Transcription for Everyone: Is It a Scam?

I  often  find  myself  searching  for  more  work  over  the  summer  and  because  I  like  to  write,  I  thought  I’d  try  looking  for  a  job  in  writing  online.  But  as  always,  when  looking  for  writing  jobs  on  the  web,  you  must  always  be  wary  of  scams.

Transcription  for  Everyone

A  promising-looking  writing  job  that  caught  my  eye  immediately,  was  in  transcribing  with  a  company  called,  “Transcription  for  Everyone.”  I’d  never  done  transcribing  before,  but  based  on  the  requirements  of  both  one’s  work  station  (nothing  too  fancy,  you  mostly  just  need  a  good  computer)  and  abilities,  I  thought  I  could  easily  get  into  it.  Especially  since  the  company’s  motto  was  basically,  “if  you  don’t  have  skill,  that’s  fine,  we’ll  teach  you.”

The  work  would  be  from  your  own  home,  the  hours,  very  few  (and  pretty  much  based  on  the  employee’s  time  frame)  and  the  pay  was  based  on  pages  of  work  but  the  description  also  said  pay  could  depend  on  the  employer.  So,  it  would  most  likely  vary  and  probably  not  pay  a  lot,  but  I  was  up  for  trying  it,  regardless.

I  applied  and  very  quickly  got  a  response.  I’ve  almost  been  scammed  many  times  before  so  I  next  looked  up  all  I  could  on  TFE.  I  didn’t  find  much,  probably  because  the  company  is  based  in  another  country,  but  they  seemed  legit.  There  were  some  big  complaints  about  how  little  work  they  had  for  their  workers,  that  the  pay  wasn’t  enough,  and  that  sometimes  it  took  a  while  to  get  paid,  but  there  was  some  good  said  about  them  and  they  did  not  seem  like  a  scam.

TFE  Training

Transcription  for  Everyone  in  all  honesty,  did  not  seem  like  the  best  job,  but  I  was  curious  and  looking  for  something  small  to  make  a  little  extra  off  of,  this  could  be  it,  so  I  answered  the  employer  back  and  was  sent  documents  to  sign.  Nothing  too  serious,  mostly  a  whole  lot  about  keeping  clients  I  would  transcribe  for  confidential  and  what  my  pay  would  be  like  (I  now  understood  the  complaints  about  TFE  paying.  They  were  a  referral  company,  which  meant,  they  pay  only  when  their  client  pays.)

I  signed  the  documents  after  carefully  reading  and  finding  no  fault  in  them,  and after  scanning  and  sending  them,  got  an  email  back  on  my  training.  I  would  be  given  three  assignments  before  I  would  be  hired  and  the  first,  was  an  hour-and-a-half  video,  a  test  template  to  see  how  well  I  can  currently  transcribe  and  a  packet  showing  me  how  to  set  up  my  computer  to  get  started.

After  reading  the  packet  and  following  the  directions  for  how  I  should  transcribe  grammar  (which  took  me  about  an  hour)  I  watched  the  video.  It  was  a  little  long,  especially  since  I  wasn’t  getting  paid  for  it,  and  it  was  a  lot  of  info  to  take  in  all  at  once,  but  TFE  kept  to  their  word,  and  I  did  really  learn  a  lot  about  transcribing  by  the  time  I  finished  it.  Finally,  I  got  to  the  template  I  was  provided  on  Sephardi  Jews.  An  interesting  topic  for  sure!  I  was  honestly  excited  to  try  it.  It  looked  easy  enough  to  transcribe,  type  what  you  hear,  right?

I  was  so  wrong.

I  basically  had  to  pause  at  every  word  and  rewind  it  twice  before  I  typed  anything  out.  My  brain  was  so  busy  concentrating  on  listening,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  type  at  the  same  time.  I’m  a  fast  typer  ya’ll!  But  typing  what’s  in  your  head  and  typing  what  you  hear,  are  wildly  different  things.  Especially  since  I  wasn’t  quite  sure  how  I  should  type  out  some  words  and  quotes.  I  knew  they  said  it  would  be  a  learning  process,  but  goodness.  Before  I  knew  it,  an  hour  had  passed  and  I  had  only  typed  out  a  paragraph!

It  took  me  two  days  on  my  spare  time  to  finish  an  audio  that  was  ten  minutes  long.  And  although  I  was  getting  slightly  better  as  the  hours  passed,  I  knew  that  it  would  take  me  a  long  time  to  make  anything  off  of  how  I  was  pecking  at  the  keys  and  straining  my  ears  to  get  the  words  right.  No  wonder  the  job  application  said  only  apply  if  you’re  considering  a  career  in  transcribing.  It  was  hard!  Like  learning  piano.  I  knew  it  would  take  tons  of  practice  before  I  got  any  good.  I  also  wasn’t  sure  if  it  was  worth  it.

Worth  It,  or  Not?

I  finally  sent  in  my  template  on  Sephardi  Jews,  feeling  glum  and  just  thinking  about  what  my  possible  employers  must  be  thinking.  It  took  me  forever  just  to  get  through  the  first  assignment!  I  spent  a  day  considering  if  this  job  was  still  something  I  was  interested  in  before  I  got  an  email  back  from  my  possible  employer’s  editor  on  my  work.  They  had  a  lot  to  fix  in  my  template  which  made  me  feel  like  a  sunken  ship  but  by  the  end  of  it,  they  said  I  did  really  really  good  for  a  first  time  transcriber.  I  felt  a  little  better  about  that  and  considered  fixing  the  template  like  they  asked  before  the  next  assignment,  but  something  kept  me  from  doing  it.

This  wasn’t  for  me.  Writing  and  transcribing  are  more  different  than  I’d  realized  and  I  am  a  writer.  I  wanted  a  full-time  job  in  just  that,  not  transcribing.  Plus,  seriously,  this  was  taking  up  a  lot  of  my  time  and  I  wasn’t  getting  paid  a  bit.

So  is  it  worth  it?  For  me  it  wasn’t  because  I’ve  realized  I’m  not  a  bit  interested  in  a  transcribing  career  and  I  felt  the  training  was  too  much  to  not  get  paid  for.  However,  that’s  how  I  felt.  Is  Transcribing  For  Everyone  a  scam?  I  think  not.  Do  they  train  you  well?  They  do,  but  it’s  a  lot  before  you  make  anything.  If  you’re  willing  to  accept  that  and  you  want  a  career  in  transcribing,  it  might  be  worth  it  for  a  little  while.

Have  you  been  scammed?  If  so,  shoot  me  a  comment  to  warn  me  and  others!  I’ll  probably  check  it  out.  The  online  world  is  a  dangerous  place,  and  bloggers  need  to  help  each  other  out.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Book Review

Love  is  scary:  it  changes;  it  can  go  away.  That’s  part  of  the  risk.  I  don’t  want  to  be  scared  anymore.  Lara  Jean  ~  To  All  the  Boys  I’ve  Loved  Before

Genres:  YA,  Contemporary,  Romance                                                           Page  Count:  355

Author:  Jenny  Han

Summary:

To  All  the  Boys  I’ve  Loved  Before  is  the  story  of  Lara  Jean,  who  has  never  openly  admitted  her  crushes.  Instead,  she  wrote  each  boy  a  letter  about  how  she  felt,  sealed  it,  and  hid  it  in  a  box  under  her  bed.  One day,  Lara  Jean  finds  out  that  her  secret  box  of  letters  has  been  mailed,  causing  all  her  past  crushes to confront  her  about  them:  her  first  kiss,  the  boy  from  summer  camp,  even  her  sister’s  ex-boyfriend,  Josh.  As  she  learns  to  deal  with  her  past  loves  face  to  face, Lara  Jean  discovers  that  something  good  may  come  out  of  these  letters  after  all.

