Review : Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

Title : Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)
Author : Richelle Mead
Published : August 16th 2007 by Razorbill

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever -goodreads

Title : Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2)

Author : Richelle Mead

Published : April 10th 2008 by Razorbill

Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose... It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if hand-to-hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks... This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.

But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price... -goodreads

Title : Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3)
Author : Richelle Mead
Published : November 13th 2008 by Razorbill 

It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn't been feeling quite right. She's having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all... might be seeing ghosts.

As Rose questions her sanity, new complications arise. Lissa has begun experimenting with her magic once more, their enemy Victor Dashkov might be set free, and Rose's forbidden relationship with Dimitri is starting to heat up again. But when a deadly threat no one saw coming changes their entire world, Rose must put her own life on the line - and choose between the two people she loves most -goodreads

Title : Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4)

Author : Richelle Mead

Published : August 25th 2009 by Razorbill

Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same.

The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love? -goodreads

Title : Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #5)

Author : Richelle Mead

Published : May 18th 2010 by Razorbill 

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong...

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's-and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can't wait for their real lives beyond the Academy's iron gates to begin. But Rose's heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he's out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won't rest until Rose joins him... forever -goodreads

Title : Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #6)

Author : Richelle Mead

Published : December 7th 2010 by Razorbill

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose - for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She'll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you? -goodreads

AH-MA-ZING!!!

Bye Twilight Saga. THIS is my kind of vampire story :D

This series is incredibly amazing. Seriously, I read all 6 books in a row. I just couldn't help it. [this review may contain spoiler]

TV Series : Chicago Fire

Official Website

THE MAIN CAST

Jesse Spencer - Matthew Casey
Taylor Kinney - Kelly Severide
Charlie Barnett - Peter Mills
Monica Raymund - Gabriela Dawson
Lauren German - Leslie Shay
Eamonn Walker - Chief Wallace Boden

Review : Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Title : Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1)
Author : Jennifer Estep
Published : August 1st 2011 by K-Teen

My name is Gwen Frost, and I go to Mythos Academy; a school of myths, magic and warrior whiz kids, where even the lowliest geek knows how to chop off somebody's head with a sword and Logan Quinn, the hottest Spartan guy in school, also happens to be the deadliest. But lately, things have been weird, even for Mythos. First, mean girl Jasmine Ashton was murdered in the Library of Antiquities. Then, someone stole the Bowl of Tears, a magical artifact that can be used to bring about the second Chaos War. You know, death, destruction and lots of other bad, bad things. Freaky stuff like this goes on all the time at Mythos, but I'm determined to find out who killed Jasmine and why; especially since I should have been the one who died... -goodreads

Mythology book. My first one.

I read this book without read the summary. From the "Academy" title, I expected it to be like Vampire Academy, which I really like. Apparently, this is a book about gods, goddesses and warriors.

Review : Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

Title : Deadly Cool (Deadly Cool #1)
Author : Gemma Halliday
Published : October 11th 2011 by HarperTeen 

Hartley Grace Featherstone is having a very bad day. First she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with the president of the Herbert Hoover High School Chastity Club. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And if that weren’t enough, now he’s depending on Hartley to clear his name.

But as much as Hartley wouldn’t mind seeing him squirm, she knows he’s innocent, and she’s the only one who can help him. Along with her best friend, Sam, and the school’s resident Bad Boy, Chase, Hartley starts investigating on her own. But as the dead bodies begin to pile up, the mystery deepens, the suspects multiply, and Hartley begins to fear that she may be the killer’s next victim -goodreads

The funniest serial killer story I had ever read!

Review : Ashes and Ice by Rochelle Maya Callen

Title : Ashes and Ice (Ashes and Ice #1)
Author : Rochelle Maya Callen
Published : February 4th 2013 by C&C Legacy Publishing

She is desperate to remember.
He is aching to forget.
Together, they are not broken.
But together, one may not survive.

