Monday, June 30, 2014

Writer's bio

On just about any website where you're listed as a writer, there's a section for a bio. It was easy for me to pick a picture to repesent me as an author. That picture to the side of my blog that features me wearing natural make up and a fight club shirt. The part that I'vebeen struggling with is the "about me" section. I don't really know what to say about myself, and I really don't know what other people would want to know about me. When it comes to talking about myself I'm fairly quiet, which is probably why all of my blogs are so short. I find myself puzzled when wondering what people would want to know about me. I've started and stopped writing a bio hundreds of times, which I find kind of funny because when I was a child I thought it was important for me to write an auto-bio. I can only imagine what it said. My name is Jade, I'm ten and I like Power Rangers. I've looked at other writer's about me sections, and all I managed to find out was that it irks me when someone posts that they are from New Orleans as an attempt to get people to read their books. I have never cared where an author was from, although I used to read all of the about the author sections in my books when I was younger. For some reason I used to read the copyright page too. It should be easy for me to come up with something. My name is Jade, I'm old, and I like Supernatural and Dexter. Oh, I also write books. The truth is, I don't have anything interesting to put in the bio. A lot of authors say something about where they are, if they have kids and a husband or wife they include that as well.They might say something about their education or hobbies. I guess I should try looking at more bios, googling what readers want to know about authors. Maybe I'll just go the same route that I went with my instagram and write, "Insert witty bio here."

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Weekend Review: First Grave On The Right by Daryda Jones

I thought I would love this book. It seemed like an interesting urban fantasy, and the cover was intriguing. I would love to own a pair of sandals like the ones on the cover. I was so sure that I would love this book that I purchased both the first and second book. I regret that now. I'm going to read the second book, but only because I don't like wasting money. This book was pretty bad. The main character was probably supposed to be witty, but she came off as immature. None of the jokes within the book were funny. They were distracting. I also hated the t-shirt and bumper sticker quotes that were at the beginning of every chapter. The basic plot of this book is that the main character, Charley, is the grim reaper. She's having these dirty dreams about a guy named Reyes. Every time she mentioned Reyes I had to remind myself that I wasn't reading Twilight. The whole my knees got weak from looking at a picture of Reyes thing got old pretty quickly. Three lawyers die in the book and she decides to finish working on their case. The main character was unlikeable, and often talked/thought about her own looks. Almost everyone in this book is described as good looking. I can see why the author would make all the characters easy on the eyes, but it's not realistic. I couldn't relate to any of the characters. I fell kind of bad writing a negative review, since this author seems to be really nice to her twitter followers. This book just didn't appeal to me, but it might appeal to others.


2 Out Of 5 Stars, but only because of the cool cover.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Write reviews, but don't bash books

Around this time last year the Twilight craze was almost dying down, but I'm sure there are Twilight memes all over the web. I've done my share of Twilight dissing, even though I haven't read the books or seen the movies, but I regret that. No, I haven't suddenly read the book, or even picked up the book. I read a comment that the writer made when asked if she'd ever return to the Twilight world. She said that if she did it would be three paragraphs saying who died. I was shocked. I think that an author should love the world they build. I love the worlds I build, but I am aware that there are things I can do to improve them. That's why I plan to read my negative reviews. The reader doesn't just dislike a book for no reason. It might not be what they read on a regular basis, or the author might have overlooked something/left something out/written something offensive/created an annoying character. That doesn't mean that you should bash the author or their work. Even if you don't like it, it's still something that someone spent their time writing. Someone found an idea that they loved and stuck with it until they had a story. It's still something that someone put their blood, sweat, and tears into.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Casual Friday: What people should learn from watching Catfish