My  Review:

I  had  just  finished  watching  a  movie  on  Netflix  with  my  family  when  a  trailer  for  a  new  movie  popped  up called:  To  All  the  Boys  I’ve  Loved  Before.  I  have  five  brothers  and  a  dad  and  they  all  made  fun  of  the  trailer  when  they  saw  it  —  because  well,  their  typical  boys. ( Love?  What?  Eww… ) I  laughed  with  them,  but  secretly  I  was  thinking  about  how  I  marked  the  book  the  movie  was  based  on  as  my  ‘to  read’  list  just  a  week  ago  on  Goodreads.

My  mom  came  up  to  me  later  that  same  week  and  asked  me  if  I  and  my  sister  wanted  to  read  this  great  book  she’d  read  before  so  we  could  watch  the  movie  together.  I  asked  her  what  it  was  called  and  she  said:  To  All  the  Boys  I’ve  Loved  Before.  That  was  it.  This  book  kept  popping  up,  I  was  going  to  read  it!

I  started  the  book  and  instantly  fell  in  love  with  it.  The  first  thing  I  noticed  was  the  writing  was  excellent,  smooth  and  charismatic.  The  dialogue  and  gestures  were  the  best  part.  They  were  so  believable!  I  delve  into  another  world  that  was  absorbing  and  charming,  but  also  casual.

Lara  Jean  (main  protagonist)  has  the  typical  school  life  —  and  I  know  that’s  probably  overdone  and  might  sound  boring,  but  her  life  and  character  were  super  relatable.  (which  was  really  nice)  Things  happened  all  the  time  that  I  honestly  didn’t  expect.  I  was  constantly  wondering  what  would  happen  next,  constantly  finding  myself  interested  in  the  relationships  between  the  characters  and  smiling  to  myself  or  laughing  out  loud  many  times  at  something  funny  or  embarrassing  that  happened  to  Lara  Jean  or  that  she  said.

The  plot  is  about  a sixteen  year-old  girl  that  has  to  deal  with  the  fact  that  the  letters  she  once  wrote  to  all  her  past  crushes  have  been  sent.  Most  of  it  is  just  characters  interacting  and  confronting  each  other,  but  it  honestly  didn’t  have  me  bored  for  a  minute.

The  characters  were  so  real,  funny  and  interesting.  Josh  —  Lara  Jean’s  past  crush  and  sister’s  ex-boyfriend,  was  perfect  —  but  yet,  he  wasn’t  that  annoying,  typical  perfect  you  come  across  in  most  YA’s.  He  was  the  kind  of  perfect  that  I  could  see  being  a  person  and  same  went  for  Peter,  the  popular  boy  that  wasn’t  as  bad  as  everyone  thought.  The  writer  pulled  their  characters  off  so  well  to  the  point  where  I  could  see  them  being  real  people.  (what  am  I  saying,  of  course  they’re  real,  this  is  a  book.  Wink,  wink)

I  only  had  two  issues  with  this  book:  One,  homosexuals  are  borderline  encouraged,  and  two,  Lara  Jean  is  terrified  of  her  own  feelings  and  lies  causing  problems  for  herself.  Don’t  get  me  wrong!  I  thought  Lara  Jean  was  an  awesome  protagonist.  She  was  funny,  relatable  and  someone  I  really  felt  like  I  could  root  for,  but  she  was  unbelievably  terrified  of  her  own  feelings.  So  much  so,  that  it  caused  her  to  do  stupid  stuff.  She  didn’t  whine,  like  most  main  characters,  but  I  found  that  scared-of-own-feelings  aspect  of  her  to  be  a  little  frustrating.

My  sister  and  I  did  a  race  to  see  who  would  finish  this  book  first.  I  started  off  a  couple  of  chapters  ahead  of  her  for  awhile,  but  she  eventually  caught  up  and  I  have  to  admit  she  beat  me.  It  was  fun  reading  it  with  her  and  my  mom  and  talking  about  it  with  them.  I  realized  in  reading  this  book  that  I’d  forgotten  what  it  was  like  to  read  a  good  YA  novel.  I  really  enjoyed  reading  it  with  my  sister  and  mom  and  I’m  excited  to  read  the  second  book.  I  haven’t  yet  watched  the  movie  with  them,  but  I  plan  to  soon  and  I  can’t  wait  to  compare  the  book  with  it!

My  Rating:

Suggested: 14+

Romance: 3-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘seriously?’)

This  book  is  technically  a,  “romance”  but  there  wasn’t  a  whole  lot  of  kissing  or  touching.  There  was  more:  mentioning  sex,  mentioning  STD’s,  mentioning  a  bra  swipe,  a  striptease,  or  joking  about  something  like  a  tattoo  on  someone’s  rear.  All  these  things  were  mentioned  but  never  described  in  detail.  Just  talked  about  subtlety  and  casually.

There  were  a  few  kisses  throughout  the  book,  but  they  were  always  quick.  There  was  only  one  near  the  end  that  was  passionate.

Language: 7-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘constant cussing’.)

Language  was  another  story.  God’s  name  is  taken  in  vain  in  only  one  way  but  it’s  often:  oh  my  ___.  There  were  other  words  like:  beoch,  (I  honestly  have  to  say  that  every  time  this  one  was  used  it  was  kind  of  funny)  hell,  a*s,  sh*t,  di*khole,  dou*he,  and  the  f  word  a  few  times.

Violence:  0-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘graphic violence’.)

Unless you consider  guys  pushing  each  other  around  a  little  violence,  there  was  none.

Drinking,  drugs  or  smoking:  3-10

(1  for  ‘hardly  any’  and  10  for  ‘constant  use’.)

One  of  the  main  characters  drank  a  lot  at  school  and  smuggled  drinks  during  school  trips.

A  Homosexual  is  mentioned  and  prevalent  in  the  story.

 

The Trouble with Online Jobs: IAPWE Scam

I’ve  been  looking  for  a  job  for  about  a  month  now  and  my  choices  are  between  online  and  what  I  like  to  call,  “out  there” (it’s  kind  of  a  silly  term  but  it’s  always  what  I  resort  to  when  I  talk  about  finding  jobs  that  aren’t  work  from  home)

Work  from  home  is  like  a  dream,  right?  It’s  also  very  difficult  to  find  a  good  job  working  from  home,  so  why  am  I  even  trying?  Well,  right  after  I  graduated  high  school,  I  knew  I  wanted  to  do  something  in  writing  and  although  I  have  always  been  good  at  writing,  I  knew  I  needed  a  lot  more  practice  if  I  was  ever  going  to  get  anywhere  with  it.  So,  I  started  this  blog  and  have  been  looking  for  a  good  writing  job.

My  Search

First  place  I  went  to  look  for  an  online  writing  job  was  Craigslist.  I’d  heard  a  lot  of  good  things  about  Craigslist  from  people  I  knew,  so  I  was  optimistic.  As  soon  as  I  typed  in ‘writing’  I  got  a  handful  of  opportunities  that  looked  promising.  The  very  first  one  I  applied  for  was  for  the  IAPWE  —  or  The  International  Association  for  Professional  Writers  and  Editors.  Yea,  it’s  a  mouthful  but  goodness  it  sounded  important  and  I  was  even  more  excited  about  their  rates.  The  job  paid  $10  for  every  100  words  to  writers  and  $3  for  every  100  words  to  editors.

I  can  write  100  words  in  a  cinch  and  my  last  “out  there”  job  paid  me  about  $10  an  hour  so  their  pay  sounded  perfect.  I  clicked  their  application  and  it  was  very  simple.  All  I  had  to  do  was  give  my  name,  email  and  a  sample  of  my  writing.  I  had  a  bunch  of  writing  samples  so  I  was  having  trouble  deciding  which  one  to  send.  In  the  end,  I  decided  to  send  one  of  my  blog  posts  that  was  a  review  for  a  book  I  read  the  month  before  and  a  short  story  I  wrote  that  I  got  a  lot  of  good  feedback  for.

