In which Demi is absent and tries to sort her life out... again.

So I suck at blogging. Again. Do I have an excuse? Not especcially. I got a job (not in PR, unfortunately, but it's enough to tide me over for now), and lazy, and quite frankly my social life has dried up into a small puddle of couple of guy friends who are all at varying stages of uselessness. Gotta love graduate life.

Here's a quick run-down of what's been happening:

I went all nerdy. I played this game for the 7th, perhaps 8th time, through and fell in love with it and the characters all over again. It's such an underrated RPG, even if the graphics are very dated now.

Source

And as a result of this gaming, I'm re-obsessed with the SSX snowboarding series, because I want to be skiing now.

I made a trip back down to Nottingham a few weeks ago for a friend's birthday. And it was SO much fun. I got to see all my housemates, other friends I hadn't seen in ages, and even my lovely summer boy, which unfortunately didn't work out, but it was still great to see him and catch up.

The 'Nottingham Lean'!

My darling Elf has disappeared abroad to Austria and live her daydream (I'd say her dream dream, but I'm not even sure if she knows what that is!) of being a ski instructor. I'm counting down the days until she comes home for a quick pre-Christmas break before her season gets into full swing.

I'm listening to Taylor Swift's new album Red constantly.

I've been reading a fair bit! Finally, something productive! I finished The Hobbit in time for the film's release. I had previously attempted the novel when I was about ten and got so bored with the tedious tale that I gave up just as they got to the bloody mountain and met the dragon. Years later, I'm now a massive fan of the Lord of the Rings films (not so much the books - The Fellowship was fine, but the isolated storylines of The Two Towers drove me mad and I gave up) and can't wait for the film of The Hobbit. So I figured I should give the book another, proper, go.

It's still stupid. I still thought it was tedious. And finding out what happened after I had stopped reading before only made me angry. The dwarves can't bang on about killing the bloody dragon all the way through the book and then it not be killed by them! Some man shot it instead? Great. How handy. And stupid. When I saw the turn towards war at the end of the book I decided to withhold my anger, hoping that a more satisfactory conclusion was coming. Wrong. He glosses over the massive, culminating battle by knocking Bilbo out for most of it. What an ending. Talk about anti-climatic...

I also gave Me Before You a go after being lent it by A. I'd heard good things about it, and knew it had been on Richard and Judy's summer booklist (my mum's favourite way to check if a novel is alright, but not pretentious). Although massively predictable, it was funny and touching. Although I definitely didn't cry, unlike some people *cough* A....

Film-wise, there has been a fair few new ones, such as Crazy, Stupid, Love which I LOVED. Totally did not see the twist coming, and I'm a big fan of Steve Carell, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (marry me?) Then during my Nottingham trip I watched Midnight in Paris (weird) and The Amazing Spiderman (mixed feelings. Loved the cast and performances, not sure about the plot/script in some places). I caught The Dark Knight Rises in the cinema twice, as I am an unashamed nerd, and thought it was amazing, and even (despite Heath Ledger's incredible performance) better than The Dark Knight. I also got my Bond on with Skyfall, which I thought was absolutely brilliant - Sam Mendes has saved that brand single-handedly as far as I'm concerned, although the performances and script were also fantastic.

Through a swapsie-esque film session with one of the boys, I made him watch The Hunger Games (which maybe wasn't quiiiite as good as I remembered, but still pretty damn good) while he introduced me to Bronson. It's one of his favourite films, and while Tom Hardy does an incredible job, I didn't really get the big deal. Definitely style over substance for me. And I may have slightly spoilt the film for him too.... ooops. And finally, on Wednesday I finally got around to seeing Silver Linings Playbook. I'd been looking forward to seeing it for months, and I was slightly disappointed that most of the best lines had been used in the trailers (I hate it when they do that!) and that Jennifer Lawrence's character was perhaps less developed than I would have liked. But Bradley Cooper, considering I'm not a massive fan of his, really impressed me. And I think the film does a great job of showing how people are struggling with mental illnesses as part of their everyday lives - even when they're not aware of it - but that it doesn't, in any way, have to define you. With two siblings with mental disorders, I found it a pretty interesting representation.

