There's something so amazingly unnerving about this book, yet I just couldn't put it down. I just knew that I had to find out what happened at the end, going backwards in time with each short story linked together. If you want something unique, dark, and luminously beautiful with brilliant language and imagery that will make your eyes plead for more, "Midwinterblood" is most certainly your kind of book!

I think the largest issue I had with this book was its sparseness - it was both the best and the most problematic issue of the book. While Sedgwick definitely has a way with sensory imagery and language, its sparseness both contributed to the charm of this story, and of all the characters and how they related towards each other as well as the past.

He can describe so much in only a few words, I feel like he could have poured more detail into some of the characters and world just a little bit more and still retain how tastefully dark this book was.

However. The language itself was nothing short of dream-like whatsoever. I plowed through the entire book in one (yes, ONE) sitting. It definitely seduced me and it's a breath of fresh air in the young adult genre, that's certainly for sure. I was immediately sucked into Merle/Eric/Tors worlds across time of how everything related to each other, and I couldn't get enough.

The ending was a bit abrupt, but for me, it worked quite a bit considering how Sedgwick shaped this book. There's a lot of weighted mood here, a lot of pain, but all of it is shaped into something thats absolutely beautiful.

Though the story as a whole itself is very complex when put together at the end, the base of the world and the characters themselves are very simply built. No over complicated overwrought characters fighting in a love triangle like so many novels I have read lately.

The characters act simply, and though the seven stories help us understand their motives better, theyre generally very simple in all aspects even throughout all seven of their lifetimes. It was such a breath of fresh air. The great thing is that even younger students will enjoy this book because it's so easy to follow. Yet at the same time, it's extremely intense.

We follow a set of people throughout a few thousand years of time, not keeping one single gender the whole way through, and their interactions do change from lifetime to lifetime. Its themes are also rather simple: separation, forgetting and remembering, reincarnation, and acceptance (as Erik consistently mentions throughout the book as, "And so it is"). But all of it is woven together into a plot so tight you'll want to keep turning the pages whilst youre meant to be asleep!

There's not a lot of happiness in this book. There's a lot of painful reality, even for a mystical reality genre book. There's a lot of gloom, a lot of human darkness, and a focus of studying the failings of humans; especially in regards to how they take care of each other in a social setting. This is not a light, fluffy book (but that's what we need more of in the young adult genre).

It makes you think.

It makes you work for the final answer you find in the epilogue, even though it's so simply constructed.

There's a lot of soul-searching (quite literally) that goes on in this book, and a lot of characters being used as symbols. And bringing together ALL of the aforementioned into one story? Not easy. Not easy at all. Yet it all worked, and worked spectacularly like clockwork.

So I have to take my hat off to Sedgwick for constructing such a wonderful story.

Final verdict? This is the perfect book if you're feeling a bit moody or you want to explore the idea of humanity as very faulty creatures.

I have finally recieved my special edition of Dishonored after waiting for 2 months due to 'complications'.

Happy new year everybody! Let's keep on gamin'!!!

After over 6 months of no anime watching marathons my fellow anime nerd friends literally forced me to watch Mirai Nikki. Lets just say I'm back into anime again and I shall be digging out all of my dusty old mangas!

One of my friends bought a Wii U today, and after hours of lining up and waiting she finally gets hold of one but then has to wait 3 hours just to be able to update it and play a game! It's more like a Wii update than a Wii U!

Went out and bought a new bass guitar yesterday, it may not be a Fender but I can still get a great tune out of it. It happens to be very light compared to my last guitar, the neck is made from maplewood and the fretboard is made from rosewood. I think it's called the PGB-100 (off the top of my head) It already has name which is Scarlett and here is a picture of her

The highschool that I go to is starting an extracurricular Latin course for all pupils who want to study and learn Latin, I've filled out the application form and have also handed it in. I just have my fingers crossed on whether or not I will get a place due to there being only 20 places out of a school of over 1,700 highschoolers and sixth-formers.

I'm not sure whether or not to buy Dishonoured as a little christmas treat next month, I have heard about it being rather short but it apparently has very good re-play value etc. Oh well, I can always pre-order Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time because that is pretty much an exstension of my childhood XD

I have always viewed the main three sciences as so :

Biology - More hands on, and 'ooooh how does this work?' (perfect for me)

Chemistry - The whole 'Oh lets put these 2 pretty liquids together and see if they have a reaction *giant boom*, period tables and balancing equations etc.

Physics - Making it up as you go along and hoping it works

A large majority of my mothers family leans towards physics and biology and have gone to work as lab supervisors, uni profs. and so on. But for some reason we are all terrible at chemistry, I have been predicted and A* for all three of my sciences but I keep on falling behind in chemistry no matter how hard I try. I'm not a bad student either, I fly through the rest of my subjects with ease and I'm at the top of my class for every subject but chemistry.

Hopefully if all goes well I'll probably pass with an A meaning I can go onto sixth form and take my A-levels which will hopefully ensure me a place Hartpury college in an (hons) PhD Equine Sciences class which is centred around biology anyway.

My cat Rarity's kittens have finally arrived! When I got home from riding my horse, I was just chilling out on AC3 when my other cat Luna came up to me miowing her head off and bounced off in the direction of the bathroom. So I being rather intrigued followed her to discover the sight of Rarity pushing out a black and white kitten sack and all, so I spent the next 5 hours helping this cat push out 2 more babies whilst cutting the umbilical cords and removing the sacks.

