The Mark of Athena

Angeles Martinez

804

The Mark of Athena

 (Contains some spoilers ;3)

I am currently reading The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. (FINALLY I’M READING THIS!!!!) In the book, there are 7 demigods-4 Greeks, 3 Romans. (By being Greek it means the child’s parent is the Greek God/Goddess side, while the Romans have the Roman side of the same god/goddesses [Ex: Piper’s mother is Aphrodite in Greek, and Venus in Roman.]) The Greeks (Annabeth, Piper, Leo, and Jason) and Romans (Hazel, Frank, and Percy) are the main 7 who must complete the prophecy. (Seven Half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.) Of course, this quest will be deadly and complicated, but this quest is the most complicated now.

For one, for thousands of years, the Greek and Roman demigods have hated each other, whenever they get close to each other; they instantly want to fight each other (Ha, they practically started a war!) How are these Roman and Greek demigods going to be able to fulfill the prophecy when they’re demigod-mates (Can’t think of anything else to call them) are all hating each other? The Greeks may understand and not be so eager to fight, but the Romans fight with honor and all that, they will attack, no matter what. The reason that they’re fighting though, is because according to Jason (Son of Zeus or Jupiter, whatever side you favor) the reason the Greeks and Romans hate each other is because the Romans did something to Greeks concerning Athena (a very respected goddess) and it pissed off the Greeks a lot. (They started a war [a very bloody one too], and the gods had to interfere and separate both groups, making them to never find each other and start another bloody, deadly war.) And of course, Hazel, Frank, and Jason are Roman (Jason being on the Greek side though…complications again there) and Annabeth (practically the leader on the quest) is Greek and the daughter of Athena, can they really be able to do this quest together without wanting to murder each other once Annabeth finds out the full truth of what the Romans did to the Greeks and her own mother? Will Annabeth learn to hate the Romans and be just like: You hurt my mother dearly; you ruined everything about her-now you die?

That’s only part of what Annabeth needs to worry about though. She has another problem, slightly well a lot linked to the Roman-And-Greek thing. When Percy was missing (Long story…) Annabeth got a visit from her mother. (It was rare that the gods visit their children nowadays so obviously it was a big deal!) Her mother was very dazed and angry about the whole bloody Romans turned me to a pathetic, not-respected goddess-they replaced me and ruined me! She saw Annabeth and took out her anger on her, giving her a coin-The Mark of Athena-and told Annabeth she must avenge her. “Yes, my children will avenge me. They must destroy the Romans. Horrible, dishonorable, copycat Romans. Hera argued that we must keep the two camps apart. I said, No, let them fight. Let my children destroy the usurpers….Replaced. Sacked. Looted like a trophy and carted off-away from my beloved homeland. I lost so much. I swore I would never forgive. Neither would my children. Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me,” Athena had insisted to Annabeth, who clearly did not want to start a war, or fight anyone. For centuries, the children of Athena have all been given the Mark trying to avenge their mother, trying to solve the case, and trying to prove worthy to their mother. But can Annabeth really do it? Can Annabeth really betray her Roman friends just to avenge her mother? And during a quest that could save the world from the wrath of the giants and Gaia, Mother Earth herself?

And that’s only half of Annabeth’s problems. Another is Percy. Percy originally is from the Greek Side, but for the past about 6 months (before the quest started) he has been missing. Annabeth finally has found him, but it’s only because Hera thought it was time to start the quest. And now Percy has seemed to change. He still loves Annabeth, but he seems a bit closer to the Roman Demigod children, he seems to act Roman too! (Romans act like, tough, confident and “perfect.”) Annabeth’s used to being leader and taking charge alone, but Percy means so much to her, she can’t lead the quest alone…she needs Percy by her side…and certainly, with the whole Mark of Athena thing, how can Annabeth not be able to have Percy, the guy who’s been there for her since she was 12, the guy who she’s had a crush on for a while and finally got him to her boyfriend, the guy who understands her completely, by her side?

Annabeth clearly is one of the main people to have problems and complications along with them, but I think Annabeth knows what she’s doing. She’s the daughter of the goddess of wisdom and war; she knows how to be a leader, how to make decisions, and how to think these kinda things through. But though Annabeth has dealt with monsters, titans, giants, angry gods and goddesses, can she really be able to survive this emotional roller coaster and still save the world? Or will, this whole thing break her down so much she doesn’t know how to fix herself? Who will she have to betray? Who will she betray? If she betrays anyone, will it be someone she loves so dearly? Will this Mark bring the bad side of Annabeth just so she can prove herself worthy to her mother like many other Athena children have tried but failed to do?

Handle With Care

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS!!!!

