Life Is Too Short For Boring Books

There is this code about when to stop reading a book you don't like. There is a set amount of pages you must read before giving up all hope and putting it in your donation pile. This is how it goes:

100 - your age = number of pages you should read before stopping.

Unlike Chris Argent, I do not go by the code.

Meet the humungous pile:

ebooks not included

1. The True Secret by Amira Ayad (Non-Fiction: Self Help)
Why I picked it up: I like to prize myself in thinking I have a religious consciouns, I thought this could be something I could both enjoy and benefit from.
Why I haven't finished it yet: BOOOOO-RING! Okay, maybe that was a bit uncalled for, but oh my God does this book drone on and on and on. The first chapter is just one paragraph repeated and paraphrased to no end. I couldn't get past that to actually enjoy the information discussed.
Will I ever finish it: No.

2. Writing in the Dark by David Grossman (Essay Collection)
Why I picked it up: So I went to watch a movie at the mall, I think it was Hugh Jackman's weird robot movie, and then went to the book store where they had a sale or something. I looked through the pile because I was on a book-buying-ban and reduced price books don't count. I found this book with this beautiful cover and a very gripping blurb. It was also partially because I was in a very political mood in that period of time. God knows.
Why I haven't finished it yet: The author assumes you have read all of the books he has read and based his opinions in life on. He keeps referencing all those books and authors. I am not in on the joke and I am not loving it.
Will I ever finish it: Most probably not.

3. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Novel)
Why I picked it up: I heard tons of good thing about this author through the booktube community. I wanted to explore the modern sci-fi genre after liking some of Bradbury's work and Ender's Game. It was in our Booksessed charity book fair and I wanted to buy everything there to help the cause.
Why I haven't finished it yet: Don't get me wrong, the premise of this is great. The world was very well built, but I just couldn't get myself to care about the whole plot. I mean, maybe if it was a movie starring Juno Temple I would, but no.
Will I ever finish it: I would give this book a second chance. Not soon, though.

4. The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays by Oscar Wilde (Collection of Plays)
Why I picked it up: Osacr Wilde is the best.
Why I haven't finished it yet: Here is the thing, I only ever read 2 plays prior to picking this book up, and they were both by Shakespeare. What I was expecting was different from what I got.
Will I ever finish it: Most likely, yes. I love the ideas presented in the two plays I have read and I am looking forward to reading the main play in the book.

5. The Book of General Ignorance by John Lloyd & John Mitchinson (Non-Fiction: Compilation of commonly believed false facts)
Why I picked it up: Because it is the best thing anyone can ever own! All the things we thought were correct but aren't.
Why I haven't finished it yet: The thing with this book is, because it is just a list of facts written and explained it is difficult to read all in one go. I like to pick this book up whenever I am in a reading slump and read a few facts.
Will I ever finish it: My sister thinks I won't. Consider that challenge accepted!

6. The Ballad of Reading Gaol and Other Poems by Oscar Wilde (Poem Collection)
Why I picked it up: Oscar Wilde is the best.
Why I haven't finished it yet: I do not read much poetry, but I do believe it should be enjoyed. I'm making my way through this book, slowly, and with a pen to underline all the beautiful beautiful thing this man says.
Will I ever finish it: Yes. I do enjoy it very much.

7. The Complete Short Stories by Oscar Wilde (Collection of Short Stories)
Why I picked it up: You haven't been paying attention.
Why I haven't finished it yet: I'm on my way! I have less than a quarter to read and I am dreading the end of this journey!
Will I ever finish it: Yes. Then restart again and again.

8. Secrets of the Tattooed Girl by Dan Burstein, Arne De Keijzer, and John-Henri Holmberg (Non-Fiction: A Guide to Steig Larsson's Trilogy)
Why I picked it up: The Millennium trilogy is probably my all-time favorite book series. I've read the books, watched the Swedish adaptations, watched the American adaptation, read the graphic novel (currently waiting for the second!), and I am still eager to read more. I have been researching books that discussed the series in depth, and this seemed like a good starting point.
Why I haven't finished it yet: I got sidetracked doing other things.
Will I ever finish it: YES! I am loving it. I'm not that far in, but what I've read is captivating enough to pull me back into this book.

