Book Reviews

My name is Baize (only onlline!) and I am a future writer in the making. I'm 21, and prefer the internet over real life some days. I'll be posting book reviews and news on the next book in a series. I have an instagram for this blog where I post books I'm reading and news about reviews: booksaremylife17. Hit me up there for anything: questions about the books I've read or am reading, book recommendations, etc.

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

November

Woo, hey, guys! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted here, right? I’m really sorry about that! I’ve been U B E R busy with school, and I’ve been a bit stressed out and I’ve got so much on my plate right now. I’m planning for a trip in May of next year, trying to find a job, and balance school around all of that! So sorry if the posts are extremely sporadic! I go on vacation for Christmas in about two weeks? I’m currently on vacation for Thanksgiving, but I’ll try and draft up a bunch of posts during December to post once a week, each week.

Much Love

-W.W.O.B

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

Book: The Suffering Author: Rin Chupeco Information: Seventeen-year-old Tark knows what it is to be powerless. But Okiku changed that. A restless spirit who ended life as a victim and started death as an avenger, she’s groomed Tark to destroy the wicked. But when darkness pulls them deep into Aokigahara, known as Japan’s suicide forest, Okiku’s justice becomes blurred, and Tark is the one who will pay the price…

Series: Yes ISBN: 1492629847 ISBN-13: 9781492629849 Published: September 8th, 2015 Publisher: Sourcebooks Age Range: teens Cover: Paperback Pages: 313 POV: First Triggers: None Awards: None Rate: 5

So, I accidentally read The Suffering before The Girl In The Well! Whoops. Anyway, I loved, loved Tark to death. And Okiku! She’s such a badass, although she herself would probably not understand the meaning of “badass”. Despite everything she’s been through in the last 300 years since her death, she’s still incredibly kind. And I’ve always been a fan of Japanese culture, and that includes the legends and myths they have! I’ve been interested in spirits and haunted places since I had a bunch of experiences as a kid. Mostly, I feel like I’m being watched now, but nothing like when I was younger. And I’ve never dabbled with a Ouija board, because I know better. I’m not inclined to opening myself up to anything that could come through. But back to the book! So I’ve always been interested in Aokigahara, and the book took such a take on the story behind the Sea of Trees. I have always wanted to visit it, if it was only once! It’d so be worth it. Okay, my favorite character of all is Okiku and Kagura! Just, the both of them are so protective of Tark, and are still badasses, defeating the trope that you can’t care about someone and be a badass at the same time. The ending almost made me cry. Just seeing Tark heartbroken nearly broke me (I’m not saying anymore than that!), and it takes a lot to break me.

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

Book: Thirteen Reasons Why Author: Jay Asher Information: You can’t stop the future.  You can’t rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play. Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.  Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever. Series: no ISBN: 1595147888 ISBN-13: 9781595147882 Published: 10/18/2007 (republished 12/27/2016) Publisher: Razorbill Age Range: teens Cover: Hard; soft Pages: 352 POV: First person Triggers: suicide, rape, suicidal tendencies Awards: Georgia Peach Book Award Nominee for Honor book (2009), California Book Award for Young Adult (Silver) [2007], South Carolina Book Award for Young Adult Book (2010), Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis Nominee for Preis der Jugendjury (2010), Lincoln Award (2013), Missouri Gateway Readers Award (2010), and Oklahoma Sequoyah Award for High School (2010) Rate: 4

