Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Make It a Clean Break

Expected Publication: January 17th, 2012
Fracture
By: Megan Miranda
Bloomsbury/Walker Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780802723093


Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine
-despite the scans that showed significant brain damage.  Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?
Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?
For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.


Review

   Delaney Maxwell has a fairly average small-town life.  One night when she's on her way to a party with her best friend Decker, all of that changes abruptly.  She falls through the ice on the lake.  Under for eleven minutes before she's rescued, Delaney is in a coma for a week.  All of the Doctors think she will have extreme brain damage and possibly be a vegetable for the rest of her life.  Delaney wakes up absolutely fine and they have no explanation other than a medical miracle.  At first she doesn't realize why the itch in her brain is pulling her to certain people - then she figures out it means they're going to die soon.  Then this weird boy named Troy Varga - who can do the same thing as Delaney - begins to get close to her.  He has serious issues though and the pressure of her ability and feeling crazy starts to get to Delaney and she begins to self-destruct.  I thought this was a truly interesting book.  The relationships of Delaney and her parents were painful but realistic.  I was totally invested in Delaney's life and her problems getting Decker to understand the complexity of what she was going through.  Also, I come from a very small town myself and that side of things definitely read realistically.  I liked that the paranormal element of this book wasn't overplayed or underplayed - it was just right.  By the time the ending rolls around the book truly comes full circle.  I would highly recommend this book to fans of If I Stay and The Beginning of After.  It was definitely worth the read and it got into my heart more than I thought it would. 

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money was exchanged for this review. This book is now available in select stores and online.*


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Plagues of Humanity

Published: September 1st, 2011
The Eleventh Plague
By: Jeff Hirsch
Scholastic Books
ISBN-13: 978-0545290142


The wars that followed The Collapse nearly destroyed civilization. Now, twenty years later, the world is faced with a choice—rebuild what was or make something new.

Stephen Quinn, a quiet and dutiful fifteen-year-old scavenger, travels Post-Collapse America with his Dad and stern ex-Marine Grandfather. They travel light. They keep to themselves. Nothing ever changes. But when his Grandfather passes suddenly and Stephen and his Dad decide to risk it all to save the lives of two strangers, Stephen's life is turned upside down. With his father terribly injured, Stephen is left alone to make his own choices for the first time.

Stephen’s choices lead him to Settler's Landing, a lost slice of the Pre-Collapse world where he encounters a seemingly benign world of barbecues, baseball games and days spent in a one-room schoolhouse. Distrustful of such tranquility, Stephen quickly falls in with Jenny Tan, the beautiful town outcast. As his relationship with Jenny grows it brings him into violent conflict with the leaders of Settler's Landing who are determined to remake the world they grew up in, no matter what the cost.



Review

   The USA has collapsed from an inevitable war with China, who released a plague that decimated its population.  Slavers roam the country, selling the people to the wealthy in other countries and salvagers/nomads are the average US citizen, fighting for survival.  Stephen has grown up fighting and being abused by his Grandfather, a harsh ex-miltary man, while his Father stood by and watched.  His mother has been dead for about five years and his world is survival with no fun or happiness.  Then Grandfather dies, leaving Stephen and his Father to fend for themselves.  Of course his Father tries to help a woman and child escape from the slavers, which ends up with him in a coma and Stephen alone.  Stephen is captured by people from Settler's Landing who believe he's a spy and they take him and his Father back to their town.  This is when things get really interesting.  I enjoyed this book on many levels.  Hirsch manages to paint a picture of a world ravaged by disease and war, that still resembles our own in a chilling way.  Jenny Tan is an interesting foil to Stephen because she has had a relaxed, relatively safe upbringing but longs for something she perceives to be more real.  He just wants to be able to quit worrying for awhile and live.  I also enjoyed the starkness of the language, that managed to give more than enough description for my brain to fold in upon itself.  This book was terrifying in a way The Hunger Games, because it gave a view into a very plausible outcome of our contries political dealings and world relations in general.  The ending was well written and fit the rest of the book very well.  I would recommend this to anyone who like dystopia, adventure and complex human interaction.

