Kevin Lau

Having read and enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars  by the same author, it was recommended that I read John Green's Printz-winning debut novel Looking for Alaska . Miles "Pudge" Halter lived a rather uneventful life, having no friends and finding a great interest in famous last words. He wanted something big to happen to him, a Great Perhaps, and requested to his parents that he go to Culver Creek Boarding School, the same school his dad went to. Upon entering, he finds a real shift in life: friends, pranks, and the "gorgeous, clever, funny, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating" girl down the hall named Alaska Young. Told through the eyes of Miles, Looking for Alaska  spends the school year telling of his events and the possibility that he may be in over his head looking for the Great Perhaps. Amazingly written, John Green gives Miles Halter a realistic voice in this YA novel. All the characters are fleshed out as well, including adults (whi...

"Count to three. Relax your mind. Now survive." The Murder Complex  is Lindsay Cummings's action-packed debut novel set in a dystopian future where the murder rate is higher than the birth rate. When I read the synopsis, I was intrigued. When I started reading it, I couldn't stop. The Initiative watches everyone, everywhere, but not for the good of the people. Make one wrong move and the officers (known as Leeches) will not hesitate to shoot. Meadow Woodson, recently turned sixteen, lives with her father, her older brother Koi, and her younger sister Peri. Throughout Meadow's life, her father has taught her to survive any situation she may come across, making her well able to defend herself armed with just a dagger. Getting a job in this world is a test she is ready to pass by any means necessary. Zephyr James, seventeen, is an orphan who works for the Initiative (called Wards). Every week, he works with his friend Talan to clean up the bodies in ...

Editor's Note:  I am not familiar with the light novel this movie is based on titled All You Need is Kill  (now republished as Edge of Tomorrow ). However, I am now in dire need of finding said book. Cage (Tom Cruise), unwillingly put into battle against an alien army called Mimics, dies in only a few minutes after the battle begins then suddenly wakes up 24 hours earlier. After dying a second time and waking up again at the same 24 hour mark, Cage realizes he is in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over again. Using this ability to his advantage, Cage teams with Rita (Emily Blunt) to work on a strategy to defeat the mimics. However, all efforts are hopeless when the enemy seems to have the same ability. I've heard great things about this movie, but I had no idea it would be this  amazing! The action is edge of your seat, the time loop execution is very well done and doesn't ruin the pacing of the film, and the visual effects and acting are top notch. Ha...

WARNING:  The following review contains spoilers for the previous book, Divergent , which isn't as good as this book. Taking place right after Divergent ended, Insurgent  begins as Tris jumps off the train and stays in the Amity compound for protection. Still feeling guilty for the death of her friend Will, she finds herself unable to use a gun or even hold it in her hand. Trying to keep Jeanine's data safe from the Dauntless member's that have joined up with Erudite, Tris and Tobias must figure out a way to conquer Erudite's power before a second simulation attack is launched. Superior to its predecessor, Insurgent  gives a deeper insight in this dystopian world and how its government system works. Though many would pass the first half of the book to drag, the pacing is actually quite steady (unlike the uneven pacing of Divergent ). However, the fast pace kicks in for the second half, which is where the book falters. The pacing becomes uneven and the details ve...

After finishing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood , I wanted to watch the original anime that has a completely different ending. Here are my thoughts. Four years ago, Edward and Alphonse Elric's mother passed away from illness. Orphans, they attempted to bring their mother back to life using a science called alchemy: the ability to break items down to an anatomical level and shape the item into something else based on a law called Equivalent Exchange. However, Ed and Al find out only too late that they didn't have the equivalent of a human soul for the transmutation causing Edward to lose his left leg and Alphonse his entire body. Sacrificing his right arm, Ed attaches Al's soul to a suit of armor. Together, they journey for the one thing that will bring their bodies back: a red stone called the Philosopher's Stone that amplifies alchemy to where the user does not have to follow the law of Equivalent Exchange. As great as the story of this show is, it unfortunate...

