Can't they just have a happily ever after?!?!?!

I meant to post this a while ago....apparently I just saved it and didn't post it...doh!

Sooooooooooooooo 12 Monkeys tried to slowly kill me with frustration.  I didn't realize until last night but the whole season was a slow burn of lethal frustration in an attempt to murder...ME!  Not being dramatic...scouts honor...

Okay, right.  So we have Cole who drove me INSANE in Season 1 with his "must complete the mission at all costs" attitude.  But he changed.  He changed because he realized somethings are more important that the mission.  Somethings like, CASSIE!  But she did the opposite.  In Season 1 she was the heartfelt, caring person.  She knew that its not always about the mission, its about the people.  But she changed.  She changed because she got stuck in the f**king future and slept with Deacon (what?!?!?!) and I dunno went a  little berzerk.

So the entirety of Season 2 I am basically screaming at my TV "OMG stop being mean to each other!  You care about each other!  Remember who you are..." Sorry my inner Mufasa came out.  Granted I wasn't so focused on the messed up Cole/Cassie thing that I missed the rest of this amazing show.

Season 2, like Season 1, was a roller coaster ride of emotion.  I teared up so many times.  The writing for this show is phenomenal.  I felt so many things each week, happy/sad/angry/frustrated/etc. But the season finale last night, that was superb.

SPOILERS

So at the end of last weeks episode we have Cassie FINALLY realizing she is being crazy and going after Cole to 1957.  Its like something clicked and she said "Holy $hit I'm being unreasonable.  Lets compromise." So they are stuck in 1957 for ELEVEN months...surely they've made amends.  Look I don't need romance but they are friends...shouldn't they act like it?!?!?!  But noooooo.  Why would they be mature adults?  Instead they are being mean and lashing out and not listening to each other.  Cole says things that make me cringe (eluding to her "dates" was a low blow), Cassie basically makes him feel inferior and dumb.  STOP!

So they basically have to work together to stop time from unraveling.  Meanwhile Cole stares at Cassie like a love sick puppy and Cassie is just cold...but I think she's being cautious...like I don't think she really hates him (well I know she doesn't...NOW!).  It was just a mess.  So they fail their mission, the Primary dies and Cassie is knocked unconscious...for SIX MONTHS!  In that time he f**king abandons her because "its for the best".  What??!?!  Did you just got all "Doctor Who" on Cassie.  Dammit Cole don't be like the Doctor!!!!!

Moving on.  She finds him...they fight and then they make up!  YAAASSS!  Thank you!!! Then they REALLY make up.  Oh wait, we are going there...okay.  Then she gets pregnant and Oh my gosh, he's so adorable about being a father!  But of f**king course something is still wrong which threatens their happiness.  Meanwhile in 2043 or whatever Ramsey and company are failing miserably at stopping the Witness.  A.K.A. they all f**king die!  What is happening!??!!?  Cole can fix it by "drinking the koolaid".  No really...he can drink the red tea crap and make it right.  So Cole has a decision to make 1) stay in happily ever after land with Cassie and the baby but time still unravels or 2) Go back one more time and actually stop the last Primary from dying which will erase the time line where they fall in love.  *'scuse me while I punch something*. 

So he of course chooses to save the world because he is Cole.  Time resets and Cassie is still weird with him.  They go to the future and help Ramsey and Co. NOT die but still somehow fail.  W....T...F....?!?!!?  Turns out this Witness is a f**king Jedi or something and the city isn't just a city....the whole freaking thing time travels.  Are....you.....serious?!?!!?  Before they all splinter Cassie by some miracle REMEMBERS the aborted timeline.  Yay!!!!!!!  Then she gets stuck splintering with the City...WITHOUT Cole.  G*D F**KING DAMMIT! 

Cole is like "I gots to find my boo" and Doc lady is like "okay, I got you fam".  Flash to WAY in the future.  Cassie is in some weirdo temple and that freaking old dude that looks like a slender man is there.  Ah HA! He IS the Witness.  Hahahahaha jk Mother F**ker.  He isn't.  The witness is Cassie's unborn child.  Fade to black.
 
What....WHAT....WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!??! What the hell kind of a...I hate you 12 Monkeys!!!  How is she still pregnant!?!?!?  Or is it somehow Deacon's?!?!?  Dude I may actually punch something if that is true...okay lets pretend I didn't say that.  How is their love child the Witness?!?!?!  Why is their child trying to destroy time?!?!?!  I have so many questions.  Thank GOD we are getting a Season 3.  I would have been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO angry.

THe Never-Open Desert Diner - James Anderson

This is a very odd story.  Not because it is supernatural or anything...just odd.  So we are following with the mundane life of Ben.  A truck driver in nowhere USA, along route 117. Somewhere that is no where to most but home to a few stragglers that managed to find their way there.  A place where keeping yours and others secrets is the only way to truly survive. 

