Sunday 23 September 2012

Alone (My Sci Fi Creative Writing Assignment)

Hello everybody! So, no review today because I have had NO TIME (I know, another excuse.) :( Play practice has been hectic since the show is next week. And I've been alpha reading this week so I have nothing to review. So instead, I decided I would post a short story I had to write for World Literature and Composition. If you guys are totally not into this and really don't care about some school assignment I did, I have no problem with it! Ha ha! Just thought it would be better to post something on here than nothing!

My story had to be 2-3 pages long and had to be sci-fi! That was literally all the criteria we had for our story. And me being the type of person who LIVES off of direction this was quite the challenge. But when I finally thought of something I liked, I went with it and I really like the finished product. Hope you enjoy and feel free to leave me a comment letting me know if you liked it or not! Discussion is awesome! :) Also, I'm not the greatest writer so.. caution. ;)


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Alone

The pain is overwhelming. I watch the blood flow from my arm through the needle into a glass tube. After getting your blood drawn every week of your life, you would think the pain would lessen. Not a chance. For the fifteen years that I’ve lived, this is the normalcy I have succumbed to. I’ve never once questioned why my care takers make me do this, I just do it. 

My best friend, Xena, assures me that it’s for my own good, but I’m not so sure. You see, Xena doesn’t have to get her blood drawn. And I think it’s because we look different. We have the same facial structures but that’s where the similarities end. While I have light tan skin, Xena’s is silver and metallic. My movements are fluid; hers are short and choppy. Out of everyone around me, I’m the only one like this. The only person in the house hold who must get her blood drawn week after week. 

And I wonder why. Of course, I would never let Xena know of my questioning. She discourages all curiosity, especially when it comes to the topic of my boundary. I don’t understand what’s so wrong with asking questions, and I don’t understand why I never get answers. It’s not like I’m doing anything wrong, right?

Onyx places a cotton ball and Band-Aid on my arm where I had gotten my blood drawn. Onyx always comes over on Thursdays to take my blood. He never speaks and shows little to know emotion. I’ve tried talking to him multiple times but after a while, I gave up. He also never breaks procedure. He enters the house, draws my blood, and leaves with the tube, repeating the process every week. I hate Thursdays. 

Xena is waiting out in the hall for me. 

“What good is my blood?” I ask, wincing.

 “Curiosity killed the cat, Melody. Be happy with what you know.” 

She’s always doing that, quoting sayings. How does she even remember all of them? I’ve always wondered how she has the perfect saying for every issue. Like she has file folders in her head that are organized to pull something out at just the right time.

“I don’t see why you always get worked up about getting your blood drawn. It’s just a little prick, is all,” she says annoyingly.

She’s clearly frustrated with me. I really don’t have the patience to argue. I’m not in the mood to be shot down again.

“I think I’m going to go on the trail and run,” I usually run on the treadmill in the gym, but today I need some fresh air to clear my head.

“Good, good. You know the saying; Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

I squint in confusion, “Yeah, I guess?”

How does that saying fit in with exercise? That’s the fourth time this week Xena’s slipped up on what she’s been saying. The first few times she did I didn’t really pay attention, but now I’m wondering what’s going on with her.

I start with a slow pace on the track. We’re required to get in at least thirty minutes of exercise every day. Actually, there’s no “we,” it’s just me. Xena doesn’t need exercise. Neither do any of my care takers. There must be a reason I need exercise and they don’t. Xena tells me I’m supposed to have a healthy body so I’ll have healthy blood to give.

I quicken my pace when I hear someone shouting.

“Hey! You! Come quick!”

I turn around and see a boy. An actual boy! He seems to look my age. I’m scared, excited, and nervous all at the same time. How is it that in my whole life I’ve never seen someone like me and suddenly, there they are! Should I run? Should I come to him? What if Xena finds out? Would she be just as excited to see someone like me as I am? Maybe the boy can answer some of my questions. 

I tentatively walked to him, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

 The boy looks around worriedly, tugging at his collar. “I’m Dareon. I escaped my boundary because I knew there had to be people like me out there. And I was right.” 

“So you’re telling me you left your boundary? How is that even possible? Xena told me to never ever leave the boundary because of the danger behind it.” 

“They lied. And it seems like they’ve lied about a whole lot more than just the boundaries.”

I stumble backwards, and gasp, “But Xena wouldn’t lie to me! She must not have known about it or she would have told me.” 

“I’m sure she knew. I did some digging and realized there are more people out there like us. All of our caretakers have kept us in the dark. I used to think I was the only one, but there are thousands, maybe millions more like us.”

