Book Review: That was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton

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That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Realistic fiction

Age Recommendation: 14+

Synopsis:Does growing up have to mean growing apart?

Since childhood, Bryon and Mark have been as close as brothers. Now things are changing. Bryon’s growing up, spending a lot of time with girls, and thinking seriously about who he wants to be. Mark still just lives for the thrill of the moment. The two are growing apart – until Bryon makes a shocking discovery about Mark. Then Bryon faces a terrible decision – one that will change both of their lives forever.

My review: This book was incredible, and heartbreaking. It’s a wonderful picture of how beautiful, and painful, growing up can be. I was a huge fan of Hinton’s first novel The Outsiders and this book was just as amazing.

Does growing up have to mean growing apart?

Since childhood, Bryon and Mark have been as close as brothers. Now things are changing. Bryon’s growing up, spending a lot of time with girls, and thinking seriously about who he wants to be. Mark still just lives for the thrill of the moment. The two are growing apart – until Bryon makes a shocking discovery about Mark. Then Bryon faces a terrible decision – one that will change both of their lives forever.The characters were realistic, and very well written. Hinton is an amazing writer and her descriptions of the characters is one of my favorite things about her writing. You can see a clear picture of every character, from their face to their personality, it’s not hard to get to know these incredibly written characters. The main character, Bryon, is an interesting mix of traits. He’s a liar with a moral compass, a player, and a boy who’s quickly turning into a man. Mark is a boy living for the moment. He’ll do almost anything to make a little money, and stealing anything is his favorite game.

And as a little bonus in this section, fans of The Outsiders, like myself, will be pleased to see the return of Ponyboy Curtis.

The plot was very believable, and fast moving. I love too see how one seemingly small action can set an entire story in motion, and change a person down to their core. I don’t think there is too much else I can say without giving spoilers.

Content Warnings:

Magic: Not present.

Violence: Many references and mentions of violence, but no descriptions, blood or gore. A character is shot in the head, but we don’t see any blood/gore. A character is jumped and a fight follows. One character is beaten to unconsciousness, but this scene is quick, without gore. A story is told of a boy being beaten nearly to death. No description.

Sexual Content: A few kisses are seen on page, these are short and not described.

Book Review: The Summer of Lost Things by Chantele Sedgwick

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Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Age recommendation: 12+

Genre: YA Romance

Synopsis:

New town, new friends, new guy . . . and an old bucket list.

After her dad is sentenced to prison time, seventeen-year-old Lucy Nelson and her mother move across the country to start over in the town—and farmhouse—where her mother grew up.

Once settled, Lucy is determined to keep her mind off anything “real” and decides to pass the time by reading a stack of her mother’s childhood books, which has sat in her grandmother’s home for decades. When Lucy finds her mom’s old summer bucket list shoved between the pages of a worn copy of Anne of Green Gables, she’s eager to write her own list to escape her inevitable summer boredom. Feeling brave, she fills it with challenges she’d never normally do and also adds the one thing that her mother had never crossed off the original list: Visit Susan’s grave.

When Lucy befriends Mira and her handsome cousin, Jack, she begins to feel almost normal as they help check off her list. When she asks her mother about Susan, she refuses to talk about her. As Lucy falls for Jack, she yearns to tell him the truth about her dad and her old life but lies about everything instead. When her friends see through the lies and her mom reaches her breaking point over questions about Susan, Lucy must learn to trust her friends, try to bring peace to her mother, and to somehow find the courage to forgive her dad.

My Review:

I have loved every book in this series, (Love, Lucas), and this one was not a disappointment. As with all the earlier books in this series, Sedgewick paints a picture of brokenness, and pain, and then throughout the book, healing from that brokenness.

So let’s break it down. Starting with the premise.

If this wasn’t by Chantele Sedgwick, I don’t think the blurb would have caught my attention. In my opinion the blurb was too long and gave to much information, but the actual premise of the story wasn’t bad. Lucy’s Dad has been arrested, and her and her Mom move back to her Mom’s home town to escape the rumors that now surround there family and get a new start. But her Mom still has baggage around this town, but she won’t talk about it.

