Feminism is Not Dead

Feminism is not dead as long as sexism exists. This video is from an ignorant misogynist who purports that women's oppression is a myth.

I guess I was aware that sexism still exists. Of course I am, I worked in a male-dominated industry. And yet, I did not know that it was THIS bad. I did not know that people out there thought that feminism and women's oppression were an outright lie. I did not know that people thought of feminism as a subversive movement and was a cause of society's ills. And now that I know all of this, I am outraged. I am beyond outraged. So thanks, ignorant sexists, I am now on the warpath. I will educate myself and arm myself with knowledge and I will not stand for further sexism.

I encourage you to go to this video and dislike it as well as report it as inappropriate on the grounds of promoting hatred. It's perhaps even more disgusting that this video has 80% likes and the comments are full of misogynists congratulating this guy.

Catching Fire book review

Kindle Edition

Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, is a great follow-up that carries the momentum of the series well. Like its predecessor, it's action-packed but this time it features more District 12, more Gale, and more insidious politics.

It was refreshing to see Katniss in her hometown and to be able to see how being a Victor has or hasn't changed her. The moment of defiance in the Games has planted a seed---not only throughout the districts but in Katniss herself.

The only grievance that I really had with Catching Fire was the Quarter Quell, or as I see it, the rehashing of the events in Hunger Games. I realize that the Quarter Quell was unique in that it had a secret goal (SPOILERS: The Capitol wants to kill Katniss), but I kept thinking up until the Quarter Quell started that Collins was going to be really sneaky and whisk Katniss and Peeta away and the plot would change direction.

But it didn't.

However, that being said, I loved the tributes in the Quarter Quell so much. More of them were fleshed-out characters than the last one and this made the Quell much more interesting. I did like the plot twist at the very, very end. In fact, I would say that the introduction of new characters and the plot twist saved me from being too terribly annoyed with the rehashing of the Games.

My one other complaint was that the romance started to feel a bit more contrived in the last book. I started to feel less and less that the love triangle wasn't just a sensationalist attempt on the part of Collins.

The middle of any trilogy has a responsibility to keep alive the interest from the first installment and carry it forth so that the reader is interested in the finale. Usually, the middle of a trilogy is usually darker, so as to up the stakest In these aspects, Catching Fire succeeded. At least, for me. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this and I'm excited to read Mockingjay.

Related reading:
The Hunger Games review
Mockingjay review

Rising: Book 1, Resistance book review

Kindle edition

I was privileged enough to be able to read part of a draft of this book while Laura was still working on it. Back then, I was very intrigued with Alphonse and the misadventure that he was thrown into that was way above his head. Now, I get to read the book in its entirety and see where Alphonse has ended up and what's happened to him along the way (thus far, Rising 2 is currently in the works).

The book starts out with Alphonse Redding being chased by a herd of cows on his way home to visit his mother during the summer break from university. Unfortunately for Alphonse, this is the least adventurous thing on the string of adventurous things about to happen to him. Events for Alphonse keep snowballing until he's on the run from knights with mecha weapons and thrown together with a girl named Mairwyn who's saved his life from said knights. Both Alphonse and Mairwyn soon are in over their heads.

How these characters deal with their predicaments is realistic and refreshing. They aren't equipped to deal with what happens to them, but they persevere and through teamwork (with each other and others that they meet on their journey), they are able to surmount what seems like insurmountable odds. The book doesn't shy away from dealing with traumatic events and the way the characters are shaped and continue to feel the effects. Furthermore, there are real consequences to devastating calamities.

Both Alphonse and Mairwyn are changed by their experiences and I feel that they underwent a good amount of character development. These are not static characters, but rather, quite dynamic. The book is broken up into two parts and while the POV is third person, the first half is told from Alphonse's perspective while the second half is from Mairwyn's. While it was nice to get into Mairwyin's head, I found myself missing Alphonse.

There is good pacing throughout the story. The reader is thrown into the story with the cow chase and while the book doesn't exactly end on a cliffhanger, I was still left wanting more. One thing I quite liked was that sometimes I thought things would go a certain way and then there would be a detour or a delay and the chain of events turned out quite differently than I would have thought. It's also worthwhile to note that the world creation in this book is not distracting and it's easy to suspend disbelief so that the story flows smoothly. 

Overall, I very much enjoyed reading Rising and can't wait for the sequel! You can read more about Laura Josephsen and her other works at her blog.