PopCorn Corner: Bones - Season 2

Bones - Season 2 (2006 - 2007)
Created by Hart Hanson
Episodes: 21
Runtime: 43 min.
Rating: US TV-14
Genre: Crime Drama

Forensic anthropologist, Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, and cocky FBI special agent Seeley Booth build a team to investigate murders - and quite often, there isn't more to examine than rotten flesh or mere bones.

The second season of Bones was better than the first for me and it was the one that started to get me addicted to watching this show, I started to get excited to see new episodes and when I was thinking what to watch next/what I wanted to watch in my free time it was this show that would pick up my interest more often than not.

A good part of this is because of my growing affection with its characters. My favorite is Temperance, she wins my heart with her personality, this season we start to have a growth on her because of discoveries from her family and her connection with her brother, also she gets a little romance around the middle of the season, and while it lasted very little it was good for us to see her involved romantically with someone, it showed that she does manage to get attached to other people and not just her long years colleges.

Booth was a bit better this season, mostly because I noticed people calling him on his shit more times, and his scenes with his son were always a "awn" factor. What I didn't liked was the little romance he has this season, you see we have a new chief for the Jeffersonian lab, Cam, she starts out coming pretty strong but it turns out is more of a facade to establish herself as the boss anyway so she and Booth had a previous involvement, and when they start working together again things heat up and they get back together, that was fine and I was excited to see what they would do with this relationship but that is the thing, they did... Nothing out of it, they have very little scenes together, as a romantic couple, and when we see then getting more closer in the lab and searching for each other little touches and talks things kind of ended and I was left puzzled. I guess the producers just wanted to both, Booth and Temperance to have romantic involvements before getting together maybe.

What I did shipped was Hodgins and Angela, I still don't totally understand Angela because she is the kind of artistic free spirited that I just don't get but I do like Hodgins and the flirtatious banter on their talks had me laughing and cheering for them. Zack being utterly clueless of what was happening right in front of him was funny as well, I kind of wish he would get a romantic interest too, you know, another super genius that would make him totally in love with her brain and intelligence (not that he would know at first that he was falling in love, but that would just turn things more interesting).

In term of the cases, we have a two, I think, sort of open cases yet that will continue to the third season which I like because it gives more complexity to these cases and story lines, it also creates a more emotional involvement making it more appealing to continue to watching the series to know what is going to happen.

Verdict: 6.88 out 10 stars

Opal - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #3
Published on December 11, 2012 by Entangled Teen

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

Opal is definitely my favorite of this series so far, I started it just a few days after finished Onyx, because despite its predecessor having annoyed me and took me so long to finish with that end I was obviously obligated to start this one as soon as humanly possible, Armentrout has a thing for cliffhangers.

A lot of the enjoyment of this one revolves around if you ship the ship or not, but this is a paranormal romance so I'm guessing you ship Katy and Daemon if you got this far into it. They are (finally) in a relationship and it was just so freaking good, I was worried that with the new couple status their banter would die down but it didn't, they continue to be the same awesome Katy and Daemon and having their completely independent personalities. This does result in a lot of disagreements between them but Armentrout just handled it perfectly, they both respect each others choices, even if they wish it wasn't their choices, and try to understand each other reasoning. There also a lot more of make out sessions between them, so if you're into their chemistry there is plenty of that too.

On the contrary of the first two we actually have a very clear plot right from the start, the group has a goal and starts to plan how to achieve it. There was a few things that required a bit of suspension of disbelief on my part around how some things of this alien world worked, as always, and things that weren't as clear for me, but it involves spoilery things so I can't really get into it, if you already got this far in this series you will probably won't be too bothered, at least not when reading it - basically, just don't think to much about it.

We also have Dawson and well, he is pretty fucked up and weird at first but things start to get better for him, this was actually just another point for me to gush about how perfect Katy and Daemon are for each other, because they unite forces to make him more comfortable after what he went through. For some reason (okay, for plot reasons) we still have the annoying presence of Blake, he is even more creepy than in Onyx, basically because everyone already knows he is a creeper so no reason to try and hide it now, I honestly expect him to met a very painful and slow death on Origin, specially after that ending - oh, yeah, we have yet another cliffhanger at the end of this one.