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores and online.*

Monday, November 14, 2011

In My Mailbox # 2


In My Mailbox is a weekly meme that I picked up from The Story Siren's blog. This is my second week doing this, but it is a way for us bloggers to show our followers what books we've received this week in the mail, bought somewhere or gotten from the library or elsewhere! :)

  I got A LOT of new books this week!  I hopefully will be able to read them sometime in the near future.  There were quite a few that I bought, a few from the library, ones on my Kindle for PC, and there was one from NetGalley as well.  Instead of posting pics, I've decided to post the titles with links to the Goodreads pages and Amazon pages.  I encourage you to check these out if you're interested.

Awake At Dawn by C.C. Hunter (Goodreads / Amazon)
Blood Rights by Kristen Painter (Goodreads / Amazon)
Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay (Goodreads / Amazon )
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (Goodreads / Amazon)
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins (Goodreads / Amazon)
Reckoning by Lilli St. Crow (Goodreads / Amazon)
Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer (Goodreads / Amazon)
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy (Goodreads / Amazon)
Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Goodreads / Amazon)
Hades by Alexandra Adornetto (Goodreads / Amazon)
Pure by Julianna Baggott (Goodreads / Amazon)
Silver Smoke by Monica Leonelle (Goodreads / Amazon)
The Forest of Adventures by Katie M. John (Goodreads / Amazon)
Hex: A Witch and Angel Tale by Ramona Wray (Goodreads / Amazon)

That is all for this week!  I have a review for "The Eleventh Plague" that I will be posting either today or tomorrow for sure and the "Once Upon a Time" recap will be up by Thursday at the latest.  Well, that's it for today.  Happy reading! :)

Saturday, November 12, 2011

"Once Upon A Time" Episode 3 - Snow Falls


   So, I'm running a slight bit late posting this recap.  But I didn't want to post it right on top of the one for the second episode.  In this episode, like the last one, some serious stuff happens.  I think the best parts of this episode are in FT world though, because while watching the story of how Snow and the Prince first meet we find out what a naughty, smart-ass she really is!  Plus, the episode starts off in FT world this week!  So, without further adieu here is the recap.

Recap:

This really swanky, Pimp-My-Ride carriage is rolling through the forest when the show starts.  Hmmmm.....wonder who THAT belongs to.  The Prince!  Why am I not surprised?  The Prince is in there with a snotty looking blonde he calls 'my dear.'  My guess is this was pre-Snow White.  A tree is blocking the forest road, so he puts down a pouch that is probably really important and gets out to investigate.  Turns out it was cut down on purpose!  Just as he figures this out a hooded thief grabs the pouch from the carriage and makes a ride for it on their horse.  Prince Butthead manages to knock the thief off the horse and is about to punch 'em when he sees it's a woman!  GASP!  IT'S SNOW WHITE!!!  First meeting of epic proportions!  He hesitates (big DON'T) and she knocks him upside the head with a rock, riding away with his valuables.  The Prince threatens that he will always find her.  Snow's smile is made of awesomeness. 



Are we SURE Emma isn't really her daughter?

Back in Storybrooke MM/Snow is having WAY less luck on the romance front.  She's on a date with a cute doctor who obviously is a creep and spends the entire time ogling the diner waitress (Ruby/Red).  MM is on her way home when she finds Emma in her parked car.  Since she decided to stay, MM/Snow offers her the spare room in her apartment, but Emma declines saying she's a loner.  The next day MM/Snow has her class volunteering at the hospital, where Henry comes across the John Doe coma patient from episodes-past, who looks like Prince Charming.  He badgers MM/Snow about whether she knows him but she doesn't, except for bringing him the occasional flower boquet and ushers him from the room. 

So, is it just me or is it totally against NATURE that he is a Grandpa???