We meet some strange characters along the way.  Ben is a normalish guy.  He is an orphan.  He is a good man who sometimes trusts too much.  Walt is scary.  He is damaged because of the loss of his wife.  He is decent but clearly has anger issues.  THe brothers are weird but seem like okay people.  John, the Preacher, is just that.  He's a man of God, always there to help you through things.  Then there is Claire.  She is running from something.  She has more secrets that all the other characters combined.  She has a temper but she is likeable. 

It was a long story, especially for one that takes place almost entirely in the desert, along some old highway.  But it isn't bad.  The story is interesting enough, it just seemed really drawn out.  But the details we receive are necessary to pull everything together in the end.  I thought I knew what was coming.  I did not.  Its a book I wouldn't read again but I would still say give it a try.  It has some action, some love and a lot of mystery.  You never really know what's going on.  Hell, the story teller (Ben), doesn't seem to know what's going on half the time.  But even with the pain it brings, it is a story that makes you feel good.  Things usually work out.  Maybe not how you pictured but in the end it all works out. 
 
SPOILER
 
Walt is a jerk.  Ben is a sucker.  Claire takes too many chances.  I hate that so many people tried to manipulate Ben.  He is an honest guy, trying to earn an honest living and almost gets blamed for some pretty ridiculous things.  I hate that he almost takes the fall for Claire's actions.  I hate that Walt and him beat the snot out of each other.  I hate that he was used by so many.  I love that despite all this he saved Josh.  I love that he managed to fall in love with Claire despite the circumstances.  I love that he cared enough to take Ginny in even though she is the daughter of an ex. 

I will say while I hoped for a happy ending, I wasn't expecting one.  Granted the happy ending we get isn't the one I wanted.  I hoped Ben and Claire would either sell the Cello and make some dough or just live happy in Dessert Home.  I thought for SURE Walt was going to die.  Instead Claire dies, basically in Ben's arms and Walt lives.  Why?!?!?  But Ben ends up coming into money thanks to the blanket his birth mom left him wrapped in.  So he manages a semi happy ending but without his love. 

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books to read and give my honest review.

All These Perfect Strangers - Aoife Clifford

What did I think...hmmmm.  Well I thought it was a decent book.  I really did.  I even waited 24 hours to write my review to think on it and make sure my thoughts didn't change.  And they didn't.  I still want to throw this book out of a window....or off of a roof...and possibly stab it with a screw driver.  But I won't because its a digital book on my iPad and I like my iPad so no violence to the book. 

With that said this book had its ups and downs.  I love a good mystery but this one almost took it to a frustrating level.  Its a flash back story.  Meaning it starts in a present day type scenario and flashes back to the past.  But the whole book takes place in 1990...flashing back to previous events to move the story forward.  There are a few characters to keep up with but the main focus is Penelope as she is telling the story.  She has been in trouble and got in more trouble and is trying to make her life right. 

I will say it is a relatable story. Not because I got in trouble but because we have all had to make difficult decisions to protect ourselves or fit in.  Pen is troubled, that is evident.  She makes STUPID decisions, that is also evident but you can't help but be understanding.  She is damaged and scared, of course she doesn't always choose the right path but she is a good person...right. 

It was a little twisty...slightly turney and very frustrating.  It does keep you guessing for the most part which is nice.  I did have my suspicions but the author did a decent job of distracting me so that I didn't focus long enough to say "AH HA!".  I couldn't give it more than 3 stars because of a certain reason I can't reveal...SPOILERS.  It was interesting enough but I wouldn't go out of my way to read it. 

SPOILERS

What the hell was that ending?!!?!?  I mean the entire book I wanted to slap Pen and say STOP LYING! Stop being deceitful.  You are getting a fresh start...STOP!  But she always hid things.  She trusted the wrong people.  She hurt people.  I got pissed as a college student but I would NEVER purposefully drug someone.  That is some sociopath level stuff there.  I also wouldn't have trusted Rogan.  He was pretty but something was off from the start.  I just never thought, oh stand up guy.  I also didn't trust Michael...he screamed "I'm going to be a mass murderer one day"...very creepy.  Rachel was conflicted but not all bad.  I really liked Toby, he was a good friend. 

Pen just chose wrong all the time.  I never got why she lied to EVERYONE.  I know her and Tracey did some bad things but I really think Pen was the bad influence. She is a manipulator.  She had some redeeming qualities but she lied SO MUCH.  I mean I get your friend is embarrassed about being almost raped but you tell someone.  You don't save her...then lie about everything and let her take the fall for a death.  You don't see something bad happen and go quiet.  You don't have your SLEEPING PILLS stolen and not report it.  You don't like about how someone died.  Michael was going to kill her...why lie and say he jumped.  Why not say "he was trying to kill me and I pushed him by accident".  Its a much more believable story...more truth.  After all of that I really started to distrust Pen...WHY LIE!?!? 

