EPIC Catching Fire Prize Pack Giveaway!

November 22, 2013November 21, 201361 Comments

Happy Hunger Games!

Today is the day that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire releases in theaters!

How excited are all of you? I hope that you like it, look and for those of you who were able to see it at a premiere, or at a late night showing last night, or you’re in a country that’s hours ahead of me here in California, I hope you liked it!

I know I did :) You can read about Days One, Two and Three of my experiences at the Catching Fire Fan Camp and Red Carpet Premiere, and my spoiler free review of the movie. I had an epic time this weekend, and I sincerely enjoyed this movie, so much.

Now I’m ready to have a giveaway all for YOU lovely people!

I have four prizes for you!

Prizes:

Three winners Will Win:

An Exclusive 2013 Catching Fire Fan Camp Poster, as pictured below.

One Lucky Winner Will Win:

A Catching Fire Wristband

An Exclusive 2013 Catching Fire Fan Camp Poster, signed by:

Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair), Willow Shields (Primrose Everdeen), Jena Malone (Johanna Mason) and Francis Lawrence (Director).

Signed by Sam Claflin, Francis Lawrence, Jena Malone and Willow Shields. Hard to tell but I SWEAR they are there :)

Who wants to win these awesome prizes? I know you do!

It’s so easy to answer, via the Rafflecopter link below, but FIRST, some simple rules!

RULES!

The contest will run from today, November 22nd to December 1st!

The winner will be contacted within 12 hours of contest end, and if the winner does NOT respond within 24 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

The contest IS International

Make sure to come back every day to tweet about the giveaway and earn extra entries!

Share with your friends!

This contest is in no way endorsed by Suzanne Collins, Scholastic, Lionsgate, etc. WhatANerdGirlSays is not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes.

Enter Now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck and May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor!

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Book of the Week-Catching Fire

November 21, 20131 Comment

In spirit of the release of Catching Fire in theaters tomorrow (or for some of us, viagra 100mg today), pharmacy I decided to do an oldie for the Book of the Week.

Okay, I also haven’t read anything new this week. I know. Its awful. I’m trying to catch up, and I’ll have book reviews up soon, I promise! I just gotta get back in the groove!

But until then, let’s talk about Catching Fire, and why I think its the best book in the trilogy. Don’t forget to see the movie this weekend; it is SO amazing. You can read my review of the movie here.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

Genre:

Young Adult, Dystopian

Part of a Series?:

The second novel of The Hunger Games Trilogy

Age Recommendation:

14+

Plot Summary:

From Good Reads:

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol – a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she’s afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she’s not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol’s cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can’t prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel in the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before…and surprising readers at every turn.

The Review:

This is the strongest book in the trilogy, easily. We’ve had the world established in the first novel. We know Katniss and Peeta and the world they live. We understand the cruelty of the Capitol and the heads of Panem, and President Snow and the Gamemakers. We know all this. The Hunger Games is a great book, something that grabbed me from the very first page.

But Catching Fire takes it to a whole new level. For one thing, the entirety of Panem grows in this novel, which opens our eyes even more to the cruelty of President Snow and his government. The Victory Tour shows us all the various different districts, and I love that. I think that this is where Katniss really begins to see what effect she had, and that her effect isn’t necessarily a bad thing. All she’s ever known is District 12 and the small amount of time she spent in the Capitol. Seeing the other districts only fires her up more.

I also love that we meet so many new important characters in this novel too like Johanna and Finnick and Plutarch, and people like that. Not only does it open us up to new victors besides Haymitch, but we see how the Games have effected other people as well. Plus its good to meet characters that you can get attached to like Katniss and Peeta. My favorite character in the entire series is Finnick Odair and he’s introduced in this novel.

The Games! The Games in this novel just takes it to a whole new level too. It was scary enough in the first book, but at least Katniss seemed to feel almost at home. She knows woods; she can’t hunt and she can take care of herself. Not only is she in the unfamiliar territory of the jungle but the arena also has that clock twist to it, which is awful! A new horror every hour? No thank you! Crazy killer monkeys, jabberjays that sound like your loved ones being tortured and poisonous fog? Its insanity.

I think the most important part of this book though is Katniss’ transformation. She goes from being focused only on herself, her familiy and her own survival (which is NOT a bad thing at all) to being concerned about so much more. She becomes concerned with Peeta, and Haymitch, and her prep team, and Cinna. She even begins to be concerned about the other tributes, even though they’re trying to kill her. Remember who the real enemy is.

Lastly, I think this book has one of the BEST cliffhangers ever. I remember reading it and wanting to throw the book across the room. How could this possibly be happening? What? What?! WHAT? I couldn’t handle it. Luckily enough for me, Mockingjay was coming out within a month, and I didn’t have to wait too long to find out. But an epic cliffhanger, and they nailed the cliffhanger in the movie, just an FYI.

Rating:

5 out of 5 Stars

Recommended or Not?:

Of course. And I recommend seeing the movie too, which is out in theaters tomorrow!

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I hope you enjoyed this impromptu, last minute Book of the Week, and that you’ll head out to see the movie and that you enjoy it just as much as I do!

