man and CIA wet-works operative named Julian Cross.

Ty, once a marine and now an FBI hotshot, has a penchant for being unpredictable, a trait Zane can vouch for. Zane is a man who once lived for his job but has come to realize his heartbreaking past doesn’t have to overshadow his future. They're partners, friends, lovers, and the go-to team for unusual cases.

With Cross and his innocuous boyfriend, Cameron Jacobs, in tow, Ty and Zane must navigate the obstacles of a cross-country trek, including TSA pat-downs, blizzards, their uncooperative prisoners, CIA kill teams, a desperate lack of sleep or caffeine, and each other. Ty and Zane are determined to get Julian Cross to DC in one piece, but it’s starting to look like it might be the last thing they do.

“I’m gonna end up in the fucking madhouse because of you!” He reached out and grabbed Ty’s wrist, pulling him closer. “Loving you is going to make me fucking insane! I said no, and I mean it!”

Oh, man! And we have an installment where the cop mystery stuff takes over my Ty and Zane fix! Damn you! ARMED & DANGEROUS was full of boring cop stuff and two guys named Cam and Julian who I don't give a rats ass about. I want my Ty and Zane back. Ty and Zane were present in this book, but it was like this book was taken over by Julian and Cam which I was NOT happy about. But I will stay positive.

“I love you. And I've never been able to say that before with such conviction. I can't remember a time when you weren't the first thing I thought of, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't care what stands in our way.”

The previous book left off with Zane having told Ty he loved him and Ty leaves that night and Zane finds him gone the next morning. And the next time Zane sees Ty..... Well, let's just say it's so long Zane wants to kill Ty! We do have sweet, awesome romantic times. I swear this series makes me have major fangirl moments. I need more and more of this wonderful series.

Zane felt flush all over, a little light-headed, and more than a little off kilter. What Ty promised.. . It was more than Zane had ever expected to want from anyone else ever again. But he did want that from Ty, desperately.

I really liked seeing them talking about their feeling for each other and being open about this relationship they are building. I loved the first part of the book so much! I mainly just loved the Ty & Zane parts through the entire book. ARMED & DANGEROUS was far from one of the best books, but I am hopeful that the next one will be tons better.

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Most Wanted Reads: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Most Wanted Reads is inspired by Waiting on Wednesday hosted/created by Breaking the Spine. I just wanted to personalize it a little bit for me.

Red Queen
By Victoria Aveyard
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Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own—an ability she didn't know she had. Except . . . her blood is Red.

To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard—the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince—and Mare against her own heart.
 

 

Please! I beg you! I need this book now!

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