​Jade wakes up with no memory of her past and blood on her hands.

Plagued by wicked thoughts, she searches for answers. Instead, she finds a boy who doesn't offer her answers, but hope. But sometimes, when nightmares turn into reality and death follows you everywhere, hope is not enough.

LUST. LOVE. LOSS. Sometimes, all that is left are Ashes and Ice. -goodreads

Boy meets girl. 

Boy falls hard for girl. 

Girl turns out to be possessed homicidal freak.

Review : Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

Title : Lies Beneath (Lies Beneath #1)
Author : Anne Greenwood Brown 
Published : June 12th 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers 

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother's death.

It's going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder's job is to gain Hancock's trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love--just as Lily starts to suspect there's more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.

One thing's for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won't be pretty -goodreads

My first mermaid novel.
Forget about Ariel. Here comes killer mermaids and merman :D

Another Weird Dream [ft. 2ne1]

Just another old weird dream I had. This one featuring 2ne1, a girlgroup singer from Korea. They are wellknown for their unique personality. You can watch their daily life in their TV shows called 2ne1 TV. There are videos with English subtitle available online.

2ne1. From left to right : Minzy, CL, Bom, Dara.

In my dream I was 2ne1's friend. I was chit chat-ing with them during their break time. We were in a room that full with their clothes, maybe that was their dressing room. They all wore casual outfit like what they wear when they are practicing. 

I talked to Dara first. We went to an aisle outside their dressing room and talked there. I don't remember what we talked about before. What I remember we talked about how we celebrate birthday in Indonesia. Of course I talked to her with my broken Korean. Hehe

TV Series : Game of Thrones

"Winter is coming"

Based on "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels by George R.R. Martin

Official website

Official Production Diary

Game of Thrones @ YouTube

THE CAST

Lena Headey as  Cersei Lannister

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister 

Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark 

Maisie Williams as Arya Stark 

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen 

Kit Harington as Jon Snow 

Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark 

Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon 

Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy 

Richard Madden as Robb Stark 

Isaac Hempstead Wright as Bran Stark

Another Weird Dream [ft. BEG]

This morning on my way to work suddenly I remembered my weird dream I had almost 2 years ago. I think I had this dream when I was addicted to a Korean variety show called We Got Married where Jo Kwon of 2AM and Gain of Brown Eyed Girls (BEG) appeared as couple. I posted it in my old blog, but I want to share it again here. I'm still laughing and shaking my head thinking How could I had such a weird dream when I remember it. 

For you guys who don't know who Brown Eyed Girls is, they are a female singer group from South Korea. One of the member, Gain, recently appeared in Psy's "Gentleman" music video.

Brown Eyed Girls. From left to right : Gain, Narsha, Miryo, JeA

So here it goes..

Review : Shades of Earth by Beth Ravis

Title : Shades of Earth (Across The Universe #3)
Author : Beth Ravis
Published : January 15th, 2013 by Razorbill

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.

But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.

Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing -goodreads

In My Mailbox #9

What I got this week :

With All My Soul - Rachel Vincent

The Selection - Kiera Cass

Social Suicide - Gemma Halliday

Well, that's all for me.

What's in yours?

Review : Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woone

Title : Dead Beautiful (Dead Beautiful #1)
Author : Yvonne Woone
Published : September 21st 2010 by Disney-Hyperion

On the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Renée Winters was still an ordinary girl. She spent her summers at the beach, had the perfect best friend, and had just started dating the cutest guy at school. No one she'd ever known had died. But all that changes when she finds her parents dead in the Redwood Forest, in what appears to be a strange double murder.

After the funeral Renée’s wealthy grandfather sends her to Gottfried Academy, a remote and mysterious boarding school in Maine, where she finds herself studying subjects like Philosophy, Latin, and the “Crude Sciences.”