I am currently reading a book by Jodi Picoult called Handle With Care. In the book there is a Family-the O'Keefee family-that must deal with a daughter who they so much wanted to have having OI-Osteogensis Imperfecta, a disease that makes the bones very brittle and very breakable. This disease is something that clearly is driving the O'Keefee family nuts. Driving them apart, and making them do things they're not sure is right since this disease is very expensive to deal with, and they have to very careful around Willow-the daughter or she could break her bones a lot.

Charlotte-the mother-is clearly someone who is willing to do anything for Willow. For months, she's been wanting to have a baby,and during those months she was willing to do anything to get pregnant. She had her best friend-Piper Reece-help her get pregnant. (Piper's an obstetrician.) It took a while, but after some time, Charlotte got pregnant! But there was something wrong, something that would affect Charlotte's baby's life. Osteogensis Imperfecta. But, even though that made Charlotte sad and worried, she still wanted to have the baby. (She was gonna keep the baby no matter what!) And she did. Willow came into the world with seven breaks and about 4 healing ones. (Oh that must have been nice...) From there, Charlotte had promised herself that she would be extra careful to keep Willow safe. She would even lose everything else for Willow. Anything to keep her baby safe. But. There were some...complications with that, of course. After meeting Marian Gates-A lawyer-Charlotte began to have some...questions. Like. What would happen to Willow if I can't support her casts, her medical bills, or anything anymore? Sean-the father-would be able to support somewhat, he had a good job, but what if it wasn't enough? If we can't take care of her...would Willow be better off...dead? Could she have a better life if she had never been born? Charlotte loved Willow, no one could doubt that. (For crying out loud, she was like, basically ignoring her family for this!) Did she love her so much was she willing to give her up-despite how much she wanted her before?

But. If Charlotte wants the answers to these questions, she needs to sue someone. That someone being the doctor who helped her...that someone being Piper. How would Charlotte be able to do it? How could she stand up in court and say to the judge she would rather see Willow dead and be able to sue her best friend who helped her meet Sean and all that?  How is she gonna be able to lie all that? Is it really worth the $64,000 that will clearly help Willow in the future? Was she really gonna lose the love and respect of her family and friend-especially Sean and Piper-worth it? Worth saving Willow from poor medical care?

Clearly the whole lawsuit is driving Charlotte nuts. She'd give anything to her daughter, she'd do anything, but is anything meaning she loses everything too? What exactly is Charlotte going to limit anything too? And if so, what is she limited it to?

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

HAS SOME SPOILERS! (though most people have read this)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which is about Harry Potter (the dude who survived the wrath of Voldemort~) attending Hogwarts for his 4^th year. In the beginning Harry attends a Quidditch World Cup Tournament with his best friend and best friend’s family. And then from there, Harry goes to Hogwarts, finding out that there will be a Triwizard Tournament. The Triwizard tournament includes Hogwarts’s rivals, Beauxbaton and Durmstrang, which of course includes one of the most famous Quidditch players, Viktor Krum. In the tournament, the 3 schools need to compete to see which player could complete all 3 tasks and lead their school to victory.

The schools used to have the tournament but there were….complications (Death…*cough*) so they had to put rules on the tournament, saying that no one under 17 can enter the tournament. And therefore, the people who can enter are Viktor from Beauxbaton, Cedric from Hogwarts, and Fleur from Durmstrang. But (Hold it…!) somehow Harry manages to get it! Many people are outraged! Hogwarts can’t have 2 people in it! Also Harry’s underage! Outrageous! But, of course, everyone also agreed that anyone who’s decided must enter the contest-so, what are people supposed to do? So. Harry entered the competition! I would like to say it ended well…it kina didn’t. Harry’s enemy (Voldemort) came!!!  Yep. The one who tried to kill him but failed! And course little Voldy has a reputation to live up to-huh? 

I guess I can see the whole Kill-Harry thing from Voldemort’s point of view. You’re known as the most powerful wizard everywhere, everyone feared you! Then all of a sudden, you try and kill a kid-BOOM! You suddenly are destroyed into almost nothing! Being known as the guy who couldn’t kill a single kid! Well, that must have really crashed everything! (Also, doing this does not mean I support Voldemort! I don’t support killing a kid; I just see it from his point of view.) Some people really don’t see this as a problem. “Voldemort’s gone-yay! No more random dying!” Everyone’s basically like. Must really make Voldemort angry-looks like some wizards will die! 

I know saying this looks like I’m supporting the bad guy but hey, I’m not! Killing isn’t cool. But everyone looks at the Harry Potter series from Harry’s point of view! Why can’t you look at it from others? Like, I know Harry’s a good guy; it’s good to see it from his point of view. Everyone looks at Voldemort as the bad guy but people don’t know his story! The bad guy is the bad guy, nothing else! Why doesn’t everyone look at it from his point of view? Or possibly the others, but no one thinks about Voldemort’s view! I’m not saying anything big; just I think they should see it from the other point of view of people’s. Not just Harry’s. Not all bad guys are as completely bad as everyone thinks…they have a story too.

