{ Blog Tour, Guest Post and Review!! } Release by M.R. Merrick


M.R. Merrick
Publication Date: December 8,2012
Series: The Protector
Release (The Protector #3)
After uniting the shifters and calling in reinforcements, Chase has to face his toughest challenge yet: learning to control his emotions. But as tensions rise and his powers grow, controlling his emotions becomes the least of his problems.

Terrorized by a multi-shifter who is hell-bent on turning him, Chase questions just how far he’s willing to go to stop his father. Meanwhile, Tiki’s virtuous nature has placed him in the middle of Vincent’s past, leaving Chase to oppose a senate of vampires and defend a demon he hates.

Trying to balance his friends, his enemies, and his inner demons, Chase is left searching for answers about the Mark, his destiny, and where he can find the next soul piece. Stopping Riley is his top priority, but as more obstacles arise, he finds himself doubting all the decisions he’s made - especially regarding Rayna.

One thing is for certain: Chase has finally realized that he doesn’t know anything. The light doesn’t always quell the darkness, the monsters don’t always stay in the shadows, and the past doesn’t always stay in the past - sometimes, the demons inside are the hardest to fight.

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Review:

Having read all three books in close succession it really made me appreciate how absolutely brilliant this series truly is. Release was incredible, I wish I had finished the book before this year as it easily would of made my list of Favorites. Yeah, it was just that damn good.

First off, Chase oh my gosh I can not even put into words how much I love this character. Chase has matured so much over the past three books and yet I still feel that his character is evolving and changing leaving an air of mystery to him. Vincent probably changed the most since the last book and while he is still arrogant and a pain in the backside for Chase, I believe he's a good guy under that gruff exterior. I really just want to see him happy and hope he gets that in the next book.

Release definitely focuses on the guys of the series more than the gals. Rayna has a lesser role than in the previous two books but since all of her scenes were just incredibly well written it didn't bother me much. Speaking of the writing again it was fantastic, flawless even and I feel as if I'm repeating myself here but honestly I have no complaints.

Overall Release was a great addition to the series and M.R. Merrick deserves a big ole pat on the back for creating something that not only has held my interest over three books but keeps getting better and better as the story progresses. While the ending did leave me all twisted up in knots screaming profanities at my e-reader I am so happy knowing that this isn't the end and I'll have one more book with all these great characters. Would I recommend Release? A resounding yes!! In the end I will be rating Release ★★★★★.

*I received a copy of Release for review for the blog tour. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way for providing them.

M.R. Merrick Guest Post

Book To Movie Conversions

When it comes to anything being made into movies, there are a lot of factors that contribute to its success or failure. Of course this is probably subjective, so what follows is naturally just my opinion.
Acting, script, casting, world building, special effects, cinematography; when all of these things are combined properly, you get a successful franchise. For me, Harry Potter was an incredible book to movie conversion. The actors cast in the films were great, the world was put together beautifully, and the magic that Rowling infused in her books was brought to life on the big screen in a way that did my imagination justice, for the most part.
On the other side of the spectrum, you get movies like Eragon, which didn't take off nearly as well. It's been quite a while since I saw the movie, but there are a few things that I remember really stood out for me. The first being it was too short. I don't feel like there was enough time for the story to be brought to life properly, not enough time to build up the lore and the world. The characters weren’t quite right for me. And I don't think the casting was great. I've had these kind of problems with a lot of movie conversions, and not always just from books (I’m looking at you The Last Airbender).
One thing I find is that it's difficult to keep an open mind when you enter the theater to see a book to movie conversion. You already have a vision in your mind of what a character looks like, only to later (often years later) be shown who the character is. Sometimes it’s spot on, and other times you can’t believe the casting. You see this a lot when they reveal the actors who will be playing your favorite characters in large book to movie conversions. There's oftentimes outrage at the selected people. We all build up these characters inside our own imagination, so much so that it's nearly impossible for that character to be matched…at least in their entirety.
But for me, personally, I can deal with someone who doesn’t always look the part, if the script and acting is up to par. A lot of the books we see coming to film have great worlds, with wonderful history, and we love that about them. But it’s difficult for Hollywood to congest all that a book encompasses into a two hour movie, and that’s where I think a lot of the movie conversions fall flat. They don’t build up the world properly, or they focus on the wrong things. The audience has experienced this world. They’ve lived it, breathed it, and sometimes they’ve revisited it multiple times. You can’t just throw it together. It needs to be designed, fleshed out, and everything woven intricately together.
When the movie world gets a book conversion right, they really, really get it right, but unfortunately the same can be said about when they get it wrong. I’m not sure exactly what the recipe is for a book to movie conversion to be completely successful, since there are surely factors behind the screen that I’m unaware of, but these are some of the most important factors to me. What about you?

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Comments

  1. Great review! Thanks for being part of the tour.

    Valerie
    StuckInBooks.com

    ReplyDelete

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