Review: TWILIGHT: THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED MOVIE COMPANION by Mark Cotta Vaz

Rating: 4/5 stars

This was an awesome little book about the making of the movie Twilight. I've never read a behind-the-scenes type of book before, and I'm not quite sure what prompted me to pick up this one (other than my neverending obsession with all things Twilight) because I've never been very interested in how movies are made or any behind-the-scenes work. But it was so cool!

I learned about many of the special effects and how they came into play. I learned about how the weather in the Pacific Northwest severely impacted the filming schedule (which I found to be surprising). I learned about how the crew set up props to match the atmosphere of the movie, down to choosing what books to place on a character's bookshelf. I had no idea that so much detail and preproduction work was put into making movies. The book talked about how people had to go scout out different locations, and how they pinpointed exactly what they were looking for in a building and how they could use that for the set. I was surprised to find out that the director wanted minimal special effects in the movie and tried to shoot it as realistically as possible to make it more relatable. I liked that decision because I do prefer movies set in real places because of that realistic factor. Even fantasies based in the dominion of Earth are better than otherworldly fantasies, in my opinion.

My favourite detail to learn about was how they filmed Edward pushing the truck away from Bella, thus denting the truck. Instead of using CGI, the team formed a thin layer of aluminum over the door, and they cut a hole out of the real door. So when Edward pushed the door, it actually dented the metal and looked like he had superhuman strength.

This book features neat movie stills and behind-the-scenes photos of the cast and crew, and I loved that the pictures matched up with the different scenes in the movie that were being discussed. (An example of this was when the author was discussing how they created the fight scene in the mirrored ballet studio, and pictures from that scene accompanied the dialogue on those pages.) Although this book is written by a third-party, there are tons of quotations and presumably interviews with the director, Catherine Hardwicke, and other elite members of the production crew.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, even though I didn't think I would. It opened my eyes to the tremendous effort it takes to plan, film, and produce a movie, and I've developed a greater appreciation for the moviemakers. I will most likely check out more of these kinds of books in the future about how different movies are made because it really is fascinating. Now I have the desire to rewatch Twilight, even though I just watched it last month, because I want to notice all the small details and nuances this time around.

Review: BIRD BOX by Josh Malerman

Rating: 4/5 stars

There is a thing outside, and if you look at it, you will go insane. It is happening all over the world, and no one is immune to the insanity. Quick, put a blindfold on to save yourself. It is there, right next to you. You don't know what it is, but if you look you will die.

I loved the concept of this novel, and I think Josh Malerman delivered on that concept well. The writing was thoroughly engaging. The story is told back and forth between the past and the future, and the transition between time periods was well timed. The pacing kept me entertained and constantly searching for new answers to new questions.

We follow Malorie and her two children over the span of four years as they try to blindly (literally) navigate this world. They are trapped in a safe-house until one day when Malorie decides to leave in search of humanity and a better life. She must travel over twenty miles completely blind, relying only on the hearing abilities of the two kids with her.

The main question I had while reading this book was what is it exactly that is outside? What can the people not stand to look at? While the book does not address the answer to this question, I found an interview with Josh Malerman where he mentions what concept led to this book's creation, and thus what the thing outside essentially is. (Skip the rest of this paragraph if you haven't read the book and don't want to know.) He says that he once heard the following statement: Man will go crazy if he tries to comprehend infinity. And that got Josh thinking, and he came up with the idea of personifying the concept of infinity into a monster. He doesn't directly say that is what the thing is in Bird Box, but that idea is the driving force behind the novel. I inferred that the people in the book are seeing a creature that represents all of infinity, and that is why they go crazy; they have no way of understanding that. I was seriously blown away by that idea when I found out that's what it was. Fascinating.

I didn't originally intend to, but I ended up listening to most of this book on audio. I chose to because, in the book, the characters rely solely on their sense of hearing instead of sight, and listening on audio produced a similar experience for myself. The descriptions are all about how things sound, and that impact is amplified when you're hearing the story instead of reading it.

