Important albums: Too Young To Be In Love

Hunx and his Punx- Too Young To Be In Love

In the twelfth grade, I went through this transition period during which I was extremely happy and extremely angsty at the same time. I don't know how to explain it but my mood- and personality- would change, depending on the person I was hanging out with. I also went through several crushes during the year, which kind of ensured I was on a permanent floating high (crushes do that to me). 

It was through Crush #2 when I discovered the song "Too Young To Be In Love" by this band called Hunx and his Punx. It was perfect for me because it called out to my soul, y'know? It had the right amount of energy and heartbreak and hope and when I heard the line "nothing can mend my teenage heart again", I knew I'd found it. The song that would probably be my number one song for the year. I then pursued some of their EPs and stuff and it was okay. It had ridiculous lines like "what the heck is wrong with you?/I think you sniffed too much glue/You don't like rock 'n' roll/and I don't like you". Before you dismiss the song (and band) for being, well, stupid, wait! Give it a chance. And listen to the album Too Young To Be In Love.

I'm a teenager and I'm happy and sad and I'm into boys so this album is A+. It has everything you need to go through a mad crush/teenage hormones and the best part is, it doesn't take itself too seriously, which is an important criteria for me. It's just about being a teenager and chilling and being in love and stuff! You could almost pass it off for an album released forty years ago but all the vintage sounds and the lead singer's voice (it grows on you, trust me) and really really powerful backing vocalists... well, it's an explosive combination. It's not for everyone but if you like mad and fun stuff, listen to this album because you will not be disappointed. At all. 

Best tracks (in my important opinion): "He's Coming Back" and "Too Young To Be In Love". 

book roundup

Storm by Brigid Kemmerer 

I've been meaning to read Storm for a really long time, and I was so glad when I finally got my hands on it last weekend. 

Storm is about a bunch of teenagers who can control the elements of nature (fire, water, wind, stuff like that). This girl called Becca saves her classmate Chris Merrick from getting beaten up outside their school and then finds herself involved in the Merrick brothers' messed up lives (involving fighting from rival "elemental gangs", gunfights, family feuds, etc.). They also have time for love triangles when a new guy called Hunter joins school as well as parent problems. Good stuff.

Storm is a really fun book. There were some parts of the book which I found frustratingly slow-paced but it all worked out in a pretty interesting package. I personally really liked the characters, especially Chris and his brothers. The twins were really... fun to read about and I found the dynamic between the brothers interesting and believable. Becca is one YA heroine who isn't a piss off, isn't easily impressed by stupid stuff and doesn't let boys rule her life, which is a real blessing. I'm getting more jaded by YA with every progressing book simply because I cannot fathom why any character- male or female- would do a stupid (and the situations they find themselves in occur only due to their stupidity which the author tries to pass off as bravery) thing in the name of love. It's not love if you've known them for an hour and all they've done is stare at you during lunch and you guys have has one make out session! Lord.
And Becca still has some friend problems and most of all father problems which all happen for the greater good and stuff.

It's a good book. Definitely not the best book I've read and I don't think I'd be able to reread it, but I'd definitely recommend it for people looking for a new YA (paranormal) series. I think I'll probably pick up the second book in the series (it has one of the twins as the protagonist!).

Legend by Marie Lu

**spoiler alert** I actually don't see what the great deal is about the book. It's a futuristic society (judging from the clues from the book) about two people, June and Day. June's a rich military kid and Day's the most wanted person in the "Republic". This is going to contain spoilers. 

Thinking back, there seem to be some glaring plot holes. One thing that really confuses me is that for a Republic so advanced, a fifteen year old boy doesn't really fit the profile for the most wanted tag. Another really frustrating point is the the underdevelopment of the two main protagonists. They seem far too... forgiving of each others.  SPOILERS BELOW! 

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Day's mother was murdered. Murdered. As was Day's brother. And debatable or not, June was, in some way, responsible for their deaths. What I don't understand is Day's instant forgiveness. It just wasn't convincing enough as was the romance between Day and June.

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Spoilers end! 


It wasn't a bad book as such. it was just unconvincing. I also found myself skimming through several chapters towards the end. But judging by the other YA dystopian books I've been reading, this was definitely bearable. Just not great. 