“Melody! Come back in! It’s been over thirty minutes!” Xena yells from the door.

Dareon looks around frantically, “Meet me here again tomorrow. I’ll tell you everything. Please trust me.”

He quickly turns around and bolts into the trees.

No matter what, I know I’ll go back to that spot. Dareon has the answers I’ve been searching for.

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I hope you liked it! :)

Also: I may not have a review next week either. Which is a BUMMER. Our show is next weekend and once again practice will be hectic. But after that I'll be done with theater for about two months which means regular reviewing. Sorry everyone! 


Sunday 16 September 2012

The Secret Trinity: Unearth by Jenna Bernel (Review)


Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Number of Pages: 218
For ages 15+


"Aria Darwin has always considered herself cursed. She is obsessed with finding a cure for the bad boyfriend plague. Worse yet, she’s in denial about her weird abilities and terrified of her mysterious stalker who causes the earth to quake violently with the snap of his finger.

With her two best friends, Aria enters her first semester of college armed with a “no more men” pact in an effort to demagnetize the sleaze balls. Unfortunately, the agreement proves difficult when she meets Liam, a charming foreign exchange student, on the first day of school.

Aria quickly discovers that Liam is not only Mr. Perfect, but he also somehow ignites her supernatural side. Upon the invitation of her dream guy, Aria travels to Ireland through the study abroad program, dragging her friends along with her. But her world of euphoric bliss quickly comes crashing down as she uncovers the truth about her past, revealing who she really is and what she was born to do."   -Goodreads


***I'm going to try VERY hard not to give away any of the spoilers in this book because there are some super duper huge ones that I really want to write about but I can't because I want you all to read this book because it was really good... Wow, run on sentence much?***

I was trying to get away from the usual stuff I read. You know, the contemporary romance that I seem to read in a snap? I wanted to read a book that would take me all day to read. That I could get lost in in more than 2 hours. Because that's the kind of books I've been reading A LOT  Some of you may not have the time. Frankly, I don't know how I have that kind of time, but I some how managed it! I came across this book on Amazon and I believe it was free at the time, which is a BIG plus!

 I read this book in a day. I probably would have read it faster if I didn't have school and play practice and all that fun stuff, but what can ya do? ;) 

It took me a little while to get into the book but once I did, I was definitely hooked. Aria and her friends have decided to make a pact against all boys since Aria always seems to find herself choosing the wrong kind of guys. But of course, that pact's not gonna last for long! I mean, this is a romance book. What do you expect? Aria meets Liam. A guy who I absolutely SWOONED over. But then something kind of... happens... I can't go into any more detail! I CAN'T! 

Liam was adorable, charming, and seemed to know just the right things to say. And while Aria was falling for him, so was I. He treated her sweetly and never seemed to push her to do anything she didn't want to do. And it makes me so darn angry that everything changes. I LIKED HOW IT WAS GOING. Problems spring up and a whole bunch of crud is unrolled. Important stuff happens. Stuff I wanna share so badly but I can't because I HATE SPOILERS. 

Aria also has this somewhat "creepy stalker guy" that she always sees but can never find out who he is.   He will be big in the end of this book. Just you wait. And he will be a VERY big character in the second book. (I've already read it.) And let's just say, he's super swoon worthy too. He just doesn't really show it in this book. He kind of just gives off the creeper vibe. But not to worry! 

One problem I had with this book was the dialogue. There weren't a lot of contractions. So sometimes the conversation wouldn't flow as much as I would have liked it to. Instead of "haven't or can't" it was have not or can not. I just didn't think that a regular teenager would speak like that. I mean, I could understand Liam speaking like that because he was Ireland and maybe they speak like that? Who knows? It just felt a little choppy when Aria or her friends would speak. But after the first few chapters you don't really notice any more. You kind of just accept the fact, and move on. 

All in all this book was pretty fantastic! I would have written a WHOLE bunch more but I can't with all the spoilers and what not. So, I leave you with this. And hopefully you'll want to go buy it so you too can revel in it's spoilery goodness. And if anyone does buy this book and wants to discuss about it with me, please do! Book talk is FANTABULOUS! 

I give this book 4 out of 5 diva crowns! It was really good! Just some very frustrating moments. But  I definitely recommend it to paranormal/ fantasy romance lovers. It absolutely has that aspect, and it's not to pricey! Another plus! 




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I'm gonna be completely random here.. So, if any of you follow me on Twitter you know I'm somewhat obsessed with this song:

                                       


I seriously love Sara Bareilles. I DO. And I've pretty much learned how to play this song on the piano! YAY! But anyways, I know this has NOTHING to do with my review. But I just wanted all of you to know what I've had on repeat for the past week.