I've heard Bird Box described as a horror novel, but I didn't think it was particularly scary. It was suspenseful and eerie, but not terrifying to me, although it might be to some. This is a tiny, quick book, but it pulls you right into the story and won't let go until you reach the last page. I look forward to reading more from Josh Malerman in the future, especially if his stories are as gripping as Bird Box is.

Review: BREAKING DAWN by Stephenie Meyer

Rating: 4/5 stars

*Warning: spoilers ahead*

I think Breaking Dawn is my favourite book in this series. I have been very invested in Edward and Bella's relationship since the beginning, so I was very excited to read about their wedding and honeymoon and the next stage for them. (Also, I'm a sucker for a good romance.)

By this book in the series, Meyer has created such a strong, realistic world. The details are flushed out, the characters are all evolved and familiar, and the histories and lore run deep through the story. I loved jumping right in, knowing everyone and everything that had happened so far.

I think this book was a good conclusion to the story developed in the first three books. It wasn't until after I finished it that I learned that there was a huge controversy about this book, and I still can't figure out why. I liked it, and I won't be ashamed to admit that.

This book is one of those rare instances where I didn't have any idea how it was going to end. I already knew Bella turned into a vampire and had a child with Edward, but I had no clue what happened after that, so I was really eager to find out. There were a lot of events that I was surprised about. I'm really glad that Bella was able to keep Charlie in her life after she changed. I didn't expect that to happen (I kept waiting for the scene when the Cullens would tell him that she died), and I mourned for their relationship because he is such a great character. So I'm pleased that Meyer was able to work him into Bella's immortal life.

I'm also glad that Jacob still plays a key role in Bella's life. Even though I didn't like him as her love interest, and I didn't even like him at all sometimes, he is such a prominent character that I would be sad to see him go. I also think it's better for Bella that he's still around. But man, I did not ever expect him to imprint on Renesmee! That scene totally caught me off guard. It was funny though, and clever, to keep Jacob around that way. In the end, I'm happy that he and Edward could be on cordial terms with each other. I think that's a friendship that will keep growing and surprise everyone with how strong it will become. (Look at me, talking like these characters are real. . . .)

The main reason I docked one star from this book was that I felt it was a little rushed and confusing at parts. I can think of four scenes in particular when I had no idea what was happening until about ten pages later when it all came together and I had to go back and reread some dialogue. I don't believe that a reader should ever have to go back and reread a scene to understand it; I think the writing should be clear the first time through. I didn't have this problem with any of the other books in the series, just this one.

I am satisfied with the happy ending, but I do feel like it was a little too happy. I was honestly expecting a fight and expecting people to die, and it kind of feels like a cop-out to make everyone resolve the conflict in peace and survive (save Irina, but she wasn't really a pertinent character). However, I know if there were a fight, there would be a LOT of casualties and I would be very sad (I actually cried during this scene in the movie because I thought everyone was dead and I couldn't believe the directors would do that to us). Ultimately I'm not complaining that everyone lived because I would miss any character that didn't. However, I was noticing that the books kept on telling us that to kill a vampire, you must tear its limbs off and then burn them; if you don't burn them, the vampire can reconstitute itself. We never actually saw that happen in the whole series, and I think it would have been quite interesting to include that somewhere, to see a vampire put itself back together. That would have been a good psych-out at the end, like you thought Edward (or someone else) was dead, but he was just temporarily dismantled. Ha.

What I really want to read (now that I have a book hangover) is a spin-off series about Jacob and Renesmee after she has reached maturity. How is that relationship going to work? Can a human-vampire hybrid mate with a werewolf, and what kind of child does that produce? Does Jacob stop aging permanently now that he is constantly near a vampire? I just really want all the answers about that couple, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another book someday. Until then, I will be reading The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide to satiate my desire for more in the Twilight world.