Event Recap: Marie Lu Book Signing Event #MarieLuinPH

Hi! It's been a looooong time but here I am once again and this time I'm bringing you the scoop from last Sunday's Marie Lu book signing event! I hope this makes up for my hiatus lol. Anyway, this post is just too juicy so let us begin right away!

PART 1: THE BOY WHO WAITS IN THE LINE

WOWZZERS! THIS LINE IS LOOOOONG. My ever supportive mom and I arrived at Glorietta 1 at 5:45 AM. We were walking in front of the mall and I thought: Wow, this line isn't so bad. A bit longer than Alex London's but still short nonetheless! But my, oh my, was I wrong. When we turned to the corner of the mall, the line as it turned out, extended to the side! The first thing I did? Stared in disbelief. Second? Brisk walked the hell to the end of the line. And that was when our 8-hour wait started. 

While we were waiting in line, a group of nice people started giving out some bookmarks and paperclip rings, and I gratefully accepted. I didn't know who they were but I really appreciated their gesture. Whoever you people are, I hope you are having a very fine day!

And with the nice people came the not-so-nice. (Rant ahead. Just letting things out.) Some people in line apparently have the ability to use the Kage Bunshin technique because the single person in front of me turned into five people by the time we were registering. But then I realized that he was no ninja. It turns out that people like him have this "style" in which only one person in a group of friends gets in line early, thus, reserving the rest of the group some spots. I don't want to say that I'm against that style but... I'm against that style. It's so unfair to the people who got in line really early and for those who waited patiently for people to cut in front of them just like that. (e.g. me) I guess it's okay if someone will just act as a placeholder, but to just cut in front of someone and for me experiencing that style face-to-face, I just don't like it. And there's this other girl (this happened during the program itself but I wanted to put all rants in one place) who just had to bring her mouth with her and said out loud: I CAN'T BELIEVE WHEN _______ DIED! I WAS, LIKE, CRYING, AND blabbity-blabbity-bla. She actually spoiled me with the ending of The Young Elites! Unacceptable!!!!!!! A group of friends beside me also heard and I guess they got spoiled too so they made "parinig" (insinuated) to the girl, and that was revenge enough for me. Hehehe. Rant over. Moving on!

By the time the registration started, there was just utter chaos! The not-big-for-800-people National Book Store Glorietta 1 branch (see photo above) was filled to the brim with 800 people! Lines went in zig-zags and even up and down National's floors! But the line for registration was a bit fast-paced so I quickly got registered and...

TAH-DAH! My signing pass number! If you think that that's big, just remember that we were more or less 800 in total by the time the event started, so 167's actually a good number if I do say so myself. Haha! By the time we arrived in the actual spot for the program, not an empty seat was to be seen. There were 700+ people and NBS only prepared 70 chairs, which disappointed me. There was no other choice but to sit on the floor. 4 freaking hours of sitting on the floor and trying my best to be in a comfortable position? Check! Customary stage and couches photos? Checkiddy-check! 

Ohmy I hope my Justin Bieber hair won't haunt BOTH our dreams. Hehe. 

PART 2: THE GIRL WHO FLATTERS THE WAITING FANS

After hours (what's new?) of waiting, the lady of the hour finally came! 

See the photo above? That was what my phone was seeing. What I was seeing, in fact, was this:

Good thing people were using their tablets. I had like a dozen monitors to watch from hehehe. And since I love y'all, I recorded the interview! But it's too wobbly and low-qual, so I'm just going to give you a rundown of everything important she has said. ("Quoted" and italicized words are her own words in verbatim)

On Marie's personal life that she is willing to share:

• Marie's husband's Pinoy! His name is Primo and he was born here, near Bicol. Does the name ring a bell? ;)
• She took up Biology and Political Science in college, but when she saw an internship ad for a job at Disney, she took the opportunity. There she made games and that was also where she met Primo, her Player 2.

On her writing:

• Marie writes on and off. There are months when she will write everyday, and some when she won't write at all. It all depends on her story and schedule.
• She wrote four (4) unpublished novels before Legend.
• When she first started writing, she actually had to draw her characters before writing about them, given her artistic background. 
• Her video game background always shows up in her stories without her realizing it like in Legend, where the Skiz fights were inspired by Street Fighter and in Champion, where Ross City was inspired by The Sims.
• She actually wants to do a picture-book, since she wanted to do something that involves artwork. 