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Hope your day is filled with sparkles!




Sunday 2 September 2012

So Over You by Gwen Hayes (Review)




Genre: Contemporary Romance 
Number of Pages: 226
For ages 14+

"Layney Logan, girl reporter. 

That's all she's ever wanted to be. This year, her senior year, not only does she have to share the coveted Senior Editor position with her arch nemesis, Jimmy Foster, she also has to figure out how to keep the school paper alive. With the local paper closing and the school cutting Journalism from the budget, it's a long shot. Working side-by-side with Foster, the guy she likes to call Lucifer, makes it even worse.

The only thing Layney dislikes more than swimming in the high school dating pool is Jimmy Foster thinking he got the best of her, so she takes
his ridiculous newspaper assignment--to go on twelve blind dates--to prove his powers of darkness won't work on her. The trouble is, the more she learns about herself on her journey of bad blind dates, the more she wonders if maybe Foster has known her better than she knows herself all this time.

And maybe she should have trusted him with the secret she’s kept for four years—the secret that broke them up to begin with." -Goodreads

Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow. This book was SO GOOD. I couldn't help talking about it to everyone and stinking texting Allie like crazy. I was looking for a quick book that I could read fast and be content with  the ending. This was SO MUCH MORE. (I'm a capsaholic, I apologize.)

Layney Logan is that girl who thinks she can take on everything. She's strong, she's independent, and she is awesooommeeee. I loved her. She was hilarious and the banter between her and Jimmy was absolutely priceless. Layney has a secret that you would never ever ever ever ever guess. Throughout the whole entire book I'm thinking, oh she's just mad at Jimmy for the things he did. Blah, blah, blah. Wrong. So wrong. Your jaw will drop to the floor. I promise you you will be just as clueless as I was throughout the whole entire book. And this secret is serious. SERIOUSLY SERIOUS.

I adored the idea of the 12 blind dates. It was hilarious and I always got excited when I turned to the next chapter to figure out who she was going on a date this time. Some were a lot better than others.. One thing that was amazing was that out of these Layney got a best friend! Yay for someone to share stuff with! She also found someone that she was actually interested in! Of course, with the rules she can't really have any contact with him until after all of the dates, but of course, he found a way! I was in the middle of how much I liked this guy. He was sweet and treated her nicely but I mean, I was rooting for Jimmy the whole time because that guy is just swoon worthy as I'll get out. And I will show you just how swoon worthy he is later. Because I have a quote for you all. And if that quote doesn't make you want to go buy this book nothing will.

Now that we're on to the subject of Jimmy Foster... He is magnificent! At the beginning you think he's totally arrogant and thinks he's all that, but getting into the book and reading about how fantabulous he is will change your mind quite quickly. And here's the quote that is my absolute favorite of what Jimmy says to Layney:


“'I went home that day, and I wrote your name over and over on a piece of paper. I must have written it a hundred times. My mom found the paper a few days later in my sock drawer. She wanted to know why I'd done that...'

I wanted to know why more than anything I'd ever remembered wanting, but a part of me hoped he'd chicken out.

'I told her I liked the way your name made my heart jump.'”

SERIOUSLY?! ARE YOU SWOONING YET?! That is the kind of stuff this guy says. How adorable is that? And by that time I was head over heels. ...For a fictional character... Yeaaahh, I have issues. He also gave Layney advice and always believed in her, even if she didn't realize it. See? This is why I was rooting for the guy.

With every blind date, Layney learned more about herself and what she was keeping bottled up. And every blind date seemed to bring more feelings for Jimmy. And could you blame the girl? Jimmy and Layney had a love-hate relationship, even if it seemed they hated more than loved. But looking into it, you could definitely tell something was between them. And there were some moments that made you stop and wonder if they were both completely over each other. Because you know they're TOTALLY not.

The ending had me in pieces. It was adorable and so amazing. I read the ending probably five times. And then continued to talk non stop about it to Allie afterwards.

I. Loved. This. Book. It was heartwarming, hilarious, and everything in between. I recommend it to contemporary romance lovers. Especially if you're looking for the love hate relationships because it is just plain hilarious. 5 out of 5 diva crowns, and not a crown less!

I'm going to leave you with one more quote, because there are just so many good ones to choose from!

“My best advice is to be yourself. Unless you’re psychotic, then you might want to try a different tactic.” -Jimmy Foster, So Over You by Gwen Hayes.