And I've been watching a lot of Grey's Anatomy. From the start, because it's funny to go back to the beginning when you're watching series 8 and 9 and things have changed so much. An episode a night is all I'm allowing myself.

Now I'm going to crawl into bed after a long, busy day at work, with my current read and a cup of tea. By the way, The Lies of Locke Lamora is bloody brilliant if you like Pirates of the Caribbean, fantasy, kick-ass characters, twisty plots - or all of the above.

That's all for now folks. Things should be picking up soon with things to do and people to see, so hopefully my writing mojo will come along for the ride. xo.

In which Demi shares some things which are making her smile right now.

One: My birthday necklace from my grandparents and parents. For my 21st, I wanted to buy a nice, everyday solid gold necklace. I have plenty in silver, and plenty in fake gold, but no solid gold necklace. However, it took me three months to pick one! I finally settled on a pair of interlocking gold rings, on a delicate double chain from Pia. I absolutely love it, and am so happy I took the time to shop around to find something I really love. Due to its similarity to the symbol for infinity, I may even have it inscribed with the 'I feel infinite' quote from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I like the idea of self-perpetuation, and always moving forward; it's a good message to carry with me, as it's all too easy to get somewhat complacent.

Two: The prospect of my room being redecorated! It's majorly tatty right now, with exposed floorboards and sawn-off windowsills still remaining after my french windows were installed last summer. I've started looking at bedding, furniture and wallpaper to fit into my art deco/french boudoir theme. Sophisticated bedroom, here I come! Plush, silky pillows, mirrors and sleek white furniture, against a palette of champagne, duck-egg blue and lavender. Too excited!

I also can't wait to be able to hang up my birthday present from my homegirls; they bought me the most beautiful print, which will fit in with my new room perfectly!

'Hang On' by Fiona Watson

Now I'm not really one who is normally into art, but I (rather embarrassingly) started crying when I opened this up. It's absolutely beautiful - whimsical, romantic, and very quixotic. Everyone who has seen it has said "That's so you!", which I guess is why they chose it for me. I want her print of 'The Poet's Garden' to match.

Source

Three: I forgot a very, VERY important inclusion into my beauty post! My Nars Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil, in the Baroque shade.

Source

This, for me, is what all lip products should be like. Saturated colour, smooth application, lasts for hours... Perfection! The only problem is sharpening it; the gloss isn't strong enough to endure a sharpener particularly well, so you end up with a sort of mushed nib after a while.

Four: Music! Currently loving Ella Henderson on the X Factor (she's incredible, she HAS to win!), All Time Low's new album 'Don't Panic' and the lovely Taylor Swift.

Five: Funtimes with my beloved Elf, before she jets off to Austria for six months to try her hand as a ski instructor. After three years of our university holidays never quite matching up, I am LOVING being able to see her all the time. We're hanging out most days of the week - either just to bum around on the wii, go for lunch, or head to the gym together. I'm trying to see her as much as possible before she leaves at the beginning of November - she'll be gone until April! Wahhhhh.

♥

And finally...

I LOVE THIS. Because I'm a big LotR nerd, and proud. Enjoy! xo.

 

In which Demi plays with her new beauty buys

I've been meaning to do a new beauty post for ages now, since I've collected what seems like a huge amount of goodies over the last few months. I do love cosmetics ♥

Manicure Monday! Today's choice is Peacock Green by Model's Own, which I love but rarely wear. I'm not sure why; every time I wear it, I think 'why has it taken me this long?!' I think it probably looks better on shorter nails, but that's never stopped me. I love Model's Own polishes - they have great coverage, a huge selection of colours, and they stay intact longer than some more expensive brands. But they can be a pain to take off, so always use a base coat.

Today's haul from Boots: No.7's Exquisite Curl mascara, L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Polish in Wild Purple, No.17 Make Your Mark liquid eyeliner.

How stunning is this colour?! I am so excited to try it out, but not until Peacock Green chips. L'Oreal Colour Riche polishes are brilliant as well; their brushes are pretty much perfect, and their formula, while a little thick sometimes, is super glossy and doesn't chip easily. I'm starting to build up a nice little collection! *cough* nail obsessed...

I've been meaning to try out a marker-style eyeliner for a while, after my usual thin-brush one gave me a whole bunch of smudged blackeyes in a row... It had a terrible habit of flicking half-way through my carefully-drawn line, ruining everything. I'm looking forward to trying this out, I love a classic cat eye.

