Author Archives: Atharv M.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Crimes of Grindelwald

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In the fictional movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, we are first introduced with a scene of Grindelwald (an evil wizard who want to go to war with the muggles) in jail being transported to Europe to face trial for his crimes. It turned out that this wasn’t actually him, and he apparated (teleported) to the flying carriage and killed all of the people transporting him. Thats how he freed himself. I think that fooling the authorities with someone who looks like him was a very smart plan. A couple months later, Newt Scammander (MC) gets called into the ministry to appeal his international travel ban. But the catch was that he had to help the ministry catch Credence, a powerful obcurial, before Grindelwald does. Meanwhile Tina Goldstein is working on this case and gets stopped by a man named Yusuf Kama because he believes Credence is his distant relative. Newt Scammander tries to save her and gets captured as well. They escape because one of Newt’s animals steals the key for the cell after Yusuf passes out from a water dragon parasite. After escaping, they are on their way to stop Grindelwald and save Credence. I really enjoy the role that magical creatures play in the movie. I rate this a 5/5.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

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The Fantastic Beasts series is my favorite movie series for many reason. The main reason why is because it is in the same universe as Harry Potter, but is around 50~60 years prior and has my favorite character: Dumbledore. He is one of the powerful wizards of all time. In the first of the trilogy, the main character Newt Scammander goes to America to release a magical species called the Thunderbird in Arizona. He was transporting animals, which is illegal. I really like how this movie and this franchise is centered around animals and how they are not cold-hearted creatures but kind creatures with quirks and can even be a companion. The truth is that he first landed in New York to work on a special mission to help Dumbledore stop an evil wizard named Grindelwald from finding an Obscurial. The special thing about Newt Scammander is that he owns a magical suitcase that has a zoo-like area inside. That is where he keeps his animals. He cares a lot about animals and can sometimes even talk to them. A fact about him is that he went to Hogwarts and was a Hufflepuff. To learn more about his journey you can watch the movies or read the books. Thanks for reading!

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone

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The book Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone is an excellent start to the Harry Potter series. The book begins by introducing our protagonist, Harry Potter, and how his life was with the Dursleys. Unfortunately, the Dursleys did not treat Harry kindly, to the point that he didn’t even have a bedroom. He lived in a cabinet under the stairwell of the home. One day, multiple owls came with letters inviting Harry to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Mr. Dursley didn’t like this, so he moved to a shack on an island where he thought he would be away from these strange letters. This did not work, since Hagrid came to get Harry Potter himself. The iconic quote, “You’re a wizard, Harry” was said here. Hagrid took Harry to get his school supplies at Diagon Alley. Afterwards, they went to the platform “9 3/4”. I think this was a very creative way to hide the magical world. It was called this to hide evidence of magic in the Muggle world. On the train ride to Hogwarts, Harry met his best friend Ron. After many events at school, Harry sees a hooded figure drinking unicorn blood. It was none other than Lord Voldemort. Voldemort wasn’t at his full power, so he needed the Sorcerer’s Stone to come back. His host was Quirrell, a teacher at Hogwarts. He lived on him and was very weak. Harry decides to find the stone before Voldemort to stop him from coming back. Check out this book in the Mission Viejo Library to learn how he does it. I would rate this book a 5/5 and I particularly enjoyed following the storyline and especially the uniqueness of each character.

Jurassic World

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Overall this is a great movie, here’s why: Firstly, this movie introduces the coolest hybrid dinosaur in my opinion which is called the Indominus Rex. It can camouflage and hide itself from thermal cameras. This was how it tricked the workers into thinking that it was gone. When the workers come to check if it is still there, the Indominus Rex ambushes them and they escape by opening the cage door.

The Indominus escapes after this and wreaks havoc wherever it goes. It killed a lot of the park’s dinosaurs. It turned out that the reason it was doing this was because it was hunting for sport. This is not usual predator behavior, which showed how evil it was. It’s abilities and intelligence really makes it the coolest dinosaur showed in the franchise. In my opinion, the best.