It’s there that she meets Dante Berlin, a handsome and elusive boy to whom she feels inexplicably drawn. As they grow closer, unexplainable things begin to happen, but Renée can’t stop herself from falling in love. It’s only when she discovers a dark tragedy in Gottfried’s past that she begins to wonder if the Academy is everything it seems.

Little does she know, Dante is the one hiding a dangerous secret, one that has him fearing for her life.

Dead Beautiful is both a compelling romance and thought-provoking read, bringing shocking new meaning to life, death, love, and the nature of the soul - goodreads

Everything dies. Sometimes too soon.

In My Mailbox #8

Its been a long time since I participated in this meme. I don't remember perfectly when I bought what, so these are some books I got for about the last 6 months.

English version :
Deadly Cool - Gemma halliday
Under The Never Sky & Through The Ever Night - Veronica Rossi
Anna Dressed in Blood - Kendare Blake
The Alchemist - Michael Scott (I had the paperback version but I sold it n bought the HC)
Across The Universe Series - Beth Ravis
Spell Bound - Rachel Hawkins
River of Time series - Lisa T. Bergren
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin
Soul Screamers vol 1 & 2 - Rachel VIncent
Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers

Indonesian version :
The Ring of Solomon - Jonathan Stroud
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
Inheritance - Christopher Paolini
Inkspell & Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke

Those books will be my last purchase for Indonesian novels. It feels weird now to read Indonesian since I got used to read the English ones.


What's yours?

It's Ravenswood, Baby!

Big Pretty Little Liars series fans just got a HUGE exciting news today. If you read this post, you might be one of them and you already knew. Yes, it's Ravenswood, Pretty Little Liars spin-off.

Check out the short creepy trailer below

Review : Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

Title : Cross My Heart (Cross My Heart #1)
Author : Sasha Gould
Published : March 13th 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Venice, 1585.
When 16-year-old Laura della Scala learns that her older sister, Beatrice, has drowned, she is given no time to grieve. Instead, Laura's father removes her from the convent where he forcibly sent her years earlier and orders her to marry Beatrice's fiancé, a repulsive old merchant named Vincenzo. Panicked, Laura betrays a powerful man to earn her way into the Segreta, a shadowy society of women who deal in only one currency—secrets. The Segreta seems like the answer to Laura's prayers. The day after she joins their ranks, Vincenzo is publicly humiliated and conveniently exiled. Soon, however, Laura begins to suspect that her sister's death was not a tragic accident but a cold-blooded murder—one that might involve the Segreta and the women she has come to trust - goodreads

In Venice, a secret is deadlier than a knife. 

Review : Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay

Title : Juliet Immortal
Author : Stacey Jay
Published : August 9th 2011 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

The most tragic love story in history . . .

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love - goodreads

Singaporean Elderly, The Unknown Heroes

Have you ever thought what will you be or you do when you are in your 60s, 70s or maybe 80s? You have worked hard on your young age with a goal to enjoy what you have in your old days. Maybe you picture yourself enjoying your retired days, traveling the world, sit on a beach bent somewhere far away from your home country enjoy the sunset or a simple one, you just relaxing at your house reading your favorite books and watching your grandchildren play around happily. I do have those pictures in my head.

A couple days ago, I just went back from my short vacation to Singapore. When I was there, the thing that quite gave me a shock was the Singaporean elderly who are still working in their 60s to 80s. They are cleaning tables and dustbins, sweeping and mobbing the floor, collecting rubbish, even cleaning the toilets. I know that there is a regulation in Singapore that said those kind of jobs are only for the elderly, but isn't break your heart when you see these pictures?

Review : Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Title : Waterfall (River of Time #1)
Author : Lisa Tawn Bergren
Published : February 2011 by David C. Cook

What do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world?

Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives among the romantic hills with their archaelogist parents. Stuck among the rubble of the medieval castles in rural Tuscany, on yet another hot, dusty archaeological site, Gabi and Lia are bored out of their minds...until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces.

Suddenly Gabi's summer in Italy is much, much more interesting. - goodreads