The Time I Almost Died

India is a scary place.

I can honestly say that I am uncomfortable walking alone in the streets. If it's because I'm a "foreigner" or because of the growing reputation of India, but I honestly don't feel safe. The stares of everyone, especially men, make me feel like prey, and I feel like I should be ready to run at any moment. I am in no way generalizing the citizens here, merely explaining my thoughts. It may all just be the biased perspective I picked up in America, I couldn't tell you.

Driving in India is equally unsafe. The absence of traffic lights and stop signs creates an environment of chaos, filled with horns, honks, and too-close-for-comfort encounters. On the back of a scooter/motorcycle, there have been one-too-many times where I genuinely thought we were going to crash and die. There have been too many times a car has crossed the yellow lines separating opposite directions of traffic. Just way too many.

A subtle yet prominent distinction of color is also present here. Whether it was purely coincidence or an effect of some previous government instilled social ladder, I don't know. As you go down the social ladder, skin color gets darker. In a place where people share so many of the same customs, beliefs, and traditions, skin color seems inconsequential, but yet again the lighter people are superior. It seems like a universal mindset. Weird. 

India: The Time I Thought About Poverty

The education system here is very... different from the one I'm accustomed to in America. While they claim to shape kids through harsh discipline, evident through the strict uniforms and unnecessary school rules dictating hair style and behavior, the things that actually matter aren't enforced whatsoever.

For example, my cousin practically does double the schoolwork he needs to. Here, they have school, the regular classes during the day within a government-funded building with government-funded teachers. But afterwards they have "class" or known as "tuition" where they relearn everything they learned at school with a different teacher, one who actually teaches. Also they have school on Saturday, and I'm not about that life.

At the end of their 10th and 12th year, they take their "boards", which, from what I gathered, basically determine their future. Based on the grades from these "boards", you essentially pick what field you want to go into. The highest grades give you all the options (art, business, science, etc.), and as your grades get lower, your options decrease. And college is the same way, except without all the essays (the one thing about the Indian education system I wish we had).

Also these government-funded teachers don't care about cheating. People will swap papers during the exam period and copy essays word for word and the teachers don't bat an eye.

Anyways, enough about the school system.

If you haven't been to India, let me tell you something, it is stricken with poverty. People sell balloons and trinkets to make ends meet and even then you can find them settled in their mud shacks on the side of the road. They beg and they plead for money, anything to get some food and water into their and their children's mouths, but no one bats an eye at them, no one even acknowledges their presence.

Today, my mother, probably one of the best people in the world, spent money to give an old man and three children dinner. After everyone else told her no, she still went ahead and did it. And I can't help but wonder whether it was naivety or compassion that drove her to do this. For some reason, we've gotten it into our heads that people in poverty (mainly beggars) are manipulative. That they are trying to get money to spend on pointless things like alcohol. And while for some that is the case, which is extremely sad, it's not the case for all. Some people truly need help. We're just too scared and distrusting to give it to them. But then I have to ask myself, if these people were really in need and wanted to get out of their position, rather than roaming the streets begging for money, shouldn't they be working hard to pull themselves up the ranks? By answering their requests for money, are we, in fact, promoting this lifestyle? 

14 Best Books of 2014

Hey Fantabulous Readers!
It's that time of year again where we count down the best books of 2014. I'm choosing these books out of the 77 books I read this year, not just from the ones that were released, but here we go!
P.S. These decisions were really really REALLY hard to make, so I just went with my gut for most of these. I've reviewed most of these and if you wanna read the review all you have to do is click the title!

14. Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout

13. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

12. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

11. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

10. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

9. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

I don't think this book is so high up because of its content perse, but more so because of the memories associated with it. I had borrowed this book from my friend and somehow our entire class read it and my other friend and I began acting out the book. It was pretty awesome. 

8. A Tragic Heart by S. Elle Cameron

The roller coaster of emotions that this book made me feel is what catapulted it up to the top. This is no classification for this book, it's sad, it's happy, it's really really good. If you do pick it up (which you definitely should), be prepared with a box of tissues. 

7. Swimming Through Clouds by Rajdeep Paulus

I met Rajdeep at the YA Book Fest in Pennsylvania and I got the opportunity to review her book, which was amazing! I definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good contemporary. 

6. The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

5. Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

4. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

3. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Review to be posted.
I just finished this book a couple of days ago and it was honestly amazing. I'm so glad I decided to join this fandom.

2. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

I know at this point most of you are like *gasp* why isn't it first!? And my reasoning for it being second is because I haven't been with this series for all that long, so while this book was amazing, I read it after it was released and... I'm not sure where I'm going with this. 

1. Undivided by Neal Shushterman

This book is an incredible end to an incredible series. I've been looking forward to reading this for a whole year and it's anticipation and beautiful ending is why it is probably the best book I've read all year.

What were some of your favorites of the year? Let me know in the comments below! 

India: The Time I Started Daily Blogging (Sorta)

Ok, bear with me guys.

I want to try something different. And this may or may not work, but I'm going to experiment with it anyways. So basically, my family and I took a trip to India for pretty much the entire month of January and I really want to document this experience for some reason, so I'm just gonna try blogging about it, writing things that happened every day and thoughts and whatnot. This might be really boring or it might end up really cool I honestly have no idea, but yeah if you guys wanna keep reading that would be cool, and if not that's cool too. I'm still reading (I brought like 4 books here) and I'm still gonna write reviews though they probably won't be up until I get back.