The coolest scene in the movie was when the T. Rex and the I. Rex fight. The T. Rex is being helped by Owen’s Velociraptors. Owen is one of the workers at Jurassic Park who trains Velociraptors. The I. Rex is still winning the fight, but is cornered next to the lagoon. Out of nowhere, the Mosasaur comes and bites on to the Indominus, dragging it into the depths of the lagoon. I really loved this part since it showed how good always beats evil.

I really recommend this movie and I give it a 5/5.

Jurassic World, both the ebook and film, can be checked out from the Mission Viejo Public Library. 

Jurassic Park 3 Review

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I believe that this is an excellent movie for many reasons. I think the main reason why is because of the fact that we get to explore an entirely new island named Isla Sorna. In this movie, we see new dinosaurs like the Spinosaurus and the Stegosaurus.

I really like the plot since Dr. Alan Grant is tricked into flying in an airplane to Isla Sorna. While there, they hear a roar in the distance and board back onto the plane and fly away. During takeoff, the Spinosaurus comes running across the road and chips its back. This was an insane moment to see a large dinosaur right at the beginning of the movie. The group falls into a crash landing and land in a tree. The Spinosaurus comes and pulls the plane out of the trees and tries to eat the survivors. Luckily, they manage to escape.

While running away, they come across a T. Rex eating its food. I knew that from the moment the Rex came on screen, the Rex and Spino would fight. The Spinosaurus is my favorite because it absolutely DESTROYED the T. Rex. If the Spino could beat the Rex, what else could it do?

We later find out that the reason Alan Grant got called to fly the “tourists” in was to help them find their lost son. I like this part since it really adds to the suspense and drama.

The group travels the forests of Sorna and come across a bunch of eggs, Velociraptor eggs. In my opinion, the velociraptors are the most iconic dinosaur in the franchise since they make an appearance in almost all of the movies. Sneakily one of Alan’s friends steals a couple of eggs to help fund the digsite operations. The group has no clue he did this.

While on the search for the “tourist’s” son, Alan gets cornered by a couple of velociraptors. Then, out of nowhere, a green gas comes and a boy wearing a ghillie suit comes and saves Alan. It was the “tourist’s” son: Erik Kirby. I really liked his entrance into the movie. After a lot more dinosaur encounters, the group manages to save the “tourist’s” son and escape the Island.

All in all, I give this amazing movie a 5/5.

Jurassic Park III is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Review – contains spoilers!

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is one of my favorite books by J.K Rowling. In it, Harry Potter starts his 3rd year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and finds out that a killer named Sirius Black is out on the loose.

During the train ride to Hogwarts, the dementors come and check the train for Sirius Black. I think the concept of them is excellent since they are able to suck happy memories out of you and make you cold. One of them got so close to Harry that he passed out. At school, dementors are stationed everywhere on campus.

Harry also get a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Lupin. Lupin then turns out to be a werewolf. I think that was an excellent plot twist since it was so unexpected.

After Harry’s best friend Ron’s pet rat runs away, they follow him into the stump of a tree, where a vicious wolf-like creature comes out and takes Ron’s pet rat away. The wolf-like creature is actually Sirius Black as an animagus. An animagus is someone who can turn into an animal at will. I think this is really cool since you can sneak around places without anyone being suspicious. On top of that, Sirius turns out to be Harry’s godfather! With all of these plot twists and a lot of magic, I rate this book a 5/5.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby. 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Movie Review (MINOR SPOILERS)

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If you are looking for a great fictional movie to watch this Halloween, I would recommend the excellent movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This is a movie based on J.K Rowling’s book.

Basically, a boy named Harry Potter is 14 years old and is in his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I like magic, so this was very cool. Harry’s name is put in the Goblet of Fire, which chooses the Triwizard Champions.

Since he was under the age of 18, he wasn’t supposed to get in, but Professor Moody, who later turns out to be a phony and has captured the real Professor, puts his name in the Goblet. I think that this is a very interesting turn of events, since he was an Auror, someone known for being good.

After the challenges, Harry is sent to a graveyard where the terrifying and evil Lord Voldemort returns. I found it very surprising that the evil and powerful Voldemort unexpectedly came back.

