Reawakened by Odette Beane

Hey everyone,

Before spying this at the library I had no idea that one of my favourite TV series even had accompanying books. I’ve been a fan of Once Upon A Time since discovering it on Amazon Instant during my last year of university, so I borrowed this from the library without reading the blurb. Would I have still borrowed this if I had?

The book:

Emma Swan's life has been anything but a fairy tale. She's been on her own since she was abandoned as a baby--that is, until the night of her twenty-eighth birthday, when Henry, a ten-year-old boy, shows up on her doorstep. He's the son Emma gave up for adoption, and this surprise visit turns her life upside down.

Henry takes Emma back to his home in Storybrooke, Maine, where, Henry claims, all the residents are actually fairy tale characters who can't remember their true identities. And if Henry's right, that means that his sweet-natured, lonely schoolteacher Mary Margaret Blanchard is really Snow White, the iconic princess ... and also Emma's long-lost mother.

In Fairy Tale Land, we meet Snow White as a bandit on the run, forced into exile by her stepmother, the Evil Queen. Snow's a young woman learning to become a hero, who will do anything to live happily ever after with her one true love, Prince Charming.

The closer Emma comes to Henry in Storybrooke, the harder it is for her to ignore the dark curse that haunts this small New England town and binds her to Mary Margaret. If Emma can learn to accept her destiny as Storybrooke's savior and break the curse, she just might get the family reunion she's dreamed about her entire life.

My thoughts:

In all honesty I probably would have because I love these characters, I love both Fairy Tale Land and Storybrooke and most of all I love how the show twists these well-known fairytales. Yet by reading the blurb I would realised that Reawakened isn’t an expansive of the Once Upon A Time universe. Instead its a written version of Season One.

“Look, dude. The cocoa is a nice gesture. And it’s impressive that you were able to guess that I like cinnamon on my chocolate - not many people do - but i’m not here to flirt.”

My Top Eight Period Dramas!

Hey everyone,

Over the last week I’ve been watching a lot more movies than I’ve been reading books. In part this is because I’ve just got a Netflix accounts but also because I’ve been on way too many long haul flights.  There is only so many times a person is meant to cross the Atlantic Ocean in one month. Therefore rather than reviewing a book I thought it would be interesting to tell you about my favourite Period Dramas that feature a strong romantic element.

Since the popularity of Downtown Abbey the amount of people producing, writing and watching Period Dramas has increased and below is just a small selection of my favourite Period Drama movies with a strong romantic element. Also because I found it impossible to rate by favourite I decided to order them chronologically based on the time they are set, starting with the oldest.

Tristan & Isolde (2006)

Set in Britain and Ireland during the Dark Ages this movie is based on the medieval legend of Tristan & Isolde. In my opinion they are the original Romeo and Juliet as these star-crossed lovers are separated by feuding nations instead of feuding families. Tristan played by James Franco is a ‘British’ warrior who is extremely loyal to his Lord Marke, who is attempting to unify the various clans that rule Britain in this period.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - The Romance

Hey everyone,

Yesterday I went to see The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies and it was potentially the best film I have seen this year. I loved it! Although this is hardly a surprise as I am a huge Lord of Rings and The Hobbit fan. I loved it so much I decided why not write a post about The Hobbit and the romance within it.

WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM DoS & BotFA

Also before I start, if you haven’t guessed I will be focusing on the romance elements present in Battle of the Five Armies. I loved the film for lots and lots of reasons but for this post I am merely focusing on this element. If you didn’t like the romantic additions to the film feel free to stop reading here.

Now we all know that Peter Jackson made quite a few changes to The Hobbit story, one of these being the romance between Kili and Tauriel. Now I know some people will have hated this, others will have been indifferent and then others, like me, will have LOVED these two in The Hobbit Desolation of Smaug. From witnessing the Jail scene in DoS I was shipping these two, I wanted them to get together and have Dwelf babies. I mean just look at face, even by this point he was clearly in love.

So knowing the changes Peter Jackson had already made I was hopeful that Dwelf babies, or at least the possibility of them would happen in The Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies. I mean why add this romance plot just to take it away again?