Friday Link Dump: Flowers in the Attic, Fairy Bread Cake and Feminism in Game of Thrones

-The teaser for the upcoming adaptation of Flowers in the Attic is here and it looks terribly good. (BuzzFeed)

-The Divergent trailer is also here and Theo James looks spunky but the whole thing is rather underwhelming. Although I'm not a big fan of the book. (YouTube)

-How strong female characters come at the expense of women. (Zero at the Bone)

-On feminism in Game of Thrones. I totally agree with this article. (Melicious)

-Amazon has launched a Kindle store for Australia, which sounds exciting, but doesn't appear that different to what we already had access to. (Lifehacker)

-Apparently there is a 10 Things I Hate About You spin-off in the works. I am concerned. (ASOS)

-So I finally started watching Misfits this week and I am completely obssessed and OMG I have so many FEELS and this is my new favourite Tumblr (season two spoiler alert!). (Tumblr)

-This story of what happened when a war veteran died with nobody to attend his funeral gave me goosebumps. (BuzzFeed)

-Pug puppies are possibly my favourite thing in the world. (BuzzFeed)

-The parents behind Dinovember are THE BEST EVER. (BuzzFeed)

-These toys are completely horrific and bad ideas all round. Also hilarious. (Distractify)

-Here is why you are so addicted to Candy Crush, as explained by psychologists and the designers of the game. Also: did you know they made Level 65 easier after people complained about how hard it was? (Time)

-Nick Offerman's latest Movember ad is the greatest thing you'll watch all week. Or ever. (YouTube)

-Closely followed by this seal pup freaking out about getting into water. I didn't know seals sounded like that. (YouTube)

-This fairy bread cake looks amazeballs. I want someone to make it for me so I can look at it and love it and probably eat a lot of it. (Spicy Icecream)

Friday Link Dump: Trailers, Bookshelfies and Mash-ups

-The best fictional libraries. I want all of them. (Paste)

-Now this is a selfie trend I can get behind. Bookshelfies. As in, selfies with your bookshelf. Love it. (Tumblr)

-This fundamentalist preacher accidentally used an image of Modern Family for the cover of his self-published book and was quite concerned when he found out it was a show that featured a gay couple. So in his eyes, homosexuality is wrong, but using Google images to source a cover for your book, thereby publishing something you don't own the rights to, is totally OK. Riiiiight. (BuzzFeed)

-Aziz Ansari is releasing a book and I for one can't wait. (EW)

-Where do you stand on the New Adult genre? The Huffington Post published opinion pieces for and against. Both make good points. (The Huffington Post)

-Flavorwire lists 40 trashy books that are "worth reading", although they have a very loose definition of trashy. (Flavorwire)

-The Toast did some awesome mental illness-related essays this week, including this discussion on medication and this personal story about how reading Georgette Heyer helped the writer to cope with anxiety. (The Toast)

-If you don't mind the illusion of movie magic being destroyed a little, check out this peek behind the scenes of the special effects on Game of Thrones. (Jezebel)

-After watching Orphan Black over one weekend recently, I am totally obsessed with the show and its actors. So I'm super excited that Tatiana Maslany has been cast in Parks and Recreation (Vulture) and Big Dick Paul Dylan Bruce is going to star in... wait for it... Flowers in the Attic as none other than Bart Winslow! (The Huffington Post)

-So many trailers were released this week. I am most excited about The Book Thief, which is one of my favourite books. I was really nervous about it being adapted, but from the trailer it looks brilliant (YouTube). The Divergent teaser looks decent. (YouTube). And Zac Efron looks mighty fiiiine as a doctor, (Just Jared) and Jon Snow's abs revealed themselves in the teaser for Pompeii (YouTube).

-I know I'm relieved that Alexander Skarsgaard (and his penis) will return to True Blood next season (AV Club). And in case you were wondering (I know it's the reason you were looking really closely at the screen), this is the book he was reading in THAT scene. (EW)

-What do you get when you cross Beyoncé songs with Cinderella? Amazingness. Meanwhile this Disney Dudez video amused me way too much. (YouTube)

-I am obsessed with this Mean Girls musical parody. I wish a Mean Girls musical would really happen. It would be so fetch. (YouTube)

-These comics shed light on exactly what the creative process feels like. (BuzzFeed)

-Nine shows that really should have quit while they were ahead. (The Vine)

-I really need to use some of these internationally-sourced insults in my life. (BuzzFeed)

-I love me a mash-up - especially when it's as awesome as Mad Rock (Mad Men + 30 Rock). (Tumblr)

-Some amazing comedians auditioned for roles on The Office - and didn't make the cut. But you can watch their auditions here! (Junkee)

-Vintage photos that make you go "WTF". I just wish this was a Tumblr instead of a Twitter. (Twitter)

-Baby + dog = cutest friendship ever. (BuzzFeed)

-The real places that inspired Disney movie settings. Gorgeous. (BuzzFeed)

-Tumblr gets deep - and weird - at night. It's all documented for our amusement here. (Tumblr)

