15/10/2013 - BOOK REVIEW: Sons for the Return Home by Albert Wendt

TITLE: Sons for the Return Home

AUTHOR: Albert Wendt

PUBLISHER: Longman Paul (also re-published by Penguin)

NUMBER OF PAGES: 217

GENRE: Pasifika

How I Discovered or Acquired This Book: A compulsory read for Uni.

When & Where Read: Oct 2013 at Home.

Noteworthy Experiences While Reading This Book: There was once scene on pages 78 &79 where Wendt was describing the killing of a pig in such a way that I had to close the book because I felt physically sick.

Check Out Author’s Other Books or Related Books? No.

Quality of Writing: 7/10

Pace: 8/10

Plot Development: 7/10

Characters: 7/10

Enjoyability: 8/10

Insightfulness: 9/10

Ease of Reading: 6/10

Recommend This Book? To Whom? I would recommend this book to anyone who would like a decent book to read. Aimed more at adults.

Notes and Opinions: This book deals well with the struggles of a Samoan family fitting in in New Zealand quite well for the most part. However, some parts I thought were too focused on sex (or ‘making love’ as it was called in the books, although I didn’t get the sense that the characters actually loved one another). I found the relationship between the male Samoan narrator and the papalagi (white) girlfriend too clinical – again, they seemed to be obsessed with sex, and trying to understand each other in ways that sometimes resulted in their own humiliation. At the beginning, the story jumped around a bit – the book isn’t told in chronological order – and I was a little confused, but as the story progressed, I began to see how it all fit and my confusion disappeared. Violence is talked about and described in a pretty casual way, similar to the relationship with the papalagi girl – he says he loves her but I, as the reader, don’t feel the supposed love he has for her. You have to read between the lines in some parts, especially when the papalagi girl gets pregnant and says she wants to have it, but the talks to the male protagonist’s mother and all of a sudden she doesn’t want it anymore. My favourite part of this book was the letters from the girl (she was in Australia at the time she chose to have the abortion, her boyfriend was in New Zealand) after she got rid of the baby. The way she described the need for something that isn’t there anymore, as if it should be but is lost, really made me feel her sorrow and regret over listening to his mother and not following her heart. The characters were flat at the beginning of the book, but at the end, the two main protagonists (papalagi girl and Samoan boy) were three dimensional, and much better at the end of the book.

Overall Rating: 4/5

14/10/2013 - BOOK REVIEW: Inside Your Head by L. J. Bennington

TITLE: Inside Your Head

AUTHOR: L. J. Bennington

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

GENRE: High Culture Fantasy

SYNOPSIS: When Ariana's secret admirer gives her a “magic charm” for Valentine's Day, saying it will grant her the one thing she wants most, she wishes to get into the mind of her dreamy actor crush, Bryant. She's known him for years but his hot/cold behavior has always left her confused and frustrated. All she wants is one date with him, and she thinks that if she knows his mind, his wants, and what attracts him to a girl, she could get that date.

She never expected the charm to work, but when it does, she finds that she not only knows what Bryant is thinking, she knows exactly what's on all her friends and family members' minds – every moment of every day. Their thoughts are surprisingly raunchy - especially in the case of her best friend, Parker.

Everyone she knows has a huge secret that she would rather not have known. Nobody in her life is as they seemed. She also now has to accept the fact that real magic exists, and using it can have dangerous consequences. Things couldn't get any worse! 

Now Ariana has to find a way to restore her life, at school and at home. She also has a choice to make. Will she exploit her new mind reading talent to snag the boy she's wanted since she was twelve years old...or will she take a chance on her secret admirer – someone she could never imagine would win her heart?

One thing is for sure, Ariana is set for an adventure that will teach her the true meaning of magic, friendship, honesty, family, and love.

How I discovered or acquired this book: I first read this book on Wattpad a few years ago and I loved it so when I found it published on Smashwords, I bought it.