I think that’s a pretty solid premise.

Next, the Characters: The main character, Lucy, was very relatable. She was socially awkward, a book worm, and a girl who was not excited to leave her old friends to find new ones. Lucy had a lot of pain, and handled it in a way that was believable, and relatable.

Jack is a cowboy, that does not fit the cowboy stereotype. I was happy with that, as I am not a fan of cowboys in general. Jack is quiet, highly sensitive, socially awkward, and has never had a girlfriend. He’s adventurous though, and not afraid to try something new every now and again. I loved him.

Mira is outgoing, extremely talkative, and definitley has her ‘gang’. She, like the others, has gone through a lot of pain, and she doesn’t always cope with that pain in the best ways.

The plot was well done. No one fell in love too quickly, and the mystery was solved at a believable pace. that’s about all I can say without giving spoilers.

This was a very satisfying ending to the series. All of the characters had distinct endings to their story lines, and the future looks bright.

Content:

Violence: Not present.

Sexual content: Two characters kiss a few times. This is not drawn out or overly described.

Magic: Not present

Other concers: Mentions of a character who committed suicide, another who overdosed on drugs. One character is said to have drowned, though none of these events happen in the story, they are only mentioned.

Thinking is Hard

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I can’t think before 9:00 in the morning. It doesn’t seem to matter what time I get up. Before 9:00, my brain runs about as quickly as a reptile in 30-degree weather. A teacher asks me to take notes on a 20-minute video, and I end up with three short sentences while other students have half a page. I’m not complaining; I think it’s kind of funny. (Also a great excuse not to try too hard first thing in the morning. I hate mornings.)

In the mornings? I write down in my notes the things other students, who are morning people, suggest. I respond to people’s questions, but don’t formulate many of my own. Because let’s be honest. Thinking is hard. Early in the morning (or for some of you, late at night), it’s easy to let other people do the thinking for us.

And that’s OK.

But what happens when we never pull our brain out of 30-degree reptile status? I think we all know the feeling of just accepting what the people around us say as truth, without giving it a whole lot of thought. We listen to music and don’t think about the words. We take what our friends say as absolute truth without questioning it. We read a Bible study book and assume it’s true because, honestly, it sounds pretty good.

And let’s be honest. Thinking is just hard. Other people go to school, other people learn about these things, other people have done my thinking for me. So why bother?

Today I was challenged to think. In chapel this morning, the speaker encouraged us to listen–really listen–to the lyrics of a song, and then respectfully, carefully, and biblically analyze it. Understand its worldview. Understand what themes it has that are correct…and which ones are wrong.

In other words, think. Think for yourself. Don’t just soak in the words, don’t just accept the messages the world is sending you.

Think about them.

Oddly, this is kind of a scary thing to suggest. The world around us says that they want us to think for ourselves. The truth is more like, “You can think for yourself, but only if your conclusions agree with mine.”

Why is this the case? Because thinking means asking questions. Asking questions means finding answers, maybe…maybe sometimes the wrong ones. Certainly different ones. Finding different answers means changing the way you live. Changing the way you live means going against the flow. Going against the flow means conflict. Conflict is uncomfortable.

It would be so much easier to just let other people do the thinking.

Thinking is hard.

Is it worth it? Should we take the time to think about the messages being sent to us? How far do we take this concept? Do we question everything, or only some things? What standards do we use to determine whether our new thoughts and conclusions are correct?

These are questions I find very, very difficult. Maybe you do too.

I am not going to give you an answer for those questions. I’m a college student. Currently, I have all questions, and very few answers.

Just….

Think about it.

Restless

Emily MartinLeave a comment

New year, new you. Except it’s not a new me. It’s still just Normal Emily, doing the same things, over and over again. So you go to work. You go home. You go to school. You come home. You stress over things that don’t matter. You relax when you realize they don’t matter. You hang out with your friends, and it’s fun. You do something embarrassing, and it’s not fun anymore. You forget about the embarrassing thing, and life moves on.

