Eona~

Angeles Martinez :3
804 
Eona by Alison Goodman 

I am currently reading the book called Eona. (For all of you who saw me with another book-I'm reading that too, I'm reading two books at once, this is usual for me!) What so far is happening is that Lady Eona-the Mirror Dragon Eye-is running away from Lord Sethon, basically the dictator of the book. 
The reason I say dictator is because Lord Sethon-the brother of the original Emperor, his wife, and youngest son because he wanted the power and control of the whole place. He didn't manage to kill the Prince, Prince Kygo since Kygo ran away in time. But most people think he's dead because he hasn't shown up to claim the throne (not like you can blame him-a whole army and other people who support Sethon don't think he's alive, they all think he's dead). 
Before I can go on I have to explain the important stuff that's happened. Okay, so in the beginning there were 13 dragon eyes-including Eona. There was the Ox Dragon (the North Dragon) who's Dragon-eye was Lord Tyron, the Goat Dragon (Or the South dragon) who's Dragon-Eye was Load Tiro, then there was the Tiger Dragon (North-East Dragon) with Lord Elgo, The Monkey Dragon (South-west Dragon) and Lord Jessam, the Rabbit Dragon (East-Northeast [if that makes sense to you people, I'm just writing what they have in the book] Dragon) and Lord Silvo, the Rooster Dragon (West Southwest Dragon) and Lord Bano, the Dog Dragon (West Dragon) with Lord Garon, the Snake Dragon (East-South-East Dragon) With Lord Chion, the Pig Dragon (West-Northwest dragon) with Lord Meram, the Horse Dragon (South-Southeast Dragon) with Lord Dram, the Rat Dragon (North-Northwest dragon) with Lord Ido [Apprentice: Dillon, Eona's best friend], and last but not least, the "Queen" of all Dragons, the Dragon-Dragon (The East Dragon) with Eona. [Lots of Dragons, eh? o.o] 
In the world of dragons, there aren't really girls who have the power to see the Dragons-in order to be chosen you have to at least be able to see the Dragons, and then you have to train to impress them when it's their year and they choose new Dragon Eyes. The reason there aren't any girls allowed because people feel that "girls are too busy looking at themselves to notice the hua around them." Any girl, who is caught training for this, will be executed because it's forbidden for girls.
But there has been an acceptance. Eona has been able to see the Dragons, but cuz of the penalty; she had to go incognito and pretend to be a guy-Eon. When she didn't get chosen to be the Rat Dragon's Dragon eye [It's the Year of the Rat] the Mirror Dragon [who's been gone for like, forever] came and claimed Eona. [Probably cuz like, they're both females!!!! o.o] But, Eona couldn't still reveal her true identity, because she would still get in trouble, despite she was claimed by the most powerful dragon in the world.
So, Lord Ido who wants all the power to himself, plains something. In the end, he kills basically all dragon eyes and their apprentices [who most were not named] all except Eona and Dillon, who manage to escape. He also tries to double cross Sethon [who also wants power] but fails so ends up in the dungeon, so now, we're back into the story~! 
So, Eona, who's doing her best not to get caught by Sethon's men [he also wants her power!] is on the run. Something big has happened though. Because of Ido, Ryko, the guard of Eona and Dela [Woman in a man's body, friend/guard of Eona's, ya know], Ryko ends up getting hurt. 
Dela and Eona sorta blame Eona cuz; he was protecting Eona from Ido [who was so close to get her power!]. So, Dela demands Eona heals Ryko like she did with Ido when he was hurt [Long, complicated story o.o] so she does. 
But, there are more complications with this. When Eona tries and heals Ryko, she calls on to her Mirror Dragon; the other dragons come-from wherever they were grieving for the loss of their Dragon eyes-and basically, well attack Eona and her dragon. But if the song-the thing that is needed to heal people-is broken, well then Ryko will die. 
So Lord Ido-do not ask me how he managed to get into Eona's head when he's in a dungeon, miles away, cuz Eona doesn't even know, so you think I know?-, well, Lord Ido helps Eona fight off the Dragons with his own Rat Dragon. 
[The Following is a part of Chapter 1 in the book.] 
"We sang his healing, barley withstanding the savage energy that clawed at our connection. Around us, the ten bereft dragons shimmered into pale, howling outlines.
The Rat Dragon suddenly reared from his corner, his tense pain replaced by sinuous pain. He rammed the opaque Ox Dragon beside him, then launched above us, sweeping in a circle that drove back the other advancing dragons, deep inside we felt another voice, screaming with effort.
Lord Ido.
We recoiled from the acrid orange taste of his power, but this time we not seeking control. He was defending us.
The Rat Dragon reared again and met the wild energy of the ten bereft dragons. The roof of the fisher house exploded, raining to the floor, crushing the Beseecher. The silvery flow of his hua flicked and was gone.