That is why the ending made me insane.  What the frick happened???  She is in the interrogation room.  They have her diary and...she flashes back...way back to when she first met Tracey.  To the last time she was sort of happy and it ends.  What?!?!  Sooooo its left open to interpretation...I guess.  She was clearly guilty of something.  Maybe she was the murderer all along and she fooled us, the reader.  I don't know and I'll never know because it freaking ended!  So was she really mental?  Tracey is dead and can't help her...plus she LIED.  Rogan wouldn't help her.  Michael 7 Rachel are dead.  Toby is probably traumatized.  I don't know...maybe I'm over thinking it but I really feel like the whole book was a ruse.  A ruse told by Pen.  its her skewed version of reality.  There was way more to it than what we are told...right?!!?


I received this book for free from House Party, Random House, & Net Galley to read and give my honest review. 

Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment

I feel pretty ... oh, so pretty ... oh, so pretty and witty and... heeeeeey.

Okay so those aren't the exact lyrics but it is true.  I started using  Paula's Choice Clinical 1% Retinol Treatment a little over a month ago and really believe in its ability to make my skin look better.

Here is what it claims (and my thoughts):

Protect your skin and reverse the signs of aging - as far as protection...I don't know.  It doesn't contain SPF so that's not the protection.  So if you wear this during the day be sure to add an SPF face lotion over it.  I will say even using a very small amount used it does...well, moisturize.

Formulated with an intensive, high-percentage retinol treatment, this lotion is designed to hydrate any skin type  - And this is what I was talking about.   It is almost more hydrating than my Collagen Elastin Face Lotion which is thick and leaves skin soft and full.  This does that with less and has some additional benefits.  So you don't have to add an additional face lotion at night after this but I do because its part of my routine.  

Targeting the appearance of pore size, wrinkles, uneven skin tone and loss of firmness - I don't have many wrinkles...yet, but I do have larger pores in some areas and uneven skin tone.  I didn't notice a difference but other people did.  My face looked healthier and younger.  It was almost glowing (and no I do not have any reason to be glowing).  The fine lines I do have seemed less pronounced.  The larger pores on my nose and chin diminished.  And the best part, my "dark spots" faded.  I am assuming that is the "uneven skin tone"  it is referring to.  Either that or my skin suddenly decided to "heal" itself.  My skin is still fairly firm so I didn't notice a change in that but the overall appearance and healthiness of my face improved. 

Fortified with Vitamin C and peptides to smooth wrinkles and fine lines - Yep, these seemed to work and work well. 

As well as licorice and oat extract to soothe skin and minimize the potential for irritation- This I am not sure about.  If anything this product made my skin more sensitive to basically everything.  My skin isn't sensitive but it is temperamental.  I've used the same products for years.  Ever since using this my skin is much more reactive to everything I put on it.  And by reactive, I mean it gets insanely tingly after I apply anything.  It only lasts for a short time but its enough to notice.  So I'd hate to think about using this if it didn't have these ingredients to minimize the potential for irritation.

It also doesn't have a weird scent so that is nice.  In conclusion, I would totally buy this product again.  I would also (and have) recommended it to my friends and family.  It is a great, affordable product that actually does what it claims.  Give it a try.

I received this product for free from BzzAgent to try and give my honest review.

The Shadow of a King - C.M. Gray

I am always up for a good retelling of well known story.  The Shadow of a King is that and a bit more.  Here we follow the life of King Uther after he has united the tribes.  Told, of course, by the elder King himself through flashbacks. 

I had read Shadowland before and absolutely loved it.  I read it not realizing it was the story of Uther, Merlyn, etc.  This one, I knew who it was about but it was a wonderful telling of how Uther met his wife Igraine and all the drama before and after.  About the conflict with Morgana and why she is so full of hate for her King.  We learn so much about young King Uther and why he made some of the decisions that he made.  I'm still not sure why he always listens to Merlyn but I am fairly certain he isn't sure either.  Regardless Meryln is always there for him, even if he is full of Druid trickery. 

This story is full of adventure, violence, deceit, and love.  It isn't overly mushy but it does successfully tie in a small love story to offset some of the darker moments.  As a whole this is a great book!  Anyone who loves the Story of King Arthur and Camelot should definitely take a peak at this one.  Its a story about his father Uther and his struggles with being the One True King of the Britons. 

spoiler
I like the tie in at the end to Shadowland. 
spoiler

I received this book for free from the Author to read and review.