You eat, three times a day. Why do we have to eat so often? You like some of the food. You forget it the next day. You hate some of the food. You forget that the next day too. Some nights you don’t get enough sleep. But you function anyway. Some nights you do get enough sleep. You’re tired anyway.

Life is a cycle, and nothing ever changes. Not really. You laugh, you cry, and then you laugh again. The sun comes out one day. It storms the next day. The next day the sun comes out again.

Life hurts, but not always. Life is good, but not always.

You make friends, you lose friends, you make new friends. People get married, people are born, people die, and in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?

And yet.

And yet you can’t shake the feeling that it does matter. The beauty of the first winter snowflakes matters. That moment when you step in a puddle with socks on matters. The satisfying sigh at the end of a good book matters. The tears, the laughter, the secret smiles with friends, somehow they all matter.

It doesn’t make sense, but somehow we know that these things matter. That every little thing is changing us somehow, making us different. Because in the end, our life just consists of a bunch of random unimportant moments stacked on top of each other, but you look back and realize that somehow all those unimportant moments changed you.

The stress of a bad grade on a school assignment. The pain of watching friends move on to bigger things. Those embarrassing moments that make you want to hide in the closet. They change you, impact your view of the world, of yourself.

The victory of winning a race for the first time. The beauty of the changing seasons. That one friend you knew in elementary school that you haven’t seen in fifteen years. Those things change you. They impact your view of the world.

So maybe the circumstances never really change. But you change. Maybe life is just a cycle of goods and bads, ups and downs. Maybe the circumstances don’t matter, but your reactions do matter.

Maybe even the restlessness means something. Maybe even the restlessness is changing me for the better.

November in Pennsylvania

Emily MartinLeave a comment

As I glance out the rain-splattered window, a flock of geese create a dark “V” against the gray sky. The weather forecast predicted a frost this evening; something that will officially end the growing season. And even though this happens every year, and even though I love fall and the colorful leaves and Thanksgiving and the first snowflakes, for some reason my chest hurts as I think about the coming winter.

Sure enough, the next morning a thick coat of frost covers the ground, and our little corner of the world is, as a general rule, quite cold. When I walk into the bookstore the next day, I see that my coworkers are setting up the Christmas trees, and Christmas music plays in the background.

Yes, I love it…sort of. The glittery red Christmas card display, the twinkling lights on the mistletoe tree, the festive music.

And yet.

Where did the summer go, I wonder?

I’m getting older, and time is flying by, and another season is changing. Another fall is almost gone. Soon it will be dark in the evenings and dark in the mornings and I’ll wake up to a blanket of snow on the ground.

But it’s more than the cold and the dark. Soon it will be 2022–didn’t 2021 just start? Why does time move so quickly? What even is time?

But perhaps the real reason this winter feels so sad to me is that it marks the end of something.

I can’t pinpoint what. It’s more than the end of the growing season, more than the end of 2021. But something has slipped out of my reach. Along with warmth and with summer, we lost something. It happens every year, and I know we’ll gain it back in the spring. Winter doesn’t last forever.

And yet, as the nights grow dark earlier, as the geese leave to find a new home that doesn’t involve snow, and I rub my cold hands together, I still feel the loss.

The summer is over. All the good, all the bad, all the emotion and wonder and heartbreak and laughter–it’s gone now.

But perhaps, even though we’ve lost something–though many things have died–maybe they’re making room for more things to grow. Maybe winter will hold its own special treasures. Maybe there will be more laughter, more tears, more life even when it feels like the world around me is dying.

So I stand with my face toward the dark clouds and drizzling rain and watch for the first snowflake, knowing that winter brings its own promise.

And the winter can be beautiful too.

Movie Review: The Princess Bride

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Quick note: This is the first time I’m doing a movie review, so bear with me.

Movie rated PG

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love love love this movie. I’ve had people telling me for quite a while that I needed to see it, and they were right.

Things that could use improvement:I’m gonna start out with some things I didn’t like about the movie, and reasons why some people would not enjoy it. First and foremost, it is entirely unrealistic. Being a fantasy/fairy tale, this is to be expected, and the movie is very enjoyable even so. It’s not that well done, but I accept this, being that it is an ‘old’ movie.

