Rapture

BEWARE: SPOILERS! 


If I have one word to describe the final book in Lauren Kate's Fallen series, it would be...bittersweet. I felt sad at the end of the book, even though it was supposed to be a happy ending. I won't reveal too much about the book, though. I'll probably have to reread the book myself, as I flew through it in one day just to find out what happens to our favorite lovebirds, Daniel Grigori and Lucinda Price. 


This novel takes place immediately after the events of Passion, so there's not much of a break or catch up. I'd suggest re-reading Passion before reading this book. It is revealed that Lucifer, AKA the evil one, plans to rewrite history to his own liking. We don't understand why he would want to do this, but the fact is Luce and Daniel and all the other Fallen Angels have only 9 days (the angels fell for 9 days) to stop Lucifer from erasing the several thousand years that have passed since The Fall and therefore, if Lucifer succeeds, all of Luce's and Daniel's history together will be gone. The curse would begin all over again. 


This book's events circle around the mission to find three crucial objects that lead to locating the site of the first Fall, which was forgotten by the angels. The angels will have to go there to intercept and stop Lucifer from initiating the Fall a second time. Along the way, Luce and Daniel encounter the Scale, sort of like Heaven's policemen (or high school principals, according to Daniel), the Elders (and Miss Sophia) and yes, Lucifer and God (The Throne) themselves.  


Yes, there are deaths in this book, and some angels and other beings alike perish (I won't give names.) 


Many shocks are thrust upon us in this book, such as the history of Luce and Daniel's love, and Lucinda's true nature. One of the biggest shocks arrives at the end of the novel, and it involves Lucifer and Lucinda. Can you guess? 


The end was kind of sad, in my opinion. No, Luce and Daniel don't die - but let's just say they're no longer the beings they used to be. I felt bad, for Luce and for Daniel - it was romantic, to see them fall in love over and over again. It would've been better if they could both be immortal and in love forever. 


The epilogue was funny, with everyone watching Luce and Daniel as if they were a reality show. Hey, you gotta entertain yourself somehow for eternity, huh? 


Like many of us, I would like to see a spin-off with Cam as the main character. He was an interesting character - not to mention HOT. I don't remember ever reading about the story of Cam's long lost love, or the story of Arriane's scars, unless I was reading so fast that I missed it completely. Somehow I doubt it, but was Luce Cam's love, the girl that broke his heart and caused him to side with Lucifer? I know Luce cares about Cam in her own way, and in turn Cam cares about Luce, but I don't think he loved her in that way. 


Anyway, this book did have a happy ending, in many ways. It just didn't feel like the right ending for them, you know? I felt that they deserved much better than that, for all they sacrificed and suffered because of the curse. And I felt bad for Callie - I mean what will happen to her? Does she completely forget about Luce or does everything remain the same, but always wondering what happened to her best friend? 


I don't have another book to read for the summer in mind until the end of July, when Sara Shepard's Hide and Seek comes out. I can't wait! Well, there's my Spanish homework assignment - read Madame Bovary and write a summary for EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER. What's the point of that? I'll probably procrastinate for as long as possible on it, even though I REALLY shouldn't. 


As they say in Spain, ¡Hasta luego! 

UPDATE: I reread Passion and let's just erase that part about Luce being Cam's love. The woman who broke Cam's heart was Lilith, not Luce. After Lilith left him, he argued with Daniel and joined Lucifer.

Overseas

As of tomorrow evening, I will not be in the United States for the next two and half months or so. It's kind of exciting, don't you think? Today's my last day to enjoy a real burger and things like Dr. Pepper and movies/TV in English - coincidentally, I went to go see Snow White & the Huntsman yesterday - although I liked the movie, I remember thinking when Snow White cheated her imminent death by the hands (or magic, whatever you want to think) of Queen Ravenna by escaping the castle, there just happened to be a beautiful white horse waiting to be ridden on - I mean, let's be realistic - what are the odds of that happening in real life? Slim to none. 


I spent some quality time with my mother, of course, who won't be going with me to Europe. Although she's super cranky these days, with my trip and everything else going on. But it doesn't matter. While I understand that she can't go with us to Spain, I'll miss her. 


School is over, and I'm ecstatic to say that I got all As this semester, as was my goal. Even in chemistry, which was almost hell this year, thanks to my nonexistent teacher, who didn't teach us anything all year. 


Nevertheless, I still have homework, due to IB. I have to read a book in Spanish and write chapter summaries for EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER. What is the point of this, I ask? Maybe I'll pay someone in Spain to do my homework for me...hmm....


