Book Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screnplay by J.K. Rowling

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay – J.K. Rowling

*Warning – may contain spoilers*

Author: J.K. Rowling

Publisher: Little, Brown

First published: 2016

Edition: Beautiful hardback, and when you take the dust cover off there’s a cute little niffler on the front!

Pages: 293

Blurb:    J.K. Rowling invites you to explore a new era of the Wizarding World…

Explorer and Magizoologist Newt Scamander has just completed a round-the-globe trip in search of the most rare and unusual magical creatures. Arriving in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when Newt’s case is misplaced and some of his fantastic beasts escape into the city, it spells trouble for everyone…

History of my copy: I picked this up on release day at Waterstones, having previously pre-ordered it. It came with a little bag of goodies, including some Fantastic Beasts bookmarks, a mini poster and a cute little ‘accio’ badge.

As I’m sure you’re well aware, this is the screenplay to the fantastic (no pun intended) film of the same name, which was adapted from the Hogwarts book by Newt Scamander. I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the film 3 days early in 3D at my local cinema as one of the premieres. And it was amazing. The story was fantastic, the acting (especially Redmayne’s flawless performance of the flawed (/perfect to me) Newt) and it was everything I wanted from a return to the magical world.

I then got the book on release day and read that, using the non-fiction book of Scamander’s as a little reference guide to some of the creatures encountered. Rowling has since announced a re-release of Scamander’s book which will include the new creatures from the film that aren’t featured in the original and I look forward to reading it.

Setting: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes us across the pond to New York where we encounter the same wizarding world seen in Harry Potter, with a large number of pivotal differences. America is a world in which witches and no-maj (muggles) are completely segregated. Alongside this, there is a clear fear of magic which underlies the whole story.

               As a screenplay, the book itself is, of course, lacking in description of the setting beyond basic scene setting but when accompanied with the film, the whole thing is breathtakingly beautiful. 1920s America definitely had a stunning feel.

               We also begin to discover a little about Ilvermorny, America’s wizarding school, through a great little scene in which the Goldstein’s and Newt argue over which is best, leaving Jacob both awed and a little confused.

               But perhaps the most magical setting of all is the inside of Newt’s suitcase, which is home to a vast variety of habitats in which all his creatures can comfortably live and I think it’s clear that Newt too regards his suitcase world as home, as he appears only ever entirely at ease when surrounded by animals.

Plot: We follow Newt as he arrives in America with a suitcase full of his ‘fantastic beasts’ which just so happen to get accidently set free by our lovable no-maj Jacob. Tangled up with the Goldstein sisters, the majority of the story focuses on Newt rescuing his creatures from the Erumpent to the cute Niffler and the invisible Demiguise, leading to some hilarious moments.

Underlying this, we have the threat of Grindelwald looming over the magical world, which our favourite four unintentionally get involved in, setting the scene for the next two planned films. Whilst the plot twist regarding Grindelwald was rather predictable, it was executed wonderfully both in the script and on-screen.

Characters: Fantastic Beasts has a whole world of characters that are all so unique yet so interesting. From the magical Newt to Jacob the no-maj, the mysterious Graves to the vulnerable Credence and, of course, everyone’s favourite sisters Tina and Queenie who are both so similar yet so strikingly different, there is definitely a character for everyone. We even have a mention of the infamous Albus Dumbledore, whom Newt knows from his Hogwarts days.

Newt himself is an adorable character and definitely an all-time favourite and no, not just because he’s a Hufflepuff. He’s shy, but intelligent and his true character comes out when surrounded by his precious animals. Honestly, he’s so relatable. Plus you can see him open up to Tina and it’s such a beautiful budding romance!

That leads me on to the Goldstein sisters who I just can’t wait to find out more about! What’s the real story behind their parents? How come Queenie can read minds? How do they meet Newt again? What about Queenie and Jacob – that has to happen!

A character I haven’t mentioned yet is Credence who is the focal point of the story. How did he get tangled up with Graves in the first place? Why is his magic secret and oppressed? DID HE SURVIVE?

To read or not to read: Go read immediately. This is another Rowling masterpiece that everyone needs in their life. Whilst I recommend watching the film first, honestly the screenplay just adds to it all and Rowling has created such a fantastically woven plot as per usual.

I think the fact that this review is all over the place just emphasises how much I loved Fantastic Beasts. As I was writing it, all these small details came flooding back that helped link the whole story together and honestly, I’m really struggling to get my adoration for Fantastic Beasts and Newt Scamander down on paper. Just go read it right now and you’ll understand what I’m on about.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Unless you have spent the best part of the past year living under a rock, you will be well aware that a new Harry Potter play, and subsequently the script, was in the making. Yesterday, the play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, had its official opening which, of course, left the book to be released today, July 31st, also known as both Harry Potter's and his 'mother', JK Rowling's, birthday.

