Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

A/N: Hey, normally I don't review books, or even bother to really read them (more into fan fictions). But this book actually got me really hooked, and I wanted to say something about it because it is a good book but it doesn't get a lot of exposure, I think.

Okay, so this book title is called Hush, Hush. When I first saw the title I thought it sounded somewhat interesting and kind of cool, so I picked it up.

Hush, Hush is written about a normal girl living in the U.S.A., and how she meets a fallen angel that changed her life forever. The two main characters in here are Nora, the female lead, and Patch, the male lead.

Nora was just a normal girl when she suddenly met Patch in her science class. Suddenly, after talking to this mysterious new acquaintence, Nora's life was thrown into a confusing loop of twists and creepy events. She later finds out more about Patch due to a required science project, and soon found herself unknowingly yet strongly attracted to him. In many incidents he tried to kill her, purposely. But in many other incidents he was the one who saved her life. Nora then finds out from Patch's own mouth and the hidden truth that Patch was a fallen angel, and he was trying to kill her because he wanted to reach his dream and become human. He too soon fell for her without knowing why, and that was when his previous relationship with Dabria, another fallen angel, enters the picture. First Dabria tried to kill Nora because she wanted Patch, but then Patch came in and saved the day. Then Nora finds out she's a descendent of a line of Nephilims, half human half angel, and that was when the final twist came in.

Overall, this book was a satisfying read. I really enjoyed the twist at the end, after Nora found out about her family blood line, she tries to put the puzzle together and finally find who her creepy stalker is. The twist occured there and I thought it was rather nice. What really interested me more about this book was its origin. This book was actually a fan fiction for "Twilight" written by Stephanie Meyer. I thought that was cool, I'm a fan fiction writer and it's cool seeing a fan fiction get published.

Dragon Sabre Yi Tian Review

2009 - Mainland China Wuxia Production - Dragon Sabre Yi Tian

This series is yet another remake of "The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre". For my review I will not be going into detail about the plot of the story since most drama viewers do know the plot already, I think. Now I will be comparing this series to previous productions that I've watched, such as the 1986 version with Tony Leung, and the 2003 version with Alec Su.

This new adaptation of the classic novel is pretty well, it gets to the main points of the story, but somehow when I watch it I feel that it lacks some major details that would be helpful. But overall, the change is ok and able to be delt with. What I liked a lot about the series is that it has beautiful scenes with extraordinary landscapes. The thing that I didn't like about this one compared to the last two was the fighting. In this 2009 version, CGI was used a lot more than the old ones and it really brought down the action, but again, it was able to be delt with while watching this series.

Now for the casts and characters:

Deng Chao as Zhang Wu Ji [4/5]

Now to my opinion, Deng Chao isn't really the typical image I had in mind for Zhang Wu Ji. I picture ZWJ as a handsome young man, but well Deng Chao isn't really high on looks compared to his predecessors (idk if I spelled it right). But, the one thing I really liked about Deng Chao was his acting. He made this ZWJ quite enjoyable, even though he's a lot rougher than the last two, and he doesn't reveal his feelings as easily as Alec in the 2003 version. Tony Leung's and Alec Su's ZWJ as a clean and handsome look and their costumes were great, but I'm guessing the producers wanted a more manlier, rougher ZWJ in this production, and so Deng Chao's ZWJ image is a much manlier version. But I personally didn't like his plain costume, but oh well. Deng Chao's acting in this series really covered the whole appearance aspect though, and in my opinion he is one of those actors who CAN act. So overall, he got a 4/5 from me.

Ady An as Zhao Min [5/5]

Honestly before this and "Autumn's Concerto", I didn't even know who Ady was. But after watching her performance in here, I totally love this actress. Ady is also one of those rare actresses who can really ACT. Her performance as Zhao Min was unbelievable, and she's probably my favorite compared to Alyssa Chia's and Kitty Lai's Zhao Min. She can pull off those poisonous glances, arrogant smirks, and tearful ragings very well. Also a good thing is that she can be and look very smart, but doesn't come off as an annoying smart ass. Her portrayal of this wicked but not evil role was great to watch. Ady can really bring out the funny and humor in her humorous scenes, especially with her awkward but rather funny expressions. Also she can perform those sad, or emotional scenes very well, and it looks very natural, so this is great. And, for Ady's costume I totally love her costumes way more than I did with Alyssa Chia's, and Kitty Lai's. Finally for some reason whenever I watch Ady in this series I just enjoy her on screen, and thus she's now my favorite Zhao Min, replacing Alyssa Chia only by a little bit. Overall I give Ady a five because of the costume, her acting skills, and her twists like random awkward expressions that yet somehow makes sense for the scenes. And her chemistry with Deng Chao was ok, but she did have to work a bit more to pull it off unlike previous actresses, but overall I liked it a lot.

Liu Jing as Zhou Zhi Rou [3.5/5]

Liu Jing isn't ugly, it's just that the way her costume, hairstyle, and make-up is in this series, it just makes her look awkward and stiff. To be honest Liu Jing's acting isn't nearly close to the league of Sheren Tang's and Gao Yuan Yuan's, but it was bearable. The way her storyline was written, it made her evil change rather expected but I couldn't pity her like I did with Sheren Tang's and Gao Yuan Yuan's, and from the very beginning Liu Jing didn't pull off as weak and innocent like her predecessors. Also, thought Liu Jing had nice chemistry with Deng Chao, they way she sweet talks to him just makes her evil change suck, no offense to fans. And Liu Jing doesn't look good with her Song Qin Shu like the others did. Also I have to say....Liu Jing is probably the SCARIEST Zhou Zhi Rou ever!!!!! I watched the wedding scene, and her expression was (excuse my language) scary as hell!!!! Which I guess is good in some view, but Sheren Tang pulled off the evil part way better, and Gao Yuan Yuan's scary isn't nearly as bad as hers. And...in one part of watching the series I honestly couldn't stop freaking out over the fact that Liu Jing turned blue!!!! Like her entire face turned BLUE!!!! Wow, also watching the way she litterally stabbed Ady's Zhao Min in the back in episode 39, holy crap!

Overall, this series was a good watch for me. Despite the manlier Zhang Wu Ji, it was a good change actually. And if we take away the awful scariness of Liu Jing's Zhou Zhi Rou, this series was great! The scenery was absolutely beautiful, and the storyline was adequate for an adaptation. Also Ady's Zhao Min just brightens up the screen and my day.