There was one scene I found particularly cheesy.

*MAJOR SPOILER WARNING*

Buttercup and the man in black are talking on the top of a very steep hill. Buttercup guesses that the man in black is the dread pirate Roberts, and shoves him down the hill for killing her love, and then mocking her about being engaged to the Prince. As he falls, he calls “As you wish.” After which she says “Oh my sweet Westley, what have I done?” And rolls down the hill after him. I feel that there would have been much better ways to reveal this plot twist other than him saying “As you wish” As he rolls down the hill.

*End Spoiler Warning*

The one other thing I didn’t like were the torture scenes. Noted, these scenes are not gruesome, or bloody, Westley is shaken around severely, and we hear his cries of anguish, but it is not an overly violent scene. However, being the very feeling person that I am, these scenes hurt me to watch. Had Westley kept silent, and handled the torture with defiance, it wouldn’t have been as painful to me, but I felt his pain when he cried out. His screams were something that I could not ignore. I hurt for him.

In one respect, this is a sign of excellent story telling, the fact that I felt the emotions and pain of the character so strongly, however, upon rewatching, I skipped those scenes, rather than gritting my teeth and watching them.

Things that were amazing:

The characters!! All of the characters had very distinct personalities and goals, and were unique in there ways of attaining there goals.

The humor was also golden.

Content Warnings:

Violence: There is quite a bit of blood in the climax (this is a long scene, and could be skipped, if watching with younger children). Lots of fencing, some knocks on the head, one scene with torture (no blood or gore seen), one character is attacked by a wild animal, and his shoulder is bloody afterwards.

Language: Jesus’ name is misused once.

Sexual Content: Two characters kiss multiple times. One sexual comment is made.

Magic: None.

Other Content: References to suicide (one character says she will kill herself, if forced to marry the Prince.) Intensity for younger children.

Overall I would say that this movie is fine for teens, but cautioned for younger children, depending on how sensitive they are, and the parent’s discretion.

Book Review: Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

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My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Mythological Novel

Synopsis: Haunted by the myth of Cupid and Psyche throughout his life, C.S. Lewis wrote this, his last, extraordinary novel, to retell their story through the gaze of Psyche’s sister, Orual. Disfigured and embittered, Orual loves her younger sister to a fault and suffers deeply when she is sent away to Cupid, the God of the Mountain. Psyche is forbidden to look upon the god’s face but is persuaded by her sister to do so; she is banished for her betrayal. Orual is left alone to grow in power but never in love, to wonder at the silence of the gods. Only at the end of her life, in visions of her lost beloved sister, will she hear an answer.

My Opinions: I loved this book. I found it very interesting, if a little bit odd.

Things I liked: The story and the characters were so well done. I really understood Orual and related to her. Psyche was nearly perfect, beautiful, gentle, and kind. The setting intrigued me right away.

Things I didn’t like: There wasn’t really anything I didn’t like, but I will say one thing: I am confused. I assume Lewis has a deep meaning behind this book, and there is definitely something there, but I can’t quite grasp it.

Book Review: Orphan’s Song by Gillian Bronte Adams

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My Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 

Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy

Series: The Songkeeper Chronicles

Synopsis:

Who Will Keep the Song Alive?

Every generation has a Songkeeper – one chosen to keep the memory of the Song alive. And in every generation, there are those who seek to destroy the chosen one.

When Birdie’s song draws the attention of a dangerous Khelari soldier, she is kidnapped and thrust into a world of ancient secrets and betrayals. Rescued by her old friend, traveling peddler Amos McElhenny, Birdie flees the clutches of her enemies in pursuit of the truth behind the Song’s power.

Ky is a street–wise thief and a member of the Underground—a group of orphans banded together to survive . . . and to fight the Khelari. Haunted by a tragic raid, Ky joins Birdie and Amos in hopes of a new life beyond the reach of the soldiers. But the enemy is closing in, and when Amos’ shadowed past threatens to undo them all, Birdie is forced to face the destiny that awaits her as the Songkeeper of Leira.

My Opinions: I really enjoyed this book! It was an easy read, a little lighter than what I have been reading lately, but I don’t mind that.