After watching the MTV show Catfish, I have no idea why people would still look for love online. There are many thoughts that go through my head when I'm watching, like what if someone were to use my picture to catfish someone, and how would I feel if they did? I'd probably feel really bad for the person getting catfished, but I would have no idea why anyone would choose my picture. Anyway, last week's episode featured a girl being catfished by who she thought was a man, but it turned out to be an eighteen year old woman. The two still kept talking and were even planning to get together at the end of the show. That isn't normally the way things turn out. Usually the person who lied ends up alone, or with someone who wasn't the person they catfished. If it weren't for Nev and Max would they reveal themselves at all? How can someone be happy if they can't be with the person they think they love? I don't understand the point of pretending to be someone you aren't. The people who do this on catfish aren't happy. Most of them are keeping a relationship going that they can never be in. They may think they are happy for a moment, but their happiness won't last. They can't rely on words on a screen forever, but it does surprise me how long some of these relationships last. I wouldn't waste three years online talking to someone who won't even video chat with me. I would feel like the relationship was going nowhere. I've never dated online so maybe I'm not the best person to blog about this, but it seems like it would be a waste of time to have a relationship where you never see the person and they don't try to commit to you. I know most of the people catfishing have insecurities, but in the end they would do better being themselves. What's the point of putting effort into a relationship that you know will crumble once you meet the person? It doesn't make sense, and both parties get hurt. It's better to be yourself. Some people are still going to reject you, but everyone gets rejected. Rejection hurts, but it doesn't hurt as bad if you weren't in a relationship with the person who rejected you.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Don't quit your day job

I read an article today about a man who quit his day job following a successful writing career. Things didn't turn out as expected for him, and he had to go back to working. I don't think I will ever be able to not have a day job. I don't think writing alone can support a person, although I would love for it to support me. If it did I would be able to go to college for something I actually enjoyed and not just for a career. I'd still go for the career, I would just get more than one degree. I would also love to take another writing course to learn things from someone new. Anyway, there's another reason why you shouldn't quit your job/hang around the house. You can't get life experience from hanging around the house watching True Blood. You have to journey out sometimes. You have to meet new people. You have to gain a better understanding of yourself and others or you will not be able to write convincing characters. Even in fiction your characters have to be grounded in reality. I write about werewolves, but it's the human part of them that makes people care about them. No one's going to care about your writing if they can't relate to the characters. I had that problem with a book I read recently. The main character was immature and every male in the book was 'hot'. I couldn't relate to the book at all. I think I would be living in a dream world if every male I encountered was good looking. Good looking means so many different things for so many different people. I wonder what this author was thinking about when she wrote her characters that way. In my werewolf book, the one I will be releasing soon, only one male character is described as good-looking. My main character is also called beautiful by the male character who is described as good-looking. Every other character is just described with it left up to the reader to imagine them as beautiful or ugly. In real life we don't see every single person as attractive, and not every person is ugly, so it doesn't make sense to write a book where every male is good-looking and the main character describes herself as hot. Why do the characters have to be so involved in their looks anyway? Shouldn't there be a plot to the book? I'm off topic now, but I did review the book for this week's weekend review.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

How can I draw in more attention?

I've been thinking about the marketing part of self publishing a lot lately. I know when you self publish you are more than just an author. Your job is doing everything that needs to be down for the book. Promotions, giveaways, advertisements, paying for ads, paying for covers, paying for editing, asking people to review your book. It's all up to you, and it's a big job. How would I be able to get my name out there? I know I will have to make a facebook page soon. I was also thinking about making business cards and giving them to people that I come across who actually want to read my work. I don't have much money to put into self publishing, so I would like to focus on the things that will pay off for me. I think the reviewers are the most important part of self publishing, but how do I approach them? When is the right time? Do I approach them now, or when my book is on sale? I just feel a little lost when it comes to marketing.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Is writing easier the second time around, or just when you have a 'fresh' idea?

As I've said before, I'm having trouble editing my work because the idea for something new keeps nagging at me. I've written pages of something new when I'm supposed to be focused on something I've already written. Maybe it's because writing gets easier the more you practice, or maybe it's because the fun part of writing is writing something fresh. When you're editing you're not really adding anything fresh. You're looking at what you've already written and trying to find the errors/see what can be built upon and added to. Maybe my issue is time. Maybe I need to sit down and write for a little while and then focus the rest of my time on editing. I've thought about having a writing day and having an editing day. Something like that could be interesting for me.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Weekend Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

I read an article that said if you are an adult you should be embarrassed to read a book with a movie cover. Well, I have the movie edition of this book. I got it for .94 cents on bookoutlet.com. It was a scratch and dent so it isn't in the best shape, but the story is all there and that's all I really cared about. I saw the movie for movie and really enjoyed it, but I love fairy tales so that's probably why. Beastly is a modern retelling of Beauty and The Beast. I remember opening this book and rolling my eyes at the first few pages. It was written in a chat room style. I ended up getting used of it, but another thing that bothered me at first was how young the characters were. At the start of the novel the characters were in ninth grade, but I realize that a love story this innocent would have to have a cast of younger characters. The story itself is about a boy named Kyle who treats people as if they are less than him. If you're not good looking he won't give you the time of day. He meets a witch who shows herself as overweight and oddly dressed. He doesn't really know she's a witch and asks her to a dance as a joke. She ends up cursing him to look like a beast, and actual beast and not the tattoo covered bald guy from the movie. As I was reading this book I kept picturing the cast from the movie. I read the book within two days and really enjoyed it. I think I might have to check out more of Alex Flinn's work.