Exquisite Curl is my go-to, daily mascara. I have it in the black/brown shade for regular daily use, as it's softer and more natural, then use a Collection 2000 thickening one in black for nights out (the name escapes me right now).

I love this. Nice consistency, excellent brush, and easily removed with Gatineau's Floracil. Mascara perfection in my opinion.

L'Oreal's Rouge Caresse lipstick in 401 Rebel Red. Again, I adore this product - I specially requested it for my birthday from a housemate. I'd been searching for the perfect 'almost lipstick' look for a while. Unwilling to part with the cash for Clinique's chubby balms, I ran through a bunch of those lip stain pens (Max Factor's are the worst by a long way. Within a couple of days, it had completely dried up) with little success. I was torn between the Rouge Caresse lipsticks and the Revlon Lip Butters. The only thing that tipped it was that I preferred the texture of the L'Oreal. It layers up beautifully, from a hint of pink to a shiny raspberry-ish red. Love, love, love.

I got this compact in a freebie box I received after a make-over and splurge at the L'Oreal counter a while ago (I am a fairly recent convert from Maxfactor). Although I am no blonde, I'm still pretty pale, so these shades suit me fairly well anyway! The middle golden shade makes a brilliant eyeshadow, especially when paired with the darker copper shade (with gold flecks) in the crease. Over summer, I would swirl this with my large powder brush and dust over my face to give me the healthy glow I was lacking, due to the lack of sun here in the UK...

Finally, L'Oreal's Nude Magique BB Cream and Matte Magique Foundation. I am a dedicated foundation fan, as I have large pores and uneven skin tone, so foundation was one of the first make-up products I tried. I'm never fully happy with my foundation; for some reason, I always think that a better alternative might exist on the market, and I just haven't found it yet. Every couple of years I get itchy fingers and do some research, swap about and settle for a good alternative. Although I have to say, Matte Magique is the closest thing I've found to my perfect foundation so far. It's the first time I've broken away from liquids, and I find that the light, souffle-like mousse is much better suited for my combination skin. While mattifying, it's never completely matte, it leaves me with a nice amount of humanity left in the skin!

I wish I could say the same for the BB cream. Insert massive sad face here! I'd been reading all about BB creams, done my research, had a look at a bunch of them, and decided that this sounded and looked the best. The liquid comes out white, speckled with tiny grey capsule-like blobs which burst as you rub it into the skin, releasing the colour. I'd bought it for summer, in the hope that it would give me a lighter coverage - more dewy, and with SPF. Excellent, right? However, while the Fair sample seemed to match me in the light of Boots, when applied to my whole face it took on a distinctly orange tint. 'Alright, so I'll just look a little faux-tanned,' I figured. But within 24 hours I'd sprung up in break-outs. As the only new product I'd added to my skincare mix, I instantly pinned the blame, and it's been retired to my make-up box ever since. Maybe I'll try it out again another day, just to double check...

Time to dream of more beauty products. Addicted and proud. Please share any recommendations you might have! xo.

In which Demi goes where it is forbidden...

A few weeks ago, in a final bid to take advantage of the "summer" weather (really, UK, it was atrocious this year. Get your act together!), I took a trip up the A1 to a wacky and brilliantly British tourist attraction called 'The Forbidden Corner'. Anywhere that describes itself as 'The Strangest Place In The World!' is worth a visit, in my eyes.

The place is the brainchild of a man who clearly had too much money, and decided to build a folly in his grounds - a project which stretched over years, and became more and more adventurous and, well, bizarre. There's the more typical mazes, herb gardens and castle-like structures to explore. But there's also a Roman temple which leads to hell, a tunnel that narrows so gradually that you wonder how you can no longer fit though the other end (unless, like me, you force yourself through and bang your head) and all sorts of strange things sticking out of walls.

Additionally, I almost deafened several people when I climbed the stairs, squeezed between the legs to peer through the window... only to discover it was a mirror, and scare the living daylights out of myself (and others, from the sudden noise)

It's all very Alice in Wonderland. What we found most crazy was the lack of a coherent map. When we handed over our tickets and were given our 'map' in return, we figured it would be a pretty straight-forward route.