“Get out,” Tozay bellowed, dragging Vida toward the door. The herbalist scrambled up from the dead holy man and ran after them.
Dela threw herself over Ryko, shielding him from the falling wreckage. Chucks of wood showered my earthly body but there was no pain. Tozay pushed Vida intro Solly’s arms.
“Get away from the buildings,” he yelled, then turned back to Dela.
With the rood gone, we were suddenly beyond the room in a dizzying embrace of dark sky. Through the dragons eyes we saw the bright figures of Vida, Solly, and the herbalist clear the house and run for the village road. We rolled through the black thundering clouds, feeling brutal power slamming into us. Our claws connected, ripping and throwing dragon bodies. Besides us, the Rat Dragon blocked the Snake Dragon, the clash of hua shearing off the edge of a cliff far below.
Focus. It was Lord Ido’s mind-voice, piercing the frenzy. Block!
How? I didn’t know how!
My mind-sight plunged into the earthbound room-Tozay hauling Ryko upright-then lurched back into dragon-sight and the rolling battle across the sky. Below us, the sea was a boiling mass of energy, ramming tiny boats against the rocks and sweeping away a line of waterfront cottages. A dozen or so bright dots of hua ran from the village buildings, the all of water crashing over them, extinguishing their light.
“Eona.” It was Dela, pulling at my earthly body.
For a moment, I came to myself and met her wild eyes. The walls were collapsing, creaking under the pounding power of a searing wind.
“Move,” She yelled, pulling me toward the doorway as Tozay carried Ryko out into the courtyard.
Eona! Ido’s mind-scream wrenched me back in the Mirror Dragon. We swirled, claws failing against the agile pink Rabbit Dragon. Above, the Rat Dragon collided with the Tiger Dragon, the impact resonating through Ido’s mind into our union.
For a bewildering second, we were in another room-a stone room-wrists and ankles shacked, pain pulsing through our flogged and broken body. another shock wave as Ido’s dragon slammed into the other beast against, and suddenly we were small, crouched under a bush, black book open, dark words burning onto out mind-Dillon, screaming, Find Eona, Find Eona, Find Eona. Then he was gone, and we were back in the sky above the crumbling fisher house, claws slashing, shrieking our defiance. Around us the ten bereft dragons were closing the circle
They must not close the circle, Ido’s mind-voice rasped with pain and alarm. Give me your power.
No!
Below, Dela staggered out into the courtyard, half carrying my earthly body.
They will tear you apart. You will die. Give me your power!
No!
The combined power of the ten dragons battered us. We could not hold out much longer, but we could not give our power to Ido. Not after his brutal grab for it at the palace.
Help me stop them! Fear sharpened Ido’s mind-voice.
Ten stark songs of mourning pounded against us, searching for the relief of union.
There was nowhere else to go. We did not have enough power, enough knowledge. With a howl of despair, we opened our pathways to Ido.
His desperate power burst through us, drawing up all our golden energy. We emptied, defenseless. As one, the ten bereft dragons rushed at us, their need circling us like a vise. With iron control, Ido and the Rat Dragon gathered our energies, binding them with the shrieking wind and crashing water.
Prepare! Ido’s mind voice yelled.
He threw the massive weight of power outward, the strain searing through his mind into us. The booming explosion ripped through the circle of dragons, knocking them backward. Below us, the remains of the fisher house spin into the dark sky, the rest of the cliff collapsing into the sea.
Block now! Ido roared.
But we did not know how. The shockwave of power hit us like a hammer, slamming me back into my own body. For a moment, I saw Dela’s face above mine, her strong arms cradling my head. I screamed, pain pulsing through every part of my being. But the agony was not all mine.
Help me, Ido’s mind gasped. I can’t-
Then swirling blackness dragged me away from his tortured scream.”
[Ugh, that was a lot to type!!! o.o]
So, what this scene says to me? Well, when I read this, I was trying to figure what Ido wanted. He couldn’t have changed to want to save the world, he wanted to control it, and he wanted Eona’s power to control the world. But then again, he could always be like: Okay, I have to save the world in order to control it.
But, it’s Ido. His character is not like that. He may think that, but I don’t think he would think it. He’s too power-hungry, too dark for that.
As I read this over and over again, I begin to wonder-has Ido really changed? Has he switched to the good side because when he wanted to double cross Sethon and he failed, did he realize, that Sethon was the true bad guy and he was just a pawn, thinking he was King?-did he realize that in order to become the king again, or in order to live he would need to switch sides?
I honestly, don’t know what to think. Alison Goodman has left me wondering, why is Ido doing this? Is it because he has evil darker plans, or is it because he truly wants to help Eona for…well, goodness?
 