9.رواية الثورة التونسية by د. نزار شقرون (Non-Fiction: Historical & Political Discussion of The Tunisian Revolution)
Why I picked it up: Again, political phase. Mainly though, this was basically what started the Arab Spring and the Arab Spring is very relevant.
Why I haven't finished it yet: I honestly don't know. I was reading it on a flight, the plane landed and that was that. I want to finish it, though.
Will I ever finish it: I hope so.

10.أنا أحب دميتي: سيرة عشق الإنسان لصورته الدمية by جعفر حمزة (Non-Fiction: A study of mankind's relationship with dolls through the ages)
Why I picked it up: The cover of the book was intriguing.
Why I haven't finished it yet: The pages of the book weren't intriguing enough.
Will I ever finish it: I'm not sure.

11. محاورة عن الجميل by أفلاطون و هيبياس الأكبر ترجمة د. علي نجيب إبراهيم (Non-Fiction: Philosophical Debate)
Why I picked it up:  I wanted to "broaden" my "horizon"
Why I haven't finished it yet: I'm not sure. I don't even like philosophy.
Will I ever finish it: No.

12. لحظات تفكير في قضايا عالم مضطرب by د. إبراهيم القادري بوتشيش (Non-Fiction: A Discussion of Capitalism, Prejudice, Cultural Identity, and Other Things and What is the Islamic View on These Subjects)
Why I picked it up: This sounds so awesome. I love reading about things and then tying them to religion. It is what makes the pinwheels in my brain turn.
Why I haven't finished it yet: I read the introduction. Then I got sidetracked and haven't been in the mood to pick it up again yet.
Will I ever finish it: Hopefully! I only read the intro but it was very well written. 

13. العالم الأخير by د. محمد بن عبدالرحمن العريفي (Non-Fiction: Listing of All Minor Events that Will Lead to the Judgement Day)
Why I picked it up:  It is the second installment in a dueo-logy. I read the first one for a religious studies project in school and it was awesome.
Why I haven't finished it yet: It is HUGE!
Will I ever finish it: Yes.

14. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Classic Novel) [Kindle e-reader]
Why I picked it up:  My sister kept nagging me to read it because it is her favorite book of all time by her favorite author of all time. Also, the movie was the next attraction at the cinema.
Why I haven't finished it yet: Dear GOD. I don't know. I did not enjoy the writing style. I honestly only read the first chapter.I really wanted to love it but I didn't.
Will I ever finish it: God knows.

15. Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm & Wilhelm Grimm (Classic Short Stories) [Apple iBooks]
Why I picked it up:  I was on vacation and hadn't brought my kindle. I was in the mood for a short story so I downloaded No Free Lunches and this. Read the former, it is amazing.
Why I haven't finished it yet: As with no. 9 on this list, the plane landed. I have read some more 2 weeks ago. I'm slowly making my way through this.
Will I ever finish it: Yes. It is quite enjoyable, actually.

16. زينب by محمد هيكل (Novel) 
Why I picked it up:  It is the first ever full novel written in Arabic. We studied the art of novels in Arabic Literature class back in school and my friend Jinan said, "Hey! I have this book. You should read it because I couldn't finish it for all the boring aspects of it!" and I said, "Yeah! it's gonna be awesome"
Why I haven't finished it yet: That statement of mine was indeed false.
Will I ever finish it: No. I hope it burns in the hell from whence it came.

This is a collaboration post, to read my sister's click here.

My Mad Fat Diary

So my sister and I have this weird thing in which we have to be obsessed with something at any given period of time. As this season of Game of Thrones is coming to an untimely end like a certain warden of the north turned hand, we decided it was time to start watching something new.

I've been seeing a lot of posts about My Mad Fat Diary and finally decided to watch it. Apparently the show is based on the real story of a real Rae Earl. Basically, there is this 16? year old who had a self-harming "accident" and had to spend a few months in a psychiatric ward without anyone knowing about it. In the beginning of the first episode she explores her first week back in the real world where she tries to meet people, become better, and recover from her setback.

