Why You Should Not Read Shatter Me

Warning: this review will contain spoilers. 
This book is quite possibly the worst I've ever read (and I generally like most books that I read). I picked up Shatter Me because I had read mixed reviews and wanted to see what it was like myself. And it absolutely sucked. 
I put tabs in the book, color-coded, to mark where I wanted to come back to for this review. And almost every single page is marked. So let's start from the very beginning:
First, the weird strikeouts. It was very hard to read and understand what was being said. For example (and I couldn't get the strikeouts to work, so I'm putting the words that are in strikethrough in parentheses): '"You're getting a (cellmate) roommate,” they said to me. “(We hope you rot to death in this place) For good behavior,” they said to me. “(Another psycho just like you) No more isolation,” they said to me.' (And can we all agree that "they said to me" was used WAY too much here?) I'm pretty sure that the strikeouts were used to show what Juliette was really thinking, but it never said this explicitly in the book, and the strikeouts just kind of went away as the book went on, which was a bit odd.
Next, the author seems to have periods of little to normal description of the setting, and then she does something like this: 'I always wonder about raindrops. I wonder about how they're always falling down, tripping over their own feet, breaking their legs and forgetting their parachutes as they tumble right out of the sky toward an uncertain end. It's like someone is emptying their pockets over the earth and doesn't seem to care where the contents fall, doesn't seem to care that the raindrops burst when the hit the ground, that they shatter when they fall to the floor, that people curse the days the drops dare to tap on their doors.' WHAT IS THIS. This isn't a book of poetry, it's a YA novel that has a plot (well, in theory) and characters. And there are only a few places where the author does things like this, which makes it even weirder.
Then, there's literally an entire page that just says 'I am not insane' in strikeout, and when I saw this I literally almost threw the book across the room because WHY WHY WHY???
The society that they live in seemed really intriguing, and I feel like a lot was said about it in the first few chapters and then nothing, which kind of frustrated me.
My second biggest problem with this book was the love interest and then freaking love triangle. I HATE love triangles. And the two boys in the love triangle weren't even likable characters. Adam seemed to be there just as a plot device and to give Juliette something to fight for because he's just the perfect man that will do anything for Juliette and is so hot and amazing and everyone loves him!! (Yeah, right). Not to mention that he's conveniently the only one who can't touch Juliette! WHAT A COINCIDENCE!!! (Oh, and Warner can touch her too, again, HOW CONVENIENT). And don't even get me started on Warner. Everyone who likes the book seems to love him, and since I haven't read the rest of the series and have no plan to, I could be missing out on some huge character development in later books, but from the way he behaved in the first book, I just don't see why anyone could like him. He's self-centered, power-hungry and egotistical. Like when he gave Juliette that test with the child and her two options were to let the child be skewered on spikes or die from Juliette's touch, and Warner just says, "Absolutely amazing." And Juliette even says, 'Possessive is not a strong enough word for Warner.' And THEN Warner says THIS: "Admit it, we're perfect for each other. You want to power. You love the feel of a weapon in your hand. You're... attracted to me. Don't lie to yourself, Juliette. You're going to come back with me whether you like it or not. But you can choose to want it. You can choose to enjoy it." And then a few paragraphs later, "But I love you." And a few paragraphs after that, "God I'd love to just take a bite out of you." This does not sound like Warner loves Juliette, it sounds like he has an obsession with her and just wants to control her. In no way would this be a healthy relationship and just reading that made me feel disgusted.
That whole part where Juliette is told she has special powers and blah blah blah just felt SO overused. How many times have I read this before in a YA dystopian book? And that brings me to my biggest problem with Shatter Me: it was just so predictable: she's going to fall in love with Adam, they're going to escape, then they're going to find the rebels and Juliette will be used to fight against the Reestablishment but she'll fall in love with Warner and then they'll topple the Reestablishment together. I have no interest in reading the rest of the series, and even if I did I'm pretty sure I know what's going to happen anyway.
All in all, this book was absolutely terrible and I recommend it to no one, unless, of course, you're looking to torture yourself.

Jane Eyre Review

Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Brontë

Publisher: Smith, Elder, & Co.