I  put  both  in  my  application  and  hit  send.  I  felt  confident  my  writing  was  good  enough  —  especially  my  short  story.  I  felt  so  confident  that  I  didn’t  go  over  both  of  my  samples  until  after  I’d  already  sent  them.  That  was  a  big  mistake!  I  mean,  who  doesn’t  look  over  what  they’re  sending  to  a  potential  employer?  Apparently,  me.

When  I  looked  over  my  writing,  I  realized  I’d  used  an  emoji!  I  asked  my  mom  (who  is  a  talented  writer)  if  anyone  would  hire  someone  who  made  a  mistake  like  that.  My  mom  gave  me  a  pitying  smile  and  said  she  didn’t  think  so.  Ugh!  The  rest  of  the  day  I  felt  kind  of  rotten  about  my  mistake  and  practically  told  everyone  about  it. ( because  that’s  what  I  do  when  I  make  a  mistake.  I  tell  everyone  I’m  close  to  about  it  like  100  times)  But  the  next  day,  I  made  myself  feel  better  by  applying  for  a  couple  more  online  jobs.

Over  last  month,  I  applied  to  about  fifteen  writing  jobs.  Out  of  all  those,  I  was  only  contacted  by  six.  That’s  not  too  bad  —  especially  since  I  don’t  have  much  to  offer  in  experience.  Every  time  I  was  contacted,  I  was  excited,  but  every  time,  I  was  asked  to  complete  a  test  like:  “writing  a  product  description”  or  “writing  a  blog”  and  after  I  sent  the  work  they’d  asked  for,  they  never  contacted  me  back.  I’m  a  newbie  in  the  writing  industry  and  I  know  it.  I’m  pretty  sure  these  jobs  just  found  someone  better  —  and  in  some  cases,  I  felt  this  worked  out  best.  I  wrote  a  blog  for  this  one  job  that  paid  by  words.  The  blog  was  600  words  long  and  I  was  told  I’d  only  be  paid  $12  for  it.

At  first,  that  was  fine.  I’ve  got  to  start  somewhere  right?  But  then,  I  wrote  the  blog  and  realized  it  took  me  around  four  hours  to  finish.  Divide  twelve  by  four  and  I’m  getting  paid  less  than  minimum  wage  per  hour.  That  job  didn’t  end  up  hiring  me  but  it  gave  me  some  good  writing  practice  and  helped  me  realize  I  want  to  be  paid  by  the  hour  and  not  the  words.

IAPWE

August  was  almost  over  and  so  far  I  hadn’t  found  a  job  that  worked  for  me  or  that  I’d  really  wanted.  Then,  suddenly  I  got  an  email  from  who  I’d  least  expected:  The  IAPWE.  Someone  named  Amy  Wilkerson  said  they’d  gone  over  my  application  and  were  interested  in  hiring  me.  She  said  that  all  I  had  to  do  was  become  a  member  on  their  website  and  on  Freelancer,  then  jobs  would  be  sent  my  way.  I  was  so  excited!  Who  would  have  thought  after  a  month  the  first  job  I  applied  to  would  hire  me?  I  told  my  mom  about  it  gleefully.  She  was  surprised.  My  mistake  should  have  kicked  me  off  their  list.  She  was  happy  for  me  but  I  could  see  the suspicion  in  her  eyes.  I  ignored  it.  I  was  just  happy  someone  contacted  me  without  asking  me  to  again  work  on  some  blog  and  not  end  up  getting  hired.

The  next  day,  I  applied  for  a  membership  on  the  IAPWE’s  site.  I  could  be  a  member  for  free  if  I’d  like  or  a  “paying”  member  which  meant  I’d  get  more  writing  help  and  could  be  considered  a  ‘certified’  writer  of  the  IAPWE.  Normally,  I’m  pretty  smart  about  this  sort  of  thing;  I  don’t  ever  pay  a  bit  of  money  online.   But  that  one  word,  “certified”  sounded  so  appealing.  Amy  told  me  in  her  email  that  there  were  a  limited  number  of  memberships  left  and  that  as  a  writer  for  the  IAPWE,  I  would  get  this  membership  half-off  and  for  a  limited  time  only.  I  nervously  chewed  on  this  information  and  looked  at  the  membership  price.  Only  $3.75.  It  really  did  look  legitimate.

So  I  did  it.  I  joined  their  paid  membership  and  then  I  gave  them  my  Paypal  info.  After  I’d  done  it,  I  was  uneasy  and  emailed  Amy,  asking  her  what  I  should  do  now  that  I’d  become  a  member.  She  answered  me  promptly  and  told  me  to  join  Freelancer;  that  after  I’d  joined,  I’d  be  sent  jobs  through  there.  I  joined  Freelancer  and  found  myself  going  through  the  site  with  bliss.  Freelancer  had  hundreds  of  short  freelance  jobs  that  required  little  experience.  I  thought  that  if  the  IAPWE  didn’t  work  out,  I’d  look  at  trying  this  site  out  more.

I  emailed  Amy,  telling  her  that  I’d  joined  Freelancer  and  awaited  further  instructions.  Hours  passed,  but  Amy  never  contacted  me.  A  sinking  feeling  turned  my  insides  and  I  thought  this  may  have  been  a  mistake.  I  decided  to  go  to  the  IAPWE  main  site  to  see  if  maybe  she  had  made  a  mistake  and  I’d  actually  get  jobs  on  the  main  website.  As  soon  as  I  typed  in  IAPWE,  a  site  popped  up  that  said,  ‘Is the IAPWE a scam preying on writers’?  I  didn’t  even  have  to  read  it  to  know  I’d  fallen  into  a  scam.  I  read  the  blog  anyway  and  sure  enough,  the  blog  described  exactly  what  I  had  experienced.  The  writer  even  used  Amy  Wilkerson’s  name  several  times.

I  was  so  embarrassed  but  also  super  grateful  to  the  writer  of  that  blog,  Tamara  Gane.  Her  blog  was  excellent  and  if  it  wasn’t  for  her,  I  could  have  wasted  my  time  on  the  scam  a  lot  longer.  (so  kudos  to  Gane  ya’ll!)  I  followed  Gane’s  ending  blog  instructions  to  cancel  my  membership  and  change  all  related  passwords.  I  couldn’t  believe  I’d  fallen  for  a  scam  but  I  felt  Tamara  was  a  smart  woman  and  she’d  fallen  for  it  too,  so  I  took  comfort  in  that.  Her  blog  also  inspired  me  to  write  one  of  my  own  so  people  stay  aware  of  this  scam  and  many  more.  I’d  only  wasted  $3.75  (enough  to  buy  a  Chick-fil-a  sandwich  but  I’ll  get  over  it)  It  kind  of  makes  me  want  to  laugh  the  more  I  think  about  it.  I  mean,  IAPWE?  Dudes,  c’mon  shorten  your  name!

I’m  still  looking  for  a  job  online,  but  I’ve  learned  from  this  mistake,  and  now  I  remember  that  a  job’s  not  supposed  to  ask  me  for  money,  it’s  supposed  to  pay  me  to  work.  Also,  the  experience  wasn’t  all  bad.  Now  I  know  about  Freelancer  and  I’m  excited  to  see  if  that’ll  go  anywhere.