One thing that bothers me is the fact that I can't buy books on my Nook in Spain. I've got tons of books I want to read this summer - that's so stupid, that I can't purchase books from over there. Thankfully, I can buy songs on the United States iTunes store from Europe :) 


I'll also have the opportunity to go to France to my cousin's wedding - which I will definitely take, of course - I love France! I love all of Europe in general - I want to live there one day. 


I hope all of you have a fantastic summer and I'll try to post again when I can! 

Summer Vacation

Happy Memorial Day to all our courageous men and women in the armed forces! 


Summer is just around the corner, and I couldn't be more excited! When you add a crappy year social-wise to academic torture, it's a no-brainer that someone would be thrilled to have it be finally over (for three months, anyway). Besides school ending, I will be off to Europe in a week! Therefore, I'm surprised I even got this time to be blogging - speaking of which, I should be doing something more productive - eh, I'll do useful things later. Finals have been eating my brains out, so I haven't had time to pack yet or go to the mall for some clothes. Thank God I was able to exempt two finals, otherwise I'd be dead. Literally. But still, I still have one more project to complete , and two to present and two exams - all this week. I have my AP Spanish final (which I sort of regret not exempting) and the SAT Subject Test for U.S. history this week that I have not studied for AT ALL. Uh-oh is right. That's why I'm having a little study group with my friend tomorrow - AFTER I've helped her with her project and studied some for Spanish. That's tomorrow, coupled with rushing to the Apple Store and trying to make it to my friend's graduation ceremony. 

Yes, as you can see, I cannot wait for Thursday. 


Spain. It's my native country - yes, I was born here, but neither of my parents were born here and I identify and get along better with people from over there. It's been almost 5 years since I last visited, and I'm a little nervous to be going back again. Everything's going to be different - all my friends were older than me, MUCH older. I was 12 while most of them were 16 or 17 at the time. They'll be working now or going to college - who am I going to hang out with all day? They might be different, personality wise, too. That's what I'm most afraid of that - how much they may have changed. And, believe it or not, school ends at the end of June in Spain - therefore, I will be VERY bored in my dad's small little town with no one to hang out with for hours because they're all at school. I'm thankful that I may be going to France for a couple of days for my cousin's wedding. 


For all of you reading this, I have one question for you to answer - what are your summer plans? 


Even if nobody replies, I hope all of you have a amazingly wonderful summer! :) 

It's Finally Over!

I have never been so glad after a week of school as I am right now. AP testing is over! Although I didn't have the strength to deactivate my Facebook after all, I was surprised to find out that FB didn't distract me as much as I had thought it would when I began to study. According to College Board, I'm not allow to talk about any of the exams, but I just thought I'd let you all know that it wasn't as horrible as I thought it'd be. 

The exception to this was the Spanish AP exam. As my teacher did not prepare our class enough for the oral part of the exam, not surprisingly, that was the most difficult part for me and several of my peers who took the exam. Needless to say the entire test was a nightmare. I expect a 3 on this exam, as the three other parts weren't so difficult for me (the reading part being the easiest for me). 

On Thursday, I had an end-of-course field test in chemistry that I had to take for the district, and let me just inform you all that I HATE chemistry. I think I wouldn't hate it if I had a different teacher, but because my teacher in chemistry doesn't teach my class ANYTHING (basically, it's an independent study class - you learn on your own or you fail) and I guessed on about 25% of the test because we 1) didn't learn the material or 2) it came from the first semester and I had forgotten about the concept. Thankfully, the scores don't really count for anything besides a reflection of the school (and the teacher) and honestly, I'd be glad to see those scores reflect on my teacher (maybe my principal will FINALLY see that it is the teacher's fault that nobody learns, not the students' fault).

The only test that I kind of enjoyed was the AP US History test, which I took today. I am so glad that my practice tests were much more difficult than the real thing. Although there were some questions that I was iffy about, it all went pretty well. I felt strongest in the writing portion. I'm not allowed to talk about the content of the test (but it should be on College Board in about two days if you guys are really curious) but I'm definitely expecting a 4, HOPEFULLY a 5. I'd throw a party if I got a 5. 

Only 3 more weeks until school is over! Counting down the days! :) 

AP Exam Crisis

It's past midnight. I should be asleep, or doing something entertaining on a Saturday night. But alas, I have just set down my handy-dandy Princeton Review AP U.S. History study book-thing and decided to call it a night on the APUSH studying. It's the first AP exam I've ever taken (that and the AP Spanish Language exam I will also be taking this year as well) and, as you can probably tell, I am stressed out. By nature, I am a tense, constantly stressed-out person, and this is by no means an exception. Not only do I have to focus on course studies, but I still have to find time within now and two weeks to properly study (I know, I should have started sooner - but don't criticize me so soon, as I have been faithfully attending my AP teachers' AP exam tutorials). My study-buddies and I already had an AP exam study session at B&N (didn't turn out so well, coincidentally - we happened to be sitting by the humor section and the boys were obsessing over the zombie apocalypse book, and the coffee + cookie run we made to Starbucks in the bookstore didn't help, either. Although, in my defense, I spent my two hours going over AP Spanish reading comprehension practices and did half of an APUSH multiple-choice test). Next time, we'll just stick to the good-old school library. Also, in my defense, I have started studying sooner than most people who are taking the AP exams. 
    