Nineteen Minutes

Angeles Martinez 
804
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult 
Contains some spoilers. :3 

I am currently reading the book Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. (Okay, I'll admit now, I read this before, but I'm rereading it.) The book...I must say is a very interesting one. It's told from many perspectives-from Alex and Josie Cormier, Peter, Lacy, and Lewis Houghton, Jordan McAfee, and Patrick Ducharme. The whole story wraps around a shooting that happened at Sterling High. A shooting which had been done by Peter Houghton. [*LE GASP*]
No one really has expected Peter of all people to be able to pull this off. Why? Because Peter was that loser kid that everyone picked up. He once had a friend-Josie-but, they even took her away from him. Peter has always been that kinda kid who could never stand up for himself-which made it more fun to pick on him. Peter may have had problems, anti-social like really anti-social since not even the other losers wanted to hang out with him. He's not welcomed. Never will be. 
But, that would give him more reason to start the shooting huh? In the book, Peter's lawyer-Jordan-and his wife, Selena, were like: 
Jordan: Battered women syndrome. It's a valid legal defense. Battered women get stuck   in a world that slams them down; eventually the feel so constantly threatened that they take action and truly believe they're protecting themselves-even if their husbands are fast asleep. That fits Peter Houghton, to a T." 
Selena: "Far be it from me to point out this to you, Jordan. But Peter's not female, and he's not married."
Jordan: "That's not the point. It's Post-Traumatic stress disorder.  When these women go ballistic and shoot their husbands or slice of their [not-gonna-say-this] they aren't thinking about the consequences...just about stopping aggression. That's what Peter's been saying all along-he wanted it to stop. And this is even better because I don't have to fight the Prosecutor's usual rebuttal about a grown woman being old enough to know what she's doing when she picks up the knife or gun. Peter's a kid. By definition, he doesn't know what he's doing." 
It also says: "Monsters don't grow out of nowhere; a housewife didn't turn into a murder unless someone turned her into one. The Dr. Frankenstein, in her case, was a controlling husband. And in Peter's case, it was the whole of Sterling High School. Bullies kicked and teased and punched and pinched, all behaviors meant to force someone back where he belonged. it was at the hands of his tormentors that Peter learned to fight back."
Peter was a nice, gentle kid, like the book says, Peter didn't turn into a monster, he didn't want to start the shooting. But he had to, if he wanted it to end, if he wanted all the pain they caused him, all the hurt, mentally, emotionally, and physically, he wanted that to go away. 
All the children who died's parents may not like it. But, they can't say their children were the victims. They can't be like: Peter is a monster! He murdered 10 kids! He deserves to feel the pain we feel! But, do they really know how their children acted. Do they know what evil things they did to Peter? How they broke his glasses. How they called him gay and made fun of him. How the hurt him. Punched him down. Kicked him. Made him bleed. Are they really so gullible they don't see? 
I'm not saying that what Peter did was good, no, shooting a bunch of kids, killing 10 and leaving some injured and scarred mentally? No, that's not good. I'm not saying that. I'm just deciding to see the way Jordan has to fight for Peter in court.  Everyone just looks out on the surface of things, judging them from there, making them seem like a bad person, when they haven't seen the inside of it. Do they not see the pathetic little Peter who was just defending himself? Do they not see a little kid who didn't know what to do other than to stop it? Clearly, Sterling doesn't see it, only very few people do, and they're not really doing anything-all, well except Jordan. 
Peter may have done all that damage, but he was just doing his best. He couldn't go to the teachers. They just told the students who bullied him that they should stop or would get in trouble. They never made it clear they were going to stop-stop it, they just said. He couldn't go to his mother or father, because clealry they did not see. Plus, he felt like they didn't understand him. No one understood him until they looked closely into Peter. 
My question now is: Which side do you take? Do you see Peter as guilty and should be killed, should pay for his crimes? Or do you see a helpless little boy who was just defending himself-or at least was trying to defend himself.
   



