The Girl Who Could Unite Them All, Part Three

Vali gasped and grabbed her hair. Sure enough, it was a deep violet tone.

“Valerine!” her father shouted from the audience. He came running all the way up the stairs. He grabbed her shoulders. “Test your powers.”

“How?” Vali asked, panicked.

“Just concentrate on your powers coming out of your hands.”

Her father showed her, a blaze shooting from his hand.

Vali concentrated, and then . . .

Water and fire simultaneously shot from her hands. Gusts of wind poured out of her and shook the entire pavilion.

Immediately everything dissolved into chaos. People screamed and dashed for the exit. Ylena threw herself out of the way of Vali’s violent powers.

“Valerine! Stop them!” her father shouted.

“I’m sorry! How do I put them back into my hands?”

“Concentrate on your powers drawing back!”

Suddenly they stopped. All of the children were frozen, standing there, and Ylena lay unconscious, scorched, on the wet ground.

“You have such strong powers,” her father stated. “You must get out of here so they don’t find you.”

Vali knew that she should get out. People deemed “dangerous” by the magic ministers were chased down and imprisoned—or worse.

“I will,” Vali whispered. “I love you, dad.” She embraced him with all her might. “I promise to see you again some day.”

As soon as she let go, she ran to Tessa. “Goodbye.”

“Stay away from me!” Tessa shrieked, dashing away down the steps. She burst into tears.

Vali stood there, hurt. Being rejected by a close friend stung. But leaving Diamond City, the only home she’d ever known, was going to sting even worse.

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The Disasters, by M.K. England

The Disasters, written by M.K. England, is her debut novel about five misfits on the run through space. Unfortunately, it seems all the new books I’ve read so far in 2019 have been more disappointing than ever before, and The Disasters is no exception. I’ve heard it’s claiming to be a Guardians of the Galaxy / The Breakfast Club mix, and to a very minor extent, it is, although terribly done if so. As the author is debuting, the mistakes she made in pacing and character development are moderately forgivable so long as she takes criticism seriously and applies it to her future novels, because the idea was there yet with poor execution.

The main characters are Nax, Rion, Case, Zee, and Asra, each equally bland and undeveloped. Nax was a stereotypical “cool” kid, like Peter Quill from Guardians of the galaxy minus the complex reasons for his behaviors. He had a whole woe-is-me act going on throughout the whole book, which can be relatable in small doses, but not as a whole character trait. Rion was a strange character from the beginning. He came across very closed off and rude, which was fine considering he was being kicked out of the Ellis Space Academy when we first met him. From the beginning it appeared he was going to have some sort of feud with Nax, but the moment a life-threatening situation occurred, Rion began joking and flirting with Nax, rushing a relationship that should have taken longer to develop due to their stranger’s status. Case, Zee, and Asra were expedient characters that seemed only to be there to use their convenient skills to get the characters from one place to another without much struggle. They weren’t particularly developed any more than our main character, Nax.

The romance in this book was rather infuriating, as a hater of badly writer love triangles. A few good books featuring love triangles that worked are Throne of Glass, Clockwork Angel, and Shatter Me. There was a love triangle between Nax, Rion, and Case, that really took up more plot and mental attention for Nax than it should have, considering the government was out to get them at every place they went. He would touch Case or Rion while the other one was watching, leaving both wondering if Nax liked them while being totally fine with it. Case ended up being used purely to cause some “drama” between the relationship Rion and Nax ended up having, despite hardly knowing each other.

One strange thing I noticed was the obsessive amount of touching Nax did in this book. He had just met all these people and from the get-go, he would grab their hands and shoulders. Almost every description of what the characters were doing involved shoulders brushing in some form, which quickly became weird to read and took me out of the story.

One good thing was the dream sequences, I can’t name many dreams I’ve read in books that have actually been interesting and I felt related to the plot directly, so I applaud the author for them.

