The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman

At this point, I'm pretty sick of dystopian novels but I walked into this book not knowing anything about it. Imagine my dismay when I realized that this book was yet another dystopian novel. Although this book is technically targeted towards a younger audience (tween) rather than the young adult one, which is what I am most used to, I found the overall topic to be mature and the plot advanced.

General Summary:

Honor and her family don't follow the rules. Even her name is seen as broken rule. The weather on their new island is controlled by a big corporation and Earth Mother along with several other factors of their lives. Their life is supposed to be relaxing. But since Honor's family has never paid much attention to the rules, her family is at great risk of disappearing. And eventually, that is what happens to her parents so then Honor sets out to find out what the corporation did to them.

The newer cover (the one above) is gorgeous and once you read the book, it makes perfect sense. 

I have to say that I could hardly put this book down. The writing style is simple and straightforward probably because the reader is supposed to be younger. Chapter transitions were fluid and it was clear that Allegra Goodman knows how to write an entertaining novel despite the recent redundancy of dystopian novels.

But surprisingly, the part of this book that really kept me reading was the setting. I have never read a book where the main reason I kept reading was to find out more about the setting. The setting was like that of a tamer 1989. It was a lot like Big Brother while heavily focusing on the lower classes. 

The characters of the novel were heartwarming and her family was interesting to read about. The young but strong female lead, Honor, is remarkably young for someone who fights big business and corruption.

The only problem that I had with this book (although, some might say that this is a good thing) is that it didn't make me want to keep reading the rest of the series. While I liked that this book's ending wrapped up the plot pretty nicely, I felt like I should have been more motivated to keep up with the series.

Overall, I found it surprisingly good and even though I won't be reading the next book, it was nice reading this one. Let me know your opinions about it or whether you would consider reading it.

End of Summer Bucket List

It's almost the end summer vacation and the start of school and I'm feeling a little down about it. The motivation I had to get things done in the beginning of the summer has slowly faded and I'm feeling really lazy. To make the most out of the last week and a half of summer, I decided to make a bucket list to maximize the remaining amount of time I have before school starts.

Read a book (or two).
I have not done as much summer reading as I wanted to so I want to read as many books as can in this short period of time.

Go back to school shopping.
I bought a few things in July but I know I'll need a few more binders, notebooks, and notecards.

Finish all the shows I started watching.
I started watching a few shows and I need to finish up some of them before school starts.

Empty out and organize all my drawers and the closet.
My room has been getting really messy lately and I've noticed that I can get rid of a lot of things so I might as well donate them.

Sketch.
I've been telling myself to do this all summer so there is no better time to do that than now.

Pin everything into my Pinterest boards.
I love Pinterest and I would love to find ideas and motivation and pinning is super relaxing.

Go thrifting.
I'm looking forward to getting some unique and well-priced items this summer. I have always wanted to do this and I can't think of a better time to.

Try a new type of smoothie everyday.
I love chia seeds and I think trying out new smoothies will be very interesting. I've been doing this for the past three days and I find it so much fun.

Get organized for the upcoming school year.
I really need some goals to the school year. I have to organize my binders and backpack. My backpack tends to become a mess as the year continues so I need to make it super organized now so it stays clean longer and keeping it organized becomes habitual.

Get as must SAT practice in before school stress.
I have a lot of practicing left to do and I would rather not do too much during school.

Practice 10 new hairstyles to use in the upcoming school year.
I need to learn some new hairstyles for the new school year because I usually don't know what to do with my hair on most mornings.

Create a playlist for summer and another for the school year.
I hope the playlist will help relax me and motivate me when I get tired doing homework and need motivation.

Stay up all night watching movies.
I have so many movies that I need to watch! I just want to watch everything in one sitting.

Watch the sun rise.
I've never done this before. I wake up so early that it would be a shame not to.

Meet at least two new people.
Not sure how possible this would be under the time pressure but I might as well try.

Exercise.
I'm probably not going to do this but I might has well include it.

Start waking up earlier.
I know I said that I wake up pretty early as it is but I think waking up an hour earlier will keep me even more alert.

Freak out while watching #fAcetoface.
I can't wait to find out who A is. Finally!

This seems like a short list but I still don't think I'll be able to finish everything before school starts, especially since I only have a week and a half left of summer. But I hope you liked reading this. Please tell me any things on your bucket list!