Four Out Of Five Stars

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Movie/tv adaptions, comic books...My dreams

I would like to start by saying these are just my dreams. I don't think these things will ever happen, but it would be nice if they did. I only have a little more editing to do on my werewolf ebook, then I can release it. I am still waiting on a cover, and that might be part of the reason I've been moving so slow when it comes to editing. I had planned to finish it yesterday, but ended up watching the British Being Human and We're the Millers instead. By the way, We're the Millers is a horrible movie that I would not suggest to anyone. I might review it for a casual Friday. This morning I was putting on my make up, and I found myself thinking about my characters. I found myself wondering if Anyssa and crew would work better on tv or as a movie. For some reason I found myself thinking they would make a better tv show. Maybe it's because I feel like I can write a lot of books about Anyssa. She's a werewolf who works for the FBI and uses her sense to assist her in solving cases. I can see a ton of possibilities for that. Something else that I'm working on, which involves the grim reaper and is just in it's first draft, works better as a movie. I ended up thinking about what my dreams are. I would love to have a comic book, or an anime. An anime tv show, not a manga, I do know the difference lol. I've watched a few animes, my favorite being the Death Note series, and I can see my series as an anime. I think it would work better as a regular tv show with actors, but I think it would be kind of fun to see my characters in anime form. I know it's not as popular in America as it is in Japan and I probably wouldn't have much of an audience. I don't think the zombie story I posted would do well in any medium other than comic books, or that's how I see it anyway. My number one dream is that I'll do well as an author and lots of people will read my book. I'd do book signings and meet people who've read my work. I'd love if any of those things happened, but I know that they are just dreams. I may not even sell one copy of my work, but I won't know unless I keep writing.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Casual Friday: The Bling Ring

Why did I think this movie would be good? I heard it was based on a true story and found myself wanting to know more. I rented this movie from the library, but I only managed to get through half of it. The movie is basically about a bunch of kids who "break into" celebrity homes. Most of these celebrities leave their doors unlocked or a house key under their mat. The most entertaining part of this movie was seeing all the things celebrities had in their houses that I could never afford. When these teens weren't robbing they were doing drugs, dancing in front of a web cam, taking selfies, bragging about their crimes, doing other stupid things that did not merit a movie about them. This is one of the worst movies I've tried to sit through.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

I'm a discovery writer

I was watching a lecture at the gym about the two different types of writers. One is basically an out liner and the other is a discovery writer. At first I thought, these types don't describe me at all. Then I realized that I was a discovery writer. A discovery writer is someone who has trouble finishing one thing because they are ready to move onto the next. They also get ideas while already working on things, which distracts them. The out liner writes down everything they want to happen and fills in the blanks as they go. My desk is covered with post it notes filled with ideas for things I'm trying not to work on. I'm trying to finish what is almost ready to publish so I can publish it. I don't feel too bad about the type of writer I am since I get a bunch of cool ideas, I just need to stick with them.

Monday, June 16, 2014

When life gets in the way of writing

It seems like life is always getting in the way of writing for me. I have a job, which takes up most of my time, and when I finally have days off I have to catch up on things around the house. It seems like I'm only able to get a few hours of writing or editing in per day. Sometimes I get no hours in, which is why I'm so behind on my publishing. I could have published my book already if it wasn't for my life always getting in the way. I need to work a job to make sure I have a roof over my head, food for me and my dogs, and sometimes even something new to entertain myself with like a video game or book. Whenever I'm at work I always get ideas for something that would make whatever I'm working on better. I carry a notebook around everywhere I go, but sometimes I don't get to write in it. Sometimes I'm busy and end up losing the great idea. On days like those I think about how great it would be if I could work as a writer full time. That's my dream, and I hope to get there one day. It'll take a lot of work, and a lot of time I probably don't have. Some nights I stay up late, thinking how about how much more I could write if I didn't have to sleep.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Weekend Review: Better Off Dead and The Underground City by HP Mallory

Since I didn't read anything new this weekend, I've decided to review two books that I read not to long ago. Better Off Dead and The Underground City by HP Mallory. As far as I know these books are only available in ebook format.