On her way home for the first time in month she runs into her best friend since ever, Chloe. Chloe then invites her out to meet her new made friends, "the gang" in "the pub".


Meet Rachael 'Rae' Earl:

Meet "the gang":

Meet Rae's mom and Karim:

Meet Tix & Danny:

Meet Kester:

This show is weirdly funny. I mean okay, it is a tad weird and inappropriate, I'll give you that, but what British show isn't? *cough*Misfits*cough*


Things I like about the show:

a. The characters. They are all individually exactly the same, which most people are. I feel the direction captures that human trait perfectly.

b. The soundtrack is perfect. You know when you watch a very nice scene in TV or in the cinema but the music playing ruins everything? not once has this happened in this show. 

c. The graphics and special effects. I could just write a love letter to graphic effects designed of this show.

d. The show has a very Mean Girls-y vibe, which I obviously am a huge fan of because MEAN GIRLS.

e. I like the fact that even though the show starts with Rae judging everyone to be awesome based on how they look, after the first episode she kind of realized that looks aren't the most important thing and maybe it's what is on the inside that counts. This is a lesson as old as time itself, taught by parents from generation to generation for eternity, and it is cool how the show doesn't just let Rae narrate that, " looks don't matter... being a nice person does." She just changes the way she acts around others and that is completely fine.

f. Kester's character is very interesting. He isn't perfection in the form of a psychiatrist, he's just a regular guy with a messed up life of his own which he doesn't let effect his job.

g. Rae always tells it like it is

Things I don't like about the show:

a. some of the graphics are very well, graphic. I don't know any other way to put it.

b. I don't know about others, but as for myself I don't  usually become close friends with people I've just met over night. I mean, especially if you struggled in making friends all through your life. It just doesn't make sense to me.

c. The fact that Chloe is essentially always mean and cruel to Rae. I mean, she's always putting Rae down because of her weight and personality, and sometimes she's right, but others she's just unfriendly.

d. Smoking and drinking are REALLY big parts of this show. I recognize the necessity of those two elements to the "troubled youth" story, but I don't understand why they need to make smoking look so appealing and sexual. 
 
Overall rating: 3.5/5

A Review of Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre

First of all, this a post waaaaaay past due in writing. I have finished this book three full weeks ago, according to my shelfari account. After that very subtle account promotion, let me start by saying it out right before beginning the review that I really enjoyed this book. Am I ashamed of that? a bit, but not enough to not write this review, as it seems.

Here is a check list of things in this book that might be a deal breaker for some:

1. fifteen year old kid involved in school shooting
2. fifteen year old kid swearing
3. fifteen year old kid judging people based on imagining how their underwear looks
4. fifteen year old who may or may have not been photographed by his teacher for a gay porn website
5. fifteen year old who may or may have not been pimping out another fifteen year old
6. fifteen year old who may or may have not been abused by an eighteen year old

all those people are indeed very nasty

Not all these fifteen year olds are the same person. Also, I only picked up this book because I needed a V for my A-Z book challenge and I had no idea what it was about. I didn't even read the blurb. I just figured if it was good enough to win The Man Booker prize, it was good enough for me.

The book's self-sabotaging protagonist is called Vernon Gregory Little. His friend Jesus (pronounced Hay-zoos, as in Spanish) shoots his entire class in a homicide/suicide fiasco that left his teacher in a comma.And because Vernon decided to take a trip to the restroom, he is suspected as an accomplice in the whole crime.

The story in itself is very straight forward, and the writing is both simple and witty. However, the book does have a lot of things that can be interpreted in many different ways and contains lots of euphemisms. Personally, I'm not usually one for that style of writing but it somehow works for this story.

Also, I loved how at the end of a major event, Vernon would go through what happened in his head then describe himself in words he thinks befit the situation, i.e. Vernon Gone Little, Vernon Getaway Little, ...etc.

Vernon thinks of himself as a sort of God-like figure, as evident by the title. He believes his actions are directly related to everyone else's lives. He also believe that no one has that effect on his life. He goes into elaborate thoughts, or schemes, to get himself from one situation and into another. It doesn't always work out as planned though, which leaves him in a poor state of mind.