Oh no.

Instead, the 'map' is filled with pictures of all the many, many weird and wonderful features scattered throughout the acres of land - but with no route. Some are hidden, some are easy to find. But there are dozens of them! And even worse, there is very little indication of the area around the features, as the pictures are so tightly cropped and overlaid, so you can't even track them down logically using your environment. Bewildered, we struck out into the forest, where we laughed, shrieked (well, I did anyway) and on several occasions got soaked by hidden spurts of water (again, mostly me) as we attempted to track everything down.

We failed, unfortunately, even after hours spent there. Every time we thought we'd explored everywhere, we uncovered a new area we'd missed - until we unwittingly found ourselves on the path towards the exit, and unable to return to spot the last few things. Dammit! I am therefore determined to visit again, and tick everything off this time! So if you're ever heading towards the Yorkshire Dales, I would certainly recommend a detour (it's pretty remote) and a visit! xo.

Disclaimer: Both of us were 21 years old. You do not need to be a child to enjoy this place. Just a sense of adventure and plenty of energy!

I was rather fond of the gambling bears

Impressive glass pyramid

Inside the Roman Temple, heading into hell...

The underneath of the pyramid

The wood giant. I'm pretty short anyway, but this was ridiculous!

Pointing the way... to madness...

In which Demi goes mad for Malta

As I've mentioned in the last few posts, I embarked on a spontaneous end-of-the-summer-and-student-lifestyle holiday with my friend A., who I've been friends with since the middle of high school.

Flapper fancy dress at school

A. and I had several lessons together, when the year group started to get set depending on ability aged 14, including the core Maths/English/Science, and we soon struck up a friendship which helped to form a group of friends - my home girls - which still exists. Then we both, coincidentally, chose to go to Nottingham University, where we subsequently became even closer than we already were. Our third year at university was especially important to me, as we both experienced a lot of heartache, upset and joy which served to bind us tighter to one another, providing a comforting link to home and our past.

I rarely have to explain anything to her - she always seems to know exactly how I'm feeling and, while she doesn't always agree, can empathise and advise. While I jokingly think of myself as a therapist to several people, A. is my own therapist. And because she's awesome, she got snapped up for a big accountancy job down in London, which she started on Monday (and I know she'll be kicking ass at, already), leading to our separation for the first time since we've been friends. She only left on Sunday, and I miss her already.

I love this photo, from when we went to Liverpool to visit O.

BUT, this is not a melancholy post. We had too much fun for this to be a depressing post!

Malta was brilliant. I had no idea what to expect before we arrived, after throwing it out as a random location suggestion while we tossed ideas around. We'd both been lucky enough to already have been to a lot of mainland Europe, and our big American adventure had to be put on the back burner when news of the mysterious and rather scary lump reduced my chances of getting insurance to pretty much zilch.

After the hassle of travelling hand baggage only, thanks to pesky Ryanair and their ridiculous charges, we staggered out of the airport to be greeted by the cheerful mini-bus driver, who informed us that there was a heatwave currently hitting the island... yup, back to 42 degrees. And this time, we'd gone cheap and our hotel had neither air-con nor its own pool. As I am not one who copes particularly well with extreme heat when neither of these are nearby, I was massively apprehensive of what the week would bring.

Luckily our hotel was kind enough to provide us with a fan. Unsurprisingly, it simply wasn't enough to properly contend with the heat.

Nice try.

Despite the heatwave making it more difficult, we had a great time exploring the island. Due to its turbulent political history (such as casual invasions and being "gifted" by various monarchs) the melting-pot of culture we found was unlike anything I'd ever seen. The majority of the population spoke English as a second language (handy, as their place names contained ridiculous amounts of the letter 'x' and far too few vowels!) due to the fact that the British were the last of the colonisers, but due to its proximity to Italy, it retains a largely Mediterranean feel - from the food to the older, Venetian-style decorative buildings. Which, in turn, rubbed shoulders with modern North African-style buildings, with their blocky silhouettes. 

The capital, Valetta, and the original capital city Mdina, were absolutely stunning. The latter was especially unique – after the capital was moved to Valetta following the great Siege of Malta, Mdina was rebuilt but somewhat abandoned; the streets were mostly deserted, a city frozen in time only interrupted by the wandering tourists. The entire city has been turned into something  of a giant museum, overflowing with history and treasures to be explored. Unfortunately I forgot my camera when we went to Mdina - d'oh!!