Yet again, I'm at work and pretending to be productive. What I have managed to do in the last two days is create a recipe book with my own funky illustrations. All I have left to do is design the cover page. Boredom really hones my creativity, I must say. 

I'm really... jaded by work. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want to go back to college. Like everything else in my life, the grass is always greener on the other side. 

couples part 1

Penryn and Raphael (aka Raffe) from Angelfall by Susan EE

I feel really strongly about Angelfall and its characters. At first glance, it’s like your everyday YA paranormal romance about a girl and an immortal angel (I know, right?!). Throw in a post-apocalyptic world full of resistance movements and cannibalistic children and crazy mothers and you get this fast-paced and fun novel (which you can devour in one night. Trust me on this).

Now what makes Angelfall so important to me are the two main protagonists, Penryn and Raffe. Penryn is your kickass heroine who just wants to save her little sister from the bad angels and Raffe is… an angel. A wingless angel, at that. So whatever reasons, these two journey across California to go save the little sister and Raffe’s wings. What you get is this roadtrip (actually, a walkathon would perhaps fit better) during which these two bicker constantly to hide the obvious UST (or is the bickering a result of the UST? Questions to ponder over) and get into a lot of danger and there’s constant fighting and everything.

What makes their romance really special is the fact that it doesn’t become the central part of the book. Good things are even better in small doses. There are tons of YA books out there which get absolutely ruined because of the romance overtaking the actual story (looking at you, Angel Burn) but Angelfall gives us the romance in little doses which makes it all the more exciting. It doesn’t hurt that both the characters are extremely likeable on their own and not just together which is the whole point of a strong main character, isn’t it?

Randall “Pink” Floyd and Jodi Kramer from Dazed and Confused

I root so hard for these two. Like really really really. Dazed and Confused is- in my opinion- one of the most perfect movies ever made and Pink and Jodi are like harbingers of this perfect movies (that didn’t make too much sense, did it?).

Pink is the kindest guy on the show and Jodi is the nicest girl. That doesn’t stop them from having fun and all of that teenage jazz (as opposed to clichés that tell us that nice people don’t have fun. Maybe I should retract because Pink and Jodi are popular people who are nice, and not nice people who are popular. That’s quite a distinction). Case points are Pink being an A+ guy to Mitch and Jodi being all cool older sister-y to Sabrina and the moral is that Pink and Jodi should totally be together. While watching the movie for the first time, I didn’t think much about them together until the (spoiler?) make out scene in the park! And Jodi stops Pink because he has a girlfriend and she’s decent like that and then they don’t hang out for the rest of the movie (which is, technically, just one night in their lives. Maybe I should write Dazed and Confused fanfiction about senior year) but who cares! Pink and Jodi forever! They’d form the kindest and most powerful couple in their little suburb!

Juliet Burke and James “Sawyer” Ford from Lost

What I’m going to do is ignore every cool aspect of Lost: the mythology, storytelling, the Island and the likes and concentrate on the romance. Now Sawyer is a cool guy and probably one of the funniest (and hottest) on the show. And he’s deep and full of layers and he’s got that con man act going for him, etc. etc.. Juliet is like this mystery woman with the smirk and you never really know what she’s thinking. So Sawyer is stuck in this endless triangle with Jack and Kate (who I happen to dislike so perhaps this whole ship is biased because I’m a huge Sawyer fan) and Juliet is all hung up over Jack and lots of drama and then wham! These two are the only ones left (I’m not counting Miles and everyone else, mind you) who’re stuck on the Island and that too in the 1970s! So what are the two to do?

Get together and be the most perfect couple until everybody comes back in time to ruin it, of course! They work so well together and they’re cute and everything good and I rooted so hard for them. I was actually frightened with Kate’s reappearance but by that time, I’d given up on the general storyline that the show took so… whatever. It all worked out okay (purgatory, remember? The season finale?). 

books roundup

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle 

The Hallowed Ones is a pretty unique book, in the sense that it tries to connect vampires and Amish customs and traditions. I'm quite unfamiliar with the latter but it was an interesting take on this combination.

In a few short sentences, The Hallowed Ones is about a vampire epidemic that breaks out and wipes out a huge population of the world. The book deals with a young Amish girl, Katie, who saves an "Outsider" and faces the repercussions of her actions.