First of all, I want to wish a very happy birthday to the pair!

You might know that I'm a huge Potter fan and I have been so excited about this book for so long now! The eighth Potter book has finally arrived! Just to give you an idea of how much of a fan I am: I've read the books so many times I've actually lost count; I've watched the films so much I can talk along to them; last night I watched Deathly Hallows Part 2 in preparation and I didn't even get 2 minutes in before crying.

So yes, h.u.g.e. Potterhead here so it's unsurprising just how emotional I was today.

I actually had a ticket for the midnight release of the book at my 'local' (over 25 miles away) Waterstones in Plymouth. However, due to the distance, I couldn't attend. I could get a bus there, but no matter how much begging, my parent's refused to pick me up. Yep, they're actually worse than the Dursleys. 

Did I let that spoil the fun? Hell no!

I got the first bus in this morning (which did mean getting up at 8am... on a Sunday...) and was outside Waterstones ready for the doors to open to receive my copy! Once I had my book, I went to the other Waterstones in the city to take part in the celebrations.

I bought the quidditch set, had some of Harry's birthday cake, made a bookmark, took loads of photos and took part in the fantastic scavenger hunt they had set up. It was so much fun, especially seeing everyone all dressed up in their finest wizarding gear and immaculate uniform!

I've only read about a third of the book so far, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. I've only read a couple play scripts before, so it took a while to get used to. I also miss having the inner thoughts of the characters and the setting descriptions, but besides that, Cursed Child is certainly living up to it's hype!

Do you have the book? Have you read it yet? What are your thoughts?

My Latest Book Haul! (07/05/16)

As I'm sure many of you are aware, I'm coming up to a rather stressful time in my schooling right now. The dreaded A-levels. As I'm taking 6 subjects (well 5 if you don't count General Studies, which most people don't), you can probably imagine that I have paper coming out of my ears and I'm reciting chemical equations in my sleep. Well, not literally. (Not yet anyway!)

Yesterday I had a half-day as my double biology lesson was cancelled. Because of that, I had originally planned to pop into town (Plymouth) and go book shopping to kill some time before catching the bus home with my brother's girlfriend. Unsurprisingly where my brother is involved, there was a change of plan so I could go straight home from school. However, as I'd sort of built myself up for a good spot of book shopping, I decided to go ahead and treat myself anyway. The only problem was money.

Although I will actually get a pretty big student loan next year, especially for staying at home, this summer I intend to learn to drive and therefore a lot of my loan (if not all of it!) will be spent on car insurance. So I decided to to limit myself to only the money I had on me. If I used my card, I think I would have made myself bankrupt!

£34 later I had a nice collection of 6 books, although a little sad as I had to put a few back.

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses; Sarah J. Maas

2. A Court of Mist and Fury; Sarah J. Maas. I took their last copy and it was signed! I didn't even realise they were selling signed ones!

3. The Force Awakens; Alan Dean Foster. I've been considering buying this for a while as Star Wars is my absolute favourite series of all time and, as it was part of 'buy one get one halfprice' I went for it.

4. Trouble Twisters; Garth Nix and Sean Williams. I had never even heard of this book, but a copy signed by Nix was in the reduced section for only £1 so I went for it!

5. Rebel of the Sands; Alwyn Hamilton. Although on my tbr, there were many books I wanted instead. In fact, I nearly chose The Heir by Kiera Cass over it but as it was 'buy one get one halfprice' with Star Wars, I ended up buying it.

6. Happily Ever After; Kiera Cass. A toss up between this one and The Heir, I decided I'd finish off America's story first. The reviews of The Selection, The Elite and The One are all on this blog. Although not too impressed by The One, I just knew I had to read Happily Ever After sometime. 

A Day in the Life of a Medical Student

Well, sort of.

As any of you who regularly reads my blog may know, I am an aspiring doctor. As I am now in Year 13, this year I had the exciting (yet daunting, I won't lie) task of choosing which medical schools to apply. I narrowed it down to Cambridge, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Plymouth. I've had interviews at all (apart from Edinburgh, which doesn't interview anyway), and with an unsurprising rejection from Cambridge, I am glad I have a back up now that I have an offer from Plymouth, which I received in December. And I only have to get AAA!! (Let me clarify, AAA is the lowest a medical school will ever offer.)