Synopsis:

    Orphaned Jane Eyre is sent to Lowood School for girls, and then accepts a governess position at a mansion called Thornfield. She finds herself falling in love with the master of the house, Mr. Rochester, but unbeknownst to her, Mr. Rochester has a secret that could end their relationship.

My thoughts:

    I enjoyed this book a lot, and since it was one of the first classics I've read and understood, it made me want to read more. It had a strong female main character even though it was written in the 1800s, and the phrasing wasn't as formal as some classics are, which makes it harder for me to read and understand them. I found myself on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what happened next, even though the sentence "Reader, I married him" is one of the more famous excerpts from Jane Eyre. Another thing I like about classics is that modern authors have written lots of spinoffs and it's fun to see the twist of the original story and how the two stories compare (for example, I read My Plain Jane in July and loved it!).

    One thing I didn't like about this book was the romance. Mr. Rochester is twice the age of Jane, not to mention that he has anger issues, and honestly I really don't understand what Jane ever saw in him. However, this is kind of expected since the book was written in the 1800s when a relationship like this would have been common, so I let it slide a bit.

    I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys classics, although if you do there's a high chance that you've already read it!

    My rating: 4 out of 5 stars  

Harry Potter Inspired Recipe: Butterbeer

    Recently, I looked through the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, and it was very cool to see all of the recipes that come up in the Harry Potter books. Unfortunately, the cookbook didn't have butterbeer, the drink that Harry and his friends enjoy when they go into the Wizarding village of Hogsmeade. So instead, we decided to find a recipe for butterbeer online and make it. It turned out really well, so I wanted to share the recipe and how we made it, as well as how it turned out on this blog! 
    The recipe came off of delish.com and can be found here. It is not my recipe, we just decided to use it. So without further ado, here is the recipe and my review:

Ingredients Needed (makes four servings):

• 4 cans of cream soda (1 for each serving)
• 1/4 cup of butterscotch syrup 
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup of melted butter

Directions:

1) In a large bowl, combine the cream soda and butterscotch syrup and stir them together. (This is the drink part and is incredibly easy)

2) In a mixer/different bowl, beat the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the sugar and the vanilla, then the melted butter until no longer streaky. (This is the topping part and is a bit harder)

3) Pour the butterbeer into glasses and then put the cream mixture on top.

(The picture is my own)

    All in all, the butterbeer did not take that long to make, and the ingredients were pretty easy to obtain (except for the butterscotch syrup, but we ended up ordering it off of Amazon). The butterbeer looked amazing and tasted amazing too, although personally, I feel like it was really rich so you could actually divide it up into more than four servings because I didn't finish all of mine and it's pretty hard to save it. I would definitely recommend making this recipe if you or someone you know is a fan of Harry Potter!

DIY Bookmarks

    There are two types of people in the book world: people who use bookmarks, and people who don't. Now, a lot of people call people who don't use bookmarks monsters. I'm not going to go that far, because I used to be one of those people who didn't use bookmarks (I dog-eared pages and also tried to just remember the page number, which worked about as well as you'd think it would). However, sometimes a bookmark is just not available, so you use anything: a receipt, a Post-It note, an old gum wrapper, a piece of paper. And when you do have an actual bookmark, it feels like a luxury. However, I started making my own bookmarks a while ago, and it's surprisingly easy and fun. So naturally, I decided to make a post about how to do it on the blog.

Supplies Needed:

• Paper
• This could be cardstock or just any kind of paper, but stronger paper is better
• Paper cutter, or scissors if you don't have a paper cutter (a paper cutter provides a clean, straight cut)
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Some kind of pen, marker, etc for the design

Step One: Mark the dimensions of the bookmark on the paper
    The bookmark can really be as big or as small as you want. Since I've made bookmarks before, I know the dimensions that I want to use. My advice is to mark with a pencil the boundaries of the bookmark, as shown in the picture:

Step Two: Cut the Paper
    This is fairly self-explanatory, but I'll still include some pictures:

Step Three: Design!
    Before you start designing, you should probably erase the pencil marks just to make it look cleaner. After that, it's really up to you. You can make designs or write quotes from anything or just leave it blank. If you're writing anything, it's a good idea to write it in pencil and then go over it in pen or whatever you're using. I've even used watercolor paints on bookmarks before, but it was harder to do than just drawing:

As you can see, this is a very simple craft that doesn't require much time orf supplies and is a craft you can actually use! Did you end up making DIY bookmarks? Let me know in the comments!