You know, I think this is going to be an amazing summer for movies. How to Train Your Dragon 2  takes place 5 years after its predecessor where Hiccup, now 20, is burdened with a task he's unsure if he can fulfill: taking his father's place as chief. Instead, he'd rather explore the world with his dragon Toothless, marking every new land he finds and discovering different kinds of dragons. However, Hiccup discovers plans of another viking named Drago, a dangerous man who is building a dragon army. There's a lot more depth in this movie than what you would suspect from the synopsis. How to Train Your Dragon 2  has everything you could want from a sequel and more: expansion of the movie's world, higher stakes, game-changing plot points, and even more character depth and development. For any doubts you may have about this sequel, leave them at the door and get ready for an amazing animated experience. 5/5 Stars

A live action adaption of Sleeping Beauty  made by Disney? This could either be really good or really bad. Thankfully, it is the former. Maleficent, queen of the fairies, was betrayed by the human she loved who was driven by greed and other humanly temptations to become ruler of his kingdom. Upon hearing that the king had a child, Maleficent, fueled by revenge, curses the princess Aurora saying that "before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep like death!" The king, fearing for his daughter, sends her to a remote cottage in the forest under the care of three fairies. Watching Aurora grow into a young woman from a distance, Maleficent wonders if she had made a mistake giving the child an irremovable curse out of frustration. A twist to the original Disney animated movie, Maleficent  delivers an amazingly visual story of the consequences of acting sorely out of anger and what true love really is. The...

Based on the New York Times #1 bestseller by John Green, The Fault in Our Stars  is a teen romantic drama that is truly targeted for the teen audience. Sixteen year old Hazel Grace Lancaster has been diagnosed with lung cancer for a few years, leaving her to constantly have to wear a cannula attached to an oxygen tank. Knowing that her death is inevitable and will come sooner rather than later, she chooses to seclude herself from the world so less people would be affected by her death. Unfortunately, her mom thinks otherwise. Hazel is forced to go to a cancer support group every week. It's miserable, that is, until the day she meets a boy who couldn't stop staring at her: Augustus Waters. Quickly connecting, the story progresses via the relationship between the two as they talk about likes, dislikes, and life. This movie is really great, it really is, but it suffers from its extremely fast pace. When Hazel and Augustus meet, the scene felt rushed and too quickly did Haz...

In case you were wondering on what books I plan to read in the future, here is the list of book I have so far on my To Read list and other books I have lying around my house. The list is in no particular order, but everything included are books that draw my attention enough to actually want to read it (which doesn't take much). Fair warning, it's a doozy. "Grimm's Fairy Tales" by: The Brothers Grimm "The Jungle Book" by: Rudyard Kipling The Harry Potter series by: J.K. Rowling (I've only read 1-4) "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by: Mark Twain The Discworld series by: Terry Pratchett The entire "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series by: Douglas Adams "Wayander" by: David Gemmell "Animal Farm" and "1984" by: George Orwell "Brave New World" by: Aldous Huxley "Lord of the Flies" by: William Golding "The Time Mac...

From Telltale Games, the game developers that focus on story driven point-and-click games, comes probably one of the best games in all of history. Seriously, there's a reason this game series has won awards. Set up like a TV show with 5 episode seasons, Telltale's The Walking Dead  shows the story of ex-college professor Lee and a eight year old girl Clementine trying to survive in a world wear the dead eat the living and the living taking abuse of whatever they can get their hands on. After waking from a car accident when the zombie apocalypse started, Lee finds Clementine in a treehouse in the backyard of her house. Finding out her parents were out of town when the apocalypse started and the babysitter nowhere to be seen, Lee takes responsibility for Clementine, trying to keep her safe from the horrors of the world and possibly find her parents. Along the way, they meet other survivors. However, this game's story is based on the decisions you make which leads to ha...