The story is both plot and character driven. One one hand we have a 'series of unfortunate events' that set the story in motion, and on the other, all the plot twists and turns are character driven. The book has a very nice balance to it.

As for the characters, some go through some serious character development, namely Vernon and his mother. Others are shown to be growing to others while from the reader's point of view they are portrayed stuck in a constant state, Lally, Ella, and Pam.

There were some constant elements in the story concerning Vernon's mother and her friends, such as everyone always having junk food as the live in the BBQ capitol of Texas,  everyone always trying to start a diet, and everyone always upgrading to better home appliances.
I quite like the dynamic between Vernon and his mother's friends. It is not very gilmore girls-y, and yet it is friendly and somehow maternal in  Pam's case.

Spoiler alert, Vernon does end up spending some time in jail as he escaped to Mexico in an effort to avoid being questioned for Jesus's crimes. In that time he spends in jail the reader experiences one of the best character developments in any book ever. Not in a cheesy Arrested Development sense, but something more believable ad easier to grasp.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this unusual book and would recommend it to people who aren't very sensitive towards the overtly violent and sexual themes that go inside the mind of a 15 year old weirdo.

final rating: 4/5 (mainly for the writing and not the plot
currently reading: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde 

New TV Show Review: NBC's Hannibal

I watched the first episode of NBC's Hannibal. I'm going to quickly explain the plot, then do a quick review through screencaps.

The show -or at least the first episode- is about special agent Will Graham. Except he isn't really an agent because he has a mild case of autism, they don't state exactly how severe his autism is, they just slightly mention that he has it. Graham's character doesn't show any development from the flashback at the beginning of the episode and the present day after the intro. He just kind of slides out of and into place again in the FBI without any change. He even wears the same jacket.

The role of Hannibal is iconic enough that it reached a point where it is completely fine for me to see someone other than Anthony Hopkins play him, anyone but Gaspard Ulliel. Gaspard Ulliel is the worst.

As for the show it self, the cinematography is great, and you can see that every frame is thought out and executed well. There is room for improvement in some scenes but I'm optimistic that it will get better as the season progresses.

A couple of the good frames

The special effects in this show are beyond any crime-drama on TV right now, as far as I can tell. The way Graham's beautiful mind sees things in reverse in the crime scene and his terrifyingly vivid dreams are very well made and are beautiful in color and contrast.

crime scene blood "unsplattering" the walls.

Slightly unsettling but very beautifully executed

As far as the other characters go, there are two female characters which are your typical police dramas female characters. One is strong, and bad-ass, and doesn't even care about anything.The other is a soft-spoken academic who may or may not be in love with the lead character.

Can you guess which is which?

There were a couple of scenes that were really good and others that didn't make much sense or fit with the story, but I'm pretty sure this will get better as the series goes on, as do all series.

Also, can I just throw in a pitch here, NBC?
I think it would be really awesome if the transition frames from scene to scene were actually Hannibal cooking or eating. It's creepy and cool. It's perfect.

I thought lungs were more sponge-like

Lecter's basic food groups: tomatoes, lettuce, and human kidneys.

As for some of the scenes I'm dying to comment on, here:

a) this gem of a scene. I think this might be my favorite scene of the entire episode. Graham suspects the girl is dead inside her room and tries to stop the dad from entering. When the dad refuses and enters behind him, he collapses onto himself. Graham holds him up with his arms and continues to stare blankly just behind the man's head. It shows that while he is close and distant from the people's emotions around him, he is willing to be in an uncomfortable position to help others.

b) The scene in the men's room where Graham is like, "waaa I quit" and then the FBI guy comes in and the FBI boss is like "you can't sit with us". I liked i.

c) The fact that Graham rescues stray dogs and keeps them in his house and feeds them and takes care of them. I almost cried. It is so touching.

d) You're swapping evidence for DNA. why isn't your hair covered? I'm sick of this recurring mistake in police dramas.

e) There was this one scene in the autopsy room where the dead girl is lying on a table and Graham concludes from the lab staff's comments that the killer of these girls doesn't keep body parts as trophies, he keeps them as lunch. I bet this was a plot twist for all those 13 year olds who randomly watched this show.

