Tag: survival

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – Wrecked (Bree L. Mina)

Posted on by Katie Night

Hey Dearies!

Okay, so with Wrecked, I am going to give a brief intro and then going to spoil a lot of it because I have a lot to say when it comes to this book. Also, there is a second one that will actually be coming out in November, so I do plan on reading that one as well.

I did get recommended for this one as well. When I first heard her telling me all about it, I was skeptical because the plot seemed a little screwed up, but she did say it was a good read, so I gave it a shot. Plus, once she told me that the second one would be out in November, I was really excited since I’m counting out until Locked In: Season Two is released.

Anyway, before even starting the book, the author makes it very clear that this is NOT a happily ever after kind of book. Which, if you are like me and like reading about happily ever afters, this was a good heads-up. Although the second book is supposed to be a happily ever after, which makes up for it.

The book focuses on Ellie and Nate, who were high school sweethearts who don’t end up together because of Nate’s father, he thinks Ellie is just a distraction as he wants Nate to end up being a lawyer like himself and ends up making Nate end the relationship or he would ruin Ellie’s life.

Then, 8 years later, Nate ends up engaged to Ellie’s sister, Katie. Of course, both of them still have feelings for each other and this connection that they still have, but Katie has no idea that her fiance and sister had any type of connection since Katie was sent off to a private school, while Ellie and Nate attended public school.

Katie, not realizing this, she ends up having Nate and Ellie fly out to Brazil to pick up her wedding dress and hopes that they will end up getting to know each other better since Ellie has been avoiding Nate since she still has feelings for him.

Nate, is trying really hard to get Ellie to listen as he wants to explain why he did what he did and that he wants to be with her and not Katie since he was forced to do so by his father, however, his father passed away while in the middle of wedding planning and Nate wanted to end the engagement and explain everything to Katie and Ellie.

However, while on the plane to Brazil, Nate and Ellie’s plane crashes and they are stuck on an abandon island. Which forces them to not only work together to survive, but also gives Nate time to explain what had happened and that he still loves Ellie.

The book also happens to go back and forth and explains how Nate and Ellie fell in love, as well as going back on what’s happening on the island they are stuck on, as well as going back to Katie’s POV.

So, as you can guess, Nate and Ellie end up hooking up while on the island. Oh, and there are spicy scenes for it, but I could’ve cared less because this all could’ve been resolved if Nate called off the wedding BEFORE they left to the airport. Or even better, Ellie could’ve explained her past relationship to her sister when Katie introduced Nate to the family.

That’s what really pissed me off. It’s hard to root for Nate and Ellie when they couldn’t come clean to Katie about the entire thing, especially if they still had feelings for each other this entire time. Not to mention, Nate was only with Katie and lied to her about why he was even dating her.

Now, before I go further, I’m going to put a spoiler alert in now, since I’m going to spoil the ended of the book.

Nate and Ellie on the island end up stuck for almost a year and right before they get recused, Nate saves Ellie from being attacked by a jaguar and gets scratched really bad on the back, which ends up getting infected.

Ellie tries to save him, she is also a nurse, so she tries to look for something on the island that can help save him, ends up seeing a ship and flags them down to resuce them, but Nate dies before the ship comes.

Ellie gets recused and when she is brought to the hospital, they tell her she is pregnant. I had a feeling she might be because there wasn’t much for them to do other than survive and talk about how much time they wasted in the past 8 years they weren’t together.

Now, do you think Ellie even tells her sister what happened on the island?

NOPE!

Ellie goes forward with the pregnancy, since its a piece of Nate that she has left. She ends up having a baby girl, Luna. Go figure, another book that I have read with the name Luna. Which she only names her that because Nate mentioned if they ever had kids, he loved the name Luna for a girl because of Harry Potter.

You want to know what really set a fire on this book for me? After everything Ellie went through, surviving on an island for a year, watching the love of her life die in her arms, being recused and returned home, and having the love of her lifes child, Ellie kills herself and leaves her sister a note like a coward.

Yes, you read that right, she kills herself, abandons her daughter, and leaves custody to her sister to have her raise.

You’d think that Ellie would want to live for her daughters sake, but no, she was selfish and can’t live anymore because Nate is dead and she’d rather be dead with him. I was so pissed. As a mother, even if I lost the love of my life, I wouldn’t end my life knowing that they wouldn’t want me to do that.

When Katie reads that letter, she is upset and pissed. I don’t blame her either, she blamed herself for sending them to Brazil on that plane that crashed, thinking they were dead, then almost a year later, her sister is recused and finds out Nate is dead. Then, find out her sister and fiance were in love this entire time and is stuck raising their lovechild.

Which with the way the first one ended, I really wanted to know how the second one ends because its supposed to be about Katie struggling to process all this information and raising her niece, however, she gets a happily ever after. Which she deserves after all the crap they put her through.

Overall, it was an okay book, but it’s not something I’d read again anytime soon. Nate and Ellie are both cowards who should’ve told Katie their past as soon as Nate was introduced. I’m sorry, but they both got their Karma. I heard people were crying about the end because of how it all ends, but I didn’t shed a tear at all.

What did you think of this book? Did it piss you off like it did for me? Or was this something that actually made you cry? Let me know in the comments if you attempted to read this or not.