Better Off Dead is the first book in the Lily Harper series. Lily Harper dies when her guardian angel is off doing other things, and gets the chance to live in another body if she agrees to help lost souls get to their destination. I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was a fun read. Bill, the guardian angel, was disgusting at times, but I didn't find that to take away from the story. Sometimes he was even funny.

Five Out Of Five Stars




The Underground City is the second book in the series. I don't really want to say much about it, since I don't want to spoil it for someone who hasn't read it or the first book. I liked this one as well, but it was a little short. She didn't focus as much on her training as I thought she would. I can't say much more without spoiling the book, but it was a short, enjoyable read. I can't wait to read book three.


Four Out Of Five Stars

Saturday, June 14, 2014

My first book haul

I've never bought more than four books at once, but I discovered bookoutlet.com and went a little crazy. I ended up with eleven books, two aren't pictured since I got them for someone else. Here's what I got in my first haul:

These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen: This is not something I normally read, but I was feeling extra girly and the blurb sounded good.

The Mythology of Supernatural: I'm a huge fan of the show, so when I saw this for only 2.49 I had to get it.

Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn: I'm a huge fan of her Kitty books, so I decided to try something else by her. I know it's young adult, but I've come to think of young adult as a novel with a younger heroine and less "bad" stuff.

Pretty by Jillian Lauren: Again, not something I normally read, but it seemed cool.

Beastly by Flinn: I love fairy tales, or retellings of them so I wanted to give this a try. I also really enjoyed the movie.

Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal: I grew up reading the sweet valley twins, so when I heard about the adult novels I had to pick one up. Unfortunately, I haven't heard good things about it.

First Grave on the Right and Second Grave on the left, both by Darynda Jones: This seems to be the type of book I usually fall in love with, and the covers are awesome. I actually would love to own a pair of shoes like the ones on the cover. I have actually wanted to check this out for awhile so I picked up two books in the series.

Kitty's Greatest Hits by Carrie Vaughn: Love the Kitty series.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Casual Friday: Make Up Review Urban Decay Sin Primer

I know I missed last casual Friday. I posted, but it was related to reading and writing. Today I decided to do the first and probably only make up review for this blog. I tried a product that I absolutely hate. That product is Urban Decay Sin Primer. Why do I hate this product so much? Well, I got it with my naked 2 palette, and thought it would be my favorite out of the samples provided. It was my least favorite. While the others stayed and actually made my make up look nice, Sin got all over my face. It was in my eyebrows, my cheeks, and sometimes it even traveled to my chin. That might not have been so bad if it hadn't creased like crazy too. I think I will stick to the cheaper eyeshadow primers from now on.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Women do not like creepy men

So today I was in my car, driving to work, and I noticed this beat up black truck was trying to keep the same pace as me. I thought that was kind of strange, and when he stopped next to me at a stop light I finally looked over to see a man old enough to be my great grandfather staring at me with an intensity that would give Hannibal Lector the creeps. The man had room to go up for the red light, he just wanted to stare at me. What did he think he was going to get out of staring at me? If he wanted to make me feel uncomfortable he succeeded. If he would have turned at the same place as me I would have called the police. There's another guy who goes to the same gym as me and he stares at all the women. I don't mean he causally checks them out while he works out. This guy is a full fledged creeper. He moves from treadmill to treadmill, getting a light workout while he creeps on the women. I don't understand why some men think this behavior is acceptable. Do these men think if they stare hard enough the women will be tempted to be with them? Do they think they will suddenly develop x-ray vision, or are they so desperate that they have to imagine these women having an interest in them. If I wrote about a character who did this he would not end up with the woman. He would very likely end up sad and lonely, or the villain. Moral of the story: don't be a creeper.

