BOOK REVIEW: Slated

Book: Slated
Author: Teri Terry

I am a sucker for a good romance. I always have been, and I probably always will be. There is something about romance novels that have me rolling all over my bed squealing with delight as the characters confess their love and affections.

Slated, however, is not a romance. Sure there are defiantly some romantic aspects to it, but it's not the main story line. And guess what? I still loved it, (and that's saying something for me). I loved it so much that I couldn't stop reading it. My finger quickly turned the pages as I became more and more enthralled with the characters and a story line so gripping it feels as if it will choke you.

I had all but given up on dystopians when I read this one, (it's one of my problem with publishing companies; when something sells they only sell that until everyone is sick to death of it). This dystopian was different. It held interesting new ideas that I hadn't read about before.

In the book criminals under the age of sixteen are "slated" meaning that all their memories are wiped and they have to learn everything again and are assigned to a new family. Kyla, the main character, is Slated. But she is smart and I absolutely ADORE it when the main character is smart and is figuring out the plot at the same pace as you.

This book is a page turner right until the last page... and then you start the second book. (I'll save you the worry of it being a bad sequel... it's good too)

Things to do instead of Writers block

I am a self-admitted victim to the toils of writers block. So I decided to make a list of things to do instead of staring, mindlessly at a computer with a cursor that blinks mockingly in my face.

So here is my list (that largley invloves many forms of procrastination):

1. write something, anything, that is completely different.
2. bake cookies.
3. watch vloggers on YouTube.
4. Burn cookies.
5. watch celebrity talk shows on YouTube.
6. Eat cookies anyway.
7. Read fanfiction.
8. clean desk.
9. reorganise desk
10. clean wardrobe.
11. throw out practically all your clothes (none of them fit you anymore) 
12. Rearrange clothes according to colour and type of clothing (cause we all like pretty rainbows in our cupboards.)
13. find homework.
14. stare at homework intently.
15. give up on homework and go back to whatever you are trying to write.
16. Stare at blinking cursor.
17. write a bunch of swear words about how you hate your life.
18. Play Octagon (in case you don't know what this magnificent game is, oh I can't be bothered telling you, just get it, its great).
19. Make meringues because you only need two ingredients (1 cup sugar, 4 egg whites, whisk together until stiff peaks form, blob on trays and cook in a preheated oven at 225 degrees for 30-40 minutes)
20. google the longest german word and try to memorise it (btw its 'Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän')

So, there you go. There is 20 things to do when you have writers block. Hopefully by the end of it, you have thought of something else to write.

How to have a Terrible Holiday

       The art of having terrible holiday is a precise one. When viewing your holiday in retrospect you may only see the bigger picture, but you should also realise that to have a truly awful holiday you must remember the phrase: the devil is in the details. 

       Taking any holiday requires careful planning, but to have a terrible holiday these plans must go awry. When planning your terrible holiday keep in mind connecting flights; there are so many things that can go wrong, almost everyone has a story about missing a plane or what-not. Thus making it ideal. Try to imagine your holiday as an old fashioned scale;  it starts off even, nothing good or bad has happened yet. To have the worst possible holiday the scale must tip completely on the “terrible” side. This will usually happen slowly, freak accidents (i.e plane crashes, natural disasters, fatal illnesses, terrorists taking over the plane, and so on) are too unpredictable. To ensure a horrific holiday it comes down to slowly tilting the scale, and missing your connecting flight will start you in the wrong direction.

      Luggage mishaps come next, you could accidentally leave it on the nature strip (has been known to happen), or, more commonly, it could end up in another country and take weeks to retrieve. This is such a classic, yet brilliant way to start the misery that it cannot be ignored, no matter how cliche. 

      After a long strenuous flight, reaching your holiday destination sounds like a dream, right? Wrong. It turns out that when flying to a different country and booking a hotel online, that you should do quite a bit of research into the hotel, more specifically: make sure that it exists. It is only too easy to make a fake hotel website and trick tourists out of money. If you wish take your holiday to go significantly down on the scale, do as little research into your activities as possible. (Also recommended for those who seek excitement.)

        Another thing to consider when planning a terrible holiday is different cultures; if you are in want of mortification I recommend ignoring it completely. As an example let’s take America, America has a tipping culture, not accounting for this may contribute to  your own extreme embarrassment and generally poor customer service.

       Finally to sink this holiday to the bottom of the ocean, let's talk travel insurance. Who needs travel insurance?

       So, there you have it; a few easy tips to ensuring a truly miserable holiday.