After this tragic incident, Harry begins a journey to finish the Dark Lord one and for all. His journey is continued into the sequel: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Extra: In the next book Half-Blood Prince, Harry has to find Lord Voldemort’s horcruxes, which each hold a part of the dark lord’s soul. Once destroyed, it will allow him to kill Voldemort.

All in all, this is an action filled magical movie with an amazing plot. (5/5)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Jurassic Park Movie Review

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In the science fiction movie Jurassic Park, we are introduced to the protagonist: Alan Grand, his good friend Ellie Sattler, and another man named Ian Malcolm. The creators of the movie gave each a very interesting and unique personality, which I really like. There was also a lawyer coming to see if everything was legal.

They are invited to assess the brand new park called Jurassic Park, which is a dinosaur theme park. I think this was a very creative idea. This island is owned by John Hammond; he was the founder of InGen, the people behind the making of dinosaurs.

On the tour, the group meet Lex and Tim Murphy, John’s grandkids. Everyone gets in an electric Jurassic Park themed vehicle. They go to the Dilophosaurus enclosure, but sadly aren’t able to spot one. During this time, one of the men (Dennis Nedry) who were managing the tour disabled all the electricity in the park so that he could steal dinosaur DNA and give it to Biosyn. I think that this was a very smart way to incorporate a villain into the plot. While trying to escape, he is killed by a Dilophosaurus.

Meanwhile, the group is stuck next to the T. Rex enclosure due to the power gone. The T. Rex escapes since the fences aren’t electrocuted, and goes on a rampage. It manages to eat the lawyer, while the rest narrowly escape. The way they escape is something I find really cool. They escaped through traveling across the island to the main building where John came and drove them to safety.

All in all, I give this book a 5/5.

Jurassic Park, both the novel and film, can be checked out from the Mission Viejo Public Library. 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Review (contains spoilers!)

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In the fictional novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the protagonist Harry Potter (who is a wizard) goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, everything seemed normal at first, but some strange occurrences started to happen.

There were people being petrified to be as still as a statue. There was also writing on the walls made from blood. The one behind this is Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. Harry’s best friend Ron’s sister gets kidnapped by Tom Riddle and used to help him in these mysterious occurrences.

Harry has to fight the Basilisk, the creature that was petrifying students. After defeating the dangerous Basilisk (with the help of Dumbledore’s phoenix, Fawkes) he uses one of the creature’s fangs to stab the diary that allowed Lord Voldemort to come back with his past self, as he was just a memory. We learn that Harry is a true Gryffindor since he was able to wield the sword of Godric Gryffindor.

The novel before this is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and the one after it is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I rate this book a 5 out of 5 because it has great characters and an amazing plot. It is by far my favorite in the entire series.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Libby. 

Aru Shah and the Song of Death

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In the mythological fiction novel Aru Shah and the Song of Death, we learn about Hindu mythology, alongside action pact scenes that are fun to read. This book is also a great sequel to the previous book; Aru Shah and the End of Time.

By reading this book, one will learn much about Hindu mythology. For those who are not familiar, the series is all about a girl named Aru Shah who goes on missions to save the world, and she meets Hindu legends along the way. A couple examples of these legends are Lord Hanuman, the rishi Valmiki, and asura, who are like demons in Hindu mythology.

This book is filled to the brim with action. There are many combat and exciting scenes in it. Fighting is a major theme in this novel, since the Pandavas: Aru and her sister’s souls, were great fighters during their respective time. All in all, if you are looking for an action book, this is a great option!

Lastly, I just wanted to point out that this book is a great sequel to the previous book in the series: Aru Shah and the End of Time. This is because of the numerous familiar characters reintroduced to the novel. Some examples are Mini, Boo, and Lord Hanuman. There were also some new characters introduced, such as Aiden, the rishi Valmiki, and Brine. To sum it up, this is a very good series in general, and I would highly recommend it.

In conclusion, Aru Shah and the Song of Death is a great novel because it teaches the reader about Hindu mythology, has a lot of action, and is also a great sequel to Aru Shah and the End of Time.

Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.