   Of course Boy Genius recognizes the so-called resemblance and tells Emma that her Father is the hospital's John Doe.  Henry wants to tell MM/Snow so she'll read their story to him and wake him up.  Emma actually agrees to do it, but says they're doing it the way she wants to.  MM/Snow isn't so sure about the whole plan, but Emma tells her it's only to prove Henry wrong about his obsession with Fairy Tales being real.  MM/Snow agrees to read to JD cause she wants to let Henry down gently.  MM/Snow is in the room readint the story to JD.  His hand reaches up and grabs onto hers!!!  She runs to get her sleazeball Doctor date from the previous night but he denies that there was any sort of change.  He gives her the third degree about what she was doing and then tries to tell her she imagined/dreamed the entire thing.  Of course he calls EM first thing after she leaves for home!  He reports that a volunteer said JD grabbed her, plus there WAS fluctuation in brain activity.  He really is a sleazeball y'all.  This gives her a frowny face cause it probably interferes with her revenge plan.  MM/Snow is curling up to read the story at home, which takes us into FT world once more.  Snow White is about ready to hit the road from her tree home once and for all, when she springs a trap set by The Prince!  He comes over and says basically 'I told you so.'  She sarcastically calls him Prince Charming and refuses to learn his real name.  In other words, she is AWESOME.

Her daughter definitely needs to take notes on the correct way to convey emotion by facial expressions!!!
  
   Turns out the wedding ring of Prince C's Mother was in the pouch and he wants it back.  Snow gives him the runaround until he threatens to turn her into the Queen, flashing a nice close-up of her Wanted poster for the audience.  She reluctantly agrees for her own best interest.  MM/Snow tells Emma and Henry about what happened in the hospital, which has apparently turned her into a bit of a believer.  They rush to the hospital where Sheriff Graham is investigating the disappearance of none other than John Doe!  EM is there and gets after Henry for lying about where he was.  Doctor Sleaze says that JD has to be found cause could be in danger - so of course EM (Regina) orders Graham to find him.  G and Emma are looking at security tapes,  which show John Doe leaving out the side door into the woods.  Meanwhile, Snow White is taking PC through the forest.  He takes away her shiny necklace which is apparently evil fairy dust that will shrink enemies so you can squash them.  Snow refutes the charges against her from the Queen, but does admit to 'ruining her life.'  Apparently Snow was stealing from the Queen so she could escape to somewhere safe.  She wants to stop for a drink, which enables her to make a break for it.  Snow hits him over the head into the water and runs, only to be stopped by EQ's guards ready to cut out her heart!!!

He looks like a demented, life-size Christmas Tree Ornament!
  
   MM/Snow, Emma and Hot Sherrif are tracking the missing patient through the forest and having some petty bickering.  Than Henry shows up and claims to know where JD is: looking for MM/Snow.  Back in FT world Creepy Ornament Guy and his brethren are killed by the Prince who saves the day AND the damsel.  She is shocked he came back, but apparently it was the noble thing to do.  *Swooning*  He reminds her about the ring and Snow admits she sold it to Trolls nearby.  They head off in that direction.....the direction of DANGER.   Henry, Emma, MM/Snow and the Sheriff are still looking for JD in the woods.  Henry says he's looking for MM/Snow cause she woke him up and he loves her.  Graham finds JD's BLOODY WRISTBAND.  OMG.  Snow White and the Prince find the Trolls they were looking for, who look very much like I've always imagined Trolls would.  They are suspicious and attack when they figure out he's royal and she has a bounty on her head.  Snow escapes but they almost get the Prince.  She goes back and uses the evil fairy dust to save him.  Dead Momma's ring is saved.  Cause it was the noble thing to do.  Awwwwww!  Charming says his name is James, she says it's nice to meet him.  MM/Snow FINALLY finds JD on the bank of the stream and gives him some serious CPR, begging him to come back.  His first coherent words are "You saved me.  Thank you."  Turns out he doesn't know who he is either.  While getting checked out in the hospital, the snotty blonde from FT world shows up calling JD 'David.'  EM tells a dejected MM/Snow that it's his wife!!!

What's wrong with this picture?  I'll give you a hint: it's surrounded by blonde hair and in the middle...

