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Illuminae by by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees
★★★★★ (4.75)
Genre – Young Adult Science Fiction
Summary – The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and
Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit. (Summary from GoodReads)
Initial Thoughts – This book is so cool. Honestly, so cool. It’s formatted out of hacked documents, emails, IMs, interviews, and so much more and it’s so interesting to read.
Plot – ★★★★☆ The book took a little bit for me to get into, mostly because the format made it difficult to connect with the characters. But once I got into the story about fifty pages in, I read it all day.
Characters – ★★★★★ I loved all of the characters so much. Every single one, even the bad guys. The authors have created all the characters perfectly so that you relate to every single one.
Storyworld – ★★★★★ The authors had every part of this storyworld planned out. They designed their own spaceships, after all.
Style – ★★★★★ I loved, loved, loved the style of this book. The way it was put together was genius.
Closing Thoughts – Go read this book. Now.
(summary and cover from GoodReads)
5 Tips on Naming Your Characters
The name of your character is going to stay with your book the whole way. It’s very important to get it exactly right. Lucky for you, you don’t have to know your characters’ names before you start writing. I have started stories and named my characters @, $, ^, %, and *, just so that I could get on with the story and come back to the hard naming business later. But, once you get to that hard naming business, here are five tips to consider.
- Consider the traditions of your story world when it comes to naming. For example, in the Hunger Games, all of the characters from District 12 have nature based names. (Katniss, Primrose, Gale, etc.) If you have a story set in any time period besides our own, don’t chose name from this time period, because chances are they won’t be popular. (Just as Edith and Mabel aren’t still popular today.) Making your names fit the story world is very important, just be careful not to go too overboard. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve rolled my eyes at the ridiculous names in some stories.
- What is the character’s parents’ pasts and values? Even if you don’t answer this question with in your story, this is a good thing to consider when naming your character. It can add a lot to your character’s background too. Parents’ lifestyles often affect what they name their child. I know a hardcore football fan who named their child after their favorite quarterback. Music fans name their children after their favorite artists. What is your character’s parents like?
- How does your character feel about their name? Most people have some sort of feeling regarding their names. Once again, even if you never mention it within your story, it can still add a lot to your character building. Do they love it? Hate it? Accept it, but would rather have something different? Is it too different? Too normal? The name you choose shapes the character.
- How do others feel about your character’s name? Everyone has their opinions about certain names, based on the people that they’ve met with that name. How do the characters in your story respond when they hear your character’s name? And how does your character respond to their response?
- What is the current day connotation of that name? How would your readers respond to this name? Think of any famous or infamous people with this name and how they are viewed. Will it affect the way your character is viewed?
- (Bonus) Does your character’s name have a hidden meaning? One of my favorite things to do is to put hidden meaning into my story. Maybe your shy character’s name means bold. Or, maybe the character’s unknown father’s name means father. *cough Vader cough*
Some other website tools that help me choose my characters’ names are Nymblr, Behind the Name, and Random Name Generator. Happy writing!
What tricks do you use to help name your character?
Pretentiously Staring Out of a Bus Window Playlist
Everyone has the time in their life when they must pretentiously stare out of a bus window. They must consider all of their life choices while mentally picturing themselves as the lead in their life movie. Lucky for you, we made a playlist just for that.
Pretentiously Staring Out of a Bus Window Playlist
- Castle by Halsey
- Heartbreak Dreamer by Mat Kearney
- Postcards by Cry Monster Cry
- Fake Palindromes by Andrew Bird
- Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dying by Belle & Sebastian
- A Letter To Elise by The Cure
- Pretty Baby by Brendan Benson
- Hurry, Hurry by Air Traffic Controller
- Outta My Mind by The Arcs
- Sisters by Radical Face
- Devil’s Pie by Hanni El Khatib
- Someone You’d Admire by Fleet Foxes
- Love in the Time of Human Papillomavirus by Andrew Jackson Jihad
- Wake by The Antlers
- On the Bus Mall by The Decemberists
Find the complete playlist on Spotify.
(Warning: Some of the songs on this playlist are explicit.)
5 Tips for Writing Setting
Finding the balance for the right amount of setting can be difficult. Too much and the plot disappears. Too little and you have characters floating through white space. Setting can add a lot to your story, but only when written correctly.
- Use all five senses. This is a pretty standard tip when it comes to writing setting. That’s because it works. In your day, you notice a lot more things than the ones you see. It’s the same for your character. They notice the overly sweet perfume, the crinkle of fall leaves, the burst of sugar when eating powdered donuts, and the toddler’s laughter.
- Less is more. When your character enters a setting that is familiar t0 readers, you don’t have to describe the picture. The reader already knows the picture. For example, if your character goes to the beach, don’t describe the crashing waves or stretching sand. The reader knows that these things are there already, so don’t waste more than a sentence. Instead describe the lone sunbather or maybe the hundreds of sunbather. Describe the elderly couples walking along the edge of the water or the loud college boys playing football. Write what your readers don’t know, not what what they already do.
- Avoid info-dumps. There’s nothing that stops the plot and disconnects the reader like spending paragraphs describing the scenery. The truth is, the reader will probably end up skimming these paragraphs. Instead, incorporate a sentence or two of description every once in a while.
- Start every new scene with a small description of setting. Within the first paragraphs of a new scene, designate the setting. It doesn’t have to be much, but just a sentence is fine. However, make it a habit to show the setting before you get to far into the action.
- Describe it through your character’s eyes, not your eyes. Everyone sees the world a little differently, depending on their past experiences. After all, an mechanic and an artist would describe the same thing very differently. Describing the world through your character’s eyes is a great way to make your character come alive and connect more to the reader.