The Summer of Jordi Perez Review

The Summer of Jordi Perez
Author: Amy Spalding
Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Synopsis:

    Abby doesn't think she'll ever be able to get a girlfriend -- no one in their right mind would ask her out. But she's okay with that for now: she's got a blog called +style about plus size fashion, and is starting an internship at her favorite local clothing store, Lemonberry. Then she meets Jordi Perez, the other intern at Lemonberry and falls for her -- hard. This and the fact that she and a new friend are trying to find the best burgers in Los Angeles makes Abby feel like she's no longer the supporting character in her own story.

    But when Jordi's photography thrusts Abby suddenly in the spotlight, Abby feels that the spotlight is too much. Will she be able to make amends?

My thoughts:

    First off: more positive LGBTQIA+ representation! Yes!! But also, this book was incredibly well-written, and the romance wasn't at all forced or unrealistic like some books. I felt like I really got to know the characters, and that I would be able to have a casual conversation or even become friends with some of them. Also, everything was really well described, and even though I'd never been to Los Angeles, I felt like I had a clear picture of what it looks like in my head. 

    I'd recommend this book to middle grade readers and above, even though this book is YA.

    My rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda Review

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Author: Becky Albertalli

Publisher: By-the-Book Pub.

Summary:

    As Simon himself would say, he has a pretty great life. He's just like everyone else, too, except for one big thing: he's gay. And no one knows it except Blue, the boy that he's been emailing since August. But that's about to change. When someone reads Simon's emails and threatens to leak them to the whole school if Simon doesn't do them a favor, Simon faces the possibility of being outed to his entire school, and jeopardizing his relationship with Blue, who is a very private person. Not to mention the fact that things within his friend group are becoming more strained. In addition to navigating normal high school life, Simon has to find a way to dig himself out of the hole that he was pushed into.

My thoughts:

    I started reading this book because I was going to see the movie (which is also really good and follows the storyline of the book very well) and wanted to read the book first, and I was not disappointed. It was so good! I enjoyed reading about all of the characters, and I was very intrigued by the plot, although I'm very glad that the story is fiction because that seems like an awful thing to happen to anyone. And although Simon doesn't have to deal with homophobia like if the book was set twenty years before now, there still seems to be a stigma around gay people -- not fear, more of like a well, they're different and that's weird thing going on, which shouldn't be the case, but I think that most people that end up thinking like this do so unconsciously.
    Overall, I really liked this book and was excited to find out that there was a sequel (which I will also be reviewing).
    Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Queer, There, and Everywhere Review

Queer, There, and Everywhere

Author: Sarah Prader

Publisher: HarperCollins

Synopsis:

    This book is a nonfiction book about 23 famous people throughout history who either identified as or might have identified (because there were no words to describe what they were yet) as LGBTQIA+. These include people such as Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay politician to be elected to the government, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who probably was not straight. 

My thoughts:

    Because June is Pride Month, I decided to review a book about LGBTQIA+ people throughout history. Some of them I hadn't heard of, but others (such as Eleanor Roosevelt) I was surprised to see in the book. I think the reason that people don't often know that some famous people they thought were straight and/or cisgender were not was because you learn about these people in school but they go ahead and let you assume that they were/are straight and/or cisgender.
    I think this book was very educational and everyone should read it!
    Rating: 5/5 stars!

How-To: Blackout Poetry

    If you've ever tried to write a poem, you know how hard it is. You have to come up with the right words, sometimes the correct number of syllables, stanzas, words per stanza, words that rhyme, etc. Now I'm not saying that poetry is bad. It's not. It's just a lot of work. However, I recently discovered this thing called blackout poetry and it is SO FUN! Because I enjoyed it so much, I'm putting up a tutorial on here.