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: The author references Wattpad a lot, although not by name. I understand why, but I don’t like it. It stopped me from being completely absorbed in the story.

Check out author’s other books? No.

Quality of Writing: 6/10

Pace: 5/10

Plot Development: 5/10

Characters: 4/10

Enjoyability: 6/10

Insightfulness: 1/10

Ease of Reading: 10/10

Recommend this book? Why/Why Not? I would NOT recommend this book. It seems to be aimed at young teenage girls – but should they really be influenced to think that having a boyfriend is the only thing a girl should aspire to?

Notes & Opinions: The basic plot is cool idea – girl gets given a magic rock which in turn gives her the ability to read everyone’s minds. Of course, the twist is that the main character, Ariana, didn’t want to read everyone’s minds, just that of her crush. The setting isn’t clearly defined – it is set in our world, but there’s no specific idea where. The book goes between the school, the mall, and Ariana and her friend’s houses. I found it hard to see where she was all the time. Ariana is an unlikeable character for almost the entire book. She is boy-mad, selfish and one dimensional, with no redeeming qualities. This book is told in first person because of the topic. It was a light, easy read, but not necessarily enjoyable due to the lack of substance to the characters. The plot doesn’t develop for most of the book, but at the end, a sudden revelation that she is part of some higher purpose is thrown in, leaving the ending open for a sequel. Unfortunately, no matter how unsubstantial the book was, I am curious about the second book, and whether it will continue on Ariana’s special quest. *Sequel has not been written*

Overall Rating: 2/5

Rebel With A Cause 5-Star Reviews

11/05/2013 - The Second Venefica

So, I know I've posted about this before, but please bear with me.

Now, I used to publish a story called 'The Second Venefica' on Wattpad, which I then took down because I hit writer's block. I'm past that now, so I'm re-posting it. So far, I have 16 chapters, and as of today, I'm working on the 17th.

The story is slow to start, but only so I can develop a sense of character and let you know what Lily's life was like before everything changes.

Whoops, I've said too much, but here's the blurb:

Lily's life changes when she discovers her magic. Strange things begin happening around her, and she is sent to live with her father on the Central Island of Paradise. While she is there, she discovers a prophecy made by an ancient Queen. Lily must train to defeat the ancient evil mentioned in the prophecy, but the ancient evil is more than she thinks. What happens when your past life interferes with your present?

I hope you take the time to read it, and please, give me feedback? (: I'll be eternally grateful if you do!

The Second Venefica
READ IT ON WATTPAD.COM

23/04/2013 - What's Eating You? By ButterflyDoll on Wattpad

What's Eating You?

In today's world, skinny is beautiful. Skinny people get it better, because they are beautiful. Where ever you look, you'll see a skinny woman, or a fit man. But what happens when you don't have that Ideal body? Do you work out? Diet? Starve yourself to the point where you can count your ribs? What will you do to achieve that "beautiful body?" Follow one girl on her journey struggling with a eating disorder. Feel the pain she does when she looks in the mirror and feels so wrong about her body. Learn how society warped her mind to believing there is something wrong with her. Learn the meaning of true beauty.

I love this story. It's so provocative, and raises many questions about the idea that skinny is perfect. What happens when someone takes their obsession with being skinny too far? What made them become obsessed? Was it the media? Bullying? A death?

ButterflyDoll explores the hot topic of eating disorders through the eyes of main character Jacky, and everyone around her who loves her. In chapter 1, right off the bat the voices are taunting Jacky, telling her things that are far from true. We see her reaction, feel her panic, and you can't help but feel sorry for Jacky.

In chapter 2 we get a brief glimpse into the head of Jacky's boyfriend, Tate. He knows Jacky has an eating disorder, but he doesn't know if he should tell anyone about it. We, as the reader, sympathise with Tate, and the position Jacky is putting him in.