I will not look at this naked dead girl. no sirree.

f) There was this one VERY stupid and unnecessary scene where they call up a technician of some sort to like at the phone wires of a neighborhood and tell them if it was tapped. He flashes his light on the wire, turns around, yells "It's tapped!", and SCENE!

Fun game to play while watching, count how many times Graham pulls this face during an episode.

final rating: 4/5

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Remember when I reviewed Ready Player One and said I was surprised that such a book could live up to its hype. I'm not going to say that about Divergent. Technically I didn't read Divergent, I listened to the audio-book. I'm still counting it as one of my 50 books this year, though.

The book starts out as any young adult book narrated by a 16 year old does, her describing the way she looks. Okay, you are very ordinary looking. There is nothing special about you. You are a goody two-shoes that doesn't seem to quite fit in. Let me guess, you fall in love with a bad boy that falls in love with you back? Let me hold that thought. Then, as any other dystopian book the narrator begins to describe the world she lives in. The thing about this world is that it is a dystopia disguised as a utopia, so there's that point for creativity, or possibly not because Brave New World.

Anyways, the whole world -or possibly just North America- are divided into five factions:
Abnegation: Selfless. Symbol: holding hand
Dauntless: Brave. Symbol: fire
Erudite: Intellectual. Symbol: eye
Amity: Peaceful. Symbol: tree
Candor: Honest. Symbol: scales

When a person becomes 16 they have a choice to make, to stay in the faction they were born into or transfer to a different faction and unless they choose Erudite they stop studying. Okay, education-hating society. Before the transfer ceremony the kids have to take a simulation test that shows which factions they are most suitable for. Although they don't have to choose that faction, if they choose another faction and fail in the initiation phase they will live forever faction-less; poor, jobless, and on the streets.

The simulation decides which faction suits the16 year old by elimination. So if you choose to take a course of action, say attack a dog, the amity option would be eliminated and so forth until there is only one option left. The people who realize they are in simulation and can control the outcome are those who can't be filed into a certain result of what faction suits them. Those people are known as Divergent. Can you guess who is divergent. Can you guess?
Also, the character ends many chapters with, "I'm dauntless." "I am divergent" "I am a complete idiot." Please let us come to the realization or the revelation ourselves. We do not want to be spoon-fed the


so-called character development.

If you don't mind predictable twists, cheesy bad tough guy/ good fragile girl romances, and dystopia then this is the book for you. If you are still unsure what this book is about it is basically A Beautiful Disaster in a dystopian world. If you are, however, a person who likes better books than that, then first don't read this books, second, welcome to my blog and can we be friends?

I can see how this book has a sequel, although I will not be reading it. The main story of the book other than the romance is a rebellion and a civil war that only started in the last three chapters of Divergent.

There will be a movie in 2014 starring some people I don't know, it does how ever feature KATE WINSLET as a government villain so yes, I will be watching. Zoe Kravitz is in it too, but I don't like her acting, so. I don't know why I thought Aaron Eckhart was in this. He isn't.

If I were you I'd just skip the book and see the movie if you are a Winslet fan, if not just steer clear.

final rating: 1/5

Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 2 Recap

So, the second episode of GoT aired last Sunday. I will not go into full rant about the lack of Stannis in this episode so a quick recap through points:

1-The whole Jojen & Meera introduction was the absolute worst thing since the Baelish/Sansa interaction in the first episode, idiotic and completely wrong. Meera would have never pointed a weapon at Osha, so just stop, HBO. Also, I can't believe the kid who plays Jojen is actually 23! Oh my God, talk about the fountain of youth.

2- Robb Stark continues to be a complete idiot. Talissa is a complete idiot. The only person who isn't an idiot in that camp is Roose Bolton. Probably Karstark, too.

3- Did ANYONE believe the story Catelyn told about Jon and the pox? Very VERY out of character.