Materials Needed:

• An old book or newspaper or magazine. Really anything that has words on it that you aren't using anymore. You should NOT use a book that was expensive, or that you're planning on using again. I'd recommend going to your local library or used bookstore and picking up one of those 25 cent paperbacks so you don't have to feel guilty about vandalizing a book. I'm using a book that was falling apart anyway, and that I have a double copy of. 
• A pencil (this is optional)
• A black marker or Sharpie. You can also use paint, which I'm not really sure how that works, but you could experiment with it. I'm using a calligraphy marker, because I happen to have one, but if you have a Sharpie laying around you can use that instead (be forewarned that Sharpies bleed through pages).
• That is literally it!

Step 1: Find a page in your book/newspaper/magazine.

    It can be a scene that you like, or just a random page. Make sure that you don't go right into blacking things out, because if you make a mistake and start blacking things out that you didn't mean to, you have ruined your poem (sorry to be harsh, but it's true!).

Step 2: Underline the words you want to use with a pencil

    It isn't completely necessary to do this, but I think that it's really helpful because then you know which words you want to save. 

    This part is probably the hardest part of the entire process, because you can't just add words you want to use. Your poem can make no sense ("remember that here we laugh at gophers") or be really metaphorical ("they had stopped blizzards to keep the fire going") (and yes, both examples are mine). A tip that I found useful is to black out some of the word but not all. For example, if you needed the word "is" and there is not an "is" where you need it to be but there is a "this," black out the "th" part and your problem is solved.

Step 4: Black out the unwanted words!

    This is the fun part! It can feel a little weird at first, because you are literally scribbling with a Sharpie all over a book, but it's all in the name of art. 

    Try different patterns: you can highlight the words you don't want, you can cover the whole page, you can draw designs on the page, you name it! I'm going to show a couple examples but since I have no drawing skills I will use one or two off of the Internet.

Step 5: Erase any pencil marks.
    This is important because it just makes your poem look nicer.

You're done!

Other examples:

https://www.lynnereeder.com/uploads/1/0/8/4/108411141/p71_orig.png

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/474x/96/66/cb/9666cb41984565e62dff526577acbe57.jpg

Have you ever tried blackout poetry? How did it turn out? Let me know in the comments!

Satellite Review

Satellite

Author: Nick Lake

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Synopsis:

   Leo and his two friends, Orion and Libra, were born and raised on a space station. Once they turn sixteen, they are allowed to go back to Earth. But life on Earth is not what they have been imagining, and readers will begin to wonder if it would have been better for these three to stay in space.

My thoughts:

    First of all, sorry for the abnormally short synopsis. I feel like that's really all I can provide without giving away spoilers! Anyway, this book was okay. I'd read it again, but I feel like it could have been a lot better. For example, I thought that the book would actually be about space, instead of about this kid who spends most of his time moping about being on Earth instead of space. The plotline was also a bit confusing to follow, and there were some things that seemed really important early on and then everyone completely forgot about them without resolving the issue (Santiago, anyone?).

    However, I did wonder if the way that Leo, Orion, and Libra's bodies react to being on Earth for the first time is what would actually happen if you were born and raised in space and if so, how the author was able to figure this out. 

    Overall, this book was pretty average. I'd recommend it to teens, although as always, younger or older people could read it too.

    My rating: 3/5 stars.

    P.S. I've decided that I'm going to post once a week instead of never, because as anyone who runs a blog knows, it is pretty hard to consistently find new and interesting topics to post about.

Sophia's War Review

Sophia's War

Author: Avi

Publisher: Beach Lane Books

Synopsis:

    It is 1776, and Sophia Calderwood and her parents are returning to New York City after the British have occupied it and burned half of it to the ground. Sophia hopes to get news of her brother William, who is serving in the Continental Army. Before she can, however, a British officer by the name of John André is ordered to move into their home. Sophia, although only twelve, develops an infatuation with André. 