Happy Hunger Games and May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor!

Official Vampire Academy Trailer and Giveaway!

November 21, 2013April 3, 2020Leave a comment

It’s here everyone! The official full length Vampire Academy trailer! Check it out!

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NaNoWriMo-The Reawakened Playlist!

November 20, 2013November 20, 2013Leave a comment

Hey ya’ll! How’s it going? We’re nearing closer and closer to the end of November, tadalafil which means that we’re heading closer to the end of NaNoWriMo.

Now, mind no matter what your goals are, you’re a winner! Because setting the goal out to write a novel, and doing the hard work for it? Its an incredibly daunting task and I commend each and every one of you who decides to do it!

And if you don’t finish, its okay!

But keep writing :) NaNoWriMo is only one month, and I want to see some finished novels from all of you!

Now, let’s see, what is today’s post? Oh yes! MUSIC! I love music! In high school, music was my LIFE. I was so passionate about music, it was insane. I’ve fallen a little bit out of it, because I focus more on keeping up with all the books and the book world, but I still love music.

And music really helps me to write. I know there are some authors who listen to music and there are some authors who need silence, but I definitely need noise. I write with the TV on, but mostly I write with music.

I’ve noticed that a lot of authors do playlists for their novels, and I realized I’ve never done that before. I just put on whatever I feel like listening to, but I decided to change it a bit for The Reawakened.

So that’s what this post is. I’ll be posting the songs I’ve been listening to like crazy, in order to help me write the novel.

You may want to pay attention a little bit too! Since you guys can’t actually read The Reawakened, you can get a little sneak peek of it by paying attention to these songs!

So here is my The Reawakened playlist!

Also, if you click the song title, it will take you to the song on YouTube for you to listen to!

Novel Theme Song:

Nightmare by Set It Off

They’re coming, creeping from the corner

And all I know is that I don’t feel safe
I feel the tapping on my shoulder
I turn around in an alarming state
But am I loosing my mind?
I really think so
Not a creature in sight
But what you don’t know is that

My breathing gets faster
And so does my heartbeat
I wish this was over
I wish that this was a dream

The Rest of The Playlist

Sidewalks by Story of the Year

From the sidewalks,
Running away from the streets we knew,
Side walks,
Like the time we thought was made for you

All of the days have passed us by,
All of the sun is gone…away

Partners in Crime by Set It Off

You’ll never take us alive
We swore that death will do us part
They’ll call our crimes a work of art

This tale of reckless love
living a life of crime on the run
A brush to a gun
To paint these states green and red

Zzzz by The Cab

I’m high and dry, and kicked to the ground
I’m lost, and I’ll never be found

Singing myself to sleep
and you’re still my favorite melody
It’s been three weeks
How long can his go on?
Singing myself to sleep
You’re haunting every memory

Distance Disturbs Me by Set It Off

Separated by a scream,
its just a bittersweet success with a dash of failure
I’m hanging by a thread, intentions cut to shreds
I’m starting to lose my grip so
Someone please distract me, I need a new obsession
Am I just going crazy?
I’ll never learn my lesson because

I would kill to be a mile away
or feel the breath you’ll take
But fate won’t let me

Swallow the Knife by Story of the Year

So let’s make this night be our best mistake
So let’s take the time to wipe the blood away
Now our hands our tied
and our world is caving in

Now our hands are tied
and the problems lie within
So we pray for night
to start over again

Just One Yesterday by Fall Out Boy

If heaven’s grief brings hell’s rain
Then I’d trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday

I wanted this song so bad for City of Bones. I really want it in City of Ashes or City of Glass. Let’s do this.

Monsters by I Am King

And there’s something behind the clouds
that we can’t see
All things that once had meaning drag behind me
We’ve been living a lie
We’ve been living a lie
A masquerade that will end in destruction
You’ve been living a lie
You’re not all what you pretend to be

Get down on your knees
and we see the darkness and the light
Entwine, as the end of the world
becomes so clear to me

It’s Over When It’s Over by Falling In Reverse

Take it back, take it back, my friend,
All the things that you said about the end.
This is it, this is me telling you it ain’t over til it’s over

Death Valley by Fall Out Boy

We love a lot
So we only lose a little
But we are alive
we are alive

We’re gonna die
It’s just a matter of time
Hard times come, Good times go
I’m either gone in an instant
or here til the bitter end
I never know

In Dreams by Like Moths to Flames

I’ve been asleep for too long
In a life that’s not my own
Never wanted to feel alone

Come wake me up
I’ve been asleep for too long
Never wanted to feel alone
Lost myself
Slow to love
So cold

We watch the world turn
But never stop to think about who we are
Take me back to the start
Mend all the pieces that fell apart

Breathe by Sienna Skies

There comes a time when we will choose
A time in life which we’re confused
this feeling we will share exists
It sometimes translates with a kiss
The floor is ours
Let’s not waste any time now
Or we’ll regret everything

Nothing Like Today by Divided by Friday

Take me back to when I had it all
Before I let my feelings fall
‘Cause lately I’ve been hating who I am
I took for granted what I had
and watched it wash away
But tonight, I’ll let it out
Tonight, will be nothing like today

No Control by Set It Off

Fall to my knees, God I beg you please
Show me just an inch of mercy
help me, help me, I’m doing all I can
Pretend I’m unaffected, but their pain became my present

Swear this isn’t what I wanted
God, this house is haunted
The way that this could, if things were a melody
And after all of this we’ve been through
I wish we could switch shoes
This life ain’t fair for us all

My walls are built, and on display
I drown in guilt, due to dismay
Maybe someday I can see how this has shaped me
Bite my tongue, with swelling lungs
I gasp for air and let this go

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I hope you enjoyed listening to some of the music that has been inspiring to me!