It certainly doesn't help that my AP Spanish teacher tends not to give us any practice whatsoever on the oral parts of the AP exam. Sure, we've done listening exercises, reading comprehensions, and long & short essays, but we haven't done any Spanish speaking practice (except once, in January.) This, is a problem. While, luckily, I will not be taking my exam with the rest of the sophomore AP Spanish class, the hardest part of all for me is the speaking. Listening is difficult too, as the narrator usually speaks incredibly fast. Speaking-wise, my grammar isn't that exceptional, and it's kind of a big deal considering I don't have much time to come up with a decent essay to deliver in two minutes-time. I am somewhat more confident for the Spanish exam than the APUSH one. The DBQ and FRQs are going to KILL me. It kills me that I don't know what exactly to be prepared for. There's so much information! It's overwhelming! 


I am lucky that I have better information-retaining skills than most people. My class hasn't done entirely too many DBQs and FRQs, which not-so-secretly stresses me out. It would be nice if we had more DBQ/FRQ exercises in class, but my APUSH teacher is frantically trying to get all the information properly taught to us. 


I don't know how my friend Olivia can juggle her AP exam studying (she's taking AP Stats + AP Spanish and APUSH) and volunteer as crazily as she does. I'd die! I volunteer a lot, as I'm in the Spanish Honor Society and the National Honor Society and the Rotary Interact Club at my school, but she takes the volunteering to a whole new level. I mean, when is she going to have enough time to REALLY study? 


Anyway, I'm going to desperately try not to scream my head off due to frustration and stress. I am making a vow to myself that I will stay off Blogger until AP exams are over. I'll let you all know after May 11 how everything went. 


Coincidentally, I will deactivate my Facebook account until AP exams are over. Starting tomorrow.  God, give me the strength to stay off Facebook for two whole weeks. Trust me, I need all the strength and patience in the history of, well, my whole life up until this point. 


Wish me luck you guys!!!

                 

Girlfriend Material

Once again, long time no post! As usual, I've been crazy busy, what with loads of homework and AP exams coming up and scrambling to get all of my hours for NHS done and turned in. I can't believe I did 56 hours of volunteer service this year. We only had to do 15. I certainly overworked myself this year. :) 


I haven't gotten much reading done (at least, for fun) - my class did finish To Kill A Mockingbird...although it wasn't my favorite book in the world, I did enjoy reading it (more than reading Ender's Game, at least - science fiction is so not my genre, I discovered). My class watched the film and it was good, although it didn't compare to the novel, in my opinion. It was certainly a good adaptation of it, though. Peck made a wonderful Atticus Finch. 

I still haven't read The Help (shame on me) but I definitely plan to read it this summer, when I go to Spain, as I will probably not have much to do in the semi-abandoned town I visit there. I also plan on looking at scholarships for college there. My dad says I should teach English to the kids there...hah, PLEASE! I don't know how to teach anything. I'm a very impatient person. 

SPOILERS AHEAD! 


