Monthly Wanderings: June 2020

This month has been better than the last ones. It was good to see family and friends after a long time and get progress in editing.

Book Review and Writing Lessons: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Ambition will fuel him.

Competition will drive him.

But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Series: The Hunger Games (0)
Genre: YA Science-Fiction
Publisher: Scholastic Press (May 19, 2020)
Page Count: 528 pages

I could hardly put this book down! So many things about Snow and the Hunger Games world make sense now! It was so cool to read about the history of Panem. Honestly, Katniss has it easy compared to the 10th Hunger Games. 

Writing Lessons from Video Games: Final Fantasy VII Remake

I've been anticipating this game since last year when I started getting interested in the original Final Fantasy VII after playing Kingdom Hearts since the franchise features some of the beloved characters. I decided to wait for the remake and after hearing good things about the game I snagged it on release day! This is a long game (and Animal Crossing is distracting), but I'm so glad I played it and I can't wait until the next part releases! 

Final Fantasy VII Remake is about an ex-SOLDIER named Cloud Strife. He takes up a mercenary gig with a group of eco-terrorists who have the goal to destroy the mako reactors powering the city to save the planet. When their mission fails horribly, things escalate and Cloud becomes more involved than he'd anticipated when he stumbles upon a mysterious florist and hooded ghosts. 

Warning: Spoilers in points four and five--especially five.

Book Review and Writing Lessons: Gone by Michael Grant

In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young. There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: on your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else. . . .

Series: Gone (Book 1)
Genre: YA Science-Fiction
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books; Reprint edition (April 8, 2014)
Page Count: 576 pages

During this time of weird, I’ve been reading the Gone series with my lovely friend Cassia. This book originally came out in the mid-2000s so it’s a very nostalgic time for me and somehow this book slipped through my reading list. It’s been a blast reading this aloud with my good friend and of course doing all the voices. It reminds me of simpler times and I need that right now. 

Monthly Wanderings: May 2020

May has been a much brighter month than the last two. Things are feeling almost normal here in Georgia and hopefully, by Fall we'll be past this thing. 

Book Review and Writing Lessons: Firstborn by Tosca Lee

Face-to-face with her past, Audra Ellison now knows the secret she gave up everything—including her memory—to protect. A secret made vulnerable by her rediscovery, and so powerful neither the Historian nor the traitor Prince Nikola will ever let her live to keep it.

With Luka in the Historian’s custody and the clock ticking down on his life, Audra only has one impossible chance: find and kill the Historian and end the centuries-old war between the Progeny and Scions at last—all while running from the law and struggling to control her growing powers.

With the help of a heretic monk and her Progeny friends Claudia, Piotrek, and Jester, Audra will risk all she holds dear in a final bid to save them all and put her powers to the ultimate test. Love, action, and stunning revelation reign in this thrilling conclusion to The Progeny.

Series: Descents of the House of Bathory (Book 2)
Genre: Adult Thriller
Publisher: Howard Books; Reprint edition (May 2, 2017)
Page Count: 337 pages

I'm gonna be honest, it was a little hard reading this book lately. Reading characters being able to do all the things I want to do like go to restaurants, festivals, and travel was kinda tough with this day in age, but I pushed through it and ended up enjoying it. Ironically, it feels easier to relate to characters who are in more fantastical circumstances right now. 

Also warning this review has a lot of spoilers about the first book just cause of secrets revealed. Read at your own risk.