Exclusive Interview with Julia Karr (Author of XVI)

We heard so many good things about XVI that we couldn't wait to read it. We just finished it and couldn't wait to ask the Julia Karr a few questions about her and her book! She got back to us right away with answers!

RTR: If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

Julia: Serious answer: Jesus - I mean, yeah... I'd want to know all about him.
Not so serious answer: Colin Firth - because who wouldn't want to have lunch with Mr. Darcy?

RTR: What's your guilty pleasure?

Julie: Slot machines. Every so often I take my little self down to the casino & spend a happy afternoon playing the slots. It's fun & once and awhile I even win! :)

RTR: Juice boxes or jukeboxes?

Julia: Jukeboxes! Let's DANCE!

RTR: What inspired you to be a writer?

Julia: I love to read - it felt like a pretty natural outgrowth of that.

RTR: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Julia: Write something every day (journaling counts!) and read, read, read!!!

RTR: What was your favorite book as a teen?

Julia: I was really in to Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when I was a teen. I loved me a good mystery! (and still do!)

RTR: If you could be a superhero, what would your name be and what power would you have?

Julia: Peace Girl - My power would be the ability to make people get along - for reals!

RTR: How did you come up with the idea for XVI?

Julia: XVI started as an image in my head of Nina and her surroundings. From there, the story grew pretty organically.

RTR: If you could get another tattoo similar to Wei's what would the design be?

Julia: When you read the sequel - there are more tattoos - I'd choose one of those - but can't tell you about it yet! *lips are sealed*

RTR: How many books do you plan on writing in the XVI series?

Julia: So far only XVI and Truth. Whether there are more depends on whether people want more - which I hope they do! :)

Thanks so much for the interview, Julia! We can't wait to read the sequel to XVI, Truth! 

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A Nervous Splendor - Frederic Morton

The Gist

A Nervous Splendor
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The time is 1888.  The place is Vienna, Austria.  Let history run its course. 

This book, A Nervous Splendor by Frederic Morton, chronicles the city of Vienna for almost a year, from July 1888 to April 1889.  It details everything from the price of sugar to the rising rate of suicide, and everyone from a lowly shoe-maker’s son to the Crown Prince of Vienna.  It comes back to Prince Rudolf and his mistress Mary Vetsera most often, and circles around their lives up to their deaths, when the kill themselves together.  It tells the tale of a proud city growing sadder with time. 

What We Think

Reviewed by Living Destiny

Number of pages: 340

Obviously, the gist is pretty sparse for this book.  There just isn’t a lot to say about the plot of this book.  I mean, the main character is a city.  Not a person, or even multiple people.  A city.  Who writes this stuff?  Oh, Frederic Morton does. 

What I liked about this book.  Hmmm.  Well there wasn’t a lot, that’s for sure.  I liked the character Mary Vetsera when she was first introduced.  She’s described as a young lady with ‘nerve’ who adroitly climbed the social ladder with her flamboyance and ambition.  She makes it her ultimate goal to capture the attention, and heart of Crown Prince Rudolf.  She’s spunky, and I admire her persistence.  But then she has to go make a suicide pact with Rudolf, and she doesn’t even love him.  When they created their pact, she saw it not as a way to be with him but a way to well and truly make her mark on history.  And I just didn’t like her anymore.  I liked some of the quotes in the book too, like this one: “Why hast thou lived?  Why hast thou suffered . . . To what purpose?”  There were a few little tidbits in there that really caught my eye and made me think.  But only a few.  The writing was, for the most part, dry and impersonal.  I couldn’t find any of the writer’s personality or style in the writing.  It was purely factual, and made for a very boring read.  The only other thing I liked in the whole book was the pictures.  They were inserted for a historical purpose, much like the entire book, but I liked them for the connection they made to the people.  With the pictures I could visualize the characters, and recreate their lives.  Without them, this bland book would have been even duller.  Now, what I didn’t like.  Unfortunately, I can’t say everything, but it comes pretty close to everything.  The writing style, as I mentioned before, was totally awful.  There was no spark of life in it.  It was like a heartbeat monitor hooked up to a corpse.  Just one obnoxious flat line screaming out in a monotone, trying desperately to catch someone’s attention.  It was so boring I almost fell asleep while reading it.  Then there was the subject itself.  Sorry, but I just don’t care about the city of Vienna during 1888.  Maybe if the book was only about Mary Vetsera and Crown Prince Rudolf I would have liked it more, but it wasn’t.  It was about the whole city.  It jumped back and forth to basically everybody in Vienna.  There’d be a paragraph about Sigmund Freud, then one about the Crown Prince, then one about Katharina Schratt, then Johann Strauss.  And on and on and on.  So many different people talked about, forgotten for ten chapters, and brought back in, expecting to be remembered.  9.5 times out of 10, I didn’t remember them.  The characters were all so brief in their appearances, I couldn’t connect to any of them.  The only common element was the city, and I didn’t feel any deep personal connection to Vienna either.  In fact, the only connections I felt to any part of the story at all came when there were mentions of the theatre, music, writing, or some other sort of art, those being my passions in life.  Otherwise, I simply didn’t care. 