I bought Thirteen Reasons Why back in December, before all the sexual harassment allegations against Jay Asher came to light. But I’m not here to talk about that, or if I’m siding with him, which I’m not, or if I think what he is alleged to have done is true, which I don’t know. And if anything, I’m not a judge or jury. I’m not the person who outed him. I can’t punish him for his crimes. So, back to Thirteen Reasons Why… Hannah Baker, man, has such a way with words. She spoke her feelings, even though those words would be her last. I have never been able to speak my feelings except in writing. Do I think Jay Asher glamorized suicide? Honestly, no. In the edition I own, Jay has mention that he had a family member attempt to end her own life but lived. This book shows the things that aren’t seen after a loved one kills themselves: the pain, the hurt, the guilt, the longing for one more day, the wonder, the wishing that they’d seen the signs, etc. The signs were there, but it’s so hard to know if the signs are correct. Hannah, god… As you read, you feel Hannah go from thoughtful to angry to just plain defeated. It’s an eye-opening moment, listening to someone become so defeated in a span of several tapes, even though she was feeling defeated long before those tapes were made. I’ve written one suicide note in my time, which I have as a forever constant reminder of my darkest days in my life. I have never thought about how that note would’ve sounded to my loved ones. To read my final words and then cry, screaming why. What had been so bad about my life that I’d ended it? Listening to those tapes, Clay, beautiful, heart-broken, wrecked Clay had to listen to Hannah speak of the moments that brought her to that night. And so many people hurt her, ruined her before she had a chance to fly. All based on rumors, rumors so full of lies. Oh, the hurt. When I got to the end, I’d felt like my heart had shattered and my stomach collapsed on itself. Hannah’s wings were ripped from her back before she could fly, and she fell to Earth like Icarus, broken beyond any repair. She could’ve been saved, but no one ever had the chance to.

I’ve currently have read 6 books. I have 144 books to read before 1/1/19!

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

NEWS

Hey, guys! I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted here. And I know I haven’t done any reviews. Usually I stick with single books that don’t have a sequel and I’m currently reading a series, so.... Anyway! I go on break on Monday, and hopefully if I get through this series (I started school last month, so.... I’ve been extremely busy). But I promise to try!

[tariqah]

I don’t like how small indigenous communities and them hunting animals is considered something that causes animals a great amount of harm and leads to extinction, while deforestation, industrial pollution, and the use of animal pelts/furs/body parts as status symbols for the rich has no bearing on their extinction -_______- good to know

[gayhex]

White environmentalist who blame indigenous ppl for hunting are evil and I will personally fight them

[bees-unlimited]

no one??? does that tho?????

[tariqah]

A lot of people do that, that the whole Ellen The Generous passing petitions to ban seal hunting even though it’s one of the only food sources for indigenous communities in the winter 👨‍💻

[nahyuwuta]

they’re trying to ban seal clubbing, not seal hunting

i may just be ignorant but I’ve never seen an article attempting to stop the humane killing of seals

[tariqah]

You actually have no idea what I’m talking about do you

[mockiato-deactivated20200315]

Holding indigenous people to a higher standard irt animal welfare is absolutely a huge issue. Hunting for survival is seen as not equal to but WORSE than going to the store and buying a pack of steaks. Never mind that the first, objectively, requires a much lower level of suffering and cruelty.

A small part of it is how disconnected people are from where their food comes from and how it gets on the shelf, and a small part of the problem is that people extend affection toward certain animals and not other (eg., the outrage over seal hunting; the outrage over eating dogs). While the second is already clear western cultural supremacy to anyone who bothers to think for two seconds, the cultural supremacy goes even further than that. Hunting is seen as outdated and ‘savage’ and dirty, having been replaced by the clean (lol) sophisticated practice of factory farming.

It absolutely isn’t a matter of the western animal agricultural model being superior in any way… just a matter of seeing Indigenous people as less human.

[thecooler]

Anti seal hunting movents are 100% racialized and biased against Indigenous communities for the sake of profit. It isn’t even just a matter of allowing hunting for meat, because exemptions actually DO allow that for certain Canadian Indigenous communities. What is most relevant is that is a blatant way of stripping these Indigenous communities of one of the few ways they can engage in Capitalism.

Movents against seal hunting have destroyed these groups access to profit. Capitalism was violently enforced on them, and they were then robbed of one of the few ways they can thrive on it! And the best part? One of the founders of the movement fucking admitted that seals were chosen not because they’re endangered like say, hundreds of fish, amphibians, ect, but because they’re cute. They’re marketable. They naturally have sad faces

If you are against seal hunting it is 100% a farce. Stop believing what you hear from corrupt, capitalist Animal rights groups

I recommend the documentary “Angry Inuk”. It is available free for all Canadians iirc, made my actual Canadian Indigenous people. Listen to our voices, I beg of you.

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

Alright, my view on this: I’m all for protecting endangered species. Wanna put protections on an animal that’s almost extinct? Go to town.