What I love most about this story is that I can relate to it, as I'm sure many teenage girls can. I know at once in my life, I have fantasised about being skinny, and more than once I have experienced that self-doubt about my body. I have asked myself over and over again if I'm fat, if I could lose weight, but then reality sinks in. I simply don't have the motivation or obsession with becoming skinny. Reading Jacky's story is enlightening, showing me just what could have happened if I'd decided to diet, and ended up taking it too far.

With help, Jacky is eventually able to move on. Unfortunately, that means moving away, leaving everything she's ever known.

I won't say much more here for fear of giving too much away, but I definitely recommend giving this a go if you're up for it. It's thought-provoking, well written and I love how it deals with a topic most people shy away from. Overall, I give this book a Thumbs Up (:

Read it here: http://www.wattpad.com/story/1256757-what%27s-eating-you

20/04/2013 - Just A Quick One

Hey guys! So, because I'm really busy today, I thought I'd spare a few minutes to give you a quick update of what I'm working on.

1. Debating on whether to restructure the blog to make it easier to find what you're looking for. I think I'll do this, but it's gonna take a while so that means less updates. Probably wouldn't make much difference anyway.
2. I am entering a short story competition, so I'm working on that right now. The task is to write a complete short story between 1,500 and 4,000 words, and I'm struggling. I decided to task myself with writing a piece that's way out of my comfort zone. I've now decided I'm probably not going to send it in, so I might post it up here. If you want to check it out, visit http://www.oneteenstory.com/index.php?page=contest
3. I'm also working on getting my first novel ready for its relaunch. This sucks, and it's taking forever, but I don't see myself publishing a book this year so I'm relaunching it. Good thing too, because it was getting reviews saying that it made people uncomfortable.
4. I have work to do for my degree that I'm studying, so that's chewing up a lot of my time as well.
5. And last but not least, I'm working on my book series Venefica. For those of you who don't know, it's a 5 book series that will be spread out over a few years. Like, 5 years. Maybe even 7.

So that's all for today, I hope you haven't missed me too much! I will be posting more about the short story competition soon anyway, but I highly recommend you check out the link now, because the deadline is June 30, 2013.

Bye!!

15/04/2013 - Blog Poll, Please VOTE!

Hello!

So as you see (or should see) to the right, we have a poll going on. The reason? Well, my posts or updates have been really slow lately. I've run out of ideas. :-\ That and I don't have much time to organise my posts until the 19th of April (my holiday's start then).

So to help me decide what to post next, I created a poll. Anyone can vote on this blog, so please, take 30 seconds of your time and click a button. Seriously. DO IT!!!

Anyway, to help you with your choice, I have decided to post a little bit about each choice here.



#1 - Short Stories - These will be spontaneous, not really regular. They will also vary in topic. The good thing about this is that you can suggest things for me to write about.

#2 - Book Reviews/Recommendations - These will be once a week, whenever I finish a book. They will usually be about Wattpad stories that I get requests to read, so you might not be able to go and buy a copy if you want to read it.

#3 - Informative Articles - Articles from around the world about the biggest news topics, my take on them. They'll be informative, but opinionated, too. I can never seem to stick with detached, boring news article type speech.

#4 - Interviews With Other Authors - These will be sparse. I cannot guarantee when these will be posted, but if you would like to see them, I will try to get them. They won't be with huge authors like J.K Rowling though.

#5 - Guest Posts - Posts by other authors. Cannot guarantee these will happen but I will try my best to make it happen if you want them. Also, if you want to contribute something to the blog, please let me know.

#6 - A Blog-Only Story, 1 Chapter Per Week (for 6 months) - I will write a 24 chapter story for the blog only, posting one chapter a week for 6 months. These will be short chapters, but hopefully enjoyable. This story, although yet to be confirmed, will be about a girl who wakes up in hospital and finds out that she has full use of her brain and now has special powers. I've been wanting to write this story for a while, but I can never find the motivation to finish it as I have no plans to get it published.

#7 - Poems - I hate poetry, but I will try to write a poem a week. No guarantee on them being any good though.



Anyway, now you know what the choices are. So look to the right and VOTE!!