ANYWAY...away from the blah blah blah about my dull, typical high-school life (I am SO ready to be done with high school, even though I'm only finishing the 10th grade, unfortunately). I did get some time today, after state testing, to read Girlfriend Material by Melissa Kantor. It's about this girl, Kate Draper, who has to ditch all of her "marvelous" summer plans -  she had been taking a summer writing class and was planning on playing tennis with her best friend, Laura - to go to Cape Cod for the summer with her mom, who is only trying to get Kate's distant father's attention. Kate and her mother were bunking in at Kate's mom's college best friends' - Tina & Henry - house for the summer. Initially, Kate is thrilled to be seeing Tina & Henry's daughter, Sarah, a childhood idol and friend, again, but gets a cold and rather unfriendly welcome from Sarah once she arrives, discovering that Sarah wants absolutely nothing to do with her. Out of her comfort zone, (even her best friend, Laura, has found something to do in her absence - surprise! She has her first real boyfriend) Kate has no choice but to spend her time either in the library or at the country club, where she teaches tennis to a 8th grade brat, Natasha (who obviously doesn't even like tennis), and where she meets Sarah's friends - Jenna, Lawrence and Adam. Slowly, but surely, the four of them start becoming friends,  Sarah included, and she becomes friends with Adam more so than with anybody else, if you know what I mean. Adam is irresistible - funny, smart AND attractive! - and he seems to be interested in Kate, too. As the two of them hang out more, the pull between them grows stronger, until neither can hold back any longer. After kissing on the Fourth of July, Adam and Kate hang out a bit more, until Adam has to go on a fishing trip with Lawrence. While he's on the fishing trip, Kate discovers something shocking - Adam already has a girlfriend, Molly. Unbeknownst to her, Adam and Molly are on a "break" for just the summer, which Adam explains to her when he comes back, and that he believed she wasn't interested in any kind of serious relationship, either. However, even though Kate tries to shake it off like it doesn't matter to her that she's just a summer fling, it does bother her, and at last, she tells Adam that she doesn't want to "hang out" anymore. Eventually, she realizes that she does miss him, and goes to tell him how much she likes him, but blurts out her feelings to Adam's twin brother, David! How embarrassing, right? David informs her that Adam had left to New Hampshire, where Molly is, and she comes to the sickening conclusion that Adam had gone to N.H. to get back with Molly after all. NOT THE CASE. Adam comes back and tells her that he had only gone to N.H. to break up with Molly, realizing how much he liked Kate and wanted to be with her. 


AWW - so cute, I know. And although I sympathized with Kate, knowing what it's like to be stuck with someone who obviously doesn't like you and being a fish out of water with someone else's friends, I don't understand how Kate could be so nonchalant about being just a fling, even if was just to Adam's face. I mean, her feelings change so much. When she's with Adam, she's all like "oh, who cares if it's just a fling? I'll probably never even see him again" and then when she's alone, she's like "but I don't want to be just a fling, I want to be dancing in the happily-ever-after with him". It's like she doesn't know what she wants. I mean, sure, I can cut her some slack as it's her first boyfriend, but I've never had a boyfriend either and I know I wouldn't be okay with being someone's fling. 


All in all, I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. 


I'll post again when I read a new book or something - if you've been keeping up with my posts, you'll know I've been hooked on a Fanfiction Naruto story by AngeLHearteD. It's fantastic, and I get so frustrated that she's been so busy with her life that she hasn't uploaded any new chapters! Fortunately, she keeps me hooked with her amazing characters and her sneak-peeks, but I do understand how busy she must be. It's just like reading a good book! You can't get done with it fast enough! 

Check it out. Seriously, I'm not kidding. It's amazing. And Sasuke makes me drool because he's hot, even if he IS a jerk. I'm NOT giving any spoilers to her story, so you'll just have to read it for yourself. And if you do read, please leave her a review! She DOES appreciate them and actually DOES go through them!


Here's the link: 
Quietus by AngeLHearteD


She also has a Deviantart group for her story, too, in case you guys like her story a lot. You'd be surprised how many drawings and pictures she gets for her story. It's incredible. She's a very talented writer and people do see that, as they draw pictures for her story :) I think the link to her group on Deviantart is on her Fanfiction page. 


Later, gators! :) 

Life and the Hunger Games

I haven't gotten on here in some time, I know, but I've just been so busy with school and stuff. Things are hectic right now with AP exams coming up and finals and state exams and the like. Scrambling to get all my volunteer hours for the various clubs I'm involved in, things like that.


But tomorrow's a holiday, and for the first time EVER, I HAVE NO HOMEWORK THIS WEEKEND!!! 
I am beyond thrilled, as you can see by the shouty, ecstatic Caps Lock. 


I have not read any new books, but I did go see the Hunger Games the weekend it came out. I read the book the summer before freshman year, so before any movie announcements were made. The books didn't really get popular until the movie was announced, which disappoints me somehow, because HG is a really good series, much more so than the Twilight Saga. 


All in all, I have to say that the movie did the book justice. Of course, it's not on the same place on the scale as HP, but close. Much higher on the scale than Twilight and its sequels. 


Jennifer Lawrence was a good choice for Katniss. I didn't know much about her when she was first announced - I still haven't seen her other movie, Winter's Bone, the one she was Oscar nominated for. Of course, I had my initial doubts about Josh Hutcherson for Peeta, mainly because he reminds me of Disney, which I know is not fair, but still. And Liam Hemsworth...I am ashamed to say that I had my doubts about him because he's Miley Cyrus' boyfriend. They did pretty decent portrayals of Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne, respectively. Although Jennifer L's acting stood out the most. 


I could list the differences between the book and the movie, but if you still haven't read the book and seen the movie, I won't spoil anything for you.