#and danny struggling to be an older brother and potentially being parental at times because of knowing who they are made of but the *being* | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yeaahishowedupatyourparty · 3 years

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Next Generation Current Plots

I love andrea.

please try to like...not just take male plots for your girls

please don’t take any if you’re really not going to be into them because i worked so hard on these

Adelaide ‘Addy’ Maeve Coleman (DIAMOND BRIDGE)

TAKEN

Victoria - Victoria was addy’s classmate, turned best friend. She was her true friend when the others were kind of bullies. Their relationship has definitely deepened since then and addy can safely say she has a crush on her, but she’s also scared.

Ethan - Ethan is her ex-boyfriend and they were very on and off throughout high school. It ended badly and addy wants nothing to do with him, but she also doesn’t want him to be done with her and definitely clings to him.

Youi, Callie and Bianca - Her best friends from high school. In fairness, she probably likes Youi more than the other two but the bottom line was, they were all pretty mean to her and again, it’s the same with ethan, she’s done with them but they’re also her safety net.

Daphne - Her sister, they’re not the same at all. Addy’s definitely the girlier and more emotional of the two but at the same time they’re best friends because Danny and Zara wouldn’t let them be anything else even if they wanted to be LOL

WANTED

NEW FRIEND - She goes to diamond bridge but I guess it isn’t ESSENTIAL that they do too. I just want her to become part of a friendship group where everybody’s different to kind of take her out of her bubble. She’d still be the ditzy and girly one, but i think she’s reaching that point where she realises not everybody is a Callie, Bianca, Youi, Peter or Nicolai with no in betweens. Frenemy - Addy started off wanting to do acting like her parents, but then quickly became excited about music so she’s switched courses early on. I’d love for her to have rivals! Maybe two