Basically, I read this book for history class.  There were slim pickings for the book you could read, and this one was what I got.  I know it’s a history assignment, but I still had some hope for it.  It was quickly squashed under the weight of heavy, emotionless text and too many characters who didn’t develop enough to care about.  Don’t ever read this book for fun.  And if you find yourself presented with a history writing assignment, which I’m about to turn this review into, don’t pick this book. 

Real Teen Rating ~ F: Don’t even bother!

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Beastly - Alex Flinn

The Gist

Beastly
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Kyle Kingsbury is a beast. Beautiful on the outside and hideous on the inside, with a rich father and not a care in the world. But everything changes when he meets the witch. Disguised as a physically ugly student at Kyle's school, the witch Kendra out about true beauty in class. This catches Kyle's attention. Mostly just because he can't believe what he's hearing. He doesn't understand the whole concept of inner beauty, and the fact that an uglier person is saying it is too much. He decides to pull a mean prank.  Ask Kendra to the next school dance, then show up with another date;  completely humiliating her. And he goes through with it.  He asks her, she reluctantly agrees, and he shows up with another date - popular and pretty girl Sloan - to embarrass her. His plan works perfectly, but instead of being humiliated she's just angry.  But Kyle pays no mind to her, and goes to the dance, has a good time, and goes home.  Later, she appears in his room and casts a spell on him. She takes away away his beauty and turns him into a beast. Covered with hair, claws and fangs.  Ugly. She tells him that he has two years to find some one to love him despite his ugliness. If he can't find anyone, he'll have to stay that way forever. Horrified, Kyle's father moves him  to a dark  mansion on the other side of New York City to live alone with only his maid Magda for company. Kyle doesn't know what he's going to do. He'll never be able to break to spell. Because who could ever fall in love with a beast?