It was a decent book, but that's about it. I was quite confused by the portrayal of the vampires: were they unthinking, unfeeling monsters or creatures who were able to talk and communicate? I was left feeling a little incomplete.

The story pacing was a little slow, especially at the beginning. It seemed to take a long time for the action to build up. I also think that the fact that these people were stuck to one piece of land seemed to work against the favour of the story. It got rather boring. The characters- especially the villains- seemed rather one-dimensional. 

What I did like was the protagonist's journey into taking her own future into her hands, and her conflict between the religion she'd grown up with as well as gradual acceptance of others' beliefs. 

All in all, a decent book but nothing much to write home about.

If I Lie by Corrine Jackson 

I'm really glad I gave If I Lie a chance. It's easy enough to figure out what the main character (Sophie or Quinn, whatever you prefer) is protecting right from the blurb but that shouldn't stop anyone from going ahead and reading it. It's deliciously angsty and heartbreaking and it reduced me to tiny tears in some places. You really feel for the characters- all of them. I've been quite disappointed with YA in general simply due to the lack of depth and layers of characters but If I Lie proved to be a nice change. A book usually wins me over if a) feel something for the characters or b) I generate tears during the reading process. This book succeeded on both counts. 

Be warned though: If I Lie is seriously full of angst. If sad stories aren't your thing, I'd recommend proceeding with caution.






Severed by Scott Snyder 

I haven't read too many comics/graphic novels but this one worked for me. Suitably creepy and weird. The ending was A+.










Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block

I adore Francesca Lia Block's writing but don't really think much of the strength of her stories. Wasteland was a pleasant exception. Romantic and magical with just the right amount of surrealism. This is probably my favourite book by FLB.

pretending to work

It’s funny, because I took this blog so seriously in August. I updated practically everyday but then, like every other thing in my life, I got bored and spent time browsing reddit and watching TV shows instead.

It’s been awhile. I survived my first term of college, so a hearty pat on the back for me. Really, it seems like no time at all. College sucked in the beginning. I felt (and still do, actually) cheated because I wasn’t having a “real college experience” mainly because I was in the same city. And while everybody else seemed to be really living it up, I just came home and felt sad and all of the other moody, angsty crap which I’m trying very hard to get over. I honestly do not think I can do five years of the same college but I’m too uninspired (read: lazy) to actually study hard for CLAT so whatever, life is pointless.

Speaking of moody, angsty crap, I’m convinced that this world is full of energy packets and while you’re walking or sitting or whatever, your body is continuously in contact with these packets. So you’ve got high packets and low packets and when you go through a high packet, it’s good for you because your body reacts accordingly: you are energized enough to live with gusto and all that jazz. But when you go through a low packet (or is it when the low packet goes through you? I obviously haven’t thought this out), you’re in trouble! You’re low and sad and de-energized and stuff and thus you just stay in bed and ~not feel~.

I think it’s a great theory.

I also went for my first proper vacation after almost two years. It was Goa, with my family. Good fun, yes, but I’ve come to realize that vacations (and roadtrips) with family should occur in small doses and should not be a week-long adventure. This does not mean I love my family any less or anything. It’s just that “I need space” kind of packet.

On the TV front, I’m stuck on season three of Battlestar Galactica and I can’t proceed, for some reason. At least Apollo is thin again (I’m quite deep like that). Season two of American Horror Story is screwed up, as usual. I’m hoping it builds up a little more. To watch shows include Breaking Bad and Boston Legal.

I’m just going to post my goodreads blurbs here a little later. Now back to pretending to work. 

Important albums: Is This It

I feel ~youth~ coursing through me when I listen to Is This It, the Strokes' debut album. It's looks at every (okay, many) aspects of ~youth~ (yes, the little squigglys are essential to highlight the point of the word), be it angst and love and going back to her apartment or just chilling with your ~bros~. Julian Casablancas' voice makes you ~feel~. Best song on the album, in my important opinion, is Someday, because it really makes me ~feel~. Reading about this album makes me nostalgic for a time when the Strokes were going to save rock 'n' roll and they were just a bunch of five attractive dudes out their to jam to good music. They were so effortlessly cool and stylish. This album is cool. You will feel cool when you listen to this album. It's for heartbreak and parties and being by yourself and not being deep enough and trying your best and still fucking up and everything relevant.