The firstborn is called Blaze (tom) due to a large stripe down his face, we then have Twilight (queen) who has a white moustache and belly and last but not least there is Discord (tom) due to thinking he was black cat but instead he has little white bib. They are currently 2 weeks old now and have their eyes and ears opened up properly as well as starting to learn how to walk!

Recieved my CE of AC III a few days ago and I must say that it is absolutely AMAZING! The games new combat system flows very smoothly, graphics are beautiful and the free running is most certainly 3x better than the other AC games so in other words it is completely epic! MEGUSTA!!!!!

Now please excuse me, I have a new baby to platinum

Going to Eurogamer convention at Earls Court this year on Sat 29th September in London!!! Will hopefully get my hands on Dishonoured, I'm only going because it's the only decent game convention in England and I couldn't get to E3, comic-con and PAX. Still sorting stuff out for the day out however!

Hello fellow gamers, sorry I haven't posted in AGES I've been really busy with personal affairs. Right then, changed it to CPOW because it's easier for me to update once a week yadayadayada...

Seeing that it's been comic con and we have game con and pax coming up, I'm going to be brandishing a wacky selection of edibles in which I recomend for all of you whilst you watch teasers and releases in tight suspense!

Ok, first up for any of you who are holed up in a zombie infestaion I present Tactical Bacon!

• Lasts up to 10+ years
• Great for people who go camping or get stuck in zombie invasions
• TASTES GREAT
• Great for those lazy gamers who can't reach the mini-fridge by their armchair.

Next up, this is for any of the trekkies on here. It's blue and the federation have made it illegal. Yes, it's Romulan Ale! (Well, it won't get you drunk, but it'll give you a lovely caffeine buzz)

• Delicious, berry flavored, energy drink - in proper Romulan Ale blue.
• 84 mg of caffeine per can.
• Sold in 6 packs, just like they sell on Romulus.

Just the thing you need to keep on trekkin' through all these conventions at warp factor 9!

Do you like sandwiches? How about a PB&J candwich?!

They last up to a year, so I'd suggest building a fortress and slowly eating your way through whilst watching videos of adorable kittens being booped by humans.

• It's a DIY PB&J Sandwich - in a can!
• No refrigeration needed.
• Includes:white bread, 1oz grape jelly, 1oz peanut butter, 1 piece of candy surprise.
• Shelf Life:approx. 1 year.
• Calories: 480 (for the sandwich).
• Net Wt.:5oz.
• Can Dimensions:3" diameter x 7.5" tall.

And finally for desert, you can it eat it whilst floating in space. And it so happens to be astronaut ice-cream! YUMMIES!

You can mix and match, plus it lasts up to 3 years unopened!

• Freeze dried ice cream in three flavors
• Great for the survivalist with a sweet tooth
• Store (unopened) for up to 3 years

What's cuter than a fluffy little kitten? A kitteh that needz moneyz for bugerz I say!

• So adorable that it meows thankyou after it steals your money.
• White and Brown kitteh available

Kittehs need their burgers people! So spread the love and give them moneyz!!!!

Rating of 8 for their adorableness!!!! Link to the kitteh in action!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfXrNUSuNxc&feature=player_embedded

My kitteh Rarity (Yes I named her after Rarity from MLP: FIM) is pregnant! Looks about ready to kit now!

These babies look sharp but I promise they won't slice your tongue into tiny pieces! For any sushi loving Japan Fan these Samurai Sword Chop sticks are a must buy!

• Made and imported from Japan, the land of the samurai.
• Amazing detail!
• Are pretty badass functional and decorative chopsticks.

Another cool thing about these are that they are actually based off REAL samurai warriors weapons.

Tan wrap - Date Masamune, great tactical skills in battle and wore distinctive black armour with golden helmets.

Red wrap - Maeda Toshimasu, best known for breaking through the Magami's defences with only eight riders.

Black wrap - Sanada Yukimura, the 'Crimson Demon of war', an amazing tactician that could win a battle even when outnumbered.

Giving these babies a rating of 10, for the noble Samurai deserves no less.

Activate, throw and take cover! The Micro Sonic Grenade in my opinion is perfect for a prank against your co-workers, especially if you want them to suffer... It is at a rate of 110-115 decimals so about as loud as a powersaw and you can set it to go off after up to 60 secs so make sure you can get away! Gonna give this a rating of 5

Todays CPOD was picked mainly because I'm one of the paranoid types. It's made from aircraft alluminium, has a DNA catcher crown so you can get your co-workers DNA if you're 'assaulted', you can use it upside down and underwater, has a handcuff key and a glass breaker at the tip. Yes it's every MI6 agents dream pen it's the Uzi Tactical Defender Pen!

It's also at a pretty nifty and affordable price too, that being £20-25. I'd give this product a rating of 10, mainly because it can save your life and be used for paperwork!

Todays CPOD may not be able to blast Reaper butt but it sure as hell looks like it can! Yes, you're right it's a ME3 life-size replica of the M-8 Avenger Assault Rifle! You can walk around with this baby looking like a badass Shepard at CC this year, with ooh's and ah's following in your wake!

If you want to be the Alpha Shepard this year, your gonna have to pay out $649.99.