What We Think
Reviewed by Dream Catcher
Number of Pages: 304
I had been wanting to read this book for a while. I love fairy tales. But I especially love them with modern-day settings. I love imagining I'll be the next modern-day Cinderella story or somthing. Or the next Repunzal is sitting next to me in Algebra or the next Snow White is my neighbor. With modern fairytales my imagination can roam free and believe that maybe magic and happily ever afters can be real, even now. Needless to say, I'd been excited to read a story - Beauty and the Beast - set in modern-day NYC. The city that never sleeps. The Big Apple. New York City. How could that NOT be completely AMAZING? It's a fairytale in New York City! Well, that aspect of the book was kind of a disappointment. If I hadn't been told it was NYC I would never have known. It's the tiniest part of the book  - senseless, really. So that was kind of annoying...but not that bad. It was the author's decision to only mention the location, so if that's what she wanted, sure it was great and  it didn't bother me at all. Also I could just be a little biased because I LOVE New York City. Anyway. It was the smallest thing that hardly affected how I enjoyed the book as a whole.
The plot was Beauty and the Beast with a modern twist. So instead of a snotty jerk of a prince who gets turned into beast, we have Kyle: a snotty jerk of a rich high schooler. Instead of an old hag who begs for shelter from a storm, we have Kendra: a high schooler-disguised-witch wandering from place to place.  And instead of waiting until an entire rose wilts (doesn't the beast have until he's eighteen or something?) Kyle has until two rose PETALS wilt. A.K.A. two years. Tough break, dude. Really don't know what else to say about the plot. It's really just the classic modern fairytale. Maybe a little more unique than the average retelling because I really haven't heard of too many retellings of Beauty and the Beast. So that was pretty cool.
The characters...had their moments, I suppose. And by "have their moments" I mean good and bad ones. Let's start off with the main character: Kyle. Simply stated, he's a jerk.  He only cares about himself and how many people he can put down or hurt.  Then, over time, he magically changes into a caring, thoughtful person. Would this happen in modern-day New York City? I have no idea. Point being, it happened in the book and it wasn't as inspiration as one would hope. I mean, I guess it was fine, but before his miraculous transformation he sounded REAL. After he sounded fake and just altogether not like a regular teenage guy. And when that happened everything got a whole lot more cheesy - making me drop the grade. A lot.  Kendra was an interesting character.  She had the wisdom factor while at the same time managing to be kinda sassy.  I liked how she could justify her beast-spell and really not care who Kyle was. She didn't care that he was good looking or rich, just that he was a complete jerk.  Kyle's father was...can I say the word tool? He was a tool. Negligent and botox'd and all that jazz. Ugh, terrible person but important to the book, because he was the one who made Kyle act the way he does. Underlying statement: Kyle's father is  to blame for the spell put on Kyle?? I'm not sure if you could go so far as to say that, but if that's how your going to take it the whole thing is very ironic. Because his father couldn't image a worse fate for his son. Irony. The family maid, Magda was just kind of there. I mean, she was nice and everything, but there didn't seem to be much of a point to her character at all (until the very end, I guess...).  A character I didn't mention in the gist was Will. He was Kyle's blind tutor. Yes, blind. He was my favorite character, except for maybe his dog Pilot. Will was funny and witty; he always seemed to know exactly what to say to make Kyle feel better or to get him to shut up if he was being a jerk again. He was great, and is played by Neil Patrick Harris in the Beastly movie (fun fact)! So he was pretty amazing. That only leaves Lindy, the girl Kyle is trying to get to fall in love with him. In the beginning of the book, she was smart and sensible and strong.  She thought before she said things and didn't like Kyle just because she had to.  But near the end she became...or at least seemed to become...less smart. She just...flopped. Ugh. She was just too corny near the end and I lost too much respect for her. A pity.  So overall the characters were okay.
The dialogue was sadly mediocre.  Maybe it was just because romance isn't her forte, but whatever the reason the romantic dialogue made me want to vomit. Example? Ugh. Well, Kyle was too afraid to profess his love for the Belle of this new Beauty and the Beast, so he would just say it in his head. Puke. Okay I'm going to make up a random example, but this type of thing is what was in the book. Here we go. GIRL: "Do you want to go look at the roses?" KYLE: "Yes." Yes, my love. Like he couldn't say it out loud, so he just HAD to say it in his head. I dunno, maybe some people think that's romantic, but I DON'T.  Other than some of the romance dialogue...it was alright, if a bit unrealistic. Somethings just didn't match up with the characters. It seemed like it was written by an adult trying to remember what it was like to be a kid. And not doing it that well.  It was...eh. Alright but nothing special.
The writing style was just a little bit better than the dialogue. But it follows the same patterns. Too many exclamation points, for one. I mean, seriously, no one's that excited when they've convinced themselves they're going to die alone because of their beastliness. Secondly, it was all just a bit too cliché and a bit too cookie-cutter for me. Also a little childish, but maybe that's just the overuse of exclamation points. All in all the writing wasn't that bad, but not amazing.
First and last lines. One of my favorite things to review. There could technically be two different first lines. There's this little thing that appears periodically throughout the book, a sort of online support group for mythical or magical creatures. It was one of my favorite things about the book. It was cute and original and I always looked forward to that. One of those little online chats is at the very beginning of the book. The first line of that is, "Mr. Anderson: Welcome to the first meeting of the Unexpected Changes chat group,". So that as a first line isn't that bad, but in my opinion isn't that great either.  Mediocre. But if you skip the chat at the beginning the second first line would be, "I could feel everyone looking at me, but I was used to it,".  I'm not sure if this one is any better. Either way, the beginning line is alright; nothing more, nothing less. The end line is really LAME. Really, really lame. When I read it I groaned. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO END WITH SOMETHING SO CORNY? Seriously. I'm shaking my head in disappointment right now. Terrible.
Lastly, the cover and title.  Honestly I love them both. The white rose on the cover is enticing and beautiful, and unlike a lot of books nowadays it actually relates to the book. Even the title of the book is artful and I mean the actual title drawn on the book. Like thorns of the rose. Awesome. The literal title was great, too. Beastly. Dark, mysterious and intriguing. Theses things, as shallow as it is, actually made me want to read the book.
Overall, it was just the tiniest bit above average for me. The characters, plot, setting, and dialogue was very mediocre. The little things, unique things, like the title, cover, and online chat excerpts were great. I wouldn't say this book was great. I'd say it was pretty good. Average with a few splashes of surprising (for lack of a better word) awesomeness.  Maybe the technical aspects of the book were a bit lacking, but really I enjoyed it. Not like it's the best book I've ever read - because it's not at all - but while I was reading it I thought it was pretty good. I certainly don't regret reading it. If you're going to see the movie read the book first. Because I'm pretty sure the book is WAY better. Always.