  

Praise on Sara D's Blog Post

Link to Sara's BlogPost: http://sara808.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-first-machine-dynasty-vn-by_21.html
I have recently read Sara's response to The First Machine Dynasty by Madeline Ashby. And I must say, she really gave me a great opinion start on this book. I've actually never read this book and neither have I seen it around,  I usually judge books by titles when I don't see their covers. [Or by blurb and the person who I know has good taste or something o-o] 

Since I really haven't read the book I don't really know what I disagree with Sara with the book. But, what she did good was giving a summary of the book (Not too quick, not too long, not giving away too little so I don't understand it or giving away too much that it ruins the whole book for me.) She connected the way the police is like in the real world to the way it's like for Amy-the main character in the book according to Sara. She also relates to what most people do, they look out for themselves, and there are rare people who actually look out for others first before themselves-like Amy. Sara also makes us think about what the author wants us to possibly think about the book. "The author I think wants to make the reader percieve Amy as a wonderful caring person. Also I think she wants the reader to percieve the humans as more monsterous creatures. For instance the gage that Amy has in her mouth contains acids that is she bites into it will melt her. They would never do this to their oun kind. The reader makes the humans seem racist and cruel." [From Sara's Blogpost itself.] She connects the book whole book in many different ways, not just comparing the characters to other people like most people usually do. 

What I also like about Sara's response is that she gives her own opinion in the end. Though it is short, Sara clearly states what she wants to happen in the book, what she thinks about the way the robots are being treated, and what should happen with the characters. In the end-end, Sara like, leaves us with a suspense of what might/will happen in the book. She leaves us hanging [Not in the high-five way xD] and actually makes us wanna read this book, well okay, maybe some others won't read it or want to read it, but after reading this, I certainly wanna read it. 

I also, don't really want to sound all...uh, angelic or something-conceited might be the right word here?- , but I actually wanna say Amy sorta reminds me of myself. I may not seem like it to some people, but I usually think of others before myself. I don't care if I'm poor and in rags [Though, I rather not be] but as long as my friends are in the good life, as long as they aren't sad, in despair, angry, or anything, I'll be fine, as long as their happy. I don't really know if Amy is like this, according to this response of Sara's she is. I guess if Amy was a real character and she and I met, we'd probably bond or something, or maybe we wouldn't since we'd be worrying about each other and it would probably get all awkward. I guess being so emotional, so much of a softie, makes me seem like Amy. I am honestly not sure how Amy's whole personality is but from the looks of that blogpost, I guess me and Amy are very alike. [Though, most of you won't agree XD]

So, yeah, awesome job, Sara! I can't wait to read this book! And I'll come back to this, and see if I still agree with you. :3 But, really, nice job, I liked this blogpost. xD

-Angel of 804

Facebook Life [or, Part of it]

Facebook Life

Is Facebook’s Privacy confusing?

Everyone here basically has a Facebook, or at least knows what it is. The chatting site that Mark Zuckerburg created, the one that gets millions of hits when people log on. The site  that companies use to advertise their stuff they wanna sell, where friends get on to chat, like things, poke people [everyone loves a good poke ;3] and sometimes stalk people [Okay, most people don’t do this, I’m just throwing it out there…or, at least I hope no one does this o.o]. 