The diversity in this book was probably the most I’ve encountered in any YA book I’ve read that comes to mind. It’s a shame that the rest of the book wasn’t developed enough to make it particularly impactful for minorities. The book lacked world building, which for a book centered around wild space adventures, is a complete shame. The one world that was somewhat developed was so much like earth all I could picture was a regular earthen city, which I felt was lazy writing. If you want an Earth-like city on a different planet, at least develop the land outside the city and make the characters venture through it to leave a lasting impact.

This book could have used a lot more revision. With a few hundred more pages, the characters could have been developed more and the plot would have more time to move while making sense, which was a huge problem I had, it moved so fast I can’t recall exactly why the ending happened as it did. I wouldn’t recommend this book unless you want a quick semi-enjoyable read.

I would give The Disasters 2/10 dragons.

One Day,

Your presence in my world, like a fiery sunrise

Your dark eyes crashed with the eyes beneath the mask

And destroyed the barrier within the coast and water

Finally, I emerged to land, fearless

So long I have drowned in the blues of the ocean

Yet you, a nobody, broke the barrier the fiercest couldn’t do

Oh, I was blind with the beauty of the deceiving water

That I could not see the pure green of the land

You tried, you cried when you needed me the most

When I look into your eyes, for the first time with sane sight

I saw the light of gold that shines beneath the darkness

An apology is what I owe

For being blind with the oceans I despise

It’s waves trapped me with full force

Yet, you saved me from the suffocation

But oh fate!

Oh fate was so cruel to tear us apart

Before the apology which pains me with guilt from dawn to dusk

Now you are far away, out of reach

Yet, I can’t hide what I have this time

I am not going to lie and I shall tell the truth

No matter how the crowd might judge

I believe there is more beneath your dark mask

One day,

You will come and we will be together. Once more

This time I will apologize

And talk and laugh of the tales of old times

And I must bring the smile to the face gone dark

I am dreading through this time

I know, and I believe you will come back to me

And I will come to you, grinning from ear to ear

To hold your hands and fly up high to the sky

We shall laugh and we shall cry

The stars will light up the night

No matter what they say we will be alright

Because you are my chance,

To rewrite the stars

The savior of my cruel fate

You are the one I will never take for granted

Few more days, Few more hours, Few more minutes,

Just a few more seconds

Then we will unite once more

Happy

Memory-Bound

The beeping of the heart rate monitor, sitting a few inches away from my bed, keeping track and keeping steady along with the beats of my heart. Foot-steps, coming and going; papers ruffling and data being written. All muffled; subdued.

*                                                         *                                                      *

I hear everything. Before, everything sounded muffled but now the beep beeping of the heart rate monitor, the voices of the doctors, all of it was now crystal clear. I understand and hear everything. Well, almost everything.

“Welcome back, Miss Julie Rose,” said a short, brown haired doctor. The doctor stared at me, expecting me to say something like, Good morning doctor or Yea, its great to be back. Instead, I just stared right back, leaving an awkward silence.

Looking at her clipboard and ruffling through the pages, the doctor says, “Okay, um… Miss Rose, since you are now awake we will need to examine your injuries we will need to do some research.” With that, the doctor leaves the room at a pace faster than the normal walking speed.

With the awkward doctor now out of the room, I look around my room. Ugly, green-beige walls; dark, yellow curtains with dusty blinds on the windows. Yellow covers on the bed with rusty orange pillowcases. A heart monitor, keeping constant beats with my heart near the side of my bed. The window that is about four feet from my bed, overlooks the tops of a few trees, meaning I am on either the third or forth floor. I am in a hospital, but how and why?

A nurse walks in, diverting my eyes from the window. “Miss Rose, I’m sorry to bother you, but we need to take some tests if that’s alright with you.” The nurse stares at me waiting for me to tell him that I don’t mind the tests or sure or even a nod, instead I stare at him blankly just as I did the short doctor. The nurse waits a few more seconds before he moves towards the bed to start examinations. “So, um… Miss, I have to um… check your heart beat so if you could, maybe turn over?” I continue to stare blankly at the nurse. My eyes follow him as he moves toward me. I turn on my side to let him examine me, but I continue to follow his every move.

