School ended yesterday for holiday break, and not a day too soon.

What else…

Oh yes, I’m completely crazy about the Japanese rock group, Do As Infinity (now disbanded). Back in middle school (during my Inuyasha fandom days), I had already been introduced to the songs “Fukai Mori,” “Shinjitsu no Uta,” and “Rakuen,” but I still wasn’t very familiar with them. However, all of that changed when I recently acquired their first two albums, Break of Dawn and New World. And let me tell you… what a band!

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Well, S-chan, this review is for you… I was formerly disinclined to offer my opinions about this novel, since I know you would be waiting for a chance to attack my anti-Bella views. But, being the benevolent (and rational) person I am, I decided in the end that strangulation at the hands of S-chan over a measly juvenile novel… well, just wasn’t worth it.

At any rate, here is my very objective and unbiased review of New Moon, sequel to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.

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A while ago, I swore to myself that I would write less of these book, movie, and music reviews, but as you can see, this invariably resulted in failure… thanks to my overconfidence in my own willpower. At any rate, here is a lengthy review on Stephenie Meyer’s young adult novel, Twilight. (Prepare to be bored out of your minds.)

When I first picked up this book at the behest of my friend, S-chan, I was both intrigued and fascinated by its premise: an average teenage girl, Bella, moves to a new town, meets an “exquisitely beautiful” boy, falls in love with him, and later comes to the realization that her beloved is a vampire.

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Gackt-sama! This is perhaps the only time I’ll ever admit such a thing, but… I’m completely enamored with him!

In case you were wondering, Camui M. S. Gackt is a talented J-rocker from Japan. He sings, plays several different instruments, writes his own lyrics, and I also believe composes his own music. He is currently a popular entertainer and has a vast following from many different parts of the world. And if I remember correctly, he can also speak English and French with varying degrees of fluency… apart from his native Japanese, of course.

I still don’t quite know how I’ve become infatuated with him, since I’m normally not a huge fan of rock, but I suppose some of Gackt-san’s appeal (besides his androgynous good looks and his elaborate costumes) comes from his mysterious origins… apparently, Gackt has never disclosed his real name or age and claims to be a vampire born somewhere around 1540. He says he gained psychic powers after a near-fatal accident in his childhood and used to be possessed by spirits, and consequently, does not wish to have children so these paranormal abilities would not be passed to them.

Naturally, my admiration for him increased considerably after hearing this. Long live Lord Gackt!

WARNING: If you dare to read this story, you become part of the Experiment. I know that sounds a little mysterious - but it’s all I can say right now. — Max.

That is the cryptic warning a certain heroine named Maximum Ride gives right before the opening chapter of James Patterson’s novel, Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. But the intrigue doesn’t end there. In fact, the novel proved so engrossing that after stealing this book from my brother (ahem), I flipped to a random page in the middle, began reading, and couldn’t stop until I reached the back cover. Which is really something, since 1) I don’t usually begin reading a book from the middle unless I think it’s worthless, 2) this novel is written for middle schoolers, whereas I’m already a high school sophomore, and 3) I loved it so much, now I’m reading the first half.

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