Real Teen Rating~ C+ : Well, I guess it was good.

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Red - Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich

The Gist

Red
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Mr. Moses has a calm, regular life.  Everything he does is a quiet, boring routine.  Get some workout in, water the avocado plant, and rip up the pension checks he receives so he can call his caseworker Sarah and flirt with her.  One innocent morning Mr. Moses wakes up, goes downstairs, and finds himself under attack.  Not by the forces of dullness or routine, but by a professional team of assassins.  Life gets exciting again as he takes down all the assassins, creates a diversion, and escapes.  Now ex-CIA agent Frank Moses is on the run from whoever is after him.  He brings Sarah into the mix to keep her safe, then gathers up his old team: crazy Marvin, strategic Joe and lethal Victoria.  Together, and with the help of some old allies, they've got to figure out who's after them before they get killed.  But time isn't on their side, because the CIA has labeled them RED: Retired, Extremely Dangerous.  

What We Think

Reviewed by Living Destiny

Run Time: 111 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

I watched this a little while ago with my family because, surprisingly enough, my mom was really pumped about it.  It's surprising because the last time my mom was excited about a movie was...well...when was the last Dwayne Johnson movie?  Um...anyway...the movie!  I was pretty excited for it too.  Steller cast of oldies, and an interesting plot.  I love action-y type comedies, and this totally fit the bill.  I was a little cautious though.  Sure, the preview looked funny, but I've seen equally funny previews that turned out to be horrible movies.  My dad says I'm a more hardened cynic than most of the adults he knows.  Ah, well.  I'm happy to report that the movie was not a dud, and was just as hilarious as the ads portrayed it to be.  

The acting was amazing in this.  First of all, Bruce Willis is awesome.  Just awesome.  He plays Frank really well.  He's funny, but is good at playing the serious bits too.  The ability to be emotionally diverse is nice to see, compared to the actors who can only play one part well (hello David Spade as creepy sleaze guy).  Morgan Freeman, as we all know, is God.  So even though he had a kind of small part as Joe, he was a stand out.  But really, when has Morgan Freeman ever had a bad performance?  So he was good as a skillful sneaky oldie.  Color me stunned.  Helen Mirren was totally feisty.  As Victoria, she looks like this demure British grandma, but she's turns out to be this beastly assassin who can't get enough of killing people, which is pretty funny.  She's literally addicted to the thrill of the kill.  The star of the show, however, was John Malkovich.  He was the funniest character by a long shot.  Playing Marvin, he's a certifiable whack job who is overly paranoid and a little too weapon happy.  It's the most amazing thing ever.  He had the best lines (kudos to the writers, by the way), but he also had the best physicality and delivery.  He is a phenomenal actor, and he literally had me in tears I was laughing so hard.  My family and I still randomly quote him because we loved him so much.  Crazy old dude has serious talent.  Karl Urban is also in this movie.  I tortured myself for a solid ten minutes trying to figure out where I recognized him from until my dad went "I might throw up on you".  BAM!  Moment of clarity!  He's in Star Trek!  He played Bones, for those of you who saw Star Trek.  It was cool to see him in such a different part.  He was more of a bad guy in this one, even though he wasn't really a bad guy.  It's complicated.  I kinda love him though, so seeing him in this was the icing on the cake.  The only actor I didn't like was Mary-Louise Parker.  I seriously thought she was on drugs the whole time.  She was so loopy and out of it, like she had no idea what was happening.  She giggled at totally inappropriate moments, and just acted high most of the time.  I get that she's not used to the adrenaline rush of being on a mission or whatever, but if she was going for overwhelmed it was some of the worst acting I've ever seen.  Ever.  Stay off the meds.  