Things I liked: I like how the world was set up, and how music plays a huge role in the magic system of this book. It’s just cool to me. I also really liked the characters. Birdie, Ky, and Amos were relatable, and human. They weren’t doing impossible things all the time, in fact, often they were failing.

Not a whole lot of good things happened in this book. Some people might call it depressing or boring, and I would understand. By the end of the book we haven’t really accomplished that much. I didn’t really like that fact (so i guess it is in the wrong category), But I didn’t hate it either. It just was.

Things I didn’t like: There were a lot of POV switches. That’s not the end of the world, but I didn’t see a point in some of the switches. You could have accomplished the same things as effectively, and maybe more effectively, by keeping in just one perspective.

All in all I liked this book, it was interesting and easy to read. I think I will probably continue the series.

Book Review: Anomaly by Krista Mcgee

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My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Christian

Synopsis:

Thalli has fifteen minutes and twenty-three seconds left to live. The toxic gas that will complete her annihilation is invading her bloodstream. But she is not afraid.

Thalli is different than others in The State. She feels things. She asks questions. And in the State, this is not tolerated. The Ten scientists who survived the nuclear war that destroyed the world above believe that emotion was at the core of what went wrong—and they have genetically removed it from the citizens they have since created. Thalli has kept her malformation secret from those who have monitored her for most of her life, but when she receives an ancient piece of music to record as her community’s assigned musician, she can no longer keep her emotions secreted away.

Seen as a threat to the harmony of her Pod, Thalli is taken to the Scientists for immediate annihilation. But before that can happen, Berk—her former Pod mate who is being groomed as a Scientist—steps in and persuades the Scientists to keep Thalli alive as a test subject.

The more time she spends in the Scientist’s Pod, the clearer it becomes that things are not as simple as she was programmed to believe. She hears stories of a Designer—stories that fill her mind with more questions: Who can she trust? What is this emotion called love? And what if she isn’t just an anomaly, but part of a greater design?

My Opinion: I really enjoyed this book! (I mean… It got five stars so that is kind of a given…)

Characters: Thalli is our MC, she is a seventeen year old who grew up suppressing her emotions. The others in her pod didn’t have them, and she knew she shouldn’t either. I related to Thalli on some levels, and on others not so much, but I got very attached.

Berk is a boy from Thalli’s pod. He left the pod a few years ago to be trained as one of the next Scientists. When Thalli is taken and scheduled for her Annihilation, Berk convinces his superiors to post pone it, saying that he wants to experiment on her. It doesn’t take long for the feelings of both Berk and Thalli to move beyond that of childhood friends.

The plot: (I will try to keep this spoiler free) The plot of this book was fairly slow moving, not super action packed but still interesting. One of the big plot twists I guessed right away, but that didn’t bother me. (I wish I had been wrong….*crying*)

I will definitely continue this series. Maybe not right now, but eventually. (My TBR is so long…)

Book Review: A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes

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My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian, Christian

Synopsis:

What more can you sacrifice than your life?

Parvin Blackwater is dead.

At least…that’s what the Council—and the world—thinks. But her sacrifice tore down part of the Wall long enough to stir up hope and rebellion in the people. Now she will rise again. Strong, free, and fearless.

Parvin and Solomon must uncover the mysterious clues that Jude left behind in order to destroy the projected Wall once and for all. Meanwhile, the Council schemes to new levels of technology in its attempts to keep the people contained. Can a one-handed Radical and a scarred ex-Enforcer really bring shalom to the world?

My Opinion: Oh my. The things that series put me through. Wow. Just wow.

I loved the characters, plot, and message of this series. It was so well done. Parvin was relatable, human, but I still admired her. She showed us that even when she was weak, there is someone greater who gives her strength. The journey she took throughout these books was amazing, and honestly, even though the story is fake, I found her faith inspiring.

The plot was very well done. There were extreme challenges the characters had to overcome, but it didn’t seem impossible. (Ok, some of it might seem impossible, but in those situations, they gave the credit to God, and not to themselves.)

I am very satisfied. That was amazing.

Why do I want to go read it again?