Stunning ironwork and columns

Brightly coloured window boxes punctuated the serene stone

The Co-Cathedral's interior was as impressive as it's exterior

Baroque decadence inside

We were fairly restrained with the many sight-seeing opportunities that were presented, choosing to visit Valetta, do a hop on/hop off bus tour (in which we visited Mdina) and a harbour cruise, interspersed by days at the beach. And by beach, I really mean rock...

It wasn't bad though, as we discovered Surfside, a bar/restaurant/club which had a bunch of sun beds (for free, yessssssss) and backed onto a stretch of these beauties:

I am not a fan of the sea AT ALL, so these were the perfect compromise

These rock pools were half naturally formed, half man-made - apparently originally used by Victorian ladies who wished to bathe privately, and each pool would have a tent over it. They were great, as you could dip in to cool down, and not have to deal with the open sea with the waves and the current. I will always choose pool over beach - not knowing what's in the sea freaks me out - so being able to A) touch the bottom and B) being able to see what's in the water made me a lot more comfortable.

And before I finish up, I HAVE to mention two places we ate at and adored. The food was amazing everywhere we ate (I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life), but these were our favourites. First up was a cafe called Mint (in Sliema) - opposite Surfside, which was handy! - where we had lunch most days, and MY GOD, the food there is incredible. It's a traditional Kiwi cafe apparently, with a big chiller cabinet of savory choices and another for desserts. They constantly have new choices in the cabinets, as they have a 'once it's gone, it's gone' attitude, and simply replace the old choice with a brand new one. I loved it, as there was constant variety - never mind day-to-day, if you came back later in the day they would be serving completely different things to when you were there before! Everything was delicious, and I have a special place in my heart for their Snowcap cookies.

Secondly, on an evening we would take the bus to the nearby town of St Julian's, which had more of a nightlife and an abundance of restaurants, bars and clubs. We were big fans of Paparazzi, an Italian/American themed bistro whose burgers (especcially the chicken burger with sweet chilli sauce) were incredible. Also, if you're ever there, check out Bar Celona (we loved it for the name if nothing else!).

Mega frozen strawberry daquiri!!

So, basically... Malta is amazing. I would definitely recommend!! My tan has mostly faded back into my usual pale Irish skin, but looking at my still-tanned feet (so brown they look orange against my pale legs...) reminds me that it did all happen. xo.

♥

In which Demi fawns over Frascati

I've been extremely lucky and been on two incredible holidays this summer - one with my family (minus my older brother) and one with my gorgeous friend A., before we are separated for the first time since we became friends aged fifteen.

Firstly, to Frascati. Just south of Rome, Frascati is rustic Italy at its finest. Barely anyone in the town spoke real English, apart from the lovely staff at our hotel, and was mostly made up of restaurants and a scattering of boutiques. Oh, and an incredible gelato parlour which was never anything but heaving on an evening. During the day, when we ventured out for lunch, the place was sleepy and deserted, shimmering in the midday heat as the locals (wisely) took shelter indoors. But on an evening, the place exploded with people; gossiping teenagers, shrieking children, couples - old and young alike - sat on the steps of the church, simply watching the world go by.

We did venture into Rome for a day, as it was only a short train ride away. It was beautiful and interesting, but my attention was massively crippled by the intense heat; we'd coincidentally picked the hottest day of the year to make the trip, and sight-seeing in baking 42 degree heat was painful - literally, as I got physically burned when I sat down on the baking black seat of the tour bus. I'd love to return in the spring or autumn... definitely not summer. There's a reason people escape the city in the summer months.

Castel Sant'Angelo

The Vatican

Our beautiful 16th century hotel

The biggest and most delicious pizza everrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

It was, as it turned out, the hottest week of the year so far. Which, for two easily burning Britons (AKA my dad and I), was not ideal. It was so hot that after the first couple of days the hills began to ring with the sound of fire sirens, as local fire teams raced to put out the fires that were springing up left, right and centre. Fire planes, like enourmous canaries, swooped scarily low over the hotel grounds multiple times a day on their way to the nearby lake to fill up. It was pretty worrying, and the best we could do was keep checking in at the hotel that we weren't in any danger.