The Darkest Minds Book Review

I  used  to  wonder  —  at  night  when  it  was  quiet  enough  in  the  cabin  to  think,  when  I  let  myself  get  to  the  point  of  wishing  for  home  —  if  the  home  in  my  heart  was  supposed  to  be  the  place  where  I’d  been  born,  or  if  it  was  the  place  that  was  raising  me.  If  I  got  to  choose  it,  or  if  it  had  somehow  already  claimed  me.  Ruby  ~Darkest  Minds

Genres:  YA,  Science  Fiction,  Dystopia,  Fantasy                                          Page  Count:  488

Author:  Alexandra  Bracken

Summary: 

When  Ruby  woke  up  on  her  tenth  birthday,  something  about  her  had  changed.  Something  that  got  her  sent  to  Thurmond,  a  brutal  government “rehabilitation  camp.”  She  might  have  survived  the  mysterious  disease  that  had  killed  most  of  America’s  children,  but  she  and  the  others  emerged  with  something far  worse:  frightening  abilities  they  could  not  control.

Now  sixteen,  Ruby  is  one  of  the  dangerous  ones.  When  the  truth  comes  out,  Ruby barely  escapes  Thurmond  with  her  life.  She  is  on  the  run,  desperate  to  find  the  only  safe  haven  left  for  kids  like  her—East  River.  She  joins  a  group  of  kids  who have  escaped  their  own  camp.  Liam,  their  leader,  is  falling  hard  for  Ruby.  But  no  matter  how  much  she  aches  for  him,  Ruby  can’t  risk  getting  close.

My  Review:

The  Darkest  Minds  movie  has  been  in  theaters  since  the  beginning  of  August.  I  planned  to  read  it  a  few  months  ago  before  the  movie  came  out  but  time  caught  up  with  me.  He,  he.  Regardless,  I  finished  the  book  and  thought  I’d  review  it  while  it’s  still  in  theaters!

Honestly,  I  started  this  book  three  months  ago,  but  ended  up  taking  a  break  from  it  and  starting  a  book  my  sister  wanted  me  to  read  called,  Angelfall.  It  was  hard  to  get  past  the  start  of  The  Darkest  Minds.  It  was  a  little  too  dramatic  for  me  to  take  seriously  and  although  the  book  was  in  first  person,  it  was  hard  to  understand  what  was  going  on  in  the  dystopian  world.  The  writer  wanted  to  keep  a  lot  secret  from  the  start,  but  this  made  it  difficult  to  read.   Things  would  happen  like  someone’s  memory  getting  erased  and  I  had  no  idea  until  later  because  it  was  subtle.  The  descriptions  could  be  very  discreet.  I’m  not  used  to  that  in  first  person.  Things  are  usually  clearer.

But  as  the  book  progressed  and  things  were  explained  more  —  like  the  children’s  different  abilities  —  I  found  it  to  be  a  very  easy  read,  like  the  typical  YA.   The  book  got  a  lot  better  at  being  descriptive  and  explaining  things.  The  first  person  connection  grew  deeper  too  as  I  read  on  and  I  eventually  found  the  protagonist  very  relatable,  especially  for  teens.  The  dialogue  was  very  good  too  and  so  was  the  world  building  and  action  —  three  other  things  I  discovered  as  I  read  further.

This  book  was  a  lot  of  classic  cliches  though:  classic  story  of  society  and  adults  against  teens  and  classic  road  trip  book.  The  majority  of  it  was  focused  on  a  group  of  kids  trying  to  get  to  a  specific  destination  and  adults  abusing  children  for  fear  of  them.  My  main  problem  with  the  plot?  I  found  it  hard  to  believe  that  so  many  parents  and  people  would  be  okay  with  their  children  being  mistreated  and  taken  from  them  without  fighting  back.  There  were  some  instances  where  parents  were  enraged,  but  seriously,  shouldn’t  America  have  a  civil  war  on  it’s  hands  over  this?  There  was  also  this  part  I  found  really  silly  where  one  of  the  characters  said  that  Mexico  and  Canada  built  a  wall  over  America  because  it  was  in  shambles.  Pfft!  I  don’t  know,  maybe  it’s  because  of  the  recent  wall  debates  on  T.V.,  but  I  found  that  hilarious  and  a  little  ridiculous.

I  actually  really  enjoyed  the  characters  in  this  book!  They  had  a  lot  of  depth  and  my  favorite,  Chubs,  had  me  laughing  out  loud  several  times.  The  relationships  built  between  the  characters  and  the  time  they  spent  with  one  another  was  very  real  and  touching.  The  love  interest  was  so  unbelievably  obvious,  though.  As  soon  as  the  dude (I’m  not  going  to  say  who :P)  showed  up,  I  knew  he  and  the  main  character  were  going  to  be  a  thing.  I  didn’t  like  the  main  character  because  she  was  weak,  gullible  and  worried  constantly  that  she  was  a  burden  and  that  people  won’t  like  her.  (in  a  fussing  sort  of  way)  But  towards  the  end  of  the  book,  when  she  ran  into  a  trap  because  she  thought  someone  was  hurt,  I  realized  I  would’ve  been  just  as  gullible  and  that  she  probably  annoyed  me  because  she  reminded  me  a  little  of  myself,  so  maybe  that  complaint  isn’t  legitimate.

There  were  many  times  I  easily  predicted  the  plot,  and  many  times  I  was  surprised  —  especially  toward  the  end.  I  thought  there  was  going  to  be  a  ‘love  triangle’  and  was  pleasantly  shown  I  was  wrong.  I  was  suggested  this  book  because  I  read  Shatter  Me,  and  let  me  tell  you,  they’re  very  similar  and  the  suggestion  was  spot  on.  If  you  enjoyed  Shatter  Me,  you’ll  probably  love  this  book.  All-in-all,  it  took  me  a  long  time  to  read  this  book.  It  could  be  frustrating  but  I  probably  will  read  the  second  book  because  this  one  left  me  on  a  huge  cliff  hangar,  and  honestly,  I’m  excited  for  the  movie.

My  Rating:

Suggested: 14+

Romance: 5-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘seriously?’)

Most  of  the  book,  there’s  just  about  no  kissing  and  hardly  any  touching  except  for  the  unwanted  kind  once  in  awhile.  The  main  protagonist  is  gorgeous,  so  she  gets  a  lot  of  people  touching  her  without  her  consent.  (men  pushing  their  bodies  against  hers  and  rubbing  their  hands  up  her  legs  and  body)  When  there  was  touching  and  romance,  it  was  mostly  fleeting  on  the  waist,  arms,  and  cheeks.  Most  of  it  was  just  two  people  that  obviously  liked  each  other,  but  didn’t  show  it  till  the  end  of  the  book  when  things  get  pretty  passionate  in  two  scenes;  running  hands  over  each  other’s  bodies  and  tugging  at  clothing.

Language: 7-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘constant cussing’.)

Takes  God’s  name  in  vain  a  lot  in  many  different  ways  like:  ___damned,  oh  my  ___,  oh  ___,  I  swear  to  ___,  Christ  as  a  cuss  word  and  Jesus  Christ  as  a  cuss  word.  Then  there’s  the  typical  hell,  damn,  ass,  sh*t,  assh*le,  screw  yourself  and  even  the  f  word  3  times  and  the  middle  finger.

Violence:  5-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘graphic violence’.)

Children  are  killed,  abused  and  confined  for  what  they  are  and  the  writer  was  not  afraid  to  show  this.  Although  the  violent  scenes  were  not  too  graphic,  there  were  scenes  where  teens  were  beaten  to  a  pulp,  a  scene  where  a  body  was  mutilated  and  blood  was  described  in  areas  often.  Sometimes  there  were  even  brutal  fistfights  between  other  kids  that  ended  in  someone  being  badly  injured.

Drinking,  drugs  or  smoking:  0-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 ‘for seriously’

There  was  none.

No  Homosexuals  or  Mention

Thoughts on Job Part One: Timeline and Authorship

This  is  probably  super  obvious  but  I’m  a  Christian (surprise) and  I  was  reading  through  the  book  of  Job  and  taking  notes — because  that’s  what  I  do,  I  take  the  fun  out  of  reading  and  dissect  every  book  I  read —  and  I  thought,  ‘maybe  I  could  blog  about  my  thoughts  on  Job.’  So,  here  I  am,  braving  new  territory  and  blogging  about  the  Bible.