Over the years, Facebook has gotten more people to use it. Kids as young as 10 have been using Facebook though the proper age to have a Facebook is 13. Facebook seems to becoming popular fast. [Oh how happy Zuckerburg must be!] But as Facebook becomes more popular, people begin to add and change stuff-or at least try. The way things like who can see what, who can tag who, who can block and all that. Basically, it’s called Privacy of Facebook. People seem to change how the Privacy-Rule is being run. 

Privacy is a good thing-who would want people to stalk them [No offense to those who do? o.o] You want to upload  a private family photo that only certain some people can see, well Facebook can allow that. But, is it all becoming too confusing for people to understand? Are they really able to stop some people from seeing their things?  

Randi Zuckerburg-the sister of Mark-had tried to upload a photo-a family photo-where only some people could see it, she used the privacy settings to make sure of that, or she thought. But Callie Schweitzer, a mutual friend of the Zuckerburgs saw it and shared it on Twitter and Randi found out and didn’t like it, Callie was realizing it was supposed to be a private photo. She was like it’s "way uncool" for Schweitzer to post the private photo to Twitter. But, how could Callie have known? The photo hadn’t been private like Zuckerburg thought it was-though she had a bit of her brother’s help-it showed up in her news feed, and Callie thought it was good enough to share.  

Of course, Callie deleted the photo from Twitter and apologized-though some do think that she shouldn’t have, it was Zuckerburg’s fault that the photo was seen, one person even says: ” But hold the phone, Callie! Don't apologize. Doesn't Randi Zuckerberg understand her privacy settings and how a photo on Facebook might suddenly fly out of her control? She's merely compromising her personal desires for the forward march of Facebook's benevolent reign and the advancement of the new, new social-media contract. No comprende? That's her problem.” So now, it’s a big thing, all because the Facebook-Privacy guide line was too confusing for poor Randi. 

This isn’t the only problem. For a while, Facebook has been accused of having a too-difficult guideline to Privacy, no one is really certain if their things are private to some people or not. In a photo album, people put their settings to a certain thing, thinking it goes the way they set it, then later, do they found out that the photo album is really not private, that it’s public, that people the person didn’t want to able to see the photo album can actually see it. [If it’s too confusing, here I’ll use names. Okay. So. Person who sets their photo album so only certain people can see it: Ali. Person Ali doesn’t want to see her album: Maria. Ali sets her photo album views to a certain thing. Or so she thinks. She realizes that Maria can actually see her photo album, and now she’s fed up because she thought it was set to a certain setting.] 

Have you ever had Privacy-setting issues? Have you ever wanted to make sure the public didn’t see a certain thing? Like a family photo like Randi? But then you realize that the public could actually see it? And you get pissed off or upset? Don’t worry, you’re just one of millions of people who have the same problem. I’m sure Facebook will fix it. [Also, don’t let this affect how you use Facebook. o.o]  Just…be careful who gets to see certain things of yours, okay? o.o

The City of Bones

I am currently reading a book called The City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. The book is basically about 15 year old Clary Fray being sucked into a life that her mother-Jocelyn Fray-has so desperately wanted to hide from her. It all starts when she meets Jace Wayland, Isabelle and Alec Lightwood, and Hodge, the shadowhunters of the world. The Shadowhunters are, as Hodge describes, “We are sometimes called Nephilim. In the Bible they were the offspring of humans and angels. The legend of the origin of Shadowhunters is that they were created more than a thousand years ago, when humans were being overrun by demon invasions from other worlds. A warlock summoned the Angel Raziel, who mixed some of his own blood with the blood of men in a cup, and gave it to those men to drink. Those who drank the Angel’s blood became shadowhunters, as did their children and their children’s children.”  Jocelyn tried very hard to keep all this away from her daughter, because when she was a shadowhunter, well it wasn’t really pleasant thing for her, as Magus-not mentioning who he is, I don’t want to spoil too much ;3-said: “Keep in mind that when your mother fled from the Shadow World, it wasn’t the monsters she was hiding from. Not the warlocks, wolf-men, the Fair Folk, not even the demons themselves. It was them. It was the Shadowhunters.”