The plot was really eye-catching, just from the ads.  Old CIA agents getting attacked for mysterious reasons, and kicking some serious butt to figure it out?  Hel-lo.  I'm already interested.  The whole plot was really well done.  There were a few predictable bits, but only on small details.  For the most part it was unexpected.  There weren't any slow parts; it kept a good pace and just ran with it.  This movie never lost my attention.  It was very funny, right up to the end, but it had enough serious parts to make it intelligent.  Overall it was a well done movie, and my cynicism was unnecessary.  Although I'll always use it.  Oh and John Malkovich was hysterical.  So there.

Real Teen Rating ~ B+ : Worth Watching!

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Pawn Stars- History Channel

The Gist

Pawn Stars
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Rick (The Spotter), his dad (The Old Man) and his son (The Big Hoss) own the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop located in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Every day they see hundreds of cool historical items come on the shop and some that are complete fakes.  They have to be able to spot the difference or they will lose the trust of their buyers and sellers.  With the help of some specialist they will buy, sell and pawn things you could have sworn were destroyed years ago.

What We Think

Reviewed by The North Star

Number of Seasons: 4

I apologize in advance for the crappy gist.  This is a really hard show to explain because it isn't exactly a reality show, but it's not fiction either so it is kind of in the miscellaneous section.  I found this show from my dad, one day he was watching it and I started making fun of him for watching "educational"  TV, but after watching it for a while I found that it was actually really interesting.  Sometimes these guys will find some really, really interesting stuff.  Something that they find or people bring in you didn't think existed or how it was saved after all these years.  The guys on this show are also really funny and personable.  The one problem that I have with show is that after you watch 7 or 8 episodes you feel as if you have seen them all.  I don't really watch this show anymore because of my last statement.  For these first 7 or 8 episodes you are completely engrossed and can't wait until the next episode but after that oh great, they found another 100 year old artifact worth a lot of money.  Then sometimes they mix it up with a piece of artwork, a car or some sports memorabilia but I have seen it all before.   The great thing about this show is when you watch the episodes with things you haven't seen before you learn without knowing it.  I learned a bunch of history that I didn't know existed from watching this show and I didn't mind because I was entertained.  If school taught like they do on pawn stars people may start doing better on tests and actually look forward to going every morning.  In the end, this is an above average show but can't be watched in marathons and should be taken in small amounts in long time span.

Real Teen Rating: B- :Worth Watching but no need to DVR

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Adele- 21

Reviewed by Dream Catcher
Song Time: 51 Minutes and 30 Seconds

21
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Adele is a pretty famous British singer with two CD's: 19 and 21. She was nominated for four Grammy's in 2009; Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Out of those four nominations she won Best New Artist and Best Female Vocal Performance. Her first CD, 19, was released in the U.S. in June of 2008 and her second, 21, in February of 2011. 21 is about the heart-break and sadness brought on by her recent break-up with her boyfriend. She writes and performs her own real-sounding and soulful songs and can only be described as unforgettable.

Rolling in the Deep - 11/10 - I originally heard this song on the radio and had no idea it was Adele. I loved it and went to buy it on iTunes - only to find out who really sang it! I was pleasantly surprised and then just decided to buy the whole CD on a impulse. BEST DECISION EVER. The CD is amazing. Anyways, this song is what started it all - even for Adele. Originally a single and then added to the album. I love everything about this song. Her voice is brilliant and the little guitar in the background adds a lot to the song. Good beat. The chorus is the best part because she really belts it out and shows how the emotion behind the lyrics and the song. The lyrics. YES. Amazing. It's basically about a guy who breaks up with a girl and the girl keeps wistfully thinking that if they'd tried harder they could've had it all. I can't decide which is my favorite line so I have two: "The stars of your love/they leave me breathless." and "You had my heart inside of your hands/now you play it to the beat.".

Rumour Has It - 8.8/10 - It's about rumors. Pretty self-explanatory. This isn't my favorite song on the CD. Mostly because the lyrics aren't as good. The song consists of too many chanted "rumour has it, rumour has it"s for my taste. That's what the chorus is. So that's kind of eh. And if you think I've been spelling rumor wrong it's the way the actual song has it; the British way. There's quite a beat in this song but that doesn't really make up for the okay lyrics. Now I make it sound like I hate the song. I don't. It's really grown on me but it's just not my favorite. Favorite Line: " She made your heart melt/but you're cold to the core/now rumour has it she ain't got your love anymore."