On Legend:

• When asked if Marie sees herself like June Iparis, she says that she is more like Day. She also wears her heart in her sleeve like Day, she's also not good at Math, and "all these things that June is good at". But in the end she tells us that she is the most like Tess, and that Tess is a character that is very close to her heart.
• Currently, there isn't anyone like Anden in her life, but she says that she can associate Anden's different personalities with different people.
• She actually started writing Day's character back when she was in high school! Day was originally a darker, more cruel character although he has "evolved a lot over the years". The "darker" Day first appeared in a novel Marie wrote in high school which never got published.
• Kaede is Marie's wish fulfillment character. Kaede had the traits and characteristics that Marie wished she had, including the ability to pilot a jet (who DOESN'T want the ability to pilot a jet, right?). She wanted to be a fire pilot when she was 9 years old, but her mom doesn't want to because Marie has poor eyesight, so she ended up giving the opportunity to Kaede instead.
• She actually had a harder time being in June's viewpoint rather than in Day's. June has different personalities that Marie admits is very hard to write about. Also, she says that it is very difficult to "write a character that is smarter than you are" so she would constantly do research just to write June's dialogue. There was one time where June just rambles of about the properties of paperclips so Marie had to go to the Instant Homework Website  Wikipedia just to research about paperclips for June's dialogue. LOL!
• June was originally a boy character in the earliest version of Legend. Marie wanted to model the story like Les Mis, with Valjean and Javert with this criminal-police thing going on and Valjean and Javert being both male, but Primo suggested that she make June a girl to make things more interesting, so Marie named the evil dictator after him. How sweet. 
• Marie had difficulty in writing love scenes for the Legend trilogy, primarily because she can't help but picture a small version of her mother in her shoulder looking at what she is writing and going all like: "Where did you learn this stuff?!". Mother knows best!
• Legend has been optioned for a movie! It has been optioned by CBS films and the producers of, wait for it, The Fault in Our Stars! She remindes us that nothing is 100% certain in Hollywood unless it's already done, but the screenplay has been made. Yipee!

On The Young Elites:

• She just finished the draft for the second book of TYE, but is still in edits with her editors.
• She says that TYE is very far from her personality and that TYE did not jive with it. 
• She thinks that Adelina is kind of "twisted". Sometimes Adelina will make her be all like: "What is wrong with this girl?!". She wanted to see what it was like to be the villain, and what pushes people to be that way. As to Day from the Legend series being "the boy who walks in the light", Adelina is the "girl who walks in darkness". 
• While writing Adelina, she draws on little dark moments (e.g. traffic for 5 hours and some person cuts in front of her and she wants Godzilla to come out of the sky and devour said person). 
• She tells us that TYE part 2 is going to be darker than in part 1. It is going to be pretty much abut how Adelina gets revenge. 

Tips for aspiring writers:

• Marie handled rejection with "a lot of chocolate" (Are you sure we're not soul mates?) and that she holds on to this belief that "once a writer, always a writer". What she means is that you can't help but write if you are a writer, even if you think that you don't want to write anymore.
• I think it’s a good exercise to write at least little bit everyday. That’s what I did when I first started out. It’s hard when you first start writing, to make your writing perfect, but that’s okay. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Nobody can write a perfect first draft that I know of. Even, you know, the biggest authors I know of don’t write perfect first drafts. And I think it’s more important for you to be able to finish a novel before you can actually go back and make it better.
• Always keep on writing. Just know that everyone who is successful now as a writer went through this gauntlet of having early work that they never got published.

Also, there was this girl whom the host introduced to Marie because she was at the venue since 9:30 AM of the day before!!! Talk about dedication! 001 girl got a huge hug from Marie, which, if I was in her place, would definitely pay off the 24+ hours of waiting. No photo though. Sorry!

After the interview with the ever so courteous Ms. Yvette Fernandez, it was finally time for the signing! 

When it was finally my turn, I was speechless at first that I almost forgot to give her my letter! I noticed, though, that the signing was not very intimate (unlike Alex London's) and each person only had, like, 30 seconds with her. I wouldn't be surprised though, since there are 800 of us and only one of Marie. I didn't even make eye contact with her (:( ) but she said thank you when I handed my letter, (:D), and that was enough for me! And at least the NBS people let me take a picture with her. Yay! 

