Sunday, August 14, 2016

Movies + Book Recommendations

I got this idea from a video I saw authors Alice Oseman and Lauren James do. The idea is that one person chooses 2 or 3 of their favorite movies and the other person chooses 3 books that are related to or similar to those movies.
 I thought that this was an original idea so I thought that I would try it for myself with my friend Sarah, Ya96lover. I am going to pick three of my favorite movies and Sarah is going to choose 3 books that are similar or related to them.

1. The Princess Bride

2. 10 Things I Hate About You

3. Water For Elephants

Friday, August 12, 2016

Friday Reads # 1

Friday Reads # 1 ( August 12, 2016)

This is the first Friday reads ever so I'm excited. Ok, so I am currently reading three books at the moment. I'm currently reading The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolken, The Rose Society by Marie Lu and The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. So far I'm enjoying The Raven Boys and The Hobbit. I'm reading The Rose Society because I read the first book in The Young Elites trilogy and I really liked it. :)








Thursday, August 11, 2016

Review: Every Last Word

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Book Review




I'm always hesitant when it comes to reading contemporaries that deal with mental illness because some of them tend to romanticize the illness. However, this was not the case. The main character Sam has suffered from OCD since she was 11. These consuming thoughts are something she struggles with on a daily basis along with seeing her therapist who helps her deal with them in healthy ways. I liked that this book portrayed the mental illness in an honest and real way. While, Sam makes a new friend who introduces her to a poetry club Sam begins to use writing poems as a creative outlet when it comes to dealing with her inner struggles. Besides, Sam andthe love interest I felt that the other characters were one-dimentional. We're told information about them here and there but not enough to make us remember them.

I liked the element of music that was used in the story : Sam makes playlists and AJ plays guitar and writes songs. Sam's playlists were relatble I even found myself listening to Never Let Me Go by Florence and The Machine. There were some moments where nothing would happen so a month would pass or weeks sometimes. I loved that they included Sam's relationship with her therapist as part of her treatment because its shown as in a positive light instead of it being stigmatized as a negative thing.

The twist in the story, I suspected it for a while because the scenes between Sam and this particular character were convient only Sam could see this person and talk to them.
It didn't surprise me because it ended up with Sam reflecting on this experience in a positive way. Althougth, I think it was a coping mechanism that she used when she was anxious there were some things that still felt weird.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Sam's characters has many layers and it was great following her story and seeing her constantly deal with her inner battles. I recommend this book to who liked All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella.


An Open Letter to Rowan Blanchard

It made me feel sick when i heard the rumors and how it affected you. You are a young 14 year old girl who is an advocate for movements such as feminism, black lives matter, LGBTQ, Self- love, and many other things. Also, you spoke about your struggles with depression and spoke about being bullied. 
You wrote a piece on Rookie Magazine where you expressed that you did not want to apologize for what you feel or the things that you do. I remember reading that piece and really taking it in. You are a strong person who is intelligent, eloquent, and talented. I’m sure you will go far in life and star in other amazing projects. 
I want to say that I admire you because you’re letting people know no matter what age they are, that they have a voice and they matter. To me, the show taught me lessons about friendship, family, feminism, people change people, Labels shouldn’t matter. People should look beyond the surface. I am glad that you are who you are and you never change who you are because some people expect you to.
You are a wonderful human being and please stay the humble down to earth person we all know you are.
- Lissette