4- Arya, Gendry, and Hot Pie being the little awkward children of nothingness they -now- are. I hated that we didn't meet Lem and the Winterfell stables-boy. I hated that the uncovering of Arya's true identity was by The Hound. They took so much away. They couldn't give us the simple pleasure of seeing joy in Arya's face when she sees the stables-boy. Screw you, HBO.

5- Brienne's and Jamie's scenes were a bit of a let-down. I mean, after all the anticipation. The fighting scene was great, though, and the location of the fight and the nature of it. GOD. I'm still expecting better scenes this week, though, and keeping my hopes high.

6- Jon, as usual, was a badass even when he isn't supposed to be one. I loved the Mance/Jon conversation about the wildling tribes and the whole Worg scene. The worg scene was cool beans. Yes, I just said cool beans, it's 1:30 AM, get over it.

7- Sansa and Loras Tyrell = heart break
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT. She sees in him the days of the Hand's tournament, when her dad was still alive and the world was her oyster. She sees her old bubbly little girl self in his eyes. Oh, Sansa.

Tears were shed with/for hers.

8- Sansa/Margery/Lady Olana = OH MY GOD.
The Queen of Thorns is literally the best. Her attitude, her sweet-talking Sansa to reveal the dirt on Joffrey. Freaking Joffrey.

"Get me my cheese!"

9- The whole Margery seducing the king with perverted talk about killing animals with a cross-bow. Kinky. It gives me the creeps.

10- Show us Riverrun already!!

11- Freaking Theon Greyjoy. You know, in the books, he disappears in the third one. I wanted that to translate into the TV series. You don't always get what you want.

12- The kid from Misfits is apparently sent by Asha or whatever her name turned out to be on the show which WHAT IS THAT?! I don't recall this happening in the book, but okay, I like him.

overall rating of the episode: 3/5
overall rating of Sophie Turner as Sansa in this episode: 5/5 





 

Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 1 Recap

This is not really a recap. I mean it is. Mostly it is just an elaborate rant of why I'm very disappointed in the premiere of season three. If you don't want to be spoiled this is a warning, if you want to be spoiled this is an invitation.

Season three starts where season two left, with Sam Tarly beyond the wall. I though that was a good enough start, I mean, the prequels in the books tend to be quite ominous and this seemed extremely suitable. What I didn't like was the fact that in season two they threw off the entire white walkers attack on the rangers in the fist of the first men and how the whole raven sending dilemma came about. I guess, for TV factors, they needed to make Sam a big fat fool. Also for TV points, the sentence, "You had only one job". We get it , Weiss, now stop.

CUE NEW THEME SONG.
I personally loved the new theme song. Out of the entire episode my favorite part was the theme song, and that should tell you something. The addition of new locations was just perfect, and is exactly what the audience need due to the oh so many new settings in the story. Also, ASTAPOR.

Bricks and blood built Astapor, brick and blood her people.

 North of the wall, and deep into the wildlings camp, Jon Snow sees his first giant. I loved the giant. How normal it was for the wildlings for a giant  to live amongst them and do some of their work. The camera time of the giant was slightly on the unnecessary longer side but all in all it was well.

I also starred in Les Miserable as Jan Valjan

Rattle-shirt and Ygritte take Jon into Mance's tent. Mance basically tells them both to leave, which they do, albeit Ygritte looked a bit unwilling to go. Mance then goes on to ask Jon why he wants to join him. Jon gives him a half-assed answer about how Lord Commander Mormont knew about Craster sacrificing his sons and how he did nothing about it. Which is total bull crap. In the book, Jon gives a genuine well-thought-of answers to Mance's question. In the novel, Mance knows what Jon looks like because he sneaked into Winterfell to the banquet that was thrown in the honor of king Robert Baratheon coming to the north at the beginning of the series. Jon answers Mance's question about the reason he abandoned the watch by telling him, "All my brothers and sisters were seated at the main table. Did you see where the bastard was sitting?" 

he only got away with his crappy answer because he gave mance this look

Then we get to see Bronn -who is now a ser- frolicking in a brothel because someone has to get some action in this show, doesn't matter who, anyone will be fine. I don't know why but Bronn has been getting on my nerves for the last few episodes of season 2, and anything he does in this season will just make me hate him.
Something Bronn said to Tyrion really caught my attention, when asked by Tyrion if they were friends, he answered, "We are. But I'm a sellsword, I sell my sword, I don't loan it to friends." I think this is as good an indication as any of a future parting of ways.