But, now Clary has found herself in the middle of this. Her mother can longer protect her from the twisted world, and with no one else being able to do the job, Clary gets sucked in. She gets attacked by monsters that also had trouble with her mother, vampires, and finds out that the only reason she could never remember all this-she had the sight to be able to see the other world-was that it was blocked. Anything that she remembered of the other world would be repressed-looks like her mother really wanted Clary to stay away from this side of the world, but the question is why? What’s so bad about battling some demons (Don’t say death. That doesn’t count now) seeing some “deadly” fairies, vampires, werewolves, and all that? Personally, I think it’s cool, so why would Jocelyn go through so much for Clary? Magus said it wasn’t the demons who Jocelyn wanted to run from-it was the Shadowhunters, what was so bad about the shadowhunters? What did they do to Jocelyn that she wanted to hide, doing anything to hide? Only Clary’s mind holds that answer-but is Clary ready to see the answer? Is she ready to face the actual burden of the truth her mother so desperately tried to hide? Is she ready to face the Shadow World?

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS!!!!

I am currently reading a book called Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson, the 3^rd book of the Maximum Ride Series. The whole series is basically about 6 bird kids, 14 year old Max, Fang, 12 year old Nudge (Yes that is her name), 8 year old Gazzy (Yes that’s his name and note: his name is what he literally is like!) and 6 year old Angel (Gazzy’s biological little sister). So, basically Max and her Flock have a mission-to save the world, but sadly it’s not really as easy as you can say it. Many mad scientists (Ya know, the ones that experimented on Max and her Flock before they escaped years ago? Yeah. Glad ya know what I’m talking about ^-^) keep interfering insisting that their side is better and all that.  

What’s worse now? Max, many times, has been offered to keep away from the whole plan; she and her flock can just give in and rest, while the scientists destroy the world. Dr. Martinez and Ella-2 ordinary people (ya know the ones that aren’t like, scientists, ordinary, normal, run-in-mill people?)-have showed Max what it was like to be ordinary (Despite having wings) how she could just be able to do and relax. When she accidentally ends up near them again she even says: “It wasn’t as though they had saved my life or anything-Ella and Dr. Martinez. It was worse: They had shown me what life could like in Normal Land. It haunted me ever since I’d left them.” But it’s not like Max could just drop everything and go and live in Normal Land. She had a  mission-save the world, it’s not just some people but the world-where she lives, how can she just go drop that, ignore that, so she could live in Normal Land? 

Besides, how is Max going to be certain that all of what the scientists promise is gonna happen? For all of her life, Max has been lied to. The person she thought was going to be taking care of her for most of her life since he helped her and the Flock escape the School, the place where they were experimented on, had lied to her. He made it seem like he was a “good guy” and in the end, all he did was just go back to the School to help with the whole destroying the world thing. And now, after Max and Fang finished visiting Dr. Martinez and Ella-by “accident” according to Max-Max is basically in shock again. Fang has just told Max that he found a picture of the Baby Gazzy in Dr. Martinez’s office-“I needed a paper clip”-Fang-“Between two books in Dr. Martinez’s home office. Between a book about recombinant-DNA theory…and one on birds.” Max’s reaction: “Well. If sudden knowledge had a physical force, my head would have exploded right there, and chunks of my brain would have splattered some unsuspecting schmuck in a grocery store parking lot down below. Let’s just say I was stunned, and it takes a fair amount to stun me, I promise.”  

 

Clearly, this isn’t just a simple coincidence; I mean Dr. Martinez-a vet-has a book about DNA theory and birds, plus she had a picture of Gazzy, who I’m certain has never met in her life! What if Dr. Martinez is a scientist-or whitecoats as Max and her Flock call ’em. Max trusts Dr. Martinez, by being so; it would mean she hid something big from Max who has bad experiences with whitecoats. How can Max be certain now of anything anyone tells her? Sure, she can trust her Flock, but what the ones who promise to leave her alone if she lets the whole World-Destruction thing go by?  How can she make sure they really mean what they’re saying? Sure, people shouldn’t judge others based on one thing, I’m sure Dr. Martinez has a reasonable reason for having that picture and books, but when you’re Max, when you’re the girl running from everyone who wants to destroy you, from everyone who wants to use you for their own benefits, you can’t just take any chances. And if Dr. Martinez is one of the whitecoats…well, it’s better safe than sorry, eh?