So anyways...here's day 1?

This isn't the first time I've been to India and it won't be the last, but for some reason this trip feels monumental somehow. Maybe it's the first time I'm paying attention to the things around me, maybe I'm wiser and older and see things differently, I don't know.

India is one of the many places where the driver sits on the right but drives on the left side of the road, something that, as a new driver, really really throws me off. Also, drivers find it appropriate to excessively honk at each other.

"I want to pass you" *honk*
"You're driving too slow" *honk*
"I want to turn." *honk*
"I'm driving." *honk*

The backs of trunks actually say "Horn ok please" like they actually want you to honk at them. What? Also lanes of traffic don't exist. In most places, except maybe the highway, you can drive wherever you want in whichever direction you want. #safety

My experience with bathrooms in India has never been a pleasant one. I remember when toilets weren't a thing and I had to use one of the 'hole-in-ground' toilets. Those were some dark times. Regardless of the actual toilet, Indians also don't use toilet paper. Born and raised in America where toilet paper is abundant in every home and family, this experience is slightly jarring. Thankfully, we typically get temporary portable rolls for our stay but the first couple of days are usually the worst.

I'm going to be completely honest with you. Here I feel as though people see me as the "American spoiled brat." I try not to complain. I try to go along with the traditional Indian lifestyle, but it's the little things that are hard to adapt to. The little things like toilet paper that we've taken for granted. But is it really my fault? The fact that I grew up accustomed to certain things doesn't necessarily make me "spoiled", does it?

While India does have some drawbacks, of course not everything about it is uncomfortable and foreign. For example, the food here is amazing. I'm not sure where Americans got the stereotypes of eating the greasiest and unhealthiest foods because I can tell you for a fact that India fries pretty much everything. But it's still so good. So far today I've just eaten and been contemplative and it only 11 (already a more productive day than I've had in America), let's see where the rest of the day takes us. 

The Kill Order | James Dashner

The prequel to the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series.

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this book. Before I went into it, one of my friends had warned me of this book, telling me to prepare myself for a huge disappointment, and it was honestly pretty good. I honestly liked it better than The Death Cure. I thought it was really interesting how they finally went back and gave a specific run down on what exactly happened before the Maze. At one point we get to see bits and pieces of different documents from the government and I think we should have had more of that. Those two pages revealed more than a lot of the other book. 

I also wish there was more of a connection between the rest of the series and this book. For a while I actually thought the epilogue had Trina and Mark in it. I thought they were Thomas's parents, which would have been really cool. 

I realized that while reading this series, I wasn't as into it as I have been into other books. It was a good read, I don't doubt that, but I never really grew emotionally close to any of the characters. I felt no remorse when any of them died, nor did I particularly care about their personal and emotional lives. This could have been for a number of reasons. The first being that I'm so busy with school and work and all of my real world responsibilities that I'm neglecting my book characters, which is a prospect that really frightens me. The second reason could also have been that the book was written in a way to focus more on the plot than the characters, and there's nothing wrong with that. In some cases a fantastic plot is enough to sacrifice the emotions of a few characters. I just think if I had gotten more attached to the characters, this would have been a better read for me. 

Let me know what you guys thought in the comments below! Am I the only one disappointed with this series as a whole?

The Death Cure | James Dashner

It’s the end of the line.

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

Will anyone survive?

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

The truth will be terrifying.

Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all. 

The time for lies is over.

I can't express how disappointed I am with this series. While the first and second books set pretty high standards, the third and final book completely fell under what I expected. Although for the other books I did a mostly non-spoiler review, for the concluding book I'm going to go into an in-depth spoiler filled review. If you haven't read the series, I really recommend the first book, but after that, for me at least, the series just went downhill. 

The Scorch Trials | James Dashner

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. 

Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch. 

There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.

The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. 

Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off. 

There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.

I will admit I didn't like this book as much as the first. I feel like we barely learnt about WICKED and what they're trying to do. There was a constant back and forth between what was real and what was fabricated or acted and at one point I just got confused. 

Like before, the plot was really awesome and intense, however I felt it was just a repeat of the Maze Runner. That's not a bad thing but as the second book in a series, I feel that more of the overall plot should have been built up, not so much the second trial. 

Did anyone else hate Teresa? I'm honestly so done with her. I'm going to be honest and admit that I never really liked her, but in this book she went completely insane. Her actions are contradictory and confusing and while I hope we get a bigger backstory on her, I just want her to go away. 

Even though this story wasn't as great as the last one, there were several things I liked. We're starting to be a sense of the real world outside of these trials, the barren world filled with crazy, disease-ridden people. 

I also loved Thomas in this book. His acts to maneuver out of holding hands and touching people are hilarious. And I admired the fact that he wasn't a love-sick teenage boy (for most of the time) and could think on his feet without being completely forgiving. 

I'm also a huge fan of the epilogues. I love that the end of each book has a small letter from within the WICKED organization. I'm hoping for more of them throughout the book. I think one between each chapter would be really interesting, so we can see WICKED develop with the characters and plot of the story. 

From where this book ends, I feel like The Death Cure is going to be The Maze Runner/ The Scorch Trials all over again, but as the last book in the series, I'm really hoping that we are able to conclude this series well and we learn more about the world and why WICKED is doing all of this. 

If you've read this book, let me know what you think in the comments below! Do you like it better than Maze Runner?