Turning Tables - 11/10 - This song is so amazing. I love it. It's about a girl who feels pressured by a guy and feels like she can never give enough to please him. The lyrics are so awesome. The entire chorus is my favorite line! Seriously. Also the slow-ish melody is really pretty and really sad sounding, with some string instrument in the background, beneath beautiful piano. Overall it's one of my favorites on the CD because the lyrics sound so real and meaningful, and her voice backs it up. Favorite Line: "So I won't let you close enough to hurt me/No, I won't ask you, you to just desert me/I can't give you what you think you gave me/It's time to say goodbye to turning tables" (p.s. that's actually the whole chorus <3 ).

Don't You Remember - 10.8/10 - I really really like this song. Just not as much as Turning Tables, just by the tiniest bit. In this song the guy has left the girl because she "has a fickle heart" and "bitterness" and "a wandering eye". Not such good things to have in a relationship, so I've heard. Now the girl is trying to get him back by telling him to remember why he loved her in the first place. It's kind of cute. Her voice is, as always, amazing and the song sounds beautifully sad. Really good song. Favorite Line: "Why don't you remember?/Don't you remember?/The reason you loved me before"

Set Fire to the Rain -11.5/10 - I don't really know why I love this song so much but I do. It's about a girl who always felt very safe around her guy but then he showed this side that she'd never seen and he left her. Sad. This song has a really cool beat like nothing else on the CD and is definitely one of my favorites. The lyrics are really interesting. The fire probably represents anger and rain, sadness. So she set fire to her sadness. Anger took over the sadness of a breakup. There's always lots of piano in her songs, and as always it was great. LOVE THE CHORUS. She sounds so powerful. AMAZING. Yeah, really. Favorite Line: "I set fire to the rain/watched it pour as I touch your face/well, it burned while I cried/ 'cause I heard it screaming out your name".

He Won't Go - 8.4/10 - The additional .4 (originally I was giving it an 8) is simply because of the little piano ditty at the end. LOVE IT. Haha. Anyways that's about the only thing is this song that I truly loved. I like the song, but it's certainly not one of my favorites. It's just kind of there for me. I song that fades into the blogging-background. I'm pretty sure this is about a girl who is about to be broken-up with and she's saying that she's not going, that they're in love and all that. I think the only thing I sincerely don't like about it is the hard drum beats for the words "I", "Won't" and "Go" in the chorus. Every word got a hard drum beat and to me that was a little cheesy. Favorite Line: "I can't bear this time/It drags on as I lose my mind".

Take It All - 8.5/10 - This is another song that's just kind of there for me. I don't dislike it, but I don't love it. That's what it's like for songs in the middle of an album. Not as good as the ones at the beginning and the end. About a girl asking a guy to just take everything - even her love - when he leaves. She's willing to do anything for him, even change herself, but nothing seems to work out in the end. There's some prominent piano in here that's not the best, but still pretty good. And no song sounds all that bad with a voice like her's. Favorite Line: "Take it all with you/Don't look back/At this crumpling fool".


I'll Be Waiting - 8.6/10 - The middle section is full of songs that I thought weren't as great as the others on the CD. This has a faster tempo and sounds more upbeat. But it's about a girl being willing to change herself for a guy. Come on. She says she'd been immature and times were different, but she'll be better to him. So she's here when he's ready to love her again. Ugh. No. The melody is pretty good. Just not one of my favorites. A song that really gets you to move to the beat. Favorite Line: "I've seen your face under every sky/ Over every border and on every line/ You know my heart more than I do/ We were the greatest, me and you".


One and Only -8.8/10 - The best of the mediocre middle songs. It has a unique sound that builds dramatically each time to the chorus. It sounds kind of cheesy and it kind of is, but the song has really grown on me.  It's a girl telling a guy to forget his past and accept her and love her. So that's pretty good, I guess. If you don't like it at first, it'll grow on you. Favorite Line: "Every feeling, every word/ I've imagined it all/ You'll never know if you never try/ To forgive your past and simply be mine".


Lovesong - 11/10 - This is actually the one and only cover of another song on her album. Originally this song was by a band called the Cure. You may not have heard of the band, but I'm sure you've heard the song at some point. When I was listening to this song for the first time on 21, I kept thinking to myself, I know this song...But anyways, her version is slower and sadder sounding somehow. Probably because it's slower...I really like this song. There's some simple guitar and it sounds almost graceful...if you can describe a song like that. As for what it's about, I think the title explains everything. It's a love song. An I'll-always-love-you type love song. Favorite Line: "However far away, I will always love you/However long I stay, I will always love you/ Whatever words I say, I will always love you/ I will always love you".


