[UPDATED]Back from Vacation

I haven't mentioned before but from the 18th up til the 21st, I was out of town. Our family went to Basco, Batanes for a holiday and a pre-birthday celebration for me and my mom.

Just to sum it up, the trip was wonderful. Everything about the place was wonderful. It's this whole cluster of islands filled with much greenery, and the sea that surrounds it is so clean and clear. It had this peaceful calmness about it. They all practically knew each other and treat each other as families, so there wasn't nearly any hostility, and everyone was so welcoming. I swear I could live there, if it weren't for cable TVs and fast internet connection. Oh, and the local food was delicious – I ate a snail!

Anyway, I would love to post photos of the place but were not allowed yet, our parents said so. So until then, just got to rely on my words.

PS. It was my first time on a plane. I hate it. And I may have puked on our boat ride to the other island. Maybe 5 times.

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So here's the promised pictures, just a few and most are landscapes since I don't want anyone to see my face here. . .

Book Review: Sweet Evil

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Title: Sweet Evil

Author: Wendy Higgins

Date Read: Dec. 4 - 8

Rating: ★★★★★

Anna Whitt has joined my very short list of 'Main female characters that I love' and because of that this book has turned into one where I give no fucks about the male love interest and all the fucks to the female protagonist, which is way easier because I know I'll always be hooked to the story since I'm in it for the one whose life the story revolves around. I mean, I like Kaidan, just not when he's being indecisive about his feelings for Anna because it hurts to see her getting hurt because of it. She's just this really sweet, genuine, all around wonderful girl so I strongly believe she doesn't deserve all that emotional pain. I guess another reason why I love her is because she reminds me so much of myself. Like honestly, I have never met a character who is so like me, I can feel heaven opening up to introduce her as my twin soul. 

I like how Wendy made it out that Anna already has special abilities, unlike most fantasy/paranormal/dystopian/whatever-genre-possible YA Heroine who has to find out about it first. But apart from that it's mostly the same with everything else: she has a 'great gift' separate from the other characters' and that gift could turn out to be humanity's salvation from evil and yes, she is still introduced into this new world of angels and demons and learns more about what her life really is from a boy she 'coincidentally' met one night.

Also, I think her writing needs to improve because it’s a little tacky at some parts.

However, despite all that I still love this book. I didn't think I could be in love with a book and main character just by reading the 1st chapter but here I am. This still was amaaaazing. I didn't get why people had to use extra vowels to show emphasis on a word but now I do. This book was extra A's worthy. Okay, but seriously, I do love this.

Now for the sort of spoilery part of my review.

I really want to talk about Anna's depression, the one after the Halloween chapter where Kaidan rejected her, and this quote in particular:

"I’m letting you go but only because I have to. I need to move on with my life, but I’ll never hate you.”

I know a lot people would think she was being too dramatic and too desperate for him and all that. I did too, a little bit. But then I remembered when I was in the same position as her. The time when I fell in love with someone, the first and only time I did, and it broke my heart to pieces. He’s a nice person, just not to me, and that’s because he knew I liked him. I was hurting for a long time, months actually. I tried to tell myself countless times that I need to let it go, let him go, and just move on with my life but I couldn’t. This eventually led to my depression.

When I hit college and maturity came crashing down upon me, I realized I needed to let go completely, to save and fix myself. And with time I did. But never did I hate him for anything. I was angry with the way he treated me but more with myself because I let him hurt me that badly. The thing is, the same with Anna, it’s not easy to let go of someone you love. Even if you’re hurting because of someone, it’s not like you can just turn off your feelings for that person in an instant. It takes time and the will power to do it.

In the end, she did manage to let him go because she knows it's for the best, but she also knows in her heart that she will always love Kaidan no matter what. My love and respect for her skyrocketed at that point.

And speaking of endings, why? WHY? Was that really necessary? Well, of course it was. It kind of reminds me of the feeling I got after finishing Delirium: sad, heartbroken, slightly in denial. But no worries, there is a second book, and if Pandemonium didn’t let me down on the Alex/Lena, then Sweet Peril won’t let me down on my Anna/Kaidan. 

Super fun night

It seems to me every 18th birthday party of ours turns out better and better than the one preceding it. First, it was Abby's surprise Karaoke party, where I practically sang my lungs out. Then Leigh's birthday, refer to this post. Now it's my best friend's turn, and in celebration, we went to Pizzahut and ate our hearts out over the amount of food she ordered(and paid for!). A bowl of Caesar salad, two plates of pasta, three pans of pizza, and two chocolate fondue. It may not seem a lot but if you were there you would understand. I think that's the first time in a long while since I've felt so full and, as sad as I am to admit it, gluttonous. The only thing that put a damper on the evening was the realization that Jade wasn't with us.

While having dinner, we talked about a lot of things, seeing as we haven't seen each other for a whole month then. We also finally made a group bucketlist, which had at least 10 things written down, and was signed by all of us, a silly gesture but doesn't make it any less fun. And it seems decisions were flying through the air because we've already planned what to do for Christmas break.

Seeing as a lot of us can't meet up during Christmas week, because some of us would be out of town during that week, we thought it would be best to have my birthday celebration + post-Christmas party on January 4. We'll be going to Enchanted Kingdom for the first time as a group so I'm really looking forward to it, not much on the fact that I'll be paying for the transportation fee since you know, 18th birthday and all. Plus we're gonna have exchange gifts, something they really wanted to do. It's fun so I won't object.

Before we went home Leigh and I tried out dresses as a possible reference for the one we might wear to Patchi's debut. The one I tried was so beautiful and it looked good on me(something rare) and I really wanted to buy it but what can I do when I have no money to spare. Sigh...

Well, that's it. I guess I should be calling posts like these as 'UWO's adventure part ...' because let's face it, there's going to be a lot of this. God, I missed these girls more than I imagined, and seeing them again made me feel so happy. Now, I absolutely can't wait for January. I just hope we'll all be there.

Book Review: There's No Place Like Here

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Title: There's No Place Like Here

Author: Cecelia Ahern

Date Read: Nov. 12 - Dec. 3

Rating: ★★★


This has got to be the Cecelia Ahern book I like least of all. It was a slow and boring read(if it isn't yet obvious from the above). Sandy Shortt isn't likeable to me and her I-don't-give-an-F-about-you attitude is so frustrating, like if I could go into the book, I would have slapped some sense into her in most chapters she was narrating. The only time I liked her was when Jack was talking about her bringing his hopes up of finding Donal. Actually, I would have liked it better if it just focused on Jack finding Sandy, but then that wouldn't explain the story very much.

Her monologue at the end, about always being found regardless if you were lost by choice or by circumstance, I liked quite a lot. Although it doesn't make up for my disappointment with the events that led up to that ending, the one where only Sandy came back, because the whole time I was thinking she stumbled into Here to bring everyone back(or maybe just Bobby), so it was pretty much a let down for me.

Not exactly a 3 but more of a 2.5 stars, on account that I loved it when Sandy was talking about Gregory or retelling their story or just the two of them being together in a scene.