Lux is finally shaping up to be one of my favorite paranormal series, I mean I did get this far already so that is something good to say about Armentrout's addictive writing skills. Opal was a great addition to this series, with a sweet romance, hot aliens with super powers ready to kick some ass and some pretty evil and creepy enemies, this is a win for paranormal romance fans and I'm totally read for Origin, bring it on. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week's pick is: 

Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard

Published on September 6, 2016 by HarperCollins

All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? They think the way she looks and acts means she’s trying to be a boy-that she should quit trying to be something she’s not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty. But respect and loyalty, Pen discovers, are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and strong feelings for other girls drive Pen to see the truth-that in order to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to man up.

Why I'm waiting:

• Queer fiction with a lesbian as the main character, that doesn't fit the mold expected to girls to be girly
• f/f romance that stays solid and in a healthy relationship through all the book 

Are you waiting for this book? Have you read it yet? Let me know!

Top Ten Favorite TV Shows From 2015/2016

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

To honor the new Fall Season I'm gonna be talking about my favorite tv shows of 2015/2016 (some from fall, some from winter, some that I started watching last year), thank you Banco de Séries for making this easier on me, let's get into one of my favorite topics:

1. Suits | Season 1-5, overall rating: 8.14 out of 10: I binge watched Suits in July 2015 and it was pure golden, I fell head over heels for this series right from the first episode, even thought the bigger plot that stated it is pretty far fetched I was able to ignore it and enjoy this one immensely. 

2. The 100 | Season 3, overall rating: 8.25 out of 10: this series has been a favorite ever since the first season aired, this season started a bit off and slow for me but it picked up and oh my god, I had lots of feelings, as always, cried in a lot of episodes and PLEASE STOP HURTING RAVEN REYES, SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS SHIT! Also, can I please have Bellarke on the 4th season, pretty please.

3. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Season 3, overall rating: 7.92 out of 10: another favorite of mine since the start, this season had a few low points for me and I wasn't always on board with this whole inhuman thing but it still managed to hit me on the feels and MY SHIP HAS FINALLY SAILED, and I honest to God thought there was gonna be a regeneration for Ward, still hurt it didn't happened, in my head it did, it totally did and him and Skye (YES, SHE IS SKYE, NOT DAISY SHUT UP) are on The Bus making out and being cute together. 

4. Grey's Anatomy | Season 12, overall rating: 7.83 out of 10: okay, so Grey's isn't that great anymore but it's still a solid series for me, I enjoy watching every week when it's airing and keeping up with the drama of the doctors of Grey-Sloan Memorial.

5. Doctor Who (2005) | Season 9, overall rating: 7.83 out of 10: this season was better than the last but I'm still sad about Clara leaving, she is by far my favorite companion and I don't know how I'm gonna deal with a new one, I expect to be someone totally different because I couldn't deal with a similar character that would only remember me how much I miss her.

6. Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Season 3, overall rating: 7.59 out of 10: this series started out just okay for me but it become better and better and now is my favorite (and best) sit-com airing, it is seriously so amazing, everyone should watch it, it's funny and feminist and diverse and has the best group of characters that work together in an amazing way, but be prepared because that cliffhanger was mean, so so mean. 

7. The Shannara Chronicles | Season 1, overall rating: 7.25 out of 10: this is the series that I've been wanting and didn't know, I always loved to read fantasy books but I don't think I ever watched a fantasy series (or at least one that I enjoyed much). I was so impressed with the visual effects of it, since it's a MTV series and the Teen Wolf visuals aren't anywhere near this one, the main trio is great, I'm not a fan of the love triangle of sorts it has going and do not ship the ship, my ship as of right now is Eretria & Amberle (THIS IS TOTALLY CANNON SHUT UP).

8. Castle | Season 1 - 8, overall rating: 7.91 out of 10: this series consumed half of may and all of june and it was so worth it, Castle & Beckett have the best hate to love relationship and their chemistry is always on point, as friends, partners or couple, the side characters are also amazing and I laughed loud a lot of times watching it. I'm glad it ended in the 8 season, because despite being good from start to finish the last season was weak and it felt like it didn't had anything new to tell.