Fang

Fang

I have recently finished reading Fang by James Patterson. In the book, Maximum Ride (Max) is basically trying to save the world from all the scientists trying to destroy it. She's been through so many things-having people betraying her left and right, getting into fights with close people, and people dying- but one day, Angel-Max's backstabbing friend who can't seem to make up her mind on being on the good side or bad side- makes a prophecy: "Fang will be the 1st one to die. And it will be soon."  So while Max has to deal with Fang's coming death of her shoulders, she also has to deal with the coming of her perfect other half, Dylan. She also has to deal with the end of world thing...so...Max has a lot to deal with.  

 Now, with all, you can't really blame Max for not wanting to side with Dr. Gunther-Hagen, a scientist who says he can help Max with the whole saving the world thing. And the one who created Dylan, which of course is not helping him in this case. (The whole perfect half thing is really bothering Max.) Personally, I think Max was right to not accept the alliance thing. For one, I'm a big Fang and Max fan, there is no way Dylan is Max's other half-he hardly knows her! I know I'm being biased here, but there are other reasons! Just that's my big one. (Sorry to all those DylanxMax Fans xD) Another reason is that, Max has trusted so many people, and they all broken it. Jeb-another scientist-helps prove this too! Jeb promised that he would always be there for Max, that he would always help her with whatever she needed help with. Look at him now-siding with the enemy (*cough*) and just ending up hurting Max. Now, I don't really think Hagen can hurt Max emotionally, but like, many scientists that Max knows always end up hurting her, they just manipulate her into getting what they want. So personally, I think Max is right not to take this whole alliance thing with Hagen, what good would it do? Max should only be trusting the members of her flocks, they're her family!

But then again...Max can't always trust her Flock Family. Especially her little girl, Angel. Angel, the 6 (7 in this book) blond mind-reading and other amazing power girl, isn't exactly trustworthy. Many times she has been caught working for the School (Read Book 3 ._.) and has been known to backstab Max. All because the little girl wants to be Leader. 'Cause she feels she can lead the Flock better than Max can, 'cause she feels just because she's more poweful than Max, with all her amazing powers, she can lead the Flock and make them... survive. Also because she feels Max is getting to involved with Fang that Max doesn't care for the Flock anymore. So can Max really trust anyone? Angel, the one Max adores has proven to her she can't trust family, and Max can't seem to trust others so who can Max trust? Only herself? Does she have to be the lone wolf ? (A-wooooo! xD) 

Trust. Something Max isn't sure who she can trust with. People just love to break her trust for her own things! Maybe Max should become a lone wolf. (Well, maybe lone bird since she's a bird-kid...) Maybe there's one person who won't break her trust, the one who was made for her (The one I don't support!) Dylan. He was made for her so how could he break her trust? But, Max also doesn't trust him, she doesn't want him near her 'cause she feels that he's just there to annoy her or something with the whole I'm your perfect other half thing. Looks like Max need to become a lone bird-kid...

Cell phone tracking.

Are you being tracked? 

Cells phone. Cells phone help you communicate with others, they help you call your parents when you need help. They help you call your friends when you wanna talk with them. They help you call the police when you need major help with stealing or any other crime. Or it can help others communicate with you. The phone may help you communicate with others, or vise versa, but it also does something else, something you might not even be aware of. Your phone helps the police and anyone else find you. 

Many times people (mostly kids) are kidnapped and go missing. For example in 2011, November 16th, a student was on her way to class when was kidnapped. The abductor had tied the girl and shoved her in his car, where there was fiber-glass windows so she couldn't scream for help. She would have never been found if her cell phone's gps hadn't helped the police track her. She managed to get back to life and be safe about 30 minutes after she was kidnapped. 

Though cells phones can help people or police help find a person if they're kidnapped some people think that this whole thing is violating people's privacy rights. Personally, I agree with this, every person does have rights, they have a right to be able to do things without people watching them; but then again, what if you're kidnapped? Would you wanna be killed or anything else just because you didn't want the police watching you so you got a prepaid phone, the only phone that can't be tracked? I have a phone (with a gps) and having people know my every move, every thing I do, well it kinda freaks me out. But what if I'm kidnapped? What if I go missing and people don't know what's going on? Or I don't know where I am, I would want to be found, I want to live! I don't want to do who knows what! 