Now,  I’m  not  a  Pasteur  or  anything.  All  I  have  to  offer  is  my  love  of  the  Bible  and  that  I’ve  been  studying  it  most  of  my  young  adult  life.  But  I  do  love  to  learn  and  I  strive  to  know  everything  about  everything  through  thorough  research.  A  lot  of  this  is  going  to  be  my  random  thoughts  too.  If  you  have  any  thoughts  as  well,  go  for  it,  and  comment  below!

Job’s  Place  in  Timeline

The  first  thing  I  did  when  I  started  reading  Job,  was  check  out  where  it’s  place  was  in  the  Biblical  timeline  and  who  is  credited  for  writing  it. ( I  do  this  when  I  start  most  of  the  books  in  the  Bible. ) I  was  actually  surprised  at  first  to  find  that  most  believe  that  Job  is  the  oldest  book  in  scripture.  It’s  not  known  for  certain,  but  it  does  seem  very  likely  if  you  look  at  how  different  the  writing  is  compared  to  some  of  the  other  books  of  the  Bible.

Job’s  timeline  is  heavily  debated.  It’s translated in Hebrew as archaic —  which  supports  the  case  of  it  being  very  ancient  —   but  it  is  also  heavily  influenced  by  Aramaic  —  which  suggests  it’s  a  later  book.  There’s  evidence  that  suggests  the  possibility  of  both.

In  Job  42:16,  Job  is  said  to  have  lived  an  additional  140  years.  Because  his  long  lifespan  is  similar  to  that  of  Abraham,  Issac’s  and  Jacob’s,  and  his  wealth  was  measured  in  livestock  (Job  1:3;  Job  42:12)  as  Abraham’s  was  (Gen  12:16),  some  believe  it’s  true,  and  that  Job  did  live  in  the  Early-Biblical  timeline.  This  is  fascinating  too:  the  book  of  Job  refers  to  God  as  “Shaddai”  (Almighty)  more  than  any  other  book  of  the  Bible,  which  sounds  very  similar  to  the  unique  title  the  early  patriarchs  used, “El  Shaddai”  (God  Almighty).

Many  think  that  Job  was  written  in  the  early  Second  Temple  Period  because  Satan  is  described  in  Job  similarly  to  the  book  of  Zechariah.  Also,  there’s  the  possibility  that  Job  was  written  by  someone  who’s  first  language  was  Aramaic  but  whose  literary  language  was  Hebrew  and  that  the  archaic  language  was  deliberate  which  further  suggests  the  Second  Temple  Period.  I  believe  there’s  far  more  likely  evidence  that  Job  lived  around  the  time  of  Abraham.  Either  way,  all  agree  that  Job  is  a  very  ancient  book.

 Authorship

Like  many  books  of  the  Bible,  Job’s  authorship  is  unknown  and  debated.  Some  think  Moses  wrote  it  and  some  think  that  Job  is  just  an  allegory.  I  did  some  digging  though,  and  found  a  verse  in  Ezekiel,  that  to  me,  proves  Job  was  an  actual  servant  of  God  and  not  a  fictional  character.

Eze 14:14

Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.

God  spoke  to  Ezekiel  about  these  three  Biblical  men,  and  how,  even  if  they  were  in  the  land  of  Israel,  he  would  still  send  evil  upon  it  for  Israel’s  transgressions.  They  would  have  to  deliver  themselves  by  their  own  righteousness.

It  was  pretty  relieving  for  me  to  find  this  verse  because  Job  is  such  a  powerful  story  about  persevering,  loss  and  the  hardships  a  servant  of  God  must  face  in  life,  that  I  didn’t  want  to  find  out  that  there  was  a  even  the  slightest  possibility  it  wasn’t  legitimate  and  nothing  more  than  a  tale.

 

 

 

 

Black Out (A Short Story)

Hey! Another short story by yours truly. Hope anyone who reads this likes it, but if not, don’t be afraid to comment, share your opinion and give me some advice on my writing. Seriously, I can take the criticism! 😉

 

Nothing. I’ve done all my regular inspirational quirks and still, nothing. I throw my head back in frustration and scan my desk. A mug of coffee sits steaming beside my keyboard and bucket of pencils. The brown liquid reflects slightly the morning light making it appear more majestic than it deserves. My earbuds hang dejectedly over the side of my desk; connected to my phone that harbors all my epic music. And then there’s my lucky old computer humming beside my leg happily – or sadly, I’ve never been able to tell if that humming is a sort of distress call from the computer or a sign of healthy bodily motion. I compare it to the noises you hear from your stomach when you’re trying to sleep. Cause for concern or healthy motion?

I have everything, all that I should need to write a decent ending to my novel, but yet nothing is coming to me. I pick up one of the pencils from the bucket and lay my head on my desk. I roll the pencil back and forth, hoping inspiration will lazily float to my mind. I once again go through the last few chapters of my book, remembering every twist and aspect of the plot, looking for a hole or a link that can help me end my story. But like all the other times, nothing.

There’s a knock at my door. “Nora?”

I groan. “Nooo.”

My mother fidgets at the handle. “Nora, open the door.”

“I can’t, I’m sick with writer’s block. Stay away or you might catch my uselessness.” My voice is slightly muffled as I bury my face in the sleeves of my sweater.

“Still? Nora-” She fidgets with the handle one more time before walking off in a muffled huff behind my door.

Three minutes later she opens the door to my room with a screwdriver in her hand and my brother rubbing his head behind her. His sandy-colored curly hair is messy and his eyes tired I assume, because he just woke up.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to touch your father’s tools?” My mom asks scolding him. I think I know why he’s rubbing his head now.

“I was going to put it back. Can I go back to sleep now?” he asks yawning.

“I think you’ve slept enough for the rest of the year.”

She’s right, since the summer started Jean’s been doing nothing but sleep.

“Get dressed, you’re going with Nora to your sister’s house,” Mom says and turns to look at me.

“Nooo!” we both groan in unison.

“Nora seriously. You’ve sat at your computer doing nothing for days. Sometimes, the best way to solve a problem is to stay away from it for a while.”

“That won’t help. I tried staying away from it yesterday, remember?” I ask.

My mom gives me a knowing look. “You went for a walk around the neighborhood for an hour. That doesn’t count.”

“Going to my sister’s fancy ranch for a week doesn’t sound like it’s going to be much more exciting than walking my neighborhood.”

“Yea, and Chelsea’s husband’s sort of a loser,” Jean says behind Mom.

Mom scowls at him. “You wouldn’t want your siblings saying that about your spouse so don’t say that about him. Even if it may be true. Go get dressed or I’ll make it two weeks.”

With that my brother disappears from behind Mom and I hear a door shut in the hall.

I bite my lip. Mom smiles and cocks her head at me. “I’ve almost finished my book, Mom. I’ve already got someone to publish it for me, I just must finish it and I’m so close. I need a little bit more time to think and I know I won’t be able to do that around my nieces, nephews and Chelsea’s… eccentric husband.”

“Nora, how many times have I asked you to do something since you graduated?”

I thought for a moment. Was this a trick question?

“I’ve wanted you to do many things, but I haven’t asked you to do anything you didn’t want to. Whether it was getting a job, going to college or going out with that handsome dentist,” I smile and laugh. She continues. “I haven’t asked you to do anything. I’ve always just let you write.” She gestures to my desk. “But right now, your sister and her husband are having difficulties and she needs some family support. You know I can’t be there as much as I want to right now, so I need you to go and help your sister.”

I sigh and avert my eyes from hers. She can make me do anything when I initiate the staring contest with her.