I also got to meet another IG book friend: @pamnbooks! Go follow her for bookish shtuff! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet up with Kevin of Tomebound, but I spotted him when the interview started. So close yet so far hehehe. I hope I get to meet more bookworm friends like them soon! James Frey book signing event, anyone?

So that was my Marie Lu book signing event escapade! I hope you liked my (ultra long, sorry) recap and leave a comment if you want to! Thank you once again to National Book Store for hosting the event and for letting me have the opportunity of meeting another writer I look up to. And last but not the least, thank you to Marie Lu for visiting us! It was truly an honor meeting you! I'll flatten out my bum on hard floor for you anytime hahaha. I hope you like my letter and the knick-knacks that came with it! :D Oh yeah, and I made a vlog of the event. Feel free to watch!

P.S. Remember when I said that this month is going to be Marie Lu month? On the count of three, you are going to forget that I said that. Okay? 1. 2. 3! Hi! This is Jude telling you that December is going to be Marie Lu month for Jude Reads! I'm going to review The Legend Trilogy and The Young Elites next month, so be sure to keep an eye out for them! :D << inconspicuous smiley

Une Fin Douce With My Cadbury Barkada #CadburySweetEndings #TeamChocolateMousse

Une fin douce. In English, a sweet ending! And now comes the part where you may be wondering: "Why the French-iness all of a sudden?". It is because when it comes to sweet endings, Cadbury is a veteran. Now, what does this have to do with the French words, Jude? Hold your horses because I'm getting there. Haha. It is because Cadbury is introducing two new limited edition flavors: French Vanilla and Chocolate Mousse! 

Cadbury has released two new French inspired flavors: French Vanilla and Chocolate Mousse! And with all duos come the always-present teams. (i.e. Team Edward or Team Jacob, Team Kataang or Team Zutara, etc.) In this case, my barkada is #TeamChocolateMousse! There are no second thoughts. My barkada and I are insanely addicted to chocolate mousse cakes, and to think that it now has a chocolate form - magnifique! So without a doubt, my barkada and I are proud to say that we are #TeamChocolateMousse! And speaking of my barkada, here's our shameless attempt at a french masquerade ball. Hahaha. Feel free to laugh. 

We do know that masquerade parties originated in France, so we thought to do one ourselves! That's as close as we can be to being in France for now hahahaha. #TeamChocolateMousse for the win! Just imagine that slice of chocolate mousse to cap off your day with friends, and then imagine it as tiny melt-in-the-mouth bite-sized chocolate pieces that remind you of romantic nights at the Eiffel Tower, or in our case of graceful french masquerade balls... a sweet ending indeed! These new flavors are limited edition, by the way, so grab your Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Mousse (or French Vanilla) now before they disappear!

Book Review: The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

This is it, guys! Another well-loved series finally comes to an end. The Heroes of Olympus series ends with Blood of Olympus and oh, how bittersweet this feeling is! I have been following the series since 2011 and you could only imagine the mixed emotions I am feeling regarding this novel. But enough with the drama. Did the finale live up to the expectations of fans like me? Well, let's find out!

• Title: The Blood of Olympus
• Author: Rick Riordan
• Genre: young adult, fantasy, mythology, fiction, adventure
• Pages: 516 pages (hardcover)
• Published: 7 October 2014
• Series:  The Heroes of Olympus #5

"Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen—all of them—and they're stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood—the blood of Olympus—in order to wake.

The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it "might" be able to stop a war between the two camps.

The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea's army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over. "

To tell you the truth, it took me 2 hours to type this sentence in because I just don't know how/where to start. This book is filled with so much action and drama and twists and turns and I just don't know where to begin! So I have come up with the Top 5 Best Things About The Blood of Olympus (not ranked). So without further ado, let us begin!

1. More Demigods + Gods (yes, plural) Co-ops!

I think that the PJO fandom agrees with me when I say that we all get giddy inside whenever we read about the demigods being helped by the gods during battles. And by help, I mean help in person, not just through long distance. When the gods stand by the demigods' side during battles, there's just this dramatic orchestra music that plays in my brain. It's good to see these gods helping out, and not just being busy with their double personalities. Okay, maybe that's a valid reason to not help out but still... their gods for crissakes! The least they could do is help their ill-fated destiny-bound children. 

