It’s National Princess Week and in Celebration

Here are My Top Ten Princess Books

10.  The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker

(Her prince is lame, but this fun tale inspired the Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog.)

9.  The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

(A little mature for some readers, but still laugh-out-loud funny.)

                8.  A Little Princess by  Frances Hodgson Burnett                 (Sad, sweet and compelling, a true classic.)

7.  Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

(An interesting modern twist on Russian myth and historical tragedy.)

6. Spindles End by Robin McKinley

(What if Briar Rose didn’t want to leave her life to be a princess?)

5. Snow by Tracy Lynn

(A more SiFi version of an old tale.)

4. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

(It’s really Snow White but it’s such a fresh take you might miss that fact.)

3.  His Princess by Sheri Rose Shepherd

(A daily devotional for young woman written as love letters from the Most High King.)

2.  Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

(Beautiful and clever, the best version of the little cinder-girl to date.)

And… #1 is… Beauty by Robin McKinley

(One of the best novelized versions of Beauty and the Beast.  This book takes the tale and makes it deeper and fuller than it has ever gone before.)

Don't forget my novel, Petals, a modern day version of Beauty and the Beast is coming Summer 2012!! 

Book Review: Redeeming Love, Prologue-Chapter 3

So, I have started reading Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers. It is a now twenty year old novel that has touched the hearts of thousands.

It's the story of a prostitute during the 1850's who is ransomed by a man named Micheal Hosea and is based on the book of Hosea from the bible.

I just finished the startlingly intense prologue and was so wrapped in the story that I quickly flashed through three more chapters ( and only put the book down because I realized I had not eaten any breakfast.)

My impressions of the prologue and chapters 1-3 are that this book tells it like it is. Ms. Rivers writes about vary "adult topics" in a delicate way, but not in a way that sugar coats it. In the prologue we see the very sad story of a little girl who is basically sold into prostitution.

Sarah is just like any other little girl, wanting to be loved by her parents and to be delighted in. But because her parents were having an affair and her father made it clear that he did not want her, Sarah never received those gifts.

Finally after her mother's death, Sarah is sold to a man who would abuse her from the ages of 8-18.

Chapters 1-3, show us how she finally got away from the man but has been working for a madame in California during the gold rush. Given the name Angel, by her abuser, she now has no hope for any other life.

Micheal Hosea, a man of God, believes that Angel is the woman he is destined to marry and wants nothing but to save her from her nightmare of a life.

To say the least: I am hooked.

DVD Review: Real Steel: A Power Punch of Fatherly Love.

Today the Shawn Levy film Real Steel busts out onto DVD.

Real Steel staring Hugh Jackman and Evangeline Lilly (Kate from LOST), is set in the not too distant future, where boxing with humans has become passé and the world now turns to watching robots beat the oily snot out of each other.

Jackman’s character is a down on his luck, former boxer who is trying to make a buck and pay off his gambling debts by fighting ‘bots in underground fights and state fair bull rings. While he is trying to do this, his former girlfriend dies, leaving him with an estranged son.

The movie is actually just rock ‘em sock ‘em robots with Wolverine and that kid from Phantom Menace (though much less annoying and a way better dancer).

Over all the movie is a fun flick and worth checking out, though it was a little to “auto-tuned” for my taste, (in other words, the makers were trying too hard to be cool). I will say that the heart-warming father/son storyline and the excellent acting, makes it a great movie to bring home for the kids.

The DVD and Blu-Ray comes with special features like bloopers and deleted scenes and would be the perfect “guys night in” flick.

Real Steel is rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language.

Movie Review: War Horse 2011

War Horse is a critically acclaimed War/Feel Good/Guy/Chick Flick movie.

Now it may not be strange to see a couple of single ladies having a girls night out, but for those two reasonably attractive woman to not only be without dates but also going to see a “guys movie” it becomes something odd.

I recently went to see War Horse with a friend and seeing as she didn’t want to watch Breaking Dawn, we were stuck going to a movie about a young man’s beloved horse who is sold to the British army during WWI.

Surprisingly the film is enjoyable and a great piece of cinematography. With blazing battle scenes, hobbit style rolling hills and Black Beauty moments galore, it is probably the most perfectly bipolar movie that I have ever seen.
It truly would make the perfect date movie, with gushy horse loving scenes followed by guys getting blown up with “ancient” weaponry.

Adapted from the 1982 children's novel by Michael Morpurgo, and the 2007 stage play of the same name, War Horse is defiantly worth a look-see and will probably be remembered as one of the better movies of 2011 (though, that’s not really saying much).

If nothing else the movie does make a good chick flick, because of all the WWI soldiers in their spiffy uniforms and of course the rising star Jeremy Irvine:

'Nough said.

So Beastly....

About two weeks ago I was able to catch the new chick flick, Beastly, a screen version of the Alex Flynn novel of the same name, and I must say it was a good hour and a half of fairytale fun.