“Alright, I’ll go,” I say getting up.

Mom smiles at me sweetly filling my heart with a warmth and gladness that I’ve accepted to go if only for that approving smile. I don’t know how mothers possess such power through their expressions.

“One more thing,” she says. “Can you please stop by an electronics store and replace your computer for a laptop or something? It’s making your room insufferably hot.”

“No way Mom! Johnson stays forever!”

I stand with Jean at our driveway one hour later waiting for Daddy to get home so we can take his car. I’m trying hard to push my story out of my mind like Mom told me but it stubbornly keeps invading my thoughts and making me want to be at my computer. It’s the middle of the summer in Ohio but I’m dressed in jeans, a leather jacket and even a scarf. A storm blew through our area two days ago and left behind the equivalent of a fall day and a strong wind that furiously pulls at my dark hair. My brother doesn’t seem to notice the difference in the weather though. He’s dressed in his normal cargo pants and slightly wrinkled – and most likely previously worn – tee.

I also have two suitcases with me filled with my three writing notebooks, four borrowed books, various beauty products, etc. while Jean, however, only has his backpack, and I’m pretty certain it still has his school supplies in it.

Daddy’s gray car drives up and we move forward to greet him. I notice his car is shinier than normal which means he must have just gotten it cleaned which means also, that the two of us better be extra careful with it.

“Hi Daddy,” I say shoving my hands into my pockets and smiling.

“Hey,” he replies and hugs me. He pulls away and drops his car keys into my hand. “I just cleaned the car so you two better be careful with it and not mess it up like the last time.” He raises an eyebrow at me and I know he’s talking about two weeks ago when I scratched the paint off on the driver’s seat door because I parked too close to someone else or maybe he’s talking about the time half a year ago when I backed up too much and hit a street sign.

“Also,” he says leaning in to whisper to me.  ”Watch your brother closely, he just got his permit and I don’t want him driving without you in the car.”

“Oh, did he now?” I say smiling at Jean who’s suddenly aware we’re talking about him and narrows his eyes.

“We’ll be fine, Daddy.”

“Alright, I’ll see ya’ll Wednesday,” he says and walks toward the house stopping once to pat Jean lightly on the back.

When our dad enters the house, I turn to Jean and toss him the car keys. He looks to me questioningly.

“You can drive now, can’t you?” I ask.

“Yea, but I thought you’d want to. Sibling rights or something.”

“Nah, you need the practice and this way, if anything happens to the car, I can blame it on you, the driver.”

He thinks this over for a moment as we both climb into the car. “Ya know, I’m glad I can count on you to watch my back.”

“Likewise, Little Bro.”

Chelsea’s house is a good two-hour drive from my parents’ house. Most of that drive is going through the Cincinnati area which I always find miserable because there’s a lot of stop-and-go traffic that makes me nauseous.

The traffic is slow, as it usually is in the afternoon and Jean decided now was a good time to play his heavy metal music from his phone.

“You know that this stuff kills your brain cells, right?” I say grumpily, my head resting on the car door.

“Who says that?”

“Scientists. Scientists say that smart people grow up listening to Beethoven and stupid people grow up listening to this.” I gesture to his phone. Of course I was totally making it up. I heard once that Beethoven helps your brain develop better, but not that heavy metal does anything to you. Good thing because I’d be in for it too. I just have an irritation for all things in the world right now due to my battle with nausea and need to be entertained.

Jean just shrugs his shoulders.

“Girls don’t like heavy metal, either.” I pressed further.

“Ah, not true. Sophie does,” he says lifting his finger up and smiling.

“Who’s Sophie?” I say surprised.

“Someone I met at work. She loves my music.”

I had so many questions suddenly. Had my brother found a girl? I was also upset that he hadn’t told me about it sooner. “What does she look like?”

“She’s a chicken,” he says and laughs. My mouth drops open and he laughs again.

“A chicken?”

“Yea, I found her outside the store. She hangs out there every once in awhile.”

I start to smack him on the back and he laughs again. I do too. Maybe this trip won’t be so –

My head whips to the side toward my brother as something hard slams into our car. My mind races for half a second about what might be happening, what might be hitting us before I realize the car is flipping over. I see my brother’s sandy hair and feel a sensation of flight, when suddenly, it hits me. The end to my story. I have the ending! I know what to do! A brief feeling of happiness and my eyes widening takes hold of me for a quarter of a second before it’s brutally torn from me and replaced by pain and blackness.

How long was I out? That’s my first thought when my eyes open. The first thing I see is blue glass reflecting sunlight. Glass, next to my eyes. ‘That’s pretty’, is my second thought. ‘That’s also dangerous’, is my third. I want to laugh, and I want to cry at the same time. My ribs hurt.

A pair of black leather boots walk along my vision. Whose boots are those? Are they friendly? My ribs hurt so much. All I can think about is the pain and the boots. They stomp on the glass breaking it into many little pieces.

 

K, that’s it! Thanks for reading! 🙂

Toys in the Attic Book Review

You  were  supposed  to  go  somewhere  else — some  place  where  this  would  have  all  made  sense  to  you,  but  you  didn’t.  Now  you  don’t  get  older,  you  don’t  get  sick.  You  don’t  have  to  go  to  school  or  do  chores.  You’re  here,  but  people  don’t  know  you’re  here.  Toys  in  the  Attic

Genres:  YA,  Fiction,  Fantasy,  Mystery                                                         Page Count: 336

Author:  Lori  Allison

Summary:

Summer has arrived in Lucas, Texas. Drew Stone and his friends are looking forward to lazy days of swimming, bike riding and video games. But an unexpected stay at his grandfather’s farm and a surprising encounter with a long-dead relative set Drew on a different path. With help from his friends and some of Lucas’s quirky citizens, Drew will have to uncover secrets the town has kept buried for more than 50 years.

My  Review:

I  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  this  book  for  free  in  exchange  for  my  honest  review.  I  also  got  to  talk  a  little  bit  to  the  author  when  I  was  inquiring  about  her  book.  She  was  very  nice  and  considerate!  You  can  buy  her  Kindle  book  on  Amazon  for  $0.99.

Her  book  surprised  me,  somehow.  When  I  read  the  summary  and  found  out  it  was  a  story  about  ghosts,  I  thought  it  would  mostly  be  a  thriller  built  around  one  or  two  key  aspects  like  most  thrillers  I’ve  read.  I  thought  it  would  be  darker  too. But  I  was  very  wrong.  This  was  a  very  innocent,  good-natured  story  and  very  clean.  I  have  a  rating  system  on  my  blog  but  I’ll  just  tell  you  right  now,  there  was  no  cussing,  no  violence  and  nothing  sexual  in  it.  I  haven’t  seen  a  book  like  that  in  a  long  time.

Don’t  get  me  wrong  though,  the  story  was  still  a  bit  thrilling  but  just  not  in  the  dark  way  that  I  thought  it  would  be.  What  it  reminded  me  of  the  most  was  a  mystery  novel.  Actually,  it  reminded  me  a  lot  of  the  Nancy  Drew  books  I  used  to  read  when  I  was  younger.  It  was  an  easy,  casual,  first  person  read  that  had  an  excellent  connection  to  the  main  character.  I  liked  most  of  the  characters,  especially  Cassie.  When  she  was  first  described  as  a  librarian  that  was  easily  agitated,  my  first  thought  of  her  was  an  old  woman (the  cliche  librarian)  but  I  was  pleasantly  surprised  to  learn  she  was  a  fourteen  year-old  girl  with  a  spunky  personality.