Other than the minor fire worries, it was a week of relaxation and de-stressing. My parents from their busy lives, and me from my surgery two weeks prior. A week of slowly, carefully excercising in the pool (and a somewhat doomed attempt to hold off the carb calories; Italian food is incredible).

More importantly, it was the first family holiday we'd taken in a while, for various reasons. And, it felt like, the first time this summer we were able to really relax and just be a family again, since the months of June and July had been so hectic and fractured. I wish my brother had come along too, but he chose to stay at home.

Next up... Malta mayhem with A. xo.

In which Demi forgets something very important!

Source

If you're going to read any book I recommend, please, please make it this one. Magic, romance, intrigue, twists... I absolutely loved this book. I read it on my mum's Kindle, which is why I forgot to post about it yesterday.

I wish I could recapture the feeling of reading this book for the first time. While laid by the pool in Malta, I kept grabbing A.'s arm to exclaim over the twists and language and tension, until she moved away out of reach!

Enjoy! xo.

In which Demi does a book post, finally.

For a (former, *sob*) English student, I've failed pretty miserably at actually posting much about books. Probably because for the last three years I've been skimming through a whole host of books that I didn't particularly enjoy.

I'm picky when it comes to books. Really picky. Something that I didn't really anticipate being a problem (stupidly) when I first applied to do English at University. In fact, I kinda block out a whole period of literature. As far as I'm concerned, there is very little worth reading from, say, Shakespeare and Donne until you hit the beginning of the twentieth century.

Sacrilige, I know. I steam-roll straight past Dickens, past Austen, past the Shelleys and Byron, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Wilde, and I intentionally stamp on Hardy as I pass by (Tess of the D'Urburvilles is the single most ridiculous character I've ever had the misfortune of reading about). Jane Eyre got thrown across the room by me after a handful of chapters. Alice in Wonderland was tolerated, but not enjoyed.

Please direct all hate mail to Miss Demi Blogger, I Don't Care Road.

Forgive me for essentially ignoring 300 years of literature, but that's the beauty of personal taste. One man's literary canon is another girl's crap.

I can't relate to it. That's my main gripe. Somehow I can deal with pre-Shakespearean literature, all the way back to Old English, because the world was so foreign compared to our modern world that I can kind of accept the content as something far removed and easily analysed. But the Romantics and Victorians, who believed their world to be the pinncle of human existence, so modern and forward thinking - with their sexism and racism and stupid, stupid rules and morals - drive me up the wall. A woman raising her skirts abover her ankles? Wait, and she was in the presence of a man without supervision?! YAWN.

In fact, my favourite genre of literature transcends even our modern world. I love dystopian and futuristic fiction. I love seeing where our world - however unrealistic it seems at this moment - may go. And since finishing my degree, I've managed to indulge myself in the books I enjoy and wanted to read for months.

I chose some YA dystopic books to take away on holiday with me, something to kick back and relax with that wouldn't tire me out like some of the more literary books on my to-read list. I started off with Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

Source

They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I’ve always believed them.
Until now.
Now everything has changed. Now, I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.

 I really enjoyed Delirium. I loved the concept of love being a disease, an infection that Lena's society has decided is the main cause of depression, anxiety, madness - and so wiped it out. The result is numbness, a cure that is more of a curse. As a massive romantic, this concept was really sold to me, and while Lena certainly wasn't my favourite heroine ever, there was real character growth as it progressed. I can't wait to read the sequel.

Next up was Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.

Source

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon.

But Juliette has plans of her own.

After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever. 

I had a real love-hate relationship with Shatter Me. I adored the style of it; Mafi writes with the kind of disjointed, hard-hitting style that I've always tried to capture in my own writing. Short, sharp sentences, unusual metaphors, and a real sense of humanity underlies this book. BUT. The insta-love had me rolling my eyes, along with her over-used 'power of three' rule of repetition, and the fact that Adam doesn't seem to be able to start a sentence without saying 'Juliette...' wistfully. It also fell flat at the end, after a good heightening of tension, in order to set up for the next book in the series.

Abandoned half-way was Matched, by Ally Condie. I was so disappointed with this one, I've had it on my to-read list for aaaages, but it was so slow and childishly written that I simply didn't care to find out what happened. So I won't bother saying any more about it!