Beastly, starring, High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens, and I am Number Four's breakthrough heartthrob, Alex Pettyfer, is a modern take on the old classic, Beauty and the Beast. The twist is that it is from the Beast's point of view rather than Beauty's.

Pettyfer, plays, Kyle Kingson, a selfish, self-centered and very vain, teen "hottie," who in an act of total stupidity invites a goth girl, (Mary-Kate Olsen), to a dance as a joke. After humiliating the girl, Kyle finds out that nothing is what is seems. The girl, a witch, transforms Kyle into a freaky looking "beast" complete with graphic scars, a bald head and magical tattoos.

Now, Kyle must find someone who can love him despite his looks or be cursed to remain this way forever.

Sadly, the movie does not stray too far from the original story, making it a good, but not great adaptation. Let's face it, if I wanted to see a really fantastic version of B&B, I'd just rent Disney's.

It is however a very well made movie, with the very sweet classic storyline of the jerk changing because of the love of a good woman. A good movie to watch with a couple of girlfriends.

On a happier note, I was very impressed, with the acting in the movie. Mary-Kate, really shined without her twin by her side, showing that she can play a creepy goth chick with the best of them. The movie also starred a "blind" Peter Krause, who added a comical element to the story, and Lisa Gay Hamilton.

When watching the movie, look for the amazing artistic points in the Beast's tattoos. With everything from a magical bush on his arm to the word "ugly" written in the vines on his back, the make-up artists did a fantastic job on him. I spent most of the movie picking out all the little hidden massages in the tattoos and scars.

All in all, a great movie for girls, ages 10-40, and just something fun for a girls-night-out.

Watch the tailer on Youtube: Click Here.

Book Review: Shattered Mirror by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Book Review: Shattered Mirror by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Walking through a local used book store, my eye caught on the cover of a very thin book. I could tell by the look of the two handsome guys pictured on the cover and the length of the novel that it was a 90’s book, maybe early 2000’s.

Standing at the back of that store I wondered if I had enough cash to even bother with buying an old 90’s book, or if it would be worth the buck-fifty I would pay for it.

The cover intrigued me, with its broken glass and the two handsome faces, half cut off into nothing, but it was the back cover that really caught my attention. Unlike most books that have a description of what the book is about, or maybe an unhelpful excerpt from said, novel, this book only had the real life picture of a very young, very sweet looking girl.

“What’s this?” I remember thinking.
The girl it turned out was Miss Atwater-Rhodes, the author of the book. At 13, Amelia wrote her first novel, In The Forests of the Night. This book, Shattered Mirror, was written when she was just 15 years old.

I was hooked, a book written and published by a 15 year old? I had to try it. So without knowing ANYTHING about the book (remember the back cover was just her picture), I dug in my car for enough change to cover the charge and took the book home to give it a read.

Shattered Mirror
2001 227 Pages

Sarah Tigress Vida, is a vampire hunter. More than that, she is from the line of the world’s most powerful witches. The Vida family has been hunting the undead and protecting the lives of humans for hundreds of years.

Though the Vida family has many rules, the first rule is never to become too close to a vampire, but Sarah breaks that rule when she meets Christopher and his sister Nissa. Two teenage vampires that go to her school.

Christopher is charming and artistic and he quickly has Sarah smitten with him, but when another vampire begins marking the humans in town with graphic drawings of his own, Sarah is shocked to find out that this vampire is Christopher’s twin, Nikolas.

Now, she must stop Nikolas from hurting the humans but will it mean losing Christopher and Nissa’s friendship? She must run the risk to stop a monster, but is she strong enough to kill Nikolas on her own and will his siblings fight to save him?

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, has spun a tale of an underground society hidden from humanity. With shades of the movie, Underworld, this novel is well crafted and interesting.
Though some of the work does show Amelia’s age, it is still well written even for an adult, let alone a teenager.

I would suggest this book to lovers of vampire fiction and readers ages 13+. With little to no, harsh language and no sexual scenes, the book's only draw back is some fairly graphic violence.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and will read more of Miss Atwater-Rhodes books in the future. You can find out more about her at: http://www.nyeusigrube.com.

Welcome!

Hey Everyone,
I started this blog to have a place to write reviews on movies, books and TV shows. Also, I wanted a place to talk about some of my own work, and the process of writing it.

I've always loved to read and one of my first words was "Watch!" So, I thought it would be great ot have a place to put all of my book, movie and TV show reviews.

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Rebekah Roberts. I am a writer. I write mostly fiction and I am currently working to get my novel, Petals, published.
To find out more, check out my website, RebekahRoberts.net, or follow me on Twitter: @RebekahFRoberts.

For those of you who do know me, thank you so much for stopping by!

Now let's get started! This is going to be fun!

God Bless,
Rebekah