9. New Girl | Season 5, overall rating: 7.22 out of 10: me and new girl had its ups and downs but I'm glad this season was a up, definitely one of my favorites of the show so far, I'm so glad that we finally have Schmidt & Cece <3, Winston had its HEA too finally and my hopes for the next season is that the whole Nick & Jess drama doesn't drag too much. 

10. Superstore | Season 1, overall rating: 7.09 out of 10: as you may have noticed I enjoy sit-cons a lot and am always looking for something new (and good) to watch, so when I heard of a new series with America Ferrera and Ben Feldman I had to try it out, so glad I did because is amazing, funny, with a great set of characters and I ship the ship super hard (even thought at times I think I shouldn't ship it, but them they do something cute and I'm back at shipping it hard core). 

That's it for me, let me know if you also watch some of the series above and what you think about it!

Three Dark Crowns - Kendare Blake

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
Series: #1
Published on September 20, 2016 by HarperTeen
[This book was given to me by the Publisher, this in no way affected my opinion.]

Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.

If only it was that simple. Katharine is unable to tolerate the weakest poison, and Arsinoe, no matter how hard she tries, can’t make even a weed grow. The two queens have been shamefully faking their powers, taking care to keep each other, the island, and their powerful sister Mirabella none the wiser. But with alliances being formed, betrayals taking shape, and ruthless revenge haunting the queens’ every move, one thing is certain: the last queen standing might not be the strongest…but she may be the darkest.

I wanted to read this one ever since it was released the synopses, since it's a YA fantasy focused on three girls and I'm so glad I had a chance to read it, it was amazing, with a few peeves but overall an amazing start to a new fantasy series. The thing that most comes to attention with this one is the fact that this whole world is super female focused, we not only have always Queens (and the King is just a consort, with no real power) but also the bigger power figures of this society are always female, in this stance it reminded me of the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima.

Other thing that caught my attention was how much political focused it was, if you like your fantasies full of battles, fast paced action this may not be the best for you but if you like stories about struggles of power and court stuff this will probably please you. I really liked the way this enriched the narrative, I was honestly never bored and/or found this too slow, even thought we don't have action happening there is a lot of world building surrounding this Island and the magic that revolves around it. Also a plus for me, this whole elemental (?) magic reminded me of The Impostor Queen, the whole atmosphere of the story too.

We follow this story in third person but mostly through the eyes of Katharine, Mirabella, Arsinoe and Jules. Katharine is the poisoner queen and right from the start she was my favorite, I kind of suffered for this because around the middle part she doesn't have that much POV's but still, she went through a character arc in this book that was amazing, starting as a pretty weak and sheltered girl, to getting more into herself and with the ending I hope even more things from her in the sequel, I mean, like seriously her last line gave me chills, guys, chills.

Mirabella is probably my least favorite character of the story, I just can't sympathize or connect with her, first she is all good and rainbows, sounding like a Disney character and I'm sorry, but I don't like this shit. Them she kinds of try to grow a back bone but I didn't understood why she continued to be repressed and controlled over and over again if her power was so big, she could shake the earth, cause a fucking storm to kill everyone on that Island why the fuck does she keep getting crap and not doing a freaking thing. I don't understand you girl.

I guess a lot of my hate has to do with the romance (more on that later) and the priestesses, both of which I hated. The priestesses reminded me of the Sparrows plot on Game of Thrones, with their greed for power and their subtle (or not so much) plots to try to take over a council they think it's corrupted from being so much time in the poisoners hands.

Arsinoe was probably my biggest surprise in this story, she and Jules live together so their chapters are usually (always?) together and their story started out pretty meh for me, but around the middle it gets more importance is probably the biggest and more relevant, I dare say, of this installment of the series. Arsinoe is supposed to have the naturalist gift, but so far she hasn't show any aptitude towards it and with her sixteenth birthday coming up this means she will die, literally, I grew to respect this girl so much, she has a strength that isn't measured in power but on resilience, Jules on the other hand is the most powerful naturalist on the last I don't know how much years and her strength is more physical, despite it I didn't cared much about her.

What made me care more about Arsinoe along the story is because of the friendship that develops between her, Jules, Joseph and Billy, a possible king consort that comes to visit her, it was slow and weird at first because of certain things of the past and the fact that Billy is there to courtship Arsinoe so that he can be a King, but they begrudgingly find their place in this group and really cared about each other. Also, the Queens went at the age of 6 to stay with families that have the same powers as they, to train and grew apart from each other and at first, it seemed something more about power but at end I could see how much these families cared and are so faithful about their Queens, it was touching.

