From a poetic point of view, Miss Nora's classroom is my Garden of Eden. Everything is so perfect and peaceful during those fifty minutes that I am in her class each day.
Then the stupid bell has to ring and ruin everything.
That annoying, ringing bell taints my ears from evil lurking the halls. The ringing of the bell tempts me to take one step out for the next class.
And when I do, all hell breaks loose.
When evil walks the halls of Valley High, Adny's life is put to the ultimate test. Three weeks before senior graduation, she leaves a series of videos behind for her best friend to relive the days leading up to the moment that would impact everyone who crossed her path. Adny's family and close friends search within themselves and the outside world for not only who would hurt her, but why.
The search would be one they won't regret, but one they'd hope to forget.
"Sometimes you wake up from the storm. Sometimes it kills you. Child, this storm will make you rise to greatness."What first attracted me to this book was the cover. Holy shit. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful? Maybe I'm overanalyzing here but I think that this cover is the perfect representation for the book. There's a sense of serenity in Adny's life and that could be seen from the soft shades of the sky. But then the stark contrast in colors shows the inner destruction inside of Adny as well as the war that was about to unfold due to Adny's actions.
The book had such a powerful and dramatic synopsis. Some of the characters were brilliantly written that I just fell in love with them over and over, some were just disappointing unfortunately.
Let me start with Miss Nora. This is a woman I'd love to have as my teacher. She's stubborn and determined as hell. After the "incident", Miss Nora jumped into action and went to the principal straightaway.
But then…
The ignorance from his lack of attentiveness about the situation angered her as she flung a pile of papers off his desk to garner further attention. "This entire situation could have been prevented if you would have alerted your blind eyes in her direction."
And she did this to the principal! THE FREAKING PRINCIPAL!!!
I was just like, "YOU GO GIRL, FOUR FOR YOU!!!"
And I loooved Junior and Mickey. Junior was the most supportive best friend ever. Through everything, he was always ready to defend the people he cared about or even just people who he thought deserved justice, like Gracie.
On the other hand, Mickey was carrying a heavy load of guilt throughout the whole book. I didn't really understand why until the end. The two of them were too adorable together. Despite everything that has happened, they managed to cooperate through all of their issues and stay together.
Oddly enough, I actually loathed Adny's character. Like, really hated her. I even liked the bullies' characters like Madison and Shandi. Adny didn't seem like the girl who was bullied. If she was the type of bullied who fought back then I'd understand her character, but she wasn't. Adny was the type of character to wallow in her own pool of self-pity.
I thought that some of her lines were just so unbelievably rude. She looked more like the bully rather than the bullied.
"Try to imagine a plus size girl who should be wearing a size twenty, fitting into a size two."I know that she was pissed at Terri but then, come on, even if you hated her, you can't say things like these. Even as a girl, she should know this.
She was also unforgiving. I know that Shandi did a lot of bad shit to her in the past but when she apologized and tried to fix her mistakes, fuck, I wanted to punch Adny.
Shandi: "Everyone needs to feel accepted by someone no matter what the situation is."
Adny: "You poor, poor girl. Terri has your mind warped for the worse that you became her little ventriloquist doll. Her boyfriend has twisted her mind to the point where abuse is acceptable."And when she said sorry?
Shandi: "Adny, I remember coming to you and feeling so scared. I'm sorry for everything."She said this with so much freaking regret, and guess what Adny said?
"In regards to your hospital visit, all I will say is God works in mysterious ways. I'll give you credit for trying, but it's a little too late for sorry."SHE DIDN'T EVEN FREAKING TRY TO ACCEPT THE APOLOGY. Adny is a bitch. End of story.
But there was this one quote in the book I found so damn true.
"Miserable people need to feel a false sense of hope, so they will push you deep into the ground until you are too weak to stand up for yourself."
Minor Faults:
- Adny. FREAKING ADNY MAN.
- Some scenes were unbelievably irrational.
MY RATING:
THREE APPLES!!!!!
EXCERPT:
She
walked up to the gym doors, peering through to see if anyone was in there. She
couldn’t see a soul, so she took a chance by walking in. She walked passed seat
forty-nine, and the smell of Jace’s familiar body spray sent tingled through
her body.
A
familiar voice asked, “Adny, can I finally have your number?”
She
jokingly replied, “What if I say no?”
He
embraced her, placing a finger up to her mouth. He gently grabbed her hand to
place it on his heart. She could feel it beat against his chest at if it were
going to jump out at her. “This is how you make me feel every time I see you.”
She
smiled as he ran his fingers through the back of her long black hair; a smile
lost until that moment. As he reached in to kiss her, she hesitated for a
moment, looking at his eyes. His blue-green eyes illuminated against the
blinking ceiling lights. Both of his hands were placed around her, comforting
her, pulling her against his body. On her tiptoes, she rubbed her fingers
through his rough chin hair. Heavy breaths lingered in her ear and made her
yearn for more of him.
They
came in closer.
She
could smell his chocolate scent even more, while he kissed the upper part of
her neck. His fingers trickled down her spine as her entire body flinched from
pure pleasure. His lips led up from her neck toward her lips.
Their
eyes closed instantly.
Their lips touched as if they were magnets, surrendering to
the forces of love between them, each unable to relinquish control. She felt
his lips soften with each instance of her touch.
INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR:
1. What inspired you to write this book?
This book was inspired by a conversation I had with my five year old cousin who was bullied by a classmate. She was very confused because she didn’t understand why the girl was mean to her, but she was always nice to the girl. I explained it to her in a simple way and that entire conversation formed a very powerful scene in the beginning of the novel.2. What was the hardest part of writing this book?
The hardest part of writing this book was writing the characters and the situations they had to go through. Just like the main character Adny, I was also bullied throughout high school. As I wrote her parts, I felt the pain all over again.3. Do you have any authors/books that influenced your writing?
The Color Purple by Alice Walker developed my initial interest in writing. Her story was powerful and I connected with on a personal level as I read it.4. What can we expect from you in the future?
I love writing young adult books because I have so many experiences that other young people can relate to. In the future, I plan to write a humorous view on high school called The Moppets. It will be a series about Spinelli’s wacktastic journey through her freshman year of high school. Her mother inherits a mansion from a billionaire who died. Inside the basement live four orphaned children who make Spinelli’s life miserable. The funny adventures will be a year to remember. It will be released September 16, 2013.
About The Author:
S.T. Anthony has had a crazy imagination since the old kindergarten days and excited to finally put it down on paper. She is currently in college and loving every moment so far. Her love to pursue medicine and to write is her passion in life. She is also True Blood obsessed and her eyes will be glued to the TV every Sunday. She is ecstatic to be releasing her first self-published book called I RIZE.
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