But this? This shit ain’t cool. For the Indigenous, this is their livelihood. It’s their only source of profit.

[depressionresource]

If you struggle with anxiety, overwhelm, or just plain feeling like a failure, I have a mantra for you that’s been really helping me out lately:

Just show up.

I used to skip class because the whole thing was so overwhelming: I had to get dressed in something clean even though I never had the energy to do laundry, walk to school, sit in class for up to three hours, plus pay attention, take notes, and participate in discussion. In reality, I was being a perfectionist, and life would have been a lot easier for me if I had Just Shown Up. By staying home because of my depression and anxiety, I wasn’t giving myself the chance to do any of that. I was such a perfectionist that being a “bad” or average student was unthinkable, so I stopped being a student at all.

If you’re having trouble getting something done, Just Show Up. You don’t have to be employee of the month. You don’t have to be valedictorian. Just Show Up.

[cleromancy]

ime it also helps to be like “you dont have to stay the whole time, you just have to go” bc most of the time once youre there it’s fine. a lot of things are like that, like… you dont have to finish the dishes, just start them. a lot of the time once you start a task it’s easier to finish than to stop, especially if you can trick yourself like “after five more minutes if i still feel bad i’ll go home” or “after washing two more dishes i can stop for today”

even if you don’t finish the task, you started it, and by completing part of it you lessened your future workload and ALSO taught your brain that things may not be as daunting as they seem

[robotplant]

This is wisdom! Peace!

[athenadark]

you know what years of therapy taught me - Redefine success

so what if no one else gets how the things you define as successes are victories because you have to

so you got to work - success

you used public transport - success

you went to the supermarket instead of ordering online and didn’t just buy things you dind’t want because you got scared - MASSIVE success

Redefine success, your body moved the goal posts, there is no shame in acknwoledging that

[fierceawakening]

This may not help other people the way it helps me, so take it or leave it as needed, but: A lot of the time, Big Epic Awesome Things are built up out of little tiny just showing up, too.

[odinsblog]

Now that’s how you ally. That’s putting it on the line and showing solidarity. That’s how you use your white privilege for good.

”It’s nice to go out and march, we can do that. It’s nice to wear black at the Golden Globes, but what are you doing behind closed doors?” - Jada Pinkett Smith

It’s easily one of the cleanest examples of intersectional feminism I’ve seen in a minute. It’s the polar opposite of white feminism, where white women are concerned primarily with the wellbeing and advancement of other white women. If more white men and women stood up and demanded basic fairness instead of just talking about it—and not just in Hollywood—we might really begin to impact racism and close the pay gap that always gets inflicted upon black people in most careers.

[bloodnstrlight]

reputation → tracks

[busisi-deactivated20140127]

Do not use the threat of suicide to get notes.

Do not threaten to kill yourself to get notes or likes or shares or whatever.

suicide is a serious thing

someone who is really contemplating will not be helped by knowing people clicked like or reblog

notes does not fix mental health problems

it’s basically blackmailing

it’s a pretty lousy move bc you’re scaring and bothering people and freaking them out just for popularity

it’s annoying

what should you do about suicide then?

not this

no

go get help

call a hotline

or 911

talk to someone

get off tumblr and do something about it for real

[strawberry-slime-deactivated201]

tumblr itself even has a list of services that can help you so if you really are contemplating suicide it’s best to direct yourself there rather than ask for notes

[nyxi-styx]

Reblog if you still take the PMA movement seriously and it still means a lot to you.

[therealjacksepticeye]

Always ;)

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

PMA! PMA! PMA!

[teratorequests]

PSA on Wendigos

Like, this seems to be what the popular idea of wendigos most resembles

deer skull, grey/black human body. Except, that’s not a wendigo

 That’s the Jersey Devil.

As interpreted by A Wolf Among Us. The Jersey Devil is an urban legend, a cryptid, so open to whatever interpretation you like.

A wendigo is not.

Wendigos weren’t just made up for entertainment. They’re a longstanding part of Algonquin spirituality, and while interpretation varies slightly between Algonquin tribes, it’s consistently NOT deerheaded forest creatures.