Now, the romance, oh why did you had to exist and why did it had to go into so many cliche routes, it was such a good book with powerful female characters, why oh why. We have Katharine and Pietyr, which at first seemed fine, because they are both using each other to achieve their goals, her of getting the crown, him of getting a seat at the council and I could totally get into a romance like this, with they cunning to take over this Island and having make out sessions in between but them, all of sudden they are all "We can't fall in love with each other" and it's so clear where this is heading, I also already said that Katharine doesn't have the most of the POVs, so we don't get much of their interactions and no, big no, but with the ending I think this is over so at least there is hope.

This I guess will contain a bit of spoilers but its only regarding the romance. Joseph got banished of the Island when he was 11 and he and Jules were like the best of the friends, right at the start Jules and Joseph meet each other after 5 years apart, and everyone is acting like they were a couple already and she is already thinking of him more than in a friendly way and him too, but they were separated when they were only 11 years old !!!! 11 years old wouldn't think of their friends that way, it freaked me out and it too quickly and sudden since they had this build up we don't get to see, but I could be forgiven you know, maybe I just wouldn't get an OTP out of this book but oh no, it had to enrage me with a love triangle that came OUT OF NOWHERE and it was 100% unnecessary, it also involved cheating and instalove, so big no.

Okay, I guess there a explanation because of some *things* that happen that involve magic but god, wish it didn't existed. So Mirabella saves Joseph and OF COURSE they end up having sex in a cave and after that they just have this undeniable attraction for each other, even though Joseph continues to swears Jules is the love of his life and Mira knows it, they just can't keep away from each other, after "meeting" for one day, this dragged so much and I think it will keep going in the next book and I'm sad, because it irritated me SO MUCH each time it came into the story. At this point I just want Joseph to die a slow and painful death so that we can get over this.

Despite this terrible romantic choices, Three Dark Crowns was a really good read, I got invested right from the first chapters and always wanted to pick it up again to read more and more. It is definitely different from most of the YA fantasy that I have read in the last few years, with much more focus on politics and the magic existing in this Island than in action packed plot, it also had a great set of main characters and the ending left me wanting the next book so, so, so much, despite the terrible romantic choices our characters make I suggest you give this one a shot if fantasy is your thing.

September TBR

Last month I was super sure I had fond the perfect method to keep my reading game on prioritizing books that I've been wanting to read for a long time and/or had been recommended to me but I still hadn't got around to red it, well it didn't worked out that great, I totally forgot about that list and went in a completely opposite direction.

One of the reasons that made me completely forget about my August sort-of-TBR is the fact that I'm in a bit of a slump, I'm still reading and feeling good about most of my reads but after the binge I went in July (20 books!! I know)  it was pretty clear I would need to take a bit of a break of reading. Also, my classes started and now even thought it has only been a bit over two weeks they are slaying me, I have to get out of my house around 06:40 and only come back around 14:00, wish is an insane schedule for me, and put with it more studying the whole afternoon and night and I'm pretty much brain dead around the time I go to bed, which is usually my reading time. I also got sick in the last week of August and my brain is killing, so yeah this slumpish mood is a natural reaction I think.

I hope to get back on track this month, settling in my new schedule and that with it my reading game will be back to a more normal pace. Nonetheless, I still managed to read 6 books in August and two of them are over 500 pages, so yay me! They are The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson, A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes, Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake, Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco and Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland (all with reviews to be up on September). 

Now, on to the September TBR

As you may (or not) see is that this TBR is mostly centered on ARCs for October, mostly because I went crazy on Edelweiss one of these days and well, let's just say now I have a lot of new things to read. Some of these are auto approvals so I'm not gonna put much pressure into reading them, these are more for if I already read to ones that I requested/have been wanting to read forever them I may get to them, but some of these are much waited (HI, NEW MEG CABOT BOOK! HI, MELINA ADULT MYSTERY!!!) and are definitely gonna be a priority to get to.

Well, that was it for me, wish me luck and tell me in the comments what is in your TBR for September.