What are some songs or some bands that help you when you are writing? Share in the comments!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Spoiler Free Movie Review!

November 20, 2013April 6, 20203 Comments

I am so incredibly lucky that I was able to attend the Catching Fire fan camp and red carpet premiere in Los Angeles. You can read my recaps of Day One, Day Two and Day Three. I met so many awesome cast members, and fans, laughed my butt off, got NO sleep whatsoever, and made a ton of memories. But the best part of the whole experience was being able to see the movie early.

And now that the movie is out in TWO days (or tomorrow, if you’re seeing it at the night showings like me!), I want to share my review. As always, its completely spoiler free!

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Catching Fire Fan Camp and Red Carpet Premiere-Day 3!

November 19, 20135 Comments

Finally! The day I’ve been waiting for!

It was an absolutely EPIC day and I am so excited to share it with you guys.

Day #3:

5 am: My friend Jade wakes me up. Its time to put all the stuff away, link and get packed up to leave. 5 am is incredibly too early to think about this sort of thing, but somehow I manage to get it done!

6 am: The security guys come around to give us our numbers for the red carpet. I was number 104, which wasn’t too bad actually! We were instructed to come back at 3:30, which was great, because we were all so tired!

I love that you can see my ticket (the yellow one) from the City of Bones red carpet. I was #2 for that one and was proud of that, and I like keeping it in my phone!

7 am to 2 pm: Sleeping. Eating. Showering. The basic needs of a human being that were ignored in the last two days.

2:40 pm: Arrive in line for the red carpet. Getting really excited because its finally almost time!

3 pm: Get a call about a job interview for Barnes and Noble. This is completely unrelated to anything to do with Catching Fire, but I was insanely excited, and it put me in a good mood for the rest of the day.

3:30 pm: Head into the fan section. Second row behind the barricade which honestly isn’t that bad. Sure, I would have liked to have been right up against it, but beggars can’t be choosers. And usually the people in the front row are nice. Its a little bit of a give and take. Fandom love

4 pm: Realize the people in front of us are NOT fandom love people, and are kind of rude. Whatever. Time to do some awesome work, and get my poster signed.

5:30 pm to 8 pm: RED CARPET!!!!!

I saw SO many people.

It was nearly impossible to get pictures with anyone, mostly because the people in front of me, were not really nice. BUT I got my poster signed by SO many people on the carpet, including: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Donald Sutherland, Bruce Bundy, Stanley Tucci, Stef Dawson, Bruno Gunn, Maria Howell, Amanda Plummer, Megan Hayes and Trish Summerville.

Don’t ask me which signature belongs to who. I know some of them but most of them, I have NO idea. It was chaos on the red carpet, haha, but the good kind of chaos!

I also, sadly, didn’t take a lot of pictures either because it was SO hard to! But I was glad to get my poster signed. I did get a few pictures! I think I was too busy trying to get autographs and ogling celebrities to actually take pictures with them!

The back of Liam Hemsworth’s head. I couldn’t get one of him turned around!

Bruno Gunn who plays tribute/victor Brutus

I also saw other celebrities like Sarah Hyland, Joe Jonas, and even some Laker players, like Xavier Henry and Steve Blake!

Laker player Xavier Henry!

There were also some past tributes from the first movie that hit the red carpet too, like Dayo Okeniyi (Thresh), Isabelle Fuhrman (Clove), and Jacqueline Emerson (Foxface). Even though they all die in the first movie, they’re part of the family, and they’re part of the beginning of this beautiful movie experience.

Oh and I got an extra poster signed by Francis Lawrence, the director, and Jena Malone, Sam Claflin and Stephanie Leigh Schlund. I think a giveaway may be in order *wink wink*

8:30 pm: MOVIE TIME!!!!!!!!!! We get free popcorn and drinks and head into the most ginormous theater in the history of all theaters. Seriously. Its huge. Not really in a good way. I like small theaters, for sure. This place was…uncomfortably big haha. BUT I was lucky to see the movie early so its all good.

11 pm: Get out of the movie. I have literally cried from happiness, from heartbreak, from laughter. This movie is absolutely brilliant. I won’t say more than that because I’m doing a review but ohmygod, the movie was SO good. So happy and satisfied, I can barely handle it.

12:30 am: Finally make it home. Am so happy to see my house, to see my own bed, and especially to see my boyfriend. I am so excited for all of this, I literally fall asleep without even trying.