Snow and James are saying goodbye and both of them are dragging it out, talking about the ring.  Snow even tries it on and they have a moment when it fits perfectly.  Finally, he says goodbye.  She answers, calling him Charming again.  He tries to correct her, but she says she likes the nicknames better and turns to leave.  He stares at her then goes.  She turns back, stares at him and then Snow rides off.  Evil Mayor tells the unbelieveing spectators that JD is David Nolan.  His "wife" tells them that years ago when they were arguing, she told David he could just leave.  Emma is sceptical but wifey says that she assumed he left town.  Doc Sleaze says its a miracle JD is awake and there's no explanation.  Henry consoles MM/Snow, saying that JD was headed to the Troll Bridge to find her.  She tries to shrug it off, but Henry insists that they're meant to be together.  Emma confronts EM over the fishy timing of finding the "wife" after being JD's only medical contact for years.  EM gives some B.S. story about JD saying "Kathryn" in his sleep on the security tapes.  EM rubs it in Emma's face some more that she has Henry and Emma doesn't.  Kathryn is octopusing all over JD while he stares longingly at MM/Snow. 

It really is a pretty classy piece of jewelry.

The lady in question is twirling Prince Charming's ring on her finger from FT world!!! Later on Emma takes up MM/Snow on her offer of a room.  They share a smile and bond with their eyes.  Thus is the end of our tale for this episode.  Next week it seems, is about Cinderella making a deal for her firstborn with Rumpy so she can be rich.  And it seems like he may be collecting in Storybrooke world!!!  Until the upcoming fourth episode, welcome to Storybrooke, land of weird y'all!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Darker Still, Moving Into the Light

Published: November 1st, 2011
Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul
By: Leanna Renee Hieber
Sourcebooks, Incorporated
ISBN-13: 9781402260537

The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing...

Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.



Review

   The story is definitely all that the summary claims and more!  It was told entirely through Natalie's pov with her diary entries, newspaper articles and the occasional letter/note.  I was not expecting much although I was excited to read this book from the start.  Natalie is a girl living with her Father, recently home from boarding school for the deaf, blind, and mute.  Ever since her Mother was killed in a carriage accident when she was a child, she has been unable to speak at all.  Her Father works at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and a painting of a mysterious young man named Lord Denbury is all the rage in society, because it is said to be haunted.  Natalie decides that he must acquire it for the museum and she is determined to make sure it happens.  She becomes acquainted with Mrs. Evelyn Northe, who is bidding on the painting and her niece Maggie.  Mrs. Northe decides to loan out the painting and crazy things begin to happen.  Natalie is able to go into the painting and she finds out that Lord Denbury's soul is trapped inside, while a demon possesses his physical body, committing atrocious acts of violence.  Natalie must overcome her own problems with speech and bravery so that she can help to banish the demon and save Denbury's soul from destruction.  I respect Ms. Hieber sooooooo much!  There were no ridiculous love triangles and both Natalie and Johnathon Denbury were relatable, beautifully flawed people.  They truly were perfect for one another.  This was the most suspenseful, swoonworthy, well-written historical romance I've ever read! Plus one of my best books of the year. It will make you laugh, hold your breath and fight back tears. Worth buying and owning permanently by far! Evelyn Northe is the perfect supporting character and provides much needed humor and compassion to Natalie throughout the novel.  My favorite passage is from Mrs. Northe to Denbury and Natalie: "There's magic about the two of you, yes. Just don't be desperate about it. That's where souls go wrong, when they think they don't have choices. The heart must make choices."   Another favorite from near the ending is:  "There, awake, at the door of my train car, was Lord Johnathon Denbury, real and in the gorgeous flesh, holding out his hand for me.  I stared at him.  I was the girl he'd asked for.  'Yes, you,' he murmured with an irresistible grin.  And here I conclude."  If that doesn't convince you to read this beautiful treasure, I don't know what will!  I was almost streaming at the end.  I am absolutely dying for the next book in the series, I cannot wait to see what happens to Denbury and Natalie next, what adventures they embark on.  Highly recommended! 

VERDICT:  5/5 Stars and My Entire Heart 

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley.  No money was exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in select stores and online.*

In My Mailbox #1


In My Mailbox is a weekly meme that I picked up from The Story Siren's blog.  This is my first week doing this, but it is a way for us bloggers to show our followers what books we've received this week in the mail, bought somewhere or gotten from the library or elsewhere! :)

So peeps, I got A LOT of new books on NetGalley this week from benevolent publishers (because they are trying to kill me of course!).  Also, quite a few from the library!  Here it goes:
E-Books







Library Books


 



It's a pretty good haul all things considered, wouldn't you agree? :)




"Once Upon A Time" Episode 2 - The Thing You Love The Most


   So, I'm a week late posting this recap for Episode 2 of "Once Upon A Time" because life got in the way as usual.  In other words, the only day I wasn't scheduled to work last week was Monday, when I'm at college from 9am to 9:30pm.  I don't have a middle class anymore though, so I figured that I would knock it out right now while I could. 