-I love the Teens React series, and this week they discuss Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" with funny and impressive results. (YouTube)

-Reality Bites is being adapted for TV and I'm not sure how I feel about it. (Gawker)

-Chocolate. Peanut Butter. Cupcakes. I need these in my tummy right now. (Bakerella)

-These parents win at Facebook. (BuzzFeed)

-Bunny Mamma is my new favourite Instagram. And I really, really want a bunny. (Instagram)

-1999 really was the best year for summer songs. (BuzzFeed)

-These corgi gifs made my week. (BuzzFeed)

Friday Link Dump: Divergent, Anchorman 2 and Lego

Source

-New photos from Divergent have been released and it looks pretty good. (EW)

-I want to go to all of these bookish restaurants. (Flavorwire)

-Love the illustrations of this Tumblr artist, especially her Sleeping Beauty retelling. (Tumblr)

-Game of Thrones meets Terminator II in the mash up to end all mash ups. (YouTube)

-Meanwhile George R. R. Martin and Peter Dinklage are coming to Australia, squee! (Sydney Opera House)

-The Feminist Taylor Swift is my new favourite Twitter. (Twitter)

-Is it just me or does The Lego Movie look totally awesome? (YouTube)

-Also awesome looking: Anchorman 2. (YouTube)

-This review of James Franco's review of Man of Steel is the funniest thing I read all week. (Junkee)

-Speaking of Man of Steel: Helloooo, Henry Cavill. (BuzzFeed)

-This wedding gift drama is both appalling and amusing. I can't believe someone actually said "weddings are to make money". Ummm, no. (The Spec)

Friday Link Dump: Bookish Manicures, Game of Thrones Videos and Cute Babies

-Mandee from Vegan YA Nerds has created a new blog dedicated to her book-inspired manicures. They're amazing.

-Mandee has also teamed up with Rey and Trinity for a brilliant podcast called Ladies of YA.

-Cuddlebuggery has a new feature: In 10 Lines. Their first micro-summary is for Hush, Hush. It's predictably hilarious.

-This is what Game of Thrones would have looked like if it came out in 1995. And this is what it would look like if it was set in a modern high school.

-Zoe Kravitz will give her dad a run for his dystopian money after being cast in Divergent.

-I giggled at Book Riot's post on whether popular YA is secretly fanfiction.

-YA Highway has a great post about writing through depression.

-Laini Taylor's post about her brain being a jerk is a bit old but still brilliant.

-The blogging world has had a bit if a meltdown this week over news that Google is killing its Reader in a couple of months. Here's a handy lists of the alternatives.

-You've heard of Better Book Titles, but now there's alternate movie titles to keep us entertained.

-This talented dude harmonises (with himself) about what happened to the Disney princesses after their Happily Ever After. It's pretty great.

-The trailer for Kick-Ass 2 is here and I am excited.


-A law-defying artist has taken to defiling decorating five dollar notes in creative ways.

-I'm not the only one who had a mad crush on Devon Sawa as a pre-teen. That spin!

-Ever wondered about all the things Carrie wondered about on Sex and the City? Wonder no more. Here's a list of them all.

-Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon performed a barbershop quarter version of Sexyback and it was great.

-Cute babies being cute and discovering new things about the world are pretty, well, cute.

-Buzzfeed gives evidence for what we already know: Zac Efron is perfect.

-So this is what dogs get up to when they're home alone.

-Cadbury Cream Egg pudding. 'Nuff said.

Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Well, that was disappointing.

When Divergent came out in 2011, there was a ridonkulous amount of hype around it. Every review I read said it was ah-mazing. Some said it was as good as or better than fellow YA dystopia The Hunger Games. Needless to say, I had very high expectations. They were definitely not met.

In an unspecified future, society has been divided up into five factions, with each one placing one particular value above all others. Tris has grown up in Abnegation, where selflessness rules, but she's always been fascinated by the brave Dauntless. When the time comes for her to choose the faction she will spend the rest of her life with, she discovers she's actually Divergent, excelling in more than one area. It's dangerous to be Divergent, apparently.

I didn't buy it. The worldbuilding was very weak and didn't make sense to me at all. Why would society divide into factions to keep peace, when division brings the opposite? Moreover, why is being Divergent so rare, when in reality most people are good at and do value more than one thing? It's more rare to find someone who only has one strength! After all bravery, intelligence, honesty, selflessness and peacefulness are not all mutually exclusive.

Divergent was slow to start with, and the majority of the plot is taken up with training and tests that kind of go nowhere. It picks up towards the end, but takes awhile to get there. I really didn't like Tris at first - she seemed cold and unkind. She grew on me a bit but I didn't love her. The chemistry between her and Four, the love interest, was great in a couple of scenes but it all felt very predictable, like I'd read it 50 times before.

It was entertaining overall but OK at best. I really don't see what all the fuss is about.

Rating: 3/5

Eye Candy
I saw Teresa Palmer as Tris and Zac Efron as Four.

Fine Print
Genre Young Adult Dystopia
Published: 2011, Harper Collins
Get It: Book Depository