Today, I was lucky enough to be able to partake in a medicine offer-holder day at Plymouth, along with 19 others who will hopefully become my course-mates next year. Unlike the majority of the group, I only live a little distance away from Plymouth, and actually go to school in the city, so there was no long car or train journeys for me. Although, I think going to Edinburgh will make up for that. With this blog post, I want to explain the sorts of things medical students, especially those that go to Plymouth, get up to, something I hope will both be interesting to anyone, and perhaps a helpful insight to anyone hoping to pursue a career in medicine.

In the first part of the morning, we got to have a look at Clinical Skills, a vital part of training that ranges from communication and teamwork, to actual procedures. Plymouth's Peninsula medical school has fantastic facilities for this, including a range of dummy patients and even a simulated ward, where you work with actors who pretend to be a wide range of different patients you may encounter. Fortunately for me, I was quite familiar with the facilities as I did my Year 10 work experience with the medical school.

Aside from a tour of the facilities, we got to perform a couple practical tasks. First of all, we got to intubate dummy patients, which is when you push a pipe down their trachea so that they can breathe. It's surprisingly difficult, and I think we all instantly appreciated why we don't try this on real people first, as most of us managed to inflate the stomach rather than the lungs, and no-one did it particular fast, so I'm sure our whole room of patients would have died if they were real. But don't worry, I'm sure that in 5 years time we'll be able to do it with our eyes closed! (Not literally, that could be a little dangerous...)

Another exciting thing we did, was learn how to perform intramuscular injections. Perhaps not as exciting to write about, but learning how to keep things uncontaminated, and how to correctly draw up a solution and inject it into (once again a dummy) patient was fun, and surprisingly complicated!

The day also consisted of a tour of the university and Student Union, a free lunch, and an overview of the course and how Plymouth, as a modern uni, is different to those that try the traditional approach to medicine.

In the afternoon, we got to watch an hour of a PBL session. PBL, problem based learning, is when students work in small groups to focus on a case, where they apply previous knowledge, and go away to research new topics, to understand the situations, how things can be done differently, and perhaps even form a diagnosis or solution. It's a very modern way of learning, and different to the traditional lecture-based method. At first, I wasn't too keen on the idea, but now it has been broken down a little, and now I've had a chance to watch a session, it seems like a really interactive way to learn.

After I had finished at the university, I popped into the city centre to do a spot of book shopping. I ended up buying The Elite by Kiera Cass, and Cress by Marissa Meyer (the previous books of both series have been reviewed, so go check them out from the Review page!). I also had a discussion with a man who worked in Waterstones about Red Queen and it's sequel. He, like me, wasn't that sold with Red Queen, although found the ending good. He has, however, convinced me to consider continuing with the series. (Red Queen has also been reviewed).

If anyone has any questions about Plymouth uni, medicine/medical school, applying to uni, etc, please feel free to comment! Also, if any of you reading this are medical students, I'd love to hear about where you study and what you think of it.

Book Review: Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

Reasons to Stay Alive – Matt Haig

As previously mentioned, any reviews that aren’t of a fictional story book won’t follow my usual layout.

Author: Matt Haig

Publisher: Canongate Books

First published: 2015

Cover: Hardback with dust cover

Pages: 264

Blurb:    Aged 24, Matt Haig’s world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again.

A moving, funny and joyous exploration of how to live better, love better and feel more alive, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir. It is a book about making the most of your time on earth.

History of my copy: For Christmas, I received a £10 Waterstones gift card from my friend. Last week, I finally decided to use it towards an order of three books, Reasons to Stay Alive being one of them.

I had heard of this book through Goodreads, and saw that it was Waterstones non-fiction book of the month. This, along with the fact that I suffer from depression and anxiety, pushed me to buy it. And I don’t regret it at all. This is one of the best books I have ever read and, if you were to read only one book in your entire life, I would recommend this one.

It’s written by Matt Haig as he looks back on the darkest time of his life. He doesn’t dance around the issue of mental health, but delves straight in. It’s relatable and humorous, and it truly amazes me how he can put words to how it feels. Explaining your depression-riddled mind to anyone who has no idea what it’s like is impossible, and I even find it difficult to explain things to those unfortunate people who have suffered too, so, to me, it’s an outstanding achievement to be able to publish a book about it!

Matt Haig is an inspiration. He has shown that depression isn’t the end of it all, and that there is a life after it. He has also helped me feel much less alone, as many of the things he wrote about are exactly how I feel right now. He addresses the ‘difficult’ topic well, and discusses how, despite how common it is, and how deadly depression can be, there is still so much negative stigma surrounding it. I know I’m certainly not the first to feel like a disappointment for how my brain works.