2. More Character Background and Development.

I got to see more of Reyna's story since she finally gets a POV in this novel. It's always good to know a character more. And speaking of knowing characters more, I also got to see some of our heroes develop their characters. It's hard to explain without giving away spoilers but the point is that their characters are far from when we first knew them. They've grown and improved, if I do say so myself.

3. Unexpected Twists and Endings

Hard to explain without spoiling anything but NEED I SAY MORE? 

4. More Mythical Meet-ups + Old Friends Reunite!

New gods and mythical characters have been incorporated in this novel, both good and bad. I enjoyed knowing these new characters and what role they play in our heroes' destiny. Some helped them while some just got in their way. And with the new characters come the old - those that we haven't seen for a while. I saw some old friends in this novel once again and nothing beats a happy reunion. 

5. CLOSUUUURE + Happy Endings?

We do know, of course, that there are different issues present among our heroes. Saying that they settled these issues would be a spoiler already but all I can say is that I was amused with how they dealt with some of these issues. ;) And for the happy endings part, I'll leave it up for those who haven't read the book yet to find out for themselves. And for those who have read the novel, highlight the following sentences with the cursor (spoilers ahead!): OH MY GODS. Did Rick just... passively cliff-hanger us? Why did it end so abruptly with Leo and Calypso sailing into gods-know-where? Oh well... This just gives me hope that this won't be the last time we'll be seeing our heroes. 

Now that we're done listing the best things, let's head down to the worst things. Here are the Top 3 Not-So-Great Things About The Blood of Olympus.

1. It ended with a small and rather disappointing BANG.

There was a bang, I'll tell you that. But I felt that it just did not live up to the Tartarus our heroes have been through and to the amazing stories that we have read prior to this finale. I found myself thinking "That was it? It couldn't possibly be just that!", over and over after finishing the novel. I craved for more and unfortunately got nothing else. Which is why I'm really hoping for more of our heroes' stories, and even novellas and short stories would do! (Time for Rick to channel his inner J.K. Rowling)

2. (A personal opinion) No Percy's POV

Again, this is a more personal opinion (since everything I write in this blog are personal opinions). In fact, I wanted all seven demigods to have POVs in this book, even if it sounds like asking for too much. But I wanted at least Percy's POV to be present, since he was the main hero of the series that preceded the Heroes of Olympus (Percy Jackson and the Olympians). I thought it would be a good way to say goodbye to him. But no. The Percy POVs in the previous book, The House of Hades, were the last ones. :( 

3. It's the Finale :(

Simply put, I'll miss the series. I'll miss waiting for October for the next book to come out. I'll miss the beautiful emboss and velvet-y finish of the Heroes of Olympus covers. I'll miss Percy and the gang. I'll miss fanboying with my friends whenever we finish reading the book that just came out. I'll miss everything about the series. The whole series has been a great ride, and I'm just sad that it's over now. But luckily Rick announced a new series, this time featuring the Nordic gods! 

Taken from Rick Riordan's blog

So I'll guess we'll see some Thor and Mjolnir action soon, and I'm not talking about Marvel Thor. But still, nothing will replace the Heroes of Olympus series and it will forever hold a special place in my heart. And before I forget, here's my rating:

And that's it! I was very careful about revealing spoilers because I myself had been spoiled with this novel. And the worst part is that the spoiler I unintentionally saw was about the last chapter with all the surprise endings! (Oops, I'm saying too much already.) To that one guy who commented about a spoiler on that post on Facebook... I hope you're a fan of the Game of Thrones TV series because I'm willing to read all the novels just to tell you who's going to die next. 

So with all that said, guys, this has been my review on The Blood of Olympus! Let me know what you think about my review and the Blood of Olympus itself in a comment! Also, in light of the Marie Lu event that will be happening in two weeks, I am pleased to announce that this month (and if I run out of time, next month) will be Marie Lu month for Jude Reads! I will be reviewing her Legend Trilogy and her newly-released novel, The Young Elites! This month's gon' be goooood. Adios!