Sooo, I guess the whole conversation with the whole "privacy-right violation with the phone tracking" is kinda worth it, people do have a right to privacy but what if you need to be found and you don't know how you're gonna get helped? So who knows what's gonna happen to the whole phone tracking? Who knows if it's gonna stop? I don't know. I would like to read more about it and find out more info, but hey, that's my opinion. That's what I want to do-I'm just one voice in millions, I have no ideas what others think or what you the reader could possibly think, maybe you think that it should stop, maybe you think it should keep happening-who knows; I certainly don't know. What is it that you the reader think about this? Is it good for you? Or bad for you? Is your cell phone helping violating rights? Would you wanna keep your cell phone-even after reading this? (I sound/feel like an ad person here...) What would you do, say, or think about this? And if you think this is bad, why? 

 

If There Be Thorns~

If There Be Thorns

V.C Andrews

If There Be Thorns is the 3^rd book of the Dollanganger Story. But instead of being told from Cathy’s point of view it’s being told from both her sons’ view, Bart-the clumsy 9 year old boy who so desperately wants to find his place in the world but is having hard trouble with it-and Jory, a graceful 14 year old dancer who is trying to help his brother find his place and honor his dead famous dancing father. In the story Bart and Jory are slowly realizing their parents’ past, but instead of getting the whole story they find out bits and bits, judging from it there, the whole story is basically about if the dolls’ sons can accept their past or would they end up wishing they were never their parents?

Jory seems to have no big complications with that but Bart is really the one who has a hard time accepting it. Bart is a child who doesn’t know who to listen to, or what path to follow. Next door a new lady and her mysterious butler have moved in. Because Bart is curious and desperate for friends and for people who won’t compare him to graceful Jory, he goes over there in secret. Soon he and the butler are “friends” and the butler soon tells Bart more about his parents’ past, also telling him about his parents’ grandfather-Malcolm Neal Foxworth. Bart soon is eagerly trying to be like the “tough, know-it-all and great” Malcolm since he doesn’t know who exactly who he is. Because of that when Bart finds out about his parents’ secret he judges it so much. He calls their secret sinful and begins to show hate for them. He’s also putting his feelings for rejection into it and his adoring-feelings to his mother, making it more and more complicated for all of the family.  Soon Bart is hated on by the family, who is doing their best to not hate on him but he’s judging them so much, he hates on almost everything they do, it gets on their nerves. I can’t really blame them, they love Bart, no doubt about that, but he’s hurting them how can they not get angry back? Not being able to find out his true self Bart becomes a boy who loves his parents and hates when he hates on them to a boy who’s trying to act like an old man who’s dead and hated everyone and everything thinking what they did would be sinful.

For Jory it’s not so complicated. He loves his parents to death; he probably can accept anything they do. But when he figures out about his parents’ secret he begins to wonder about things. How could his parents keep a secret from them this big? Why had they done it?  And could he still love them the same way he used to before?  They clearly had done something wrong-right? But, can he also be like Bart? Love them but hate them? No, he knows he can’t do that. How could he? His mother had done so much for him…and his step-dad tried. But it was just one thing they kept? They treated him fairly, giving him almost everything he wanted…but they did something wrong, they married each other! Isn’t that wrong? Didn’t they do something sinful…? But they’re his parents, they love him, they did the best they could-right?-so why should he judge them? Is sweet, loving, dancing Jory gonna be like Bart, or truly accept his parents, who’s done their best for him all his life? 

Though, the story keeps me thinking (and probably will to you if you read it) and all that, I personally feel that there could be another person who could the same thing as Jory and Bart do. For one there could be Cindy, the innocent little adopted girl, how would she feel about all this? Bart, hating on her for some reason she doesn’t know? What does she think about Jory being nice to her but also seeming to have dark secrets, or about Cathy, the woman who adopted her in the first place, who seems to be happy to her but distant to Bart? Does she notice the darkness in her new family? What exactly does she know about her family?

Another person who would have been good to hear from is John, the butler. He’s the one feeding Bart the ideas to be like Malcolm. How could he? Why would he want a 9 year old boy be like a heartless dead old man? What are his motives, revenge, for clearly doesn’t seem to like Cathy or Chris, as if he knows what they have done and is judging them sinfully. What exactly does he get out of turning a little boy he doesn’t know much against his parents?  And his hate for the lady he works for, he seems to be planning something for her too, as if she can help him for whatever he’s planning. How does he see the Dollanganger and Foxworth story? Does he see sin and evil or good and joy?  If he sees evil how is he using Bart to get revenge? 

Clearly there are many problems in this book. Clearly even if they want it to happen, Bart and Jory are getting sucked in the twisted Dollanganger story, the big question is can they accept it? Or will they live in shame and hate for their rest of their lives? Is John gonna get his revenge? What’s up with the weird lady next door, who exactly is she? Will Cindy get sucked in too? Who exactly is gonna hurt even more? (I feel like one of those people who promote books xD) And will Bart finally find out who he is? What exactly is gonna happen to the dolls (read my other post to understand it). Will justice finally be served?