Furthermore, the chapter regarding the things people say to depressives but not in other life-threatening situations really does say it all. As a student currently in my final year of a-levels, I am under a lot of pressure to get better and get my attendance back up to scratch. However, having had depression for years, I can’t cure myself and the medication doesn’t work, so I’m stuck on the waiting list for therapy. Yet, I am still expected to get better right now, despite the fact I haven’t had successful treatment. Family and friends are finally starting to realise, along with my favourite saying ‘you wouldn’t expect a patient needing a lung transplant to get better whilst still being on the waiting list and never receiving the transplant’, that this isn’t something I will immediately snap out of.

To read or not to read: Read. This book is a compulsory read for everyone. If you suffer from depression and/or anxiety, it really helps you feel so much less alone. If you don’t suffer, it can help you understand those who are just a little bit more.

If anyone would like to talk to me about depression or any mental illnesses at any point, whether you're at your lowest, or just want to know more, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll get in contact with you.

Gift Cards

Whether it be Christmas, birthdays, or any other celebration, gift cards are always labelled a terrible gift (usually along with socks).
I can, to a certain extent, see why. Yes, they seem unoriginal and perhaps like you barely know the person. Furthermore, they also tell you exactly how much that person has spent on you, either making you feel unappreciated or perhaps like they've given you a lot more than what you spent on them.
However, I personally feel like they are wonderful gifts! A friend of mine gave me a £10 Waterstones one for Christmas, saying that she didn't potentially want to get me the wrong book, and I'm okay with that. As long as you get someone a gift card for something they enjoy (it would have been stupid to get me one for a clothes shop for example), it means that you avoid any chance of buying something dreadful. As I read so much, it would have been really difficult to get me a book that I haven't already read, without risking it being something I wouldn't like. This way, I can pop along to Waterstones after Christmas and buy anything that takes my fancy - it also avoids the stress of buying presents for the giver!
Of course, family or a significant other should probably warrant a little more than a gift card, but for friends and colleagues, I do believe that gift cards are a fantastic idea and require a bit more thought than just slipping a £10 note inside their Christmas card.

All I need to do now is to decide which books to spend it on!

Book Review: Wars of the Roses:Trinity by Conn Iggulden

Wars of the Roses: Trinity – Conn Iggulden

*Warning – may contain spoilers*

Author: Conn Iggulden

Publisher: Penguin Group

First published: 2014

Cover: Hardback Waterstones exclusive

Pages: 549

Blurb:    -1454-

King Henry VI has remained all but exiled in Windsor Castle, struck down by his illness for over a year, his eyes vacant, his mind a blank.

Richard, Duke of York, Protector of the Realm, extends his influence throughout the kingdom with each month that Henry slumbers. The earls of Salisbury and Warwick make up a formidable Trinity with Richard, and together they seek to break the support of those who would raise their colours in the name of Henry and his queen.

But when the king unexpectedly recovers his senses and returns to London to reclaim his throne, the balance of power is once again thrown into turmoil.

The clash of the houses of Lancaster and York will surely mean a war to tear England apart…

History of my copy: I received this copy for Christmas last year (2014) after spotting it in Waterstones one day. At the time, I hadn’t finished the first book, Stormbird, but I wanted to carry on the series.

I always surprise people when I tell them that I am a huge fan of history, especially that surrounding the numerous castles of Britain. In my free time, I enjoy visiting castles and researching them, finding out all about their history from who built them, to any famous events that occurred there. However, my love of history is purely for pleasure rather than academia. Although I took it for GCSE, I find the way it is taught in schools, and the topics covered, rather dull and whilst I did briefly consider it for A-level, I ultimately kept it aside for my own enjoyment, along with music.

I must admit that I did not enjoy the first book in the series at all. I found it long and drab, and whilst there were certainly interesting scenes (the rebellion of Jack Cade being one of them), it was mostly based on setting up the politics and basis of the infamous Wars of the Roses for the rest of the series.

Plot: The second instalment in Conn Iggulden’s Wars of the Roses follows the events preceding Henry’s awakening on Christmas Day 1454, including the birth of his son. One of the best scenes in the book is the battle of St. Albans where Richard must make the choice between being a traitor or to continue to serve his king.

         The second part of the book set a few years later in 1459 cover the next episode of Henry’s stupor. The rise of Queen Margaret is portrayed excellently in this book, along with the faithful royal spymaster Derry Brewer. Queen Margaret had ordered attainders on York, Warwick and Salisbury, a nasty loophole in English law which allows the royal family to strip whole families of their estates and title. This was her ‘punishment’ for the families that had killed some of her beloved earls and questioned her husband as rightful King. Of course, the families affected were outraged and insulted by the royal decision, resulting in them eventually returning to England to reclaim their titles. This attempt failed due to a royal ambush at Sandal Castle. The book ends with the Earl of March, Richard of York’s son, as the heir to the throne (the Duke of York was the heir after he removed the title from the King’s son whilst he had the King in captivity) and wanting to avenge the death of his father.