Posted in Books, Reviews

Book Review – The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

Posted on by Katie Night

Hey Dearies!

I figured I would switch it up a bit and review something that was actually really popular when I was in high school. Granted, I never read the book until now, but I did see the movies first, and with another movie coming out, I wanted to read the book before I see it.

Plus, they were selling special editions of the Hunger Games Saga books, and the covers were absolutely beautiful! I figured I would buy them and actually see if they followed the books more or if they left some things out.

Now, I’ve only read the book once, but I have seen The Hunger Games multiple times. So, I’m going to do my best to compare both of them, but this is more going to be a review of the book side, not the movie side.

The book is completely in Katniss’ POV, which I love because her energy is pretty much the same as shown in the movies. She lives in District 12, which is the poorest District to be in. Each District represents an industry that provides for all the others, as well as the Capitol, which is where the rich and famous people live, as well as President Snow.

Here is a List of each District to give you a clearer picture:

  • District 1 – Luxury Items made for the Capitol
  • District 2 – Stone Mining (Makes weapons and trains Peacekeepers)
  • District 3 – Technology, Computers, and Electronics
  • District 4 – Fishing and Seafood
  • District 5 – Generates Power and Electricity
  • District 6 – Transportation and Trains
  • District 7 – Lumber and Paper Goods
  • District 8 – Textiles and Clothing
  • District 9 – Processes Grain
  • District 10 – Raises Livestock for Meat
  • District 11 – Agriculture, Fruits, and Vegetables
  • District 12 – Coal Mining

To keep the peace within the Districts, they select 2 children, one female and one male, from each District to fight to the death in their annual Hunger Games. Every child aged 12-18 will have their name drawn once, but if you are in the poorer Districts, your name might be drawn multiple times if you end up needing food.

Oh, and the whole thing is broadcast for everyone to see. Actually, you are forced to watch it, from what I gathered in the book, no matter who you are. I couldn’t imagine being a mother in that society and having to watch any of my children compete in that arena.

In the book, Katniss talks about the games and that today is the day of the reaping and that this is her little sister Prim’s first time being a part of the reaping, as she is 12. Of course, Katniss tells her that she shouldn’t worry about being picked because her name is only in there once.

However, her name gets picked, and Katniss volunteers as a tribute, protecting her sister from having to endure the Hunger Games. Since she’s in District 12, volunteering only usually happens from the first two Districts. Mind you, the tributes being picked and everything is being broadcast to the Capitol; this is like their Wrestlemania or Super Bowl.

Once Katniss and Peeta, who were chosen, get selected, they have a few minutes to say goodbye, and this is when the movie doesn’t show. Katniss gets visitors from Gale, Prim, and her mother, but she also gets Mage, who gave her the Mockingjay pin, as well as Peeta’s father.

Which I sort of understand why they didn’t include those; I don’t even think you see Peeta’s parents or hear about them at all through most of the other movies, except in the scene where Peeta’s mother yells at him for burning the bread.

Then they are off to the Capitol, where they have Haymitch and Effie. They will do what they can to help get both Katniss and Peeta prepared for what they are about to endure. Also, side note, Haymitch is my favorite character, both in the book and in the movies. He’s also the only living District 12 tribute and now mentor to both Katniss and Peeta.

Anyway, they are at the Training Center for about 2 weeks, and then they are released into a giant dome where the games will happen. So, they get a little taste of what it’s like to be in the Capitol before they are ultimately killed.

Since this is a “TV show” to the people of the Capitol, they have all the tributes interviewed so that they can get to know them. As Haymitch says, “You want to get people to like you.”, which is needed to get sponsors that could help you in the middle of the games.

During the interviews, Peeta also confesses that he’s been in love with Katniss; she doesn’t take it well because she thinks it makes her look weak, but instead Haymitch tells her it makes her more desirable. This is when the beginning of the “Star-Crossed Lovers from District 12” starts to begin.

Throughout the time after the interview and during the games, you can see Katniss warming up to Peeta, but she’s still confused about her feelings throughout the entire book. Which I get and don’t get because of the society they are in; if she were to do something that pissed off the Capitol, everyone around her would be in trouble.

Plus, she also has mixed feelings about Gale; although they are close, she sees him more like a brother than a lover. I’m also not a huge fan of the Gale and Katniss couple. Yes, they are similar, but Peeta understands her a little bit more, in my eyes, just because they both endured a lot of PTSD from the games.

The one thing that got me when Katniss was in the games is that she had Rue (from District 11) as an ally, whom she wanted to protect like her little sister. Unfortunately, she was too late to save her, but stayed with her until she passed so she wasn’t alone.

Overall, the movie followed the book, missed a few things, but was pretty close to other books that didn’t do the book justice; this one did. I really also enjoyed the author’s writing style as well; usually that determines if I’ll read the book or not. I honestly wish I had read it when I was in high school because then it would have made seeing the movie even more exciting.

I will be reading the sequels as well; the only ones I haven’t gotten yet are the two newer books, but I plan on getting them with the special edition covers. I’m also super excited to read and watch the newer movie about Haymitch because he’s just my favorite!

I also must be living under a rock because I wasn’t sure if I could post GIFs!

What did you think about The Hunger Games? Did you end up seeing the movies first before reading the books? Who is your favorite character? Let me know down below!