Someone Like You - 13/10 - I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this song so much. This is my favorite song on the CD but when I think about it, I'm not exactly sure why. It's a very sad song about a girl who found out her old boyfriend is married and perfectly happy without her. She tells herself that she'll find someone like him who'll love her. Amazing lyrics, pretty melody, unforgettable voice. I think that's what makes the song exceptional. Her voice holds so much emotion in this song - more than in any of the others combined. Especially during the chorus. She sounds so angry and sad and heart-broken all at once. So amazing. Even if you don't buy the album I say you should buy this song - if nothing else. It's a true, sorrowful song. Favorite Line: " Never mind I'll find someone like you/I wish nothing but the best for you, too/Don't forget me, I beg/I remember you said/ 'sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead' ".


I Found a Boy - 12/10 - This is my second favorite song on the CD. Another sad one. Big surprise, right? But, hey, sad songs make for good ones. Who wants to listen to some famous person singing about how great their life is in comparison to your's? Not me. Not that I want Adele to suffer terrible break-ups. That would be mean. No, after these sad songs she certainly deserves to find someone to love. Anyway. This is about a girl who is finally getting over a guy, but he comes back because, basically he wants what he knows he can't have. So now that she'd gotten over him a little, he came back because he was suddenly interested. Annoying and sad but hopeful. The song says she'll find a guy who loves her more so yay for LOVE. The melody is beautiful and so is her voice. The guitar in the background ties the whole thing together. BEAUTIFUL. Enough said. Favorite Line: "But I found a boy who I love more/than I ever did you before/So stand beside the river I cried/and let yourself down/Look how you want me know/that I don't need you".

At first I wasn't sure what I would think about the CD. I took the chance and bought it - and you should too!! Most of the songs have grown to become some of my favorites overall, not just in the CD. What I love is that Adele helped write and/or come up with (I'm completely blanking on the word for this) the instrumental parts of the song. She did this for most - if not all -  of the songs of the CD! I think this is really impressive, especially nowadays where some artists don't even sing what they claim is their song. You've got to give credit where it's due and here Adele deserves a lot of credit for her amazing CD.

Real Teen Rating~ A : Worth Buying!

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Chicago- 2002 Motion Picture Soundtrack

Reviewed by ShoreWhisperer
Song Time: 1 Hour and 10 Minutes

Chicago
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This was orignally a musical by the ingenious Bob Fosse. This show is set in the 1920's and is based around a vaudeville performer named Velma Kelly and a chorus girl named Roxie Hart. They both end up in murderess row for killing people. Velma kills her sister and husband and Roxie kills her unfaithful lover. They have to fight for fame and win over the court so they can escape the galleys. This movie has a killer cast that is loaded with talent. Starring the actresses Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger, and Queen Latifah.

Overture/And All That Jazz- 10/10- The overture is very unique, ironically there is no songs in the overture that are actually in the show excet for the hot honey rag, the song playingis a song that Bob Fosse wrote for the show but was cut before the show went up. All That Jazz is a classic in any musical theater book. This song was done very well. Catherine Zeta-Jones has a a great voice for Velma and the whole song is very catchy. The ensemble part is also done very well. Everything about the song is sultry and starts the whole show off to a very good start.

Funny Honey-7/10- This song is really funny. I love the jazz feel that is combines ragtime. The lyrics are really funny, she really doesn't like her husband and his part in the song is really funny. John C. Reilly is an amazing actor and who knew he could sing? The play-off during this song is really witty, the ending is very nice and both parts were played well, it's just a little weak and it gets boring sometimes.

When You're Good to Mama-8/10- The band in this song is awesome. The whole instrument part is very interesting to listen to. Queen Latifah has got a huge voice and this is the perfect role for her. The lyrics are really witty during this song, I think that the lyrics are what bring this song together because otherwise it would be boring. Queen Latifah does a lot with this song and makes it very memorable.

Cell Block Tango-11/10- I don't think that I can say enough about this song. It makes me really happy to listen to. This song is just a perfect example of the saying "hell hath no fury like a woman's rage". Not only that but the dancing makes it the most amazing song ever. The monologues are the best though. They are hilarious, and although this song is the extremity of this rage all women have at one point felt this rage. Catherine Zeta-Jones has the best for this song, you can almost feel the anger in her voice. What I like most about this song is the dance and the end, I like when they pull the red scarfs out to symoblize that they killed the men, it is a really creative song, and I think the best in the show.