It  took  me  a  little  while  to  read  this  book.  There  were  some  moments  that  were  a  little  slow.  In  my  opinion,  there  were  way  too  many  times  where  the  main  character  explained  his  small–town  life,  what  he  ate,  what  he  did  with  his  friends and  what  chores  his  grandfather  had  him  do  before  he  could  get  back  to  the  plot  of  the  story.  I  also  got  frustrated  that  he  took  awhile  to  tell  anyone  about  his  encounters  with  a  ghost,  just  because  I’ve  seen  that  done  in  so  many  books  and  movies  and  find  it  unlikely.  Otherwise,  I  have  no  complaints.  This  really  was  an  easy  read  and  a  good-natured  story.

My  Rating:

Suggested: 8+

Romance: 0-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘seriously?’)

I  wouldn’t  say  there  was  any  romance  in  this  story.  The  protagonist  has  a  huge  crush  on  a  girl  but  he  never  acted  on  it.

Language: 0-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘constant cussing’.)

There’s  no  cussing.

Violence:  0-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘graphic violence’.)

A  man  explains  a  story  about  burying  a  little  boy  he  accidentally  killed  but  I  wouldn’t  say  consider  it  violence  at  all.

Drinking,  drugs  or  smoking:  0-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 ‘for seriously’

There  was  none.

No  Homosexuals  or  Mention

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Pan Book Review

“There could not have been a lovelier sight; but there was none to see it except a little boy who was staring in at the window. He had ecstasies innumerable that other children can never know; but he was looking through the window at the one joy from which he must be for ever barred.”

Genres:  Classic,  Fantasy,  Fiction,  Adventure                                               Page  Count:  176

Author:  J. M.  Barrie

Rating:  5  Stars

Summary:

Peter Pan, the book based on J.M. Barrie’s famous play, is filled with unforgettable characters that have amazing adventures: Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up; the fairy, Tinker Bell; the evil pirate, Captain Hook; and the three children–Wendy, John, and Michael–who fly off with Peter Pan to Neverland, where they meet Indians and pirates and a crocodile that ticks.

My  Review:

Friend  after  friend  told  me  this  was  an  amazing  book,  so  I  decided  I’d  better  try  it  out  and  bought  it.  (Well,  sort  of  bought  it,  the  manufacturer  I  bought  it  from  accidentally  sent  me  a  paperback  copy  instead  of  a  hardcover  like  I’d  ordered,  and  when  I  asked  about  it,  they  kindly  let  me  keep  the  book  for  free. :))  I’m  so  glad  I  did,  this  book  was  Amazing  with  a  capital  A!

It  is  a  children’s  book,  and  I  know  that  you  might  be  thinking  your  past  reading  children’s  books,  but  seriously,  this  book  was  so  good!  The  writing  was  beautiful  and  I  discovered  quickly  that  it  was  narrated  which  may  be  looked  down  upon  these  days  and  rare,  but  I  found  it  very  interesting  and  that  it  added  to  the  comedy.  Oh  yes,  comedy,  I  should  probably  have  talked  about  that  first!  This  book  was  hilarious!  Through  the  whole  thing  I  was  smiling  to  myself  or  laughing  out  loud.  I  couldn’t  help  but  many  times  stop  in  the  middle  of  reading  and  tell  my  sister  about  Peter  and  Wendy’s  conversation  or  be  like  ‘you  wouldn’t  believe  what  Tinker  Bell  said!’

It’s  a  short  book,  but  it  took  me  a  little  while  to  read  and  I  blame  it  on  the  fact  that  I  couldn’t  help  but  stop  in  the  middle  of  a  chapter  and  tell  someone  about  the  story  and  dialogue. 😀  I  loved  the  characters  too,  especially  Peter,  Wendy  and  Captain  Hook.  They’re  dialogue  was  interesting  and  they’re  characters  were  well  developed!  Also,  through  the  whole  story,  there  were  fascinating,  relatable  quotes  that  I  found  gave  the  story  a  deeper  feel  to  it.  This  one  is  one  of  my  favorites:

“It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that is the secret of happiness.”

Like  most  stories  that  are  highly  comedic,  Peter  Pan  was  a  little  strange  at  times  and  I  found  some  of  the  situations  unlikely (like  how  easily  the  children  could  defeat  the  powerful  and  feared  pirates).  I  felt  that  these  two  things  were  a  little  forgivable  though  because  the  strangeness  added  to  the  creativity,  and  Neverland  was  supposedly  a  world  that  made  the  impossible,  possible.

It  was  an  innocent  book  that  I’m  glad  I  finally  read  and  don’t  feel  I’ll  soon  forget.

My  Rating:

Suggested: 8+

Romance: 0-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘seriously?’)

The  story  largely  implies  that  Peter  and  Wendy  like  each other,  but  I  wouldn’t  say  there’s  any  romance  between  them,  just  funny  dialogue  between  the  two.

Language: 1-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘constant cussing’.)

Tinkerbell  many  times  refers  to  Peter  as  a  silly  ‘ass’.  I  think  she’s  saying  it  in  terms  of  a  donkey  though.  XD

Violence:  2-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘graphic violence’.)

Peter  and  the  other  boys  in  this  book,  often  talk  of  killing  Pirates  and  Indians.  Peter  is  said  to  have  cut  off  Hook’s  hand  and  killed  pirates  before  along  with  the  other  boys,  but  in  the  few  scenes  he’s  shown  killing  a  Pirate,  it’s  very  discreet,  and  not  described.  The  only  times  blood  is  talked  about,  is  when  the  boys  are  casually  talking  about  cleaning  up  after  fights  with  Pirates.

Drinking,  drugs  or  smoking:  1-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 ‘for seriously’

One  of  the  children,  in  one  scene,  chews  tobacco.

No  Homosexuals  or  Mention

 

 

 

 

 

Two Connections (A Short Story)

Hi  ya’ll!  I  mentioned  once  on  my  blog  that  I  was  hoping  to  post  something  other  than  book  reviews  —  and  I  sorta  have  taken  awhile  to  get  to  that  (because  you  know…  life.)  But  I  decided  recently  to  enter  a  short  story  contest  and  try  to  win  it.  I  didn’t  end  up  winning  it,  but  I  do  have  a  short  story  just  sitting  on  my  computer  desktop  now.  So  I  was  thinking  that  today,  I’m  going  to  post  a  short  story  and  possibly  others  every  once  in  awhile…  maybe,  we’ll  see.  😀

 

(Oh,  yea,  this  was  the  prompt  I  based  it  on.)

You’ve learned the secret to life after death. Revealing it will help millions of people connect to their departed loved ones, but if you do an unspecified disaster will occur to someone you know. Do you spill the secret?
My grandmother’s hands are cold and soft under mine. I’ve sat in this hospital many times — in this very room even, beside friends and family that were sick. Many times, but everyone I’ve come to visit always pulled through, always ended up okay. Everyone I was close to that is. I briefly visited a girl from my school that got in a car wreck two years ago. She was transferred to this hospital.

When I say visited, I mean, I came to the room she was in with a group from my school and saw her for a moment through a window. Her face was badly bruised and swollen. I hardly recognized her and didn’t want to, so I left. She was the only person I didn’t sit with in the hospital. For awhile, I blamed myself when she died. Eventually, I told myself it wasn’t my fault and felt some relief. It wasn’t my fault, right?

I thought so at the time. A friend of mine once told me that there are some people that have a stronger connection to life than most. She said, they’re the people that have a grasp on reality, that don’t get depressed or worry about things all the time because they’ve learned that life is too complicated a thing to take it too seriously. She said they were the happy ones. I learned later that she was right. But she was missing something.

Some people have a connection to death.

Little did she know she was talking to one. Now that sounds a little worse than I meant it too. I have a connection to death, yes, but I also have a connection to life. I’m sitting next to my grandmother right now, holding her hands because that will keep her alive. At least, it usually does. It has never worked for animals, although, I’ve only tried once or twice. Once for sure with my dog, Belle. I can, keep people alive, and I can help them relive memories they’ve had with people who have passed. I can’t exactly explain it, believe me I’ve tried. I’m not going to stop trying. I mean, I have a stack of books at my house at this very moment, specifically on the subject of life after death and psychology.

