My first award and 2nd pick :x:x:x

So, Aye.Me? (her blog HERE), my very sweet new friend, and also my first follower (I'm totally in love with you LOL), has just gave me the Honest Scrap Award.

The rules are:
- Tell 10 honest things about yourself
- Pass this onto 10 other bloggers

Well, first, for the "10 honest things" part:

1. Sometimes I think I love books more than boys :)) I know this makes me sound like a freak, but don't booklovers think so too ? :D At least when I wake up at 2 in the morning, I know my books are with me LOL
2. I'm afraid of ghost. But sometimes I think it would be nice to have a ghost prince for myself (like in Meg Cabot's Mediator)
3. Last night I had a weird dream where I went to an award and had Shakira shake my hand (it's weird 'cause I'm not a superbig fan of her or something. I just like her. And I never had any dream about my biggest idols :D )
4. I love to sleep. If there are no books and there's no music, then I will sleep all day long LOL
5. I hate when people lie. Well white lies are ok, but I hate it when someone fakes & pretends to be something they're not.
6. I always wish I had a better voice. At least to sing out loud the songs I love, instead of just singing them in my head.
7. I envy all the book bloggers whose blogs I have visited. 'Cause their blogs all look so GREAT & they're all book-lovers, which is awesome :))
8. I love science, and I'm going to a university of technology.
9. I love all things fantasy and/or romantic.
10. All my friends think #8 and #9 seem like a weird combination LOL

Now, for the "10 bloggers" part:

Well I swear I would give it to 10 other bloggers, but (yes there is a but) I haven't made enough 10 friends yet. This is a little embarassing, but I forgive myself because afterall, I've just started my blog for 2 days :D

So I'll pass this onto 2 other bloggers (who gave me 2 of my first 3 comments) and one who I gladly discovered she's from VietNam too (yeah that's where I live <3)

Brianne's Book Blog

Monster of Books

Serenehours

I've found the 4th one :x A nice & beautiful girl, also my 2nd follower :x Quote from Melissa's blog: "51 followers?! Thank you so much, everyone! It seems like just yesterday I had two followers". Tomorrow I'll have 51 too, haha :x:x:x Visit I Swim For Oceans :D

Happy confessing, my friends :P

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today, I'll dedicate my 2nd review to one of my all-time-favourite books: The Alchemyst, by Michael Scott, #1 of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series.

BTW, I've finished Marked. I have to say the action part & the ending didn't really get me. It just didn't stand out enough. At least there's still some secrets veiled, so I'll get to read Betrayed soon.

Now, back to The Alchemyst. I assumed that you, if you are a fantasy lover, have all heard of Nicholas Flamel this way or that. And if you agree with me, his life, his work, his death, ... everything about him has always been one of the most interesting mysteries.

Before we begin, there's something I must point out first:

- This book has no romance. Well at least for the first 2 of the series. But there's this human boy with special powers and this 2000-year-old undead girl, so I hope there will be some love elements here. But no certainty, so if you're only looking for romance, this is not the book for you.
- According to some reviews I've read, some people might think this book is for younger readers. Well I don't. I'm still helplessly drawn to this one everytime I see the cover, and if you like Eragon or Harry Potter, you will like this one (I like it even more. Actually, as I said, it's one of my all-time-favourites).

Anyway, here's the plot:

Nicholas Flamel is not a work of fiction. He is a real man, in real life. He was born in 1330. He was a bookseller, until one day he bought a special book: The Book of Abraham (this one is real, too) (also known as the Codex). Rumors had it that Nicholas & his wife spent years translating the book, and that they had found the recipe for gold & eternal youth. Rumors or not, there's only one truth we know: his tomb was empty.

Well, Nicholas & his wife still live. And they are, surely, immortal, because of the Codex. Until one day Dee, their undead rival steal the book from them (this man is real too, he was one of Queen Elizabeth I's spies, a.k.a oo7). Dee is an evil man co-operating with ancient forces, so Nicholas must find a way to get back the book before Dee use it to destroy the whole human world. How can he do it when without the Codex, each day equals one year of age with him ?

The answer is his only hope: Sophie & Josh Newman. They're twins, with very rare aura (a kind of glow around one person, indicating their inner power). Sophie has pure silver aura, and Josh's is pure gold. The Codex's prophecies also mention them :"The two that are one will come either to save or to destroy the world". Now that Nicholas has found them first, he must train them to control & use their powers for good, at the same time prevent Dee from having the twins.

My review:

When I first saw the cover of this book, I knew I had to get it. Because I'd heard about Nicholas Flamel, I knew I would devour this book. I really did. This book has everything and anything that can draw me into it (except for romance). Myths, magic, undead heroes & evils, unnatural creatures,.... EVERYTHING. Even Egyptian Gods & Kings are in it. "witch", "Elder", "Hekate", "Bastet", "Excalibur" (yes, that Excalibur), "philosopher"..... Do these words somehow remind you of something? There's more. Scott's imagination has drawn a beautiful underworld, a world where there're hidden powers that we don't know of, because they're kept hidden. You can only know it if you're a teenager with super rare aura & one day the shop where you work suddenly explodes & someone tells you he's 700 years old and you're his only hope. Or you can know if you buy this book LOL

Scott's writing is awesome. Everything is described clearly & beautifully, it makes me wonder if there's really such a world, if such powers really exist among us. The story is paced a little quickly, but I don't mind it. Especially when each & every page only makes me want to know more. The one thing I love about this book is that Scott really balances between the characters. They're all described fully & in details, so that there's not too much but you still feel like you know all of them. I like that. Even the worst evil got me somehow.

This book also brings me an ancient feel. It's hard to describe, but if you've read tales & myths from the ancient times, you know what I mean. When everything is mystical & beautiful & unknown.
And the twins. Scott makes you feel like they're really teenagers, but it's still not overdone. No rude teenage vocabulary, no overrated anything. Everything is BELIEVABLE.

Awesome plot, awesome characters, awesome writing. And there's some actions too. How do you feel about standing in a dark realm, under a thousand-year-old-tree, using a historic sword to fight against mystical creatures, AND fighting beside you is the Master of all kinds of Martial arts ? Not to mention you've just lost your laptop & cellphone in that realm, and your sister is unconcious after being awoken by The Goddess with Three Faces?
Well that should do it, LOL.

I know this review might sound confusing, but if you're a myth-lover, you know what I mean.
Even if you don't, you should still give this book a chance. There're many references, and you'll find a new look into history. It's intriguing, fascinating, and you'll love it.

My ratings: Normally I like to rate books in categories. But this one is 10, as many 10s as I can give it :D

Anyway, this is just my point of view. I hope it helped you, but....I don't want you to trust me and then read this book but hate it and then never read my blog again, haha :D

You can check out the book's homepage HERE, Scott's website HERE, and buy it HERE or HERE. But don't read too much reviews or spoilers or trivias. Just get to the book and see it yourself :D

There's an audiobook version too, you can download and listen to the Prologue and see if you like it or not. Don't worry, the narrator sounds great <3

So, my second review :D I'm gonna have my final exams next week, so probably no reviews until then. I just want you to know that I'm not gonna abandon this blog. Writing about books I love is just soooooo wonderful.

Love you guys :D Thanks for visiting :D