Breaking News! A million species are at risk of extinction

What if we are only one step away from the sixth mass extinction in planet history?

In the past, phenomenens such as the extinction of dinosaurs were caused by asteroid crashes, but modern-day extinctions are caused by climate change, loss of habitat, and hotter oceans. On May 6th, 2019 the UN released a report stating that between 500,000 and 1 million plant and animal species face extinction, plenty of which only within decades. As we analyze this type of information we began to ask ourselves what is causing these drastic changes and whether is it too late to fix them?

Human activity is the number one reason for global warming, as we take about 75% of the planet’s surface.  Allyin Woodward reporting for Insider states that “More than 85% of wetland area that was present in 1700 has already been lost, and more than 79 million acres of primary or recovering forest disappeared between 2010 and 2015 alone.” and proves to us that we are already in big trouble. However, not many seem alarmed by the news as we continue to go on with our daily lives without adapting to this strange position we find ourselves in.

Not only will the extinction of species cause a disaster in the animal kingdom, but it will have more negative consequences for us! As we continue to lose insects that are detrimental to the creation of our foods, we will see a shortage in our water and food supplies.

Now more than ever, it is time for you to take action and make a difference!

InvestiGATORS: Heist and Seek

By: John Patrick Green

InvestiGATORS: Heist and Seek, is about two Alligators named Mango and Brash. They are secret undercover agents working for a crime-stopping agency called S.U.I.T., which stands for Special Undercover Investigation Teams. In this book, which is book number six, they encounter an art thief who has stolen all of the most important paintings in the world before an important art gala at the art museum! Then, they search some warehouses, and they find the art and return it to the museum. But then, during the gala, everyone suddenly starts puking all over the place, and the art! It turns out that the snacks at the party were all expired, and in the midst of all of the chaos, the paintings are loaded into an armored truck, and driven straight into a fireworks factory, destroying all of the paintings but one of them. When they reached the surviving painting though, they took it to the General Inspector, the leader of S.U.I.T., but then later realized it was a fake, and that the art thief had created incredibly realistic copies of the paintings and made it look like all of the paintings had been destroyed. So, while all of the guests of the Gala are being treated by doctors for their extreme food poisoning, Mango and Brash search the warehouses and find the real artwork, safe and sound in the one warehouse that they hadn’t searched before. Then, they found the art museum caretaker, who is a cheetah, in the warehouse with the real art. Then, Mango and Brash tricked her into getting into a police van and then they turned her in. They called her “the copycat” in art school because she was so good with forgeries and copying other people’s work. Then, they take the “copycat” to jail, and they return the paintings to the art museum. 

Now, John Patrick Green is making a 7th book in the series, InvestiGATORS: All Tide Up, in case you want to continue the series. But before you read this book, make sure you catch up on the first 5 books in the series! Also, I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did!

Where the Crawdads Sing (movie review)

Disclaimer: I tried my best not to spoil anything, but there still may be some accidental spoilers

Overview

This movie is directed by Olivia Newman and based on the novel “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens.

Story

This movie adaptation is actually very similar to the book, with some parts condensed. It is about Kya, an outcast girl whose family left her when she was a little girl, so she had to learn to take care for herself in the Marsh. It takes place in the 1960s, and switches between 1969 and before the trial. After falling for two very different guys throughout her life and throughout the story, Kya’s life takes a turn.

When the popular Chase Andrews is found dead in the forest, everyone immediately suspects Kya, and the story goes back and forth between the trial and what happened before. Kya, after being alone all her life, finally, but slowly, starts letting a few people into her life.

She has no idea what will happen, and no idea what it will lead to. She has to make a life-changing decision about a threat to her livelihood. Both parts of the story, the trial, and the history are vivid and intriguing. It has an amazing plot, twist, and storyline.

Conclusion

Controversial opinion: I like the movie a bit better because the book gets kind of slow at some points, but I loved both!

10/10

The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo

Overview

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a brilliantly written novel, published on June 13, 2017.

Story

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo follows the main character, Monique Grant, a seemingly random reporter who has been picked to do an interview with The Famous Evelyn Hugo, who lived one of the most successful careers in Hollywood. This comes as a shock to the world as up until now, Evelyn had been hiding from the public eye for years.

She starts off with her history, and how she became Evelyn Hugo. Then, she tells Monique about having to be cunning to survive in Hollywood. She talks about her relationships, and about how all of her seven husbands played a part in her life. Monique quickly finds out that Evelyn’s life was full of scandalous secrets, strategically kept from the public eye.

And as Evelyn’s story becomes more twisted and complicated, Monique also finds out about a secret relationship that no one would ever have thought that The Evelyn Hugo would be part of, and she finds out that Evelyn Hugo has cunningly tricked the public many times. But, Monique also finds just as in everything else in Evelyn’s life, she had a calculated reason for picking Monique to be her reporter.

Conclusion

I absolutely love this book. It is enthralling and once you pick it up, you can’t put it down. There are twists in every chapter and you will absolutely love all the complicated characters, especially Evelyn Hugo.

10/10

They Both Die at the End

Overview

They Both Die at the End is a novel by Adam Silvera. It was published on September 5th, 2017.

Story

In a world with a death cast, people get a call telling them they are going to die sometime in the next 24 hours. This call doesn’t tell them how or where, just that their death is going to occur.