Most of it’s crap. A bunch of silly ideas and analogies from philosophical or therapeutic professors, completely unrelated to what I’m looking for. The most insightful information I’ve gotten has been from personal accounts from people that were thought to be dead and miraculously pulled through. What they saw on the other side; true stories or maybe just stories. Problem is you never know with those sort of things. Otherwise, I haven’t found anything very promising.

My grandmother’s hospital room door opens and Lorrelai steps in, surprising me. Her hair is the first thing I always notice. She’s a red-head but her hair has never looked red to me. A better term for her would be orange-head because it has always looked orange like a setting sun and curled at the ends. Her hair bounces in front of her face and then behind her as she shuts the door. It shuts a little loudly and she gives me a panicked look. “Sorry,” she whispers.

I raise my eyebrow and smile. Lorrelai comes up to me and produces a bouquet of flowers from behind her. I should’ve noticed them before but I was working on my surprise that she was here. When she pulls them all the way from behind her they hit a dish at the side gently and she watches in horror as the
dish spins for a moment on the edge. She gives a sigh of relief when it doesn’t fall and mouths another, ‘sorry’.

Lorrelai is a bit of a clutz. She hates that aspect of herself, but I’ve always found it endearing and funny.

“It’s been awhile,” she says smiling shyly and handing me the bouquet.

It’s been almost a month to be exact.

“How is she?” she says sitting in the chair beside me.

“Oh, you know, the usual hospital patient. Very tired and not very conversational.”

She laughs lightly. A beautiful sound. I’ve missed it. Lorrelai looks at me brightly. Her eyes are a soft brown. I stare at them, happy she’s here. I didn’t expect it.

“Will she be okay?” she asks.

“Oh yea. I know she will.” This is true.

We sit together for a moment in silence and I breathe a slight sigh. “Lorrelai, I’m sorry about—about June.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t have to apologize, Dylan. I didn’t realize then that you were just trying to help me feel better. That you were protecting me.”

“You were going through a lot. I should’ve given you space.”

“Well you sort of have,” she says looking to the ground.

I feel like something’s stabbed me in the chest. I know she’s talking about when I didn’t come to her father’s funeral. He was found last month in June, dead in his own building where I worked for him in his tech company. It was a fine job, payed well and I loved any chance to show her father that I was a capable person. I got the job because I hung out with Lorrelai a lot and he offered it. There’s no way a teenager like me would’ve gotten a job like that otherwise.

Lorrelai’s father ended up noticing that I was a good worker. He had me doing harder, higher paying work more and more and began to trust me. So much so that I was in his building all the time working and saw that he wasn’t the man I thought he was. I witnessed him lie, steal and worse. He wasn’t a good man. He wasn’t the man I thought he was and he wasn’t the man Lorrelai thought he was, and I made the mistake of telling her that right before his funeral.

“I just wish I could’ve talked to him about it,” Lorrelai says sadly. “Found out if what you and the police said was true. I wish I could just see him again.” Tears fall down her cheeks.

She could. If she just took my hands right now, she could relive memories she had with him, and see him again. I want to do it. I want to, but looking into her soft brown eyes, maybe some things are better left dead.

 

That’s  it.  If  you  have  any  advice  on  my  writing  or  storytelling,  (or,  maybe,  by  some  miracle,  if  you  liked  my  story  and  think  I  can  make  it  into  a  book)  I  would  love  to  hear  it.  I  can  take  criticism,  seriously,  and  would  love  the  help!

 

 

Jurassic Park Book Review

“You  know,  at  times  like  this  one  feels,  well,  perhaps  extinct  animals  should  be  left  extinct.  Don’t  you  have  that  feeling  now?”  Ian  Malcolm  Jurassic  Park

Genres: Science  Fiction,  Thriller,  Adventure,  Fantasy                              Page Count: 448

Author:  Michael  Crichton

Rating:  3  stars

Summary:

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price. A paleontologist, botanist, lawyer and a mathematician come to the island to enjoy and inspect it.  Until something goes wrong. . .

My  Review:

I’ve  read  a  few  of  Michael  Crichton’s  books  before  and  this  one  was  very  much  like  those:  excellent  world  building,  intelligent  writing  and  very  thrilling  (pretty  scary  actually).  I  love  how  every  time  I  read  his  books  I  get  a  story  and  learn  a  bunch  of  new  things  from  science  to  philosophy.  Of  course,  there  were  moments  where  the  author  goes  on,  page  after  page  about  a  specific  topic.  It  didn’t  bother  me  a  whole  lot,  but  I  could  see  how  that  would  be  irritating  for  people  that  want  to  get  on  with  the  story.  Honestly,  the  book  didn’t  start  to  ramp  up  till  pg.  190.

I  know  most  of  the  people  that  see  the  book,  think  of  the  movie.  I  grew  up  with the  Jurassic  Park  movie  and  still  love  it!  I’ll  tell  you,  usually,  when  I  read  a  book  and  watch  the  movie  based  on  it,  the  book’s  always  better.  I  thought  that  would  be  the  case  with  Jurassic  Park,  but  honestly,  the  movie  was  better  in  my  opinion.  At  first,  I  couldn’t  figure  out  why  that  was,  but  while  I  was  reading  it,  my  friend  that  suggested  it  to  me  told  me  his  biggest  complaint  was  the  characters.  OH  MY  GOODNESS  HE  WAS  RIGHT!!!

The  characters  were  so  bland.  My  friend  also  said  the  dinosaurs  had  more  personality  than  the  characters.  That  was  very  true. XD  Ian  Malcolm,  the  mathematician  (ie  the  ladies  man  in  the  movie)  and  Muldoon  were  okay,  but  I  still  didn’t  care  very  much  for  them  like  I  did  in  the  movie.  The  roles  in  this  book  were  switched  out  too.  Grant  likes  kids  in  the  book  but  is  portrayed  not  to  in  the  movie,  Lex  is  younger  than  Tim,  Hammond  is  selfish,  etc.

The  book  is  more  intelligent  than  the  movie,  and  fills  in  the  blanks,  in  Jurassic  Park  and  Jurassic  World  but  the  movie  is  better.  I  did  have  fun  moments  reading  it  though.  My  younger  sister  asked  me  to  turn  off  the  light  before  bed  and  I  answered  her,  “Aww,  but  I  was  about  to  see  if  Ed  Regis  will  get  eaten  by  the  T-rex.”:D

My  Rating:

Suggested: 12+

Romance: 1-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘seriously?’)

Not  much  in  romance.  Sex  is  briefly  mentioned  and  Malcolm  comments  on  Dr.  Sattler’s  legs,  but  that’s  all.

Language: 5-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘constant cussing’.)

Cussing  wasn’t  bad,  but  it  was  very  frequent.  Takes  God’s  name  in  vain:  ___   yea,   my ___,  ____  damned,  and  Christ  and  Jesus  as  swear  words.  Others  were,  a*s,  b*tch,  b*stard,  bloody,  damn,  hell,  and  sh*t.

Violence:  7-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 for ‘graphic violence’.)

As  you  can  imagine,  not  all  the  dinosaurs  in  this  book  were  very  nice.  Blood  and  wounds  are  described  in  detail.  People  are  eaten, ( even  children)  and  the  author  describes  dismemberment  and  entrails  in  full.  People  are  brutally  killed  often.  This  was  a  violent  book.

Drinking,  drugs  or  smoking:  4-10

(1 for ‘hardly any’ and 10 ‘for seriously’

Arnold  smokes  a  lot  and  lights  cigarettes  in  the  book  often.  Otherwise,  that’s  it.

No  Homosexuals  or  Mention