         The short story Woodchurch included in my copy of this book focuses on the Woodchurch family, who were introduced in the previous book. It is an entertaining story of how Thomas Woodchurch ended up accidently getting one of Derry Brewer’s men locked in the Tower of London and how he had to help him escape. In the end, as the King woke from his stupor, the escape failed but Gilpin was allowed to leave by the King’s orders.

Setting: Although set in a multitude of English castles from the 1450s, setting is, as always, less important in historical novels. However, the setting is both descriptive and imaginative and the battles such as St Albans and Blore Heath are explained with such vivid detail, it feels as if you are there.

Characters: One of my favourite characters is Queen Margaret herself. This book really delves into how she stepped up to take charge of the kingdom, and how she was both faithful to her family and intelligent. In a time at which women were nothing more than mothers and wives, it is amazing to see how much power the Queen held.

                Another favourite character is Derry Brewer, who humorously named his horse Retribution. As the spymaster for the royal household, he is a clever and imaginative man who is secretive yet enjoyable to read about.

                Thomas Woodchurch and his son Rowan are only in the short story, but I will mention them anyway. They were two of my favourites in the first book, and it was a shame to not see them in this one. Although just simple men, their father-son relationship is well written and their skill with a bow is uncanny. It was nice to have the family as a key part of the short story.

To read or not to read: Read. I absolutely adored this book. As someone who is particularly interested in the Wars of the Roses, I am biased towards it of course but it is a gripping book for any fan of historic novels of any time period.

A Tale of Two Cities

So, as I mentioned before, I finally got my hands on a copy of A Tale of Two Cities earlier in my favourite shop, Waterstones!
Charles Dickens is an author I have always wanted to read, especially as he has such a major role in classical literature. I've read the odd excerpt and chapter throughout school, but I've never read a complete book of his.
A Tale of Two Cities has been one that I've had my eye on for years and after reading The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, Tessa's (and Will's) love for it just made me want to delve into it even more.
I had noticed that Waterstones had been selling really beautiful cloth bound copies of lots of classics (and, of course, I want all of them) but AToTC was the one that really caught my eye, especially as the one I wanted to read the most. However, ever since I discovered it, I've been unable to find it, despite religiously checking my local Waterstones in Plymouth every time I was there.
Today I nearly couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. I rushed across the shop, dodging people, and probably sounded a little mad as I exclaimed "They finally have it!" I must admit, mum wasn't too happy about me buying more books (especially as I had also picked up a book for my friend for Christmas) but after spending so long looking for it, I felt that I finally deserved it and I can't wait to start it!
If anyone else has read it, I would love to hear your thoughts (although no spoilers of course - do spoilers still apply to books that are centuries old?)

In other news, I got an e-mail early this evening inviting me to a medicine interview at King's College Cambridge! I am over the moon and was bouncing around my house in excitement. 

Plymouth Medicine Interview Part 2

The interview went okay! I'm not as confident about it as I was Cardiff last week, but I do believe it could have gone much, much worse. It was also quite different as I had to fill in a questionnaire first and choose an ethical scenario to answer questions about.
After the interview, I went into the city centre and did some more Christmas shopping. I also bought myself A Tale of Two Cities and got an All Time Low calender for next year. I usually have the Taylor Swift one however, this year, I wasn't as impressed by it and was wowed over by the gorgeous photos of ATL.
Being Black Friday, which even the UK now gets in on, there was, of course, many sales. I'm not really the shopping type, but as we made our way back to the car, mum decided to pop into Saltrock. That was a bit of a mistake. I got three really nice t-shirts (one put back for Christmas) and a really comfy black sweater. Mum also bought some things and we ended up saving £80!

So, overall, quite a nice, relaxed morning in Plymouth. I've also just ordered the last of my Christmas presents on Amazon so that's all the Christmas shopping done. Now all that's left is to count down to the big day!

Shopping

So last night I popped into Plymouth after school with my mum and brother to do a spot of rushed shopping. I desperately need a dress for my uni interviews at Cardiff and Plymouth, so we raced around various shops until I fell in love with one from H&M.
As a special treat for myself, I also bought Throne Of Glass by Sarah J. Maas as Waterstones didn't have Cinder by Marissa Meyer, so I may have an early night tonight reading it. I hope it lives up to expectations!