Cover Art

I admit, one of the main reasons I'm drawn to a book is because of the cover art. The cover is basically the biggest "ad" you can give your book. Readers are more likely to click a link to see what your book is about if your cover art amazes them. I almost didn't read My Life As A White Trash Zombie because of the cover. I managed to overlook it, and ended up reading a fun book. I know a lot of people can't overlook the covers. They take one look at a book and think about how boring that book is going to be. They scroll to the next one as quickly as they scroll through the tender app looking for dates (sorry if I spelled that wrong, I don't use the app). I don't have a cover yet, and I'm worried that I won't have one by the time my book is ready. I'll have to put up a temporary cover until my book makes enough money for me to commission a cover. That scares me. I keep thinking to myself, How am I going to sell a book without a cover? What if my book doesn't sell a single copy? What if the internet hates it? Do I really have a career as a writer, or should I give up? I think all people have those thoughts go through their head, or similar ones depending on their professions. I honestly don't know if my writing is strong enough to sell without amazing cover art.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Starting a new project while editing an old project

It's come to my attention that I need some sort of writing schedule. I'm on the final draft of my werewolf story, but I've started working on something new. I had already jotted down a few ideas for the second novel in my werewolf series, but this is something completely new. This is a huge problem for me, since writing something new is always more exciting then editing an old project. I do enjoy self editing, it allows me to figure out new ways the characters can interact, but it's nothing compared to getting lost in a world of new characters. So I need to work on a schedule, something to evenly divide my time. I don't think I should give up on the new story. I'm having too much fun with it, but if I focus all of my time on that story I'll never get my original story finished, the one I plan to publish shortly.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Book Quotes

Whenever I visit the library or Barnes and Noble I can't help but notice that there are author quotes on the covers of some books. Well, I guess some are from authors and some are from other reviewers. I never see any quotes on the covers of Indie books. Probably because as an indie book seller you're rely on yourself. I don't know if the books would sell any better if they had quotes on them. I've never personally bought a book because of a quote, but I usually do read the quotes if they are from authors I like. I usually just want to know what the author I like had to say about the book I'm reading. I do consider reading a book if my favorite author has blogged about it/reviewed it. I usually don't see this in indie, and maybe it's because I'm not looking in the right places, but I think indie authors should help each other. I'm not published yet (soon, I promise), but I know when I do publish there won't be as much of a support system for me. There's not a publisher/editor/person in marketing to do all the difficult stuff. I have to do it all myself. It would be nice if the indie authors joined together in the same way the traditionally published ones do. Would building personal relationships, providing a quote for another indie author, and re tweeting each other sell more copies of our books? I know I'm not published yet and don't know how the publishing/marketing part of this works, but I've always admired the relationship some of my favorite traditionally published authors share with each other.

Monday, June 9, 2014

I'm on goodreads!

I'm now on Goodreads. Actually, I've always been on Goodreads, the site just doesn't work on my computer so I can only use the site from my phone.


Click the link to follow me

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Weekend Review: My Life As A White Trash Zombie

my life as a white trash zombie
I didn't want to read this book. The cover kind of grossed me out, but this book was everywhere. Barnes and Noble, Books-a-million, even the books amazon suggested to me. I finally gave in and read it when I saw it at the library. I'm glad I finally stopped letting the cover bother me and read this. It's about Angel Crawford, a lady who doesn't have the easiest life. She wakes up after an overdose and is given a note and a cooler. She's forced into a job at the morgue, and now has a craving for brains. Also, this book has a little mystery to it. There's someone killing people and leaving their headless bodies behind. This book was a fun little read and I plan on reading the other books in the series.


Book rating: Five Out Of Five

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Finally a blurb!!!

I've finally got a blurb for my ebook. It's a little vague, but I think it works without spoiling the book.



FBI agent Anyssa Marshall doesn’t get out much. In fact, she’s confined to an apartment sized jail cell after revealing the existence of supernatural beings. Anyssa thinks of the cell as protection, until her ex-boyfriend is found murdered with her picture in his pocket. Despite her connection to the victim, she’s allowed a few hours each day to investigate the case. Will she catch his killer, or will the price for her newfound freedom be her life?