All I Care About-8/10- The beginning of the song is a little strange, I like all of Billy's songs they really make me think of the twenties. They are upbeat fun songs that get songs stuck in your head. This song is extremly ironic because all Billy Flynn cares about is money so it makes the song really funny. Richard Gere played this part very well. When he starts stripping during the movie, I think that I almost died. The song was overdone but in a good way it brought out the satire in the song and really captured the show.

We Both Reached For the Gun-9/10- This song is really funny, especially when you watch the performance. It's a very unique song. The music part of this song is very interesting, the lyrics are at points really interesting, but this song is only good when in performance or if you have seen the performance in the movie, because otherwise the only impressive thing is the speed and Richard Gere's high note at the end.

Roxie-8/10- This song is nice. It's strange, but also really funny. There isn't a lot of difficulty in the notes but to perform it correctly is the key. Renee Zellweger did amazing, from her voice to her the way she moves really captures the song and the essence of Roxie, it makes the song really good.

I Can't Do It Alone-7/10- This is another song that is better while watching the performance, because it is all based on the dancing. The music is fun and upbeat and the singing is really good but other than that the song isn't any good without the dancing.

Mister Cellophane- 9/10- So who knew that John C. Reilly could sing? I didn't, but he has a very, very good voice. He is the perfect Amos. This is a very famous song and he did it justice, he sang it perfectly. I love this song. It gets stuck in your head though. His performance of this song is really good too. Just the way he did and said everything made this song convincing and perfect.

Razzle Dazzle-6/10- So I have to admit, I don't like this song. This is a very popular song and it's a classic but for some odd reason it doesn't catch me. I also have to admit, I did like it in the movie because it made the song make sense, but just listening to this song plain puts me to sleep. Richard Gere also did this song very well so it made the song a lot better in my mind. The song is really repetitive and not big and flashy like some of the other songs, which is really ironic because the name implies that it might have a little more razzle dazzle but it's just not that exciting.

Class-8/10- This song is not in the movie but on the cd. This song is really funny, the lyrics witty and the music dramatic considered what they are saying. It makes you laugh but it deals with a lot weird topics that aren't usually talked about it. The funny thing is that it's totally true.

Nowadays (Roxie)-7/10- I like Roxie's version of this song, it's short but I like the music and the way she sings it. At the end it goes into her audition so that's why it sounds different but I like the whole song in general. It makes the whole show make sense.

Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag-8/10- You need to see the performance to like this song, but just from listening to it you can still get a feel for it. The singing is really good, and I love the song in general and the instrumental part is really fun, I love listening to the band play it makes you want to live in the twenties, but you can't fully appreciate this song on a cd.

I Move On- 8/10- This song is not in the show but it's in the movie and it has the theme from hot honey rag in it. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger sound really nice together. They make a really good team.This song is on the cd because it was written for the two actors and isn't actually in the movie but it is a good song in general it's like the show.

After Midnight-9/10- This song is very sultry and I love this style of music, the soft jazz that gives you goosebumps. Even though it is all instrumental and was probably used as background music it's still good music. The noises some of the instruments make is really cool and it makes me happy to listen to this music. It was written very well, it is just like the show and it has awesome harmonies.

Roxie's Suite- 9/10- This is a song of just instrumentation. It was used as background music and was written by Danny Elfman. Both of his pieces are really nice beacuse they are modern but old fashioned at the same time. They are both really nice and sultry jazz. There isn't much you can say about these songs other than that they are really good.

Cell Block Tango-0/10-This song is a rendition of the song from the show with Queen Latifah and Lil' Kim and Macy Gray. This is a horrible song!!! The song was good as it was and it shouldn't have been changed. This a disgrace to Bob Fosse to change this song as much as they did and then call it the same song. I can't stand this song. I don't know how you can go from jazz and standard music to rap and hip hop but it doesn't work so don't try it. Don't listen to this song if you like the original it will only give you a rage for the song just like the women in the original song have rage for the men in their lives.

Love is a Crime-5/10- This was a song that was written for the soundtrack and it is sung by Anastacia. This song is not like the show at all but it's a good song in general but it doesn't go along with the show at all so it doesn't really fit in with the show.

Real Teen Rating~ B+ : Check it out sometime.

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