Finding the balance for the right amount of setting can be difficult. Pay attention to the way setting is described in some of your favorite books. In the end it comes down to practice. Happy writing!
What is your favorite setting you’ve written?
We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen
A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees
★★★☆☆ (2.50)
Genre – Young Adult Realistic Fiction
Summary – Thirteen-year-old Stewart is academically brilliant but socially clueless.
Fourteen-year-old Ashley is the undisputed “It” girl in her class, but her grades stink. Their worlds are about to collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom.(Summary from GoodReads)
Initial Thoughts – This book might have been okay. Sure, the premise was a little cliche, but it just might of worked. Of course, it didn’t.
Plot – ★★★★☆ Since this book seemed to follow a lot of the cliches, it was pretty predictable. However, I did appreciate the stance it took on some serious issues such as sexual identity and sexual assault.
Characters – ★★☆☆☆ Ashley is a complete brat, which is fine–please give me your imperfect characters–except that she had no character arc whatsoever. She stayed a brat all the way through the end. Steward however had a miniscule character arc, though not much.
Storyworld – ★★★☆☆ The storyworld was okay. Nothing great, nothing horrible.
Style – ★☆☆☆☆ – This is what really bothered me about this book. Though the characters were both supposed to be thirteen and fourteen, they both sounded about ten years old. The style fit middle grade, but some of the themes were more young adult.
Closing Thoughts -This book could have been greatly approved if the characters were written as their age.
(summary and cover from GoodReads)
Adaptation by Malinda Lo
A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees
★★★☆☆ (2.50)
Genre – Young Adult Science Fiction
Summary – Reese can’t remember anything from the time between the accident and the day she woke up almost a month later. She only knows one thing: She’s different now. (Summary from GoodReads)
Initial Thoughts – I was attracted to the intriguing cover of this book and a promise of interesting science fiction in the blurb. However, I wish I had just stopped reading there.
Plot – ★★★☆☆ Predictable. It had a few good parts, but nothing amazing.
Characters – ★★☆☆☆ Nothing about the characters stood out to me. The only one who made a slight impression was a side character, but it wasn’t much.
Storyworld – ★★★☆☆ The storyworld at the start of the book promises of haunting apocalyptic scenes. However, it dies out halfway through the narrative, leaving you behind in a half-described city.
Style – ★★☆☆☆ – A lot of the writing, especially the dialogue, felt very forced. Not necessarily bad, just not amazing.
Closing Thoughts – I wouldn’t recommend this anytime soon. It left me very unimpressed.
(summary and cover from GoodReads)
Loner Dance Party Playlist
I don’t know about you, but I am constantly searching for the perfect playlist to match each of my specific moods. Today we’ve created the playlist for the best kind of dance party: A Loner Dance Party. (If you would like, you can pretend this playlist is for a dance party with your friends. We won’t tell anyone.)
Loner Dance Party Playlist
- A Little Party Never Killed Nobody by Fergie, Q-Tip, GoonRock
- Bills by Lunchmoney Lewis
- Cake by the Ocean by DNCE
- Clap Snap by Icona Pop
- You’re So Damn Hot by OK Go
- Dessert by Dawin
- Wasted by Tiësto, Matthew Koma
- Emergency by Icona Pop
- Seeing Stars by BØRNS
- Heart of a Lion by Grisworlds
- Happy With Me by HOLYCHILD
- Worth It by Fifth Harmony, Ink Kid
- The Sound of Swing (Oh NaNa) by Kenneth Bager, Aloe Blacc
- Hey Now by Matt and Kim
- Whatever Forever by The Mowgil’s
Find on complete playlist on Spotify.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
A 60 Second Review by Anne Brees
★★★★★ (5.00)
Summary – Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. (Summary from GoodReads)
Initial Thoughts – Whenever otherworldly creatures start getting involved, I get worried. Because it’s too easy to use the supernatural to attempt to spice up a poorly written romance. But when it comes Daughter of Smoke and Bone, there is absolutely nothing to be a
fraid of.
Plot – ★★★★★ Taylor masterfully keeps information hidden for big reveals and twists.
Characters – ★★★★★ Blue hair, tattoos, and naturally badass, Karou is the perfect protagonist. Not to mention, all of the side characters have the right amount of flaws and quirks to make them completely lovable.
Storyworld – ★★★★★ Daughter of Smoke and Bone is set in two worlds: the enchanting streets of Prague and the haunted world of the chimera and seraph. Both worlds captivated me and added so much to the story.
Style/Theme – ★★★★★ The style. Oh, the style. Laini Taylor is the master of metaphorical perfection. I could go on about her writing style for days. But I only have 60 seconds so…
Closing Thoughts – You. Have. To. Read. This.
(summary and cover from GoodReads)
Beware the Dog- The Griswolds
A 60 Second Review by Helje
★★★★ (4.00)
The Song – This song is upbeat, but holds deeper meaning. Vocalist Chris Whitehall explained, saying “It’s about losing someone we were really close with to heavy drug use.” You can use this song for solo dance partys or we’re over mixtapes (does anyone still do this?). It doesn’t hurt that this song is so dang catchy. The lyrics stick with you and I guarantee you will be humming this all day.
The Band – The Griswolds are a vibrant band, and originate from Sydney, Australia. They are named after the family in National Lampoon’s Vacation, a comedy film series. They have a song called 16 years on the FIFA 15 soundtrack, and are currently working on their 2nd album. The Members are; Tim John, Daniel Duque-Perez, Lachlan West, and Christopher Whitehall. Rumor has it that Kevin Ray has unofficially announced his membership. You can reach them here and buy their song to support them.
Warning: Profanity
Song and Picture from Soundcloud
The Curiosity Study 