When the nurse finishes he goes to reach for my arm to draw blood. I flinch and pull my arm away from him as fast as I can. I am suddenly terrified. The beeping from the heart machine quickens as my heart beat accelerates. The nurse’s eyes widen and he grows pale.

“Doctor Bell! Code!” the nurse cries.

That must be the name of the short, brown haired doctor. I don’t need a doctor, I don’t need anymore pokes and prods. Anger mixes in with terror, as my heartbeat accelerates the Doctor Bell rushes in; concern and worry written all over her face.

“What are you just standing there for!?” The she snaps and the nurses that have gathered around, “Get the cart! Julie, you have got to breath. If you do not breath and calm down, you will injure yourself even more or even die!”

That stilled my panic, what were the extent of my injuries? Could I really die? How did I even injure myself? With every thought, I continued to panic. Black spots clouded my view; clear, rushing doctors became blurry blobs with loud voices and sounds that have no meaning. What was the point of yelling? It only made things worse. With that thought, I blacked out. * * *

Cold, strong hands. Fear rushing through my veins. Wind blowing, or maybe its the air conditioner or maybe fans? The rough ground biting in my feet. Air rushing past; no longer feeling the rough ground below me. I am confused and scared and angry. I’m falling. Then nothing, everything is black.

Bring me Back

The moon shines over the truth

Nothing that I want to hide

Every time I try, the mountains rise

Higher than I can climb

You are the change, the different

Something that I am not afraid to confess

Unlike the rest, always buried in my mind

I am fighting a losing battle,

Promise you I will hold on till my last breath

Tell me we will meet again

Promise me you will break through these mountains

When I never can

I know,

One day you will turn around

To break through these mountains

To give me another chance, to see the sunlight

To bring me back

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

The LEGO Movie was released back in 2014 to overwhelming praise from critics and audiences alike. However, it set a really high bar for a sequel. Now that it is here, I’m gonna tell you my opinion, and if I think it lives up to the hype. This is my review of The LEGO Movie 2.

The plot revolves around Emmet, an upbeat and cheerful person. Despite his positive attitude, his city is now a Barron wasteland after the Duplo invasions turn it into a post-apocalyptic setting. When his friend Lucy is kidnapped by a mysterious person named General Mayhem, it’s up to him to save his best friend.

The movie didn’t really live up to the hype, to answer the question I asked earlier. However, it wasn’t bad, and I can’t blame them, considering how high the bar was set by the original. First, the acting was great. No complaints there. The writing was pretty funny, and the storyline was coherent and never boring. The animation was amazing. It’s actually hard to comprehend how they animate stuff like this.

In conclusion, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part was enjoyable. It wasn’t great, but it has just enough charm to give it 7/10.

This is starwarsguy124, signing out.

The Girl Who Was Supposed To Die by April Henry

After waking up in a cabin with no memory of how she got there, Cady starts to panic. Soon after regaining consciousness, she hears her captors talking hears one of them tell the other to take her out back and “finish her off”. After managing to escape, she has no idea where to go…she has no money, doesn’t remember her name, and doesn’t know what happened to her.

In her run from these men, she meets Ty, who ends up accompanying her on her journey to get to safety. What Cady does know is that she’s still in danger, she just doesn’t know why.

I’ve had a few less than stellar reads lately, and I was hoping this quick thriller would be just the thing to break my drought. Unfortunately, it didn’t do it for me. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, and felt more like an action book than a thriller. The end also took a turn I wasn’t expecting – very similar to The Outliers, which was another book I didn’t like.
What I did like was Cady and her friendship with Ty. I did find it a little unrealistic that they bonded so quickly and that Ty innately trusted Cady when she didn’t even know who she was or what happened to her, but they were good together and relied on each other, which while not always believable, was a nice add to the story, especially considering most of the characters weren’t super developed and were often flat.

Overall, I don’t have a ton to say about the book, which is probably fitting considering it was only ~200 pages long. It was a very quick read, and if you like action books/movies with a touch of biological warfare, this will be the perfect choice for you.