Our Chemical Hearts - Krystal Sutherland

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
Published on September 6, 2016 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
[This book was given to me by the Publisher, this in no way affected my opinion.]

John Green meets Rainbow Rowell in this irresistible story of first love, broken hearts, and the golden seams that put them back together again.

Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of love that he's been hoping for just hasn't been in the cards for him—at least not yet. Instead, he's been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything's about to change.

Grace isn't who Henry pictured as his dream girl—she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys' clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It's obvious there's something broken about Grace, but it seems to make her even more beautiful to Henry, and he wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again. And yet, this isn't your average story of boy meets girl. Krystal Sutherland's brilliant debut is equal parts wit and heartbreak, a potent reminder of the bittersweet bliss that is first love.

This book is a hard one to review, I started it without any expectations since none of my friends and trusted reviewers had read it already, usually I wouldn't read a book that I knew next to nothing about but I'm in a contemporary binge in this past year so I decided to give this one a shot. In some parts it surprised me in a good way, and in others in a bad way ending up to be a mixed bag for me, with some of the bad stuff weighting more than the good ones.

Let's talk first of the good things, the first thing that stood out for me was Henry's voice, it was funny, sarcastic and it seemed like a friend narrating a story or even myself at some point of my teen years, it wasn't overly philosophical but it also wasn't dumb down, it felt realistic, with some pretty quotes and meaningful insights in what it's to be a teenager and in love. Other thing is the high school we have represented here is the closer I ever read to my own experience, there wasn't super closed cliques, you had your closer friends but everyone would hang out together for things like parties and it wasn't a big deal, it's a change to the usual take we see pictured for teens.

This also lead to a more diverse sort of characters without them being shot in your face like "look at me, I'm so diverse and inclusive". I would have liked to get to know more about most of them, but since the books is mostly focused on Henry's experience with first love and the good and bad that it comes from it we don't got as much screen time with the other characters as it was necessary for me to really care about them.

Now, let's start with the bad, one of the reasons that also made the secondary characters not seem as fleshed out was because the narrative had much more tell than show, for example Henry would tell you all about how that last reunion of the journal went after it happened, so we only had to know that Lola was super sassy and Grace was brooding in that day but we don't actually get to read them having this said meeting, and the girls being their sassy and brooding selves. After a while this become really annoying and it took me out of the narrative so many times, it took me seven days to read this book and a lot of the reason was because of this, I just couldn't keep going after reading an entire chapter of Henry telling what he should have been showing me.

This also took a tool in the romance, Henry starts out pretty much instaloving Grace and when the time comes for they spend more time together, get to know each other, we don't get much scenes between them, we was pretty much brushed over the whole development of their relationship when there should have been banter and flirty with only Henry saying to the reader that they had the most amazing time together, Grace was so funny when she wasn't in her bad days, and oh my god we are the best for each other just because I'm telling you this. It didn't worked for me, in a way I understand why it may had to be necessary because of the number of pages and the time this book covers, but this method just made me not care about the romance and distance myself from the story.

Now, the romance, this book let you know right from the synopses that is romanced focused and if you ever read something by John Green you probably can tell where this is going right out of the first chapter. Like I said above the narrative didn't made me care about these two characters being together, Henry at first is pretty creepy and obsessive, and after that we just get a whole lot of Grace playing of hot and cold with him, her "mystery" was pretty obvious from the start and there was so many times that Henry would be like "what the hell is happening" and I was just banging my head because it was just so plain obvious. So basically this part of this story did nothing for me, except maybe annoy me.

One other minor thing was Grace's character journey over the book, that is probably much more personal and may not bother other people so much, but Grace passed for a traumatic event before the book started and during the whole story it's showed time and again show messes up she is, how much she needs help, professional help and it's never done anything about it. I, in addition, didn't sympathize much with her in view of the fact that I have a close friend that passed through something similar, so I just wasn't touched for her self pity and how much she seemed determined to put everyone down with her destructive acts.

In the end of the day Our Chemical Hearts had some good points but it kind of got lost in the middle of a lot of annoying things, I honestly don't know to who to recommend this one, maybe super hard core lovers of stories like Paper Towns looking for more of the same. If the things that I said above aren't things that usually bother you as much, you probably will have a better time with this one than I did.