Book #38: The Island (Also: Unpacking)

The Island by Jill Minkman.

This book was one roller coaster of a ride, but not in the way people usually mean that.

For the first third of the book, I thought it was "not awful, but the author made a really, really bad decision".

Set on an island, a small group of people were trying to survive the end of the world. There had been a few nuclear bombs set off, and then a round of biological warfare killed most everyone left. 150 years later a new, tiny society rose. At age 10, children were considered adults and had to go off and live on their own (joining the rest of the "adults" over the age of 10 but pre-marriage living alone in a house together).

This new society had evolved its own religion. They believed the Force was in everyone, that everyone should use their Force, that the Force could be used for good or bad, that if your Force was strong enough you could do things with it. They greeted each other with "Your Force be with you". Why in the world did the author use "Force"? All I could think of was Star Wars...

Then the main character stole The Book, their religious text that explained all about the Force. On the cover was a picture of... Luke and Leia!. At that point I laughed out loud and suddenly loved this book.

Then it happened. The romance subplot. I love me some romance, but I HATE HATE HATE 99% of the "romance" in young adult books. This is how it happens. Every time.
1) Girl sees boy. Falls in love with him on first sight. She knows he's her soulmate. He's the most handsome boy she's ever seen. She always says something like "why are no other boys like him?". She knows she's going to spend the rest of her life with him.
2) Girl and boy interact. She finds him the most annoying boy ever. Is snippy/sarcastic/mean to him for no reason.
3) The two are apart, girl is suddenly back in love with him. He's her everything, nothing has any meaning unless he's there! ...but wait! Why didn't he kiss her? She decides she must be ugly (yet the book described her as the most beautiful girl around), or she must be stupid (yet she's the smartest)...
4) Repeat the above steps a couple times.
5) They finally kiss, tell each other they both felt love the whole time, live happily ever after.

That drives me up a wall. Is that an accurate teenage relationship? I have no idea, but suspect probably. But accurate or not, it is not enjoyable to read about.

The book ended with an information dump, explaining how all the stuff around the Force came to be. Oh, and of course the boy and girl lived happily ever after.

So, it was an okay book. Not horrible, not good. Would have been many times better without the "romance".

Unpacking: I swear to god, I'm never going to finish. It's been about two weeks now. I'm down to ONE box (not counting the ten small ones full of decorations). But even after I finish that last box, I still need to deal with all the stuff. While unpacking, I put everything anywhere, just so I could get rid of the boxes. On one shelf of the bookshelf next to me is an old purse, a pair of slippers, a CD (no idea what's on it), and a big package of paper napkins. I can't unpack the decorations until I get everything organized and make space for them.

Dog owners: Some of the most inconsiderate people around?

Not all dog owners are bad people. If you are a good dog owner or if you know one? YAY! Thank you! This is about all the bad ones.

My apartment is on the ground floor. Our windows are nearly floor to ceiling. The bottom of the window is about knee-high. My cat's favorite place is sitting in the window.

Unfortunately, being knee-high to the ground, every damned dog sees her. In the two weeks I've been here:

1) A dog tried to climb through my window to attack her. The owner watched. Laughing. He didn't call the dog off until I went to the window and asked him to.

2) Countless owners use Ellie to test the sit/stay of their dogs. Bringing them closer and closer, making them sit and stay (or trying to). This usually ends up with them lunging at her.

3) So many dogs off-leash (all dogs are supposed to be leashed), who run right up to the window, barking at her.

Bonus #4: Parents who bring their toddlers right to the window to see the "kitty". Hello, I'm sitting RIGHT HERE. I don't exactly like you and your kids looking right in at me.

I've never seen Ellie puffed up and hissing until we moved here. Poor girl is going to have a heart attack. I feel like putting a big sign in my window: "My cat is not entertainment for your dog." I suppose that might be unfriendly of me though...