    Around this same time, Sophia discovers that her brother has been captured by the British and is being held on the Good Intent, a ship where many American soldiers that have been captured by the British are being kept. Conditions are not good. Smallpox runs rampant, thousands die, there are little blankets, food, and water. Sophia vows to avenge the men in those ships. 

    Four years later, in 1780, she gets the chance. A man by the name of Robert Townsend comes to her and asks Sophia if she'll work for him as an American spy. She'll be a servant in the house of a British general and collect information that will help the Americans win the war. Sophia agrees, and begins work right away. 

    But once Sophia begins her spying, she realizes that there are plans to capture West Point, an American fort that, if lost, could cost the Americans the war. There is an American traitor and a British officer that have plans to meet and during this meeting, the American traitor will tell the British officer the weaknesses of the American fort. What's more, the identity of the traitor to the Americans is so shocking that no one would believe Sophia if she told them.

    So Sophia sets out to stop this meeting from happening. She is alone, because who would believe a fifteen-year-old girl with no evidence? 

    What happens next will change the course of American history.

My thoughts:

    I had read this book a couple of years ago, but forgot how good it was until I reread it! Sophia is a relatable character, and the way the story is told is very unique. I also learned a lot about the British occupation of New York and the prison ships that the Continental soldiers were kept on. 

    This book is a page turner that kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting to know what happened next (even though because it was historical fiction I already knew how events were eventually going to play out). 

    One thing that I didn't like was how the phrasing of the book seemed a little bit formal, but not so much that it was boring. It seemed like if there was a younger reader reading this book, they might stop reading because of that, but other than that, I really enjoyed this book.

    This book is middle grade, although I highly recommend it for all ages!

    Rating: 5 out of 5 stars! 

How to Explain What Shipping Is

    Happy New Year, everyone! Here's the first post of 2018:

    I think everyone can agree how awkward it is when you mention shipping, OTPs, broTPs, or noTPs and someone goes, "Wait, what? What are you talking about?" You look around, hoping someone will save you, before finally saying something like, "Uh, nothing. Fangirl stuff." (And then they ask what a fangirl is, and you sigh over how hopeless this person is). So this post is going to cover all of these things, with a definition and how to explain to someone what these terms mean. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, this post will help you get a better understanding!

Shipping: According to Wikipedia, shipping in terms of a fandom (I will cover that later too, I promise) is "the desire by fans for two or more people, either real-life people or fictional characters (in film, literature, television etc.) to be in a relationship, romantic or otherwise." 
   How to explain this to someone: wanting a couple to be together.

OTP: This stands for "one true pairing" and basically means the ship that you ship the most. I happen to have multiple OTPs, and you can change your OTP all the time (for example, my OTP used to be Chaol and Celaena from Throne of Glass but something happened to change my views).
    How to explain this to someone: The ship you ship the most.

BroTP: This is kind of like shipping, except for instead of wanting characters to be romantically involved with each other, you want them to be friends (although the term "ship" can also be used in place of broTP).
    How to explain this to someone: What I wrote above ↑

NoTP: This is the opposite of shipping: you do not want these characters to be together, either romantically or otherwise. For example, one of my noTPs is Feyre and Tamlin from A Court of Thorns and Roses or Hermione and Malfoy from Harry Potter.
    How to explain this to someone: When you don't want characters to be together.

Fangirl or fanboy: A fan of a book series, TV show, celebrity, band, etc. 
    How to explain this to someone: What I wrote above ↑

Fandom: According to Oxford Dictionaries, a fandom is "the fans of a particular person, team, fictional series, etc, regarded collectively as a community or subculture."
    How to explain this to someone: a group of fans all interested in the same thing. For example, the Harry Potter fandom is comprised of Harry Potter fans.

Fanfiction: According to the online dictionary, fanfiction is "fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, movie, etc."
    How to explain this to someone: when someone takes the characters from a TV show, movie, book, etc, that they did not create and writes a story with those characters.

Canon: What actually happens in the TV series, movie, book, etc. The author has confirmed that it has happened.
        How to explain this to someone: What I wrote above ↑

    I hope you enjoyed my definitions and explanations of these terms. If you think I was wrong or if you have something you think I should have included, please add a comment telling me what you think!