Then there was Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.

Source

When magic has gone from the world, and a vicious king rules from his throne of glass, an assassin comes to the castle. She does not come to kill, but to win her freedom. If she can defeat twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition to find the greatest assassin in the land, she will become the King’s Champion and be released from prison. 

Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her.

And a princess from a foreign land will become the one thing Celaena never thought she’d have again: a friend.

But something evil dwells in the castle–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying, horribly, one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival–and a desperate quest to root out the source of evil before it destroys her world.

Ahhh, where to begin. This book has such a backstory to it that I could probably write a whole blog post on it. I touched upon the story back in January, in this post. Basically, I'd been waiting five years to read this story again. Five years of reliving scenes in my head, trying to remember snippets of dialogue, of aching to feel the joy and wonder I felt when reading its original form.

And, perhaps inevitably, I was somewhat disappointed.

I had prepared myself for some of the changes. The book was bought and published as a YA novel, while the original story was more of an adult story, with Celaena older and more accomplished - and perhaps more believeable. Changing the heroine from a young woman of early twenties to a girl in her late teens added, I feel, an unwelcome restraint to Maas' tale. That, and I was confused and disappointed to find about half of the events of the original Book 1 just plain missing. This frustration was resolved when I went back to Maas' blog and remembered that she had turned the trilogy into a quartet, with the rest of Book 1 forming a brand new Book 2 to be out next year. If they're not in there, then I really will be upset.

Don't let my preconceptions put you off though. Celaena is still a fantastic character, as are the two boys, although they've all got so far to go. The world is rich and detailed, but not overly so. Worth a read if you like girly yet kick-ass heroines and old-school fantasy.

This post is getting ridiculously long... hope you enjoyed! Coming soon: current musical loves, Malta mayhem, graduate woes and an insight into the story of the mysterious and rather scary lump, which has made my life difficult since Easter.

Summer's over, and change is in the air. xo.

In which Demi is a jet-setter.

Another blogging delay, I know! I suck. In my defence, I spent a lovely (albeit scorching hot) week in Frascati, just south of Rome, with my family, followed by a week of seemingly non-stop catch-ups, day trips and general time wasting with my friends and family.

And today I am off to Malta for another week, with A.! We booked it after I'd spent less than 24hrs at home, after the mysterious and rather scary lump put a massive dent in our America travel plans. We're celebrating our last summer together, before she swans off to London to live the high-flying life, in her gorgeous new flat in Clapham. Not that I'm jealous or anything. Although I don't envy the fact she's locked into a contract where she deals with tax every day. Ick.

More in a week. Photos, news, book/film reviews galore, I promise. xo.

In which Demi has olympics fever.

Source

It should be said that I'm not exactly what one would call 'sporty'. I enjoyed horse-riding for a number of years during high school, and on holiday I love to swim and ski. I'll watch the football, if Liverpool or England are playing. PE lessons in high school were mostly enjoyable, always irrelevant. But that's about it. My laziness inhibits much more than that, and a half-hearted use of a Davina McCall DVD to stay in shape (thank god for a decent metabolism).

All things considered, I shouldn't be anywhere near as enthralled by the olympics as I am. Today for example, I sat and watched pretty much anything I could. Not just my favourites, the swimming and gymnastics. Fencing, basketball, beach volleyball, hockey, cycling, football, archery, canoeing, sailing, table tennis, regular tennis, badminton. I watched a bit of all of them. And maybe, in the cases of fencing, basketball and beach volleyball, it was an effort to investigate these sports I'd never watched. But I'm pretty sure it was my sheer awe at these incredible specimens of humanity, who have trained and sweated and lived and breathed for London 2012.

It's not even an over-developed sense of patriotism; while I'm excited by the fact we're the host nation, it's not the reason I'm watching it. I am, however, enjoying the fact that we have full access to all the sports through the BBC coverage, and don't have to worry about the time difference, rather than just relying on highlights.

This is exciting. The greatest athletes in the world are gathered on our doorstep, and I don't want to miss a minute of it. Unfortunately I'll have to, as we fly to Italy for a week on Friday. Hope my Sky+ is up for the challenge.

More life catch-up later this week. xo.