A wendigo is a spirit of cold and hunger, most usually described as a giant, emaciated humanoid. Some legends say wendigos grow in proportion to everything they eat so that they’re never full, leading some to become titanic in size. As a spirit it can possess people during deep winter when food is scarce, driving them to cannibalism/turning them into a wendigo. There’s an actual psychological condition exclusive to people who grew up in Algonquin culture, particularly those who’ve experienced extreme hunger, where they come to believe they’ve been possessed by wendigos and dwell obsessively on thoughts of cannibalism, even when other food is plentiful. 

Some of my favorite, closer to accurate interpretations of Wendigo:

Guy Davis’s wendigo for BPRD manages to stay mostly humanoid while still being nicely monstery and keeping a wintery vibe. It’s a personal favorite.

(Hellboy is so good you guys)

This one by Gavin Gray Valentine (ggvart.com) also captures the emaciated, cold feeling- with bonus antlers for the people who can’t seem to resist those. This one really conveys the wendigo’s nature as a living symbol of the kind of desperate hunger that can turn us all into monsters for the sake of survival.

Here’s a depiction by Norval Morrisseau, an Anishinaab/Ojibwe artist, that shows the size wendigos often reach in traditional legends, dwarfing the tents below.

Isn’t that more interesting than a deer-skull-headed guy with no meaning behind it?

Have your deer headed guys! I like the look too. But call them Jersey Devils, or forest spirits, or whatever Elias from Magnus Bride is, and let the Wendigo be what it is.

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

Until Dawn did this with the Wendigos. I thought it was a pretty cool concept for the game, and here’s more information about them.

[brimay]

i think tumblr’s idea of boys is utterly misguided at times. 

boys are just as deserving of love as girls are. a woman fighting to break down a man’s walls is not “a waste of time”, a woman being concerned of a man’s mental health/feelings is not wrong. i think tumblr constantly spreads the idea that men are not worth women’s time and that their emotions are somehow less valid than women’s, and it’s just not true. at least not in all cases. 

good young men who are struggling with mental illness need to know that they deserve happiness and that their feelings matter. if we constantly dismiss men’s emotions and act like they’re not worth our time, we’re just encouraging ideas of toxic masculinity.

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

This needs to be spread about.

[fairycosmos]

i hate applying for jobs because the employers are always like: do you enjoy working in a stressful environment???? do you strive for unobtainable standards of perfection???? are you good at dealing with people that make you feel extremely uncomfortable??? do you mind losing real hours of your life in order to make minimum wage?? are you a fan of capitalism??? do you love selling your soul just so you can afford to live???

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

Given that I’m currently on the hunt for a job, and applying everywhere, this speaks to me on an emotional level rn.

[mulanxiaojie]

Modern Mulan sketches by Elena

[canariesarchive-blog-deactivate]

HELLO I JUST FOUND THE BEST FUCKING WEBSITE FOR WORKING ON CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING YEET FUCKERS SEE YOU IN 8 YEARS

[canariesarchive-blog-deactivate]

If you have been struggling with world building and finding a way to keep track of everything PLEASE GOD LOOK AT NOTEBOOK.AI

Notebook.ai has different categories for different things:

And then once you make something each category has different questions for you to answer about your world:

This website is literally a blessing

[mechecolomar-archive]

The Hound Pits

[bookreviewsoftheweek]

DISHONORED

[shirewalker]

Photographs Tucked Away In My Heart

Summary: For TLC 2018 Ship weeks!! This is Cresswell’s week and today the theme is “photograph”.

In which Cress is fond of polaroids and Thorne lives to surprise her <3

Pairing: Cress/Thorne

One shot

Rating: Teen

also on AO3

All her life, Cress had never connected the word “surprise” with good things. Until she met Cinder. Until she met Thorne. Until the Rampion and its crew became her new family. And no one else worked harder than Thorne when it came to change her mind about surprises.

-

She could still remember as clear as day the moment she found Thorne sitting among a pile of old Polaroid cameras, a crate with “Fragile. Rare Collection” written on one side. Its cover laid somewhere to the side, dozens of “returned” stamps all over it. According to the logs that she found much later, this crate belonged to a collection that had long since been forgotten in the mail and wound up among the many crates the Rampion’s captain had ‘borrowed’.

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