 I was looking forward to my favorite character's screen time, and I got about 2 minutes of it. I was also very disappointed, but the creators gave me a consolation scene which is fine. Sansa's scene with Shae, Rose, and Peter Baelish. How do I begin talking bout this scene. Okay, first of all let us talk about Sansa and Shae and their little "game". Even though this scene didn't happen in the books, and the whole Shae/Sansa relationship is completely for tv only, I liked it and like the relationship very much. What I don't like is Peter Baelish replacing Dontos in the role of Sansa's escape helper. No. When Sansa learns in the books that Peter is trying to get her out of King's Landing she is instantaneously fearful and cautious, unlike her behavior in this scene.  Sansa is also the only character -aside from Joffery and Danaerys- who got a new plot in the beginning of this season, everyone else just sort of continued old plot lines and stories. She still remains my favorite character in terms of character development. She is growing up, not as fast and dramatic as her sister and brother, but maybe in that aspect she's closer to her most distant brother, Jon Snow.

Queen Margery is finally being portrayed as she is in the books, alongside Ser Loras, who are both getting a lot of screen time this season.  As for Cersei, Tyrion, and Tywin, there is not much change on that front, all are behaving as befits their personalities. Joffery is still an idiot prick, but at least he's getting some development in this episode.

House words: Curly Locks.

Robb & Catelyn continued being their boring selves. I mean, God, grow a bit. You've practically started this whole war, Robb, and you've learned nothing to show for it. Roose Bolton said 2 or 3 badass comments about being the strongest or the best or something and that was it for the North. Oh, but wait, they are in Harrenhal. HARRENHAL. I mean come on, HBO. They were supposed to be in Riverrun from the start, and it has been constantly delayed for nothing. Nothing, I tell you. We also meet Qybrin, who I've learned I've been pronouncing the name of wring this whole time.

essentially, the reversed Snape.

Davos's and Stannis's scenes were much shorter than I expected, but still satisfactory and true to the novels. I think this is probably the only storyline left not meddled with by the tv adaptation.

Dany's Khalsaar's trip on a ship in the poison water was cut shorter than their trip across the red waste. Thank God for that. If I had to sit through more episodes of Dothraki following Dany to eternal ruin I'd probably stop watching altogether.We get a small glimpse of Astapor and the Unsullied. Missandi translates to Dany a language she already speaks, and we don't get the subtitles of the slave-lord and Missandi's conversation. Dany sees a little dirty girl playing with a wooden ball and being her maternal self follows the child into the city, the child throws the ball at her and tells her to open it, Dany falls with the ball as a hooded figure tries to jump on her only to be stopped by Jorah. The ball opens in two halves to reveal a sort of scorpion creature which the hooded figure soon kills. The child bares her teeth to the the figure, her teeth and gums are a dark night shade of blue, she jumps into the water and then reappears on the wall behind them. "the warlocks!" exclaims Dany to inform the dim witted viewers who still hadn't caught on. The hooded figure then reveals himself to be SER BARRISTAN SELMEY woah what you may think. Well, I'm pissed off by this. First of all this scenes was jumped up about 4 other event in Dany's chapters, it should have been revealed to her as a form of treachery by a new acquaintance. Second of all, I hope the ser Jorah vs Selmey plot line is still in action because otherwise this has taken a great turn for the worst.

this, like that slave's chest, is pointless.

Overall, this episode was just setting the characters back into place and reminding the audience where everything was left off, something -I don't think- the show can afford, time-wise. I'm looking forward to next week's episode but I'm keeping my hopes and expectations at bay. I was -and still am- disappointed with the premiere, but I hope the show will take off after this episode. I was disappointed for the lack of Jaime Lannister screen time, as he is almost but not quite the center of the third book.


Also, check out the web-series School of Thrones on Youtube. It is awesome.

Overall rating of the episode: 1/5