Friday, June 6, 2014

#PromoteYAInstead

I don't read much YA. I don't have anything against it, I just have never really read much YA. I read the Fear Street series when I was in my early teens, but other than that I read adult horror. While my friends were reading Go Ask Alice, I was reading Carrie. I guess Carrie could be considered YA. Recently I read an article on Slate. The article stated that adults should be embarrassed to read YA. The reasoning behind this was basically that the people who read YA wanted a neat little story that got wrapped up with the happy ending bow. Not all YA books have a happy ending, and a lot of them are about learning a lesson. I don't think anyone should feel embarrassed for picking up any book. What's wrong with reading a book about characters you can relate to? Characters that have gone through or are going through what you are? I've recently read a YA series by Jesi Lea Ryan, and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, and I found them to be enjoyable. I don't want to give too much away about the books, but they didn't have happy endings. The characters went through changes. The characters were damaged. They went through things both emotionally and physically that they may not recover from. I didn't feel like I was reading a "children's" book when I read these two books. I felt like I was reading a book. Just a book, no labels needed. Right now I'm writing an adult series, but someday I might want to write YA. I wouldn't want anyone to shy away from my book, or any book, because it's YA. No one should feel embarrassed to go into a bookstore or library and read the book they like. I actually plan on reading more YA. I've been hearing a lot about the Immortal Instruments series and may have to give that a try. A lot of YA books are just less violent/less sexual books that feature a younger group of characters. A lot of adults read books like these because they don't care for overly sexual or violent books. I don't think people are going to stop reading YA because of the lame article, but I do think the author of the article is going to end up missing out on some great books.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

What makes me stop reading a book?

It's been a year since I've gone to the library, mostly since I didn't know where it was. On Tuesday I went and picked out five books. One of them was Grave Memory by Kalayna Price.
The summary on the back hooked me and I wanted to read the book so much that it was the first one I started reading. I never got past the third page, so I won't be doing a review. I didn't know the book was part of a series, the back made it seem like it could be the first book or a stand alone. I've read books that weren't the first in a series and still enjoyed them, but this one I couldn't get into. After I put the book down, I kept asking myself why. I needed to understand why I couldn't get through it so that I could understand how to be a better writer. To be honest, nothing happened within those first three pages. The main character showed her friend an office that she had rented. The first line didn't even hook me. It was something along the lines of her asking her friend what she thought. I've never read a book with such a dull opening line. Maybe if I would have kept reading if I had already spent time with these characters. I really wanted to love this book, but I couldn't get into it, not when I haven't developed any sense of concern for the characters. If the author had made more happen than some women looking at an office and talking about magic I may have been able to get into it. There has to be some action to draw the reader in.

Monday, June 2, 2014

An author should never fight with someone on twitter, or facebook

One thing I think an author should never do is fight with another person on social media. It doesn't matter who that person is, or what they say. This morning I logged into twitter and someone had posted a picture of a naked woman. I was shocked, and even more shocked to find that it was an author. There are better ways to sell a book than showing a nude person, like showing off your talent for writing. Anyway, I told the poster that I didn't expect to see that, and his response was for me to unfollow him, which I did. I follow whoever follows me on twitter, so that was the only reason I had followed him. That was also the first I'd seen of his content. Well, the author of the nude book replied, basically making fun of me for not enjoying that sight. That's something that I don't think an author should do. To be honest, she should have ignored me. I just find it unprofessional. It's something you have to learn when you're in the public eye in any way. You have to let things go. You may not like what everyone says, but you shouldn't always reply.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Weekend Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

I've decided to try writing a weekly book review. I used to read a lot and I'm trying to get back into reading a lot. I've been having trouble finding books that I want to read. I should probably get out of my comfort zone and try something new. Anyway, I'm going to try to review one book per week and post the review during the weekend.




The first book that I'll be reviewing is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I don't usually read young adult, but this book just seemed so interesting that I had to pick it up. It's about a girl who commits suicide. She leaves behind thirteen tapes, each assigning blame for a part in her suicide. When I started reading this book I thought it was going to be about a teen who was bullied into killing herself, but I was wrong. Hannah Baker is a lonely teen. Most of her classmates ignore her, but she's not really bullied. Most of the reasons she gives for killing herself aren't enough to merit suicide. When Clay, the boy who got the tapes, was listening to the tapes, I kept putting myself in his shoes. I wondered how I would feel to get tapes like that. How would I feel knowing I'd caused someone else pain? I'm pretty sure that's why the book was written, to make me think about the way I treated other people. The book was enjoyable enough. I would probably give it three out of five stars. The reason I only gave it three is because I don't think the reasons Hannah gave for killing herself were enough. Maybe if I could relate better if I'd read this as a teenager. I know sometimes a little problem, like rumours, could seem like the end of the world, but if Hannah had grown up and gone to college she would have forgotten about most of the people who made her like miserable.