When the two completely unrelated main characters of this book get the call, they both decide to go on a website that helps people who got the death cast meet each other. When they meet, they never would have believed that they, two very contrasting people, made a very good match. And they never would have thought that they would live more in their 24 hours than they had before in their lives.

As they discover more and more about the world, each other, and themselves, we also learn about more characters in this world. Even though the title spoils the ending, you don’t see it coming, and the ending hits harder than you would’ve thought.

Conclusion

I really loved this book, and the character dynamics and morals were all really interesting. Would definitely recommend!

9/10

If He Had Been with Me

Overview

If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin is a contemporary teen romance book published on April 2nd, 2013.

Story

This book is about a girl named Autumn, who loves literature and writing. She lives next door to Finny, with whom she has been best friends since they were born. Until, all of a sudden they weren’t friends anymore, and Autumn had to find another friend group at the start of high school.

She found a new friend group, and she finds a boy in this newly formed friend group. When they start dating, Autumn discovers more and more things about herself. She feels conflicted and thinks about what could’ve been as she is thrown into love, regret, and deep sadness.

Conclusion

In this heartbreaking book, even though you see the ending coming, it still hits hard and still has twists. Would recommend, though it got a little repetitive in the middle.

7.8/10

Review: Stranger Things Season 1

About:

Stranger Things is a horror and mystery show. It was written by the Duffer brothers and takes place around the 1980s. The first season has 8 episodes.

Story:

The first season of Stranger Things was mainly about the disappearance of Will Byers. Will has a group of three friends Dustin, Mike, and Lucas. Him and his friends like to hang out and do things like play Dungeons and Dragons. Will lives with his older brother Jonathan and his mother Joyce, his dad left when he was young. One morning his brother and mom don’t know where he is, but a scene is shown before that shows Will being taken by a monster while he is outside at night with his bike. After word gets out that Will is missing, things don’t go well. His mother and brother are working hard to find him, the police aren’t doing anything to help them. And another thing goes wrong, a high school girl named Barbra goes missing after a party. Most people believed there was a bear in the backyard, but Will’s brother and one of his classmates named Nancy don’t think this is true. Jonathan and Nancy discover that there is a monster in Hawkins, this monster is called a Demogorgon and is the same monster that took Will. Also, in the second episode, Will’s friend find a girl in the woods. She doesn’t talk much but they call her Eleven (and El for short) since she has the number Eleven tattooed on her forearm. Eleven also doesn’t have anywhere to go since she ran away from Hawkin’s lab where she was kept and experimented on, so Mike takes Eleven to his house. There is much more that happens in the season after this, but I don’t want to spoil it so I’ll just leave it at this. All in all I think this is a really good show and I would recommend watching it. 10/10

Harry’s House album cover fan art

This is a piece of fan art I made for the album Harry’s House. This art was inspired from the album cover. When making this I drew the cover with a few changes. For example, instead of drawing Harry styles fully I drew his outline and wrote things like song titles inside it. I also added some writing which was not originally on the cover. I hope enjoy it 🙂

Short Review of Forza Motorsport 7

When I heard Forza Motorsport 8 was finally scheduled for a release, I was pumped. Then I decided to find the last installment and race a few times.

Forza Motorsport 7 is a pretty awesome game. It was developed by Microsoft studios and Turn 10 studios and is an Xbox exclusive. In it you can follow a campaign and take part in 6 championships, the last being the legendary Forza Driver’s Cup. The details and graphics really are crazy good. The soundtrack is awesome and the other sounds are realistic. The speeds and acceleration are a bit exaggerated as my top speed of 216 mph was achieved on a Nissan GT-R Nismo (unmodified at the time), which is only supposed to go 195, and my Lamborghini Veneno (unmodified at the time) went from 0 to 137 mph in a quarter of a mile with a completion time 4 seconds. I’m hoping the new installment has more accurate speeds and acceleration. I’m also hoping the new game doesn’t flop like Forza Horizon 5 did.

For my first racing game other than MarioKart Wii, I’d give this one a 9/10

My Objective Thoughts on 1984 (Yes, the Book)

I’m going to be completely honest here. Trust me when I say that this book, yes this classic book that is praised and practically used as a political chunk of evidence, is in fact, overrated. It just is. I know so many people say that this is what a dystopia truly would look like, and they’re not wrong, it’s simply that this doesn’t hold up to a lot of modern aspects of society and that the book doesn’t actually focus on the dystopia itself, but the act of living in it.

I’m not saying the book is bad, but it certainly isn’t great. Orwell has a very superior book that actively portrays a dystopia and the effects of one better. And that book is Animal Farm. Now this isn’t going to be some compare and contrast essay. I just wanted to point out the fact the Orwell has a better book on this subject. I suggest you read that instead.

Now the main problems I have with 1984 is that it is segmented into three parts. Well, I am not mad about this, but it all comes down to the execution. The different parts of the book are so clearly separate that it doesn’t feel all too coherent. Basically it has a very good exposition that sets down a lot of rules in this world but then the second part is almost purely raunchy. Like, this is the raunchiest stuff I’ve read. Although that says a lot about me I suppose. But, it also says a lot about the active lack of plot. And then the third part is one very drawn out torture scene.

It just feels not good enough for something that is supposed to be the best example of a dystopia. It just isn’t.

Anyway, those were my objective thoughts on 1984.