Recap:

The first thing that we see is the miracle of the clock.  Of course they have to show MM/Snow's reaction, Emma's, Jiminy Shrink's, Ruby/Red's, and Henry's.  Then it shows Evil Mayor looking at the book of fairy tales, disgustedly at her picture.  She then goes to Henry and they get into an arguement about whether or not she's the Evil Queen.  Henry tells her that the clock has started and she sports a frowny face.  Going outside for a closer look, Jiminy Shrink tells her how great it is the clock has restarted.  Of course, she says looking like she wants to pull a rifle on that disobedient timepiece.  Evil Mayor goes to the B&B to threaten Emma some more and try to coerce her to leave town.  E is totally badass and refuses to bend.  Then we flash back to the FT world, and get a recap of the Evil Queen's threat to the Prince and Snow.  Only this time we get to see what happens afterward, when she poofs out of that Mother.  She's talking to some really old butler guy who is asking her why this is necessary.  Robo-Queen says Snow must pay, it's as simple as that.  Creepy magic mirror talks to her some and she decides to go get back some horrible curse she gave away, because she desperately needs it to follow through with the threat.  Turns out the friend she gave it to is none other than Maleficent!!!

Apparently you can spot evil every time - just look for some serious hair don'ts!

They bitch about their respective annoyances - i.e. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty and then EQ asks for the curse back.  Maleficent says no and they have a seriously bad-ass magic fight.  She asks EQ why she needs it and tells her she really shouldn't use it cause it's serious magic with consequences and a void will be left in her soul.  EQ takes it from her anyways just cause she can.  Next thing you know its the Congress of Evil and she's promising evil FT characters that they can get everything they ever wanted if they'll help her with the ritual.  She then threatens bodily harm to coerce them into it for sure.  Something that looks like a ginormous dust cloud blows up after she sacrifices her childhood pony's heart.  Turns out it didn't work.  Sucks to be Evil Queen.  One of the little dwarves laughs in her face and boo-yah!  Turned to stone and is now a garden gnome in Evil Mayor's garden!!!  EM is picking apples and newspaper guy comes to her and says that there wasn't much worth finding on Emma - at least not enough to destroy her.  If he wants to keep his job at "The Mirror" he'll do better.  Emma is at the diner and has conversation with hot Sheriff about what Mayor is up to.  Henry is there in another booth.  She walks him to school and they talk about a plan of attack.  Emma starts to eat an apple EM gave her but Henry freaks out.  He gives her the last pages from the book that talk about Emma and tells her that he needs her to keep them from EM so she doesn't find out who Emma is. 

Father/Daughter portrait - how sweet! :)

MM/Snow and Emma have a conversation about why she decided to stay for Henry.  Turns out Emma thinks he's a little off his nut. MM/Snow warns Emma not to destroy Henry's imagination/coping mechanism with her skepticism.  Emma gets that broody frowny face that it genetic.  She decides to go see Jiminy Shrink to find out more about Henry.  JS gives her Henry's file and then when she leaves he calls Evil Mayor!!!  Turns out it was a set-up and EM blackmailed him into it.  Now she's going to make him lie to Sheriff Hottie and get Emma arrested for burglary!!!  And just that happens!  EM goes to gleefully tell Henry that Emma was arrested and how disturbed she is.  MM/Snow asks if it's important cause they're in the middle of a lesson.  EM totally shuts her down.  Henry tells EM that he knows it's her fault and he doesn't believe her.  That is either one very shrewd or very deranged child peeps!  Mugshot time!!!  Is it just me or does this seem to last forever?  Sheriff Hottie totally just wants extra pictures for later.  Henry shows up with MM/Snow who bails out Emma!!!  I love MM/Snow, she's just such an awesome person.  Of course the next natural segue is for Emma to be chopping off part of the Mayor's beloved apple tree.

That's how a bitch gets even - minus the stupid expression.

EM and Emma trade verbal threats some more, with Emma threatening to cut down the rest of the tree if she comes after her again.  Then she walks off cause she is just that awesome.  Meanwhile, Evil Queen is bitching to Old Butler Dude that the curse didn't work.  He yet again tries to talk her out of it but she decides to go ask the person who gave her the curse in the first place what she did wrong.  That means a trip to the castle dungeon to see Rumpy!  EQ asks why the curse didn't work and Rumpy says that he'll tell her for a price.  That it's her fault, the curse is still good.  She agrees that in the new world he'll be rich and she'll give him whatever he wants as long as he says 'please.'  Of course, this is extremely dumb of her but she thinks he won't remember.  Bish please!  He tells her that her sacrifice was insulting and that she has to kill the thing she loves the most to enact the curse.  Also, he lets slip how upset and worried Snow and the Prince are about her curse; that their baby is the only thing that can stop her. Rumpy also warns her of the void it will leave inside of her.  EQ is willing because she is desperate to make Snow pay.  Emma returns to Granny's B&B only to be evicted.  Of course the EM is behind it.  She can't keep Emma in jail so she'll try to get rid of her other ways.  Hottie Sheriff comes to see EM who is trying to do damage control in her garden.  She wants him to arrest Emma, but he tells her that even though he will, to think of what her constant attacks will do to Henry. 

How is she not tapping that???

Emma is walking down the street, when EM calls her and pretends to be trying to make peace.  Emma finds her car looking like it's gonna be towed.  She agrees to meet EM at her office to talk about Henry.  They talk about the therapy and Emma reveals that she thinks it's seriously unhealthy that Henry thinks everyone's from a fairy tale.  She even uses the word 'crazy' and of course Henry overhears because he comes to EM's office every day at that time.  Just another form of sabotage.  You are not taking my son that easily, Blondie!  Evil Queen is having yet another gabfest with Old Guy Butler.  OMG!  It's her Father!  He's what is most important to her and therefore what she'd have to sacrifice.  Daddy tells her that she just needs to let it go, that she can be happy again if she gives up the power and revenge.  She looks like she might actually be considering starting over with Daddy.  But then she gives him a big sad-eyed hug and stabs him in the gut!!! 

Patricide, the surest way to cut all family ties AND make someone look like a bug-eyed fish, all at the same time!

Emma goes to see MM/Snow and it seems like she might just split and run cause of the problem with Henry.  Turns out that her, Emma and Henry all drink cocoa with cinnamon!  They must be related y'all!  NOT!  That is such a dumb set-up for biological similarity!  MM/Snow convinces Emma to stay and fight to make Henry's life better, to look out for him.  The deep discussion makes them all happyfaced.  Henry is with Jiminy Shrink yet again and looks all dejected and completely crushed.  Emma shows up asking for a second chance.  Turns out it was supposedly all a plot to stop EM from suspecting that they know the truth!!!  Just to make sure the EM doesn't get the pages Emma burns them!  And she promises to stay to help Henry.  They have a touching Mother/Son moment. 

This is the only picture without evidence of Emma's inability to have a normal facial expression!

Evil Congress meets again minus the stone dwarf.  Second time is a charm and the curse is set in motion!  Wow, that thing would give a person some serious asthma!  EQ visits her Daddy's grave and it turns out his name was Henry!!!  So there is our confirmation that she definitely remembers everything!  Mr. Gold comes to see EM.  She wants him to get rid of Emma for her.  She is gloating about having separated Henry from her.  Oh snap, Goldy just saw them walking down the street!  Turns out Goldy owns lots of shiny stuff.  EM threatens said shiny stuff.  He tells her to move out of his way and let him leave.  She refuses but then he gleefully says 'please' and she does so against her will with a gobsmacked expression.  I guess EM isn't the only one who remembers everything!!!  A lot of serious stuff went down in the third episode, which has Prince and Snow's origin story and some badass stuff involving John Doe/Prince waking up because of MM/Snow.  I will have a full report up for y'all within the next few days.  Until then, welcome to Storybrooke!