Blog Post #9 - Melanie's Character Meeting the Mentor - Meeting the Mentor

The person who I believe to be the mentor in this novel, is Logan. He followed Isabeau through her journey and gave her helpful tips to lead her down the right path. At first, Isabeau hated Logan for telling her what she should and could do, not what she would do. Though, she slowly began to follow his helpful observations, and it turns out to save her life. Her cold, stubborn side starts to melt away as she becomes more aware of what she could do, instead of what she should do. Logan watches over her progress throughout her journey and stays with her even after the journey has ended and a new one has begun.

Blog Post #8 - Melanie's Character Call to Adventure - Tuesday April 19, 2011

Following the character of this book, I am yet again doing the character from this book. What can I say, she fascinated me and she is the main protagonist of the story, so it is easier for me to track the stages of her journey. Might be throwing in Crossing the Threshold in this post as well...
Isabeau's call to adventure would have to be when she was told by Magda that she was needed by the Drank family to track Montmartre and to help protect Solange from him. She had to leave the comfort from the solitude and freedom she got from the cave, to the open court of the Drake's manor. Though, it wasn't all bad, she got to take her companion dog with her. She got stared at by males and attacked by a hypnos (Stops the muscles from working for a short period of time and makes you follow the orders of the person who sprinkled it on you). She was also allowed a cell phone, which was odd for her, seeing as she had never used technology such as a cellphone before. She has troubles adapting to the new environment at first, but when she doers, she meets Logan....

Blog Post #7 - Melanie's Character Ordinary World - Thursday April 7, 2011

Sticking to the character I have been using for the past couple of Blog Posts, I will be describing Isabeau's Ordinary World.
Unlike others, Isabeau's ordinary world might seem like hell to some people. She lives in a cave with dogs, and is always fighting and switching from place to place if needed. She follows the orders of the head of her tribe and follows the traditions that come along with that. She takes part in rituals that include drums and body paint, bright body paint like blue and yellow. In her ordinary world, she is used to seeing her comrades and fellow dogs die in battle. She has a dog that follows her around all the time, he is also part of her ordinary world. And due to her scars and harsh stare, her ordinary world is full of bad comments and horrid looks.

This picture represents her odd personality and her happy side.

This picture represents her feeling a bit dangerous and viscous when she is in battle. Unstoppable.

Blog Post #6 - Melanie's "Who's the hero of you book..?" - April 7, 2011

My character archetype is from the novel Blood Feud By: Alyxandra Harvey. The character I have chosen to use, is Isabeau St. Cross. She is a French Hound Princess. She is covered from head to toe in battle scars and tattoos from protecting her home and her people. Her mother and fatrher were killed when she was sixteen years old.  She always puts her life on the line to help and save someone else.  She is a leader and has a lot of courage.  She takes pride in her scars and shows them because of this. She is not afraid of other peoples remarks or thoughts. She is also very adventurous and always knows what she is doing. If a situation occurs where she doesn't know what to do, she always comes up with a plan that will work out no matter what happens. She reminds me of the hero of the novel. She could also be a mentor to other people, she influences a lot of people in her tribe because of her determined attitude.

Blog Post #5 - Melanie's Character Archetypes - Friday April 1, 2011

My character archetype is from the novel Blood Feud By: Alyxandra Harvey. The character I have chosen to use, is Isabeau St. Cross. The character Archetype I have selected, is the "Test, Enemies, Allies" 

If you didn't already know, this stage of the archetypal journey, has to do with good and evil, and truth versus lies.  This is about: "Having crossed the threshold, the hero faces obstacles, making friends, confronts enemies, and learns the new rules of the Special World. The hero needs to find out who can be trusted. Allies are earned, a Sidekick may join up, or an entire Hero Team forged. The Hero must prepare himself for the greater Ordeals yet to come and needs this stage to test his skills and powers, or perhaps seek further training from the advisor. This stage also tests the hero's commitment to the Journey, and questions whether he can succeed. I have chosen Isabeau, because she had to leave her ordinary world behind, in order to go on her mission. She has started to become allies with the Drake family, but she is still iffy on whether of not she can fully trust them. She decides to do things on her own, not wanting to depend of them in case they fail. I would say her Sidekick, is Logan. Logan accompanies her on her mission to hunt down Montmartre, and he protects/saves her life many times. Her enemy, the same as the Drake family, is Montmartre (the man that is after Solange). 

Blog Post #4 - Melanie's Main Character - Friday March 4, 2011

"You're rather good at that," I remarked dryly. He pushed my tunic down over my shoulder to reach the strap. I felt warm suddenly, tingly. I had to remind myself we were locked up, chained and about to be killed. I heard him swallow. And then his mouth was on the back of my neck. He pressed a hot kiss there, searing through me. Then he stepped back abruptly. "Can you reach it now?" he asked horsely. I nodded mutely and didn't turn around.
                                                         [Alyxandra Harvey, Page 210]

In this part of the book, Isabeau and Logan are being held in a room, hands chained to the ceiling. Logan is trying to get the wire from Isabeau's bra to pick the lock. Isabeau is a stubborn girl. She is strong, and doesn't like to be told she can't do something. She never listens to Logan unless she thinks the same way. They have both started to fall for each other, and in this part I think Logan is trying to hold back his Lust for Isabeau. I think Isabeau will end up opening up and become less stubborn and she might even listen to Logan more.

Isabeau is stubborn and she is starting to fall in love with Logan, and vise versa. This video is a mixture of both her stubborn side and her soft, loving side.

Blog Post #3 - Melanie's "This reminds me of..." - Thursday February 28, 2011

"Imogene. What are you doing here?" I turn and there he was: Adrian in his ghostly glory, which was basically  him standing there all tall and gawky with a puzzled look on his face."

                                                                                                  [Charles de Link. The Blue Girl. Page 116]

     The part that I am going to talk about, is the part of the story where the author indicated that Imogene, the main character, can see and talk to ghosts. She is talking to a ghost boy named Adrian who died in his teenage years.

     Many movies, stories and TV shows consist of people being able to speak to ghosts. Whether they are ghost whisperers or spirit mediums, or even just ordinary people who have had an accident or were just born with the talent of speaking and seeing ghosts.

     A movie example would be paranormal activity. The type of ghost is different though. In the movie, there is a demon ghost who has been stalking the main character since she was 8 years old. She moved into a new house with her husband, and forgot all about this phenomenon. Soon after living in the house for a while, the two of them start to experience paranormal activity such as keys being in the middle of the floor, knocking sounds, etc. The difference between a demon and a human ghost is that a human ghost shouldn't do any physical harm to a person or object. Poltergeists move objects and are of disturbed nature. Human ghosts stick to a house because they have become attached and are stuck in limbo. Demons and poltergeists can move around and are no longer of human form.

     A TV example, would be the show "Ghost Whisperer". This suspenseful show involves a woman named Melinda Gordon and how her life is filled with ghosts. Just like the book, Melinda speaks and sees Human ghosts. And, just the same as the book, she tries to help the ghosts make their way towards the light so that they can move on to heaven (Or hell). The only differences between the novel and this show, is that Melinda is the only person who can see the ghosts. There is an additional character in the show that can hear the ghosts, but he tends to shy away from them. In the novel, a friend of Imogene's, Maxine is with her when she goes to see Adrian, and she too can see him. The characters ages are also far from each other.

Blog Post #2 - Melanie's Summary & Review - February 24, 2011

L

Book #1 - Hearts At Stake - By: Alyxandra Harvey
Summary -
      The book that I have currently read, and finished, is called Hearts at Stake By: Alyxandra Harvey.  Vampire's don't seem like a bother to Lucy, as her best friends family, and soon to be her, are vampires. The secret slipped out that Solange, Lucy's best friend, is the next Vampire Queen when she is turned into a vampire on her 16th birthday. To make things even more difficult, vampires from all around have been sent out in order to capture Solange. Love.. Hate.. Sadness.. And choices have to be made. Does Solange become a vampire? Is she captured or perhaps killed?
Review - ★★★★★
     When I first started to read this novel, I was hooked after reading the first few sentences. I couldn't get enough of Lucy or of Solange. Alyxandra is a really talented author, and I hope to read the next book when it comes out. I 100% suggest this novel to other readers.

Book #2 - Wondrous Strange - By: Lesley Livingston
Summary-
     The other book that I have recently read and finished, is Wondrous Strange By: Lesley Livingston. Kelly, the main character, is an actor in a play called "A Midsummer Nights Dream" And was written by Shakespeare. Kelly's roll as Titania, the fairy queen, has been  what she has wanted for most of her life.Little does she know that she is more connected with the role than she realizes. Adventure and a sad romance follow the pages of this novel. What is Kelly?  What is going to happen?
Review- ★★★★
     The novels storyline was hard to follow at first because it kept switching from her being in the play and her not being in the play. But, I liked it, I found it entertaining. This book has a great mix between mystery, romance and well.. Strange things. I hope to read the other novels in this series.

Blog Post #1 - Melanie's Book Poem - Tuesday February 8, 2011

Of all the choices I could find, there was only one poem that I could find that was fairly close to how I feel about books. The perfect poem for me, isn't one that I can pull off of the internet. The poems on the internet are other peoples thoughts and feelings on books. The perfect poem for me would be one that I would have to personally create. But.. I'm not going to make one because I am not very good at poetry.

A Book
By: Emily Dickinson
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

The way this poem connects my feelings.. Is that well a book can take me to another world and time. It shuts off all connections to the real world and I almost become engulfed inside of the characters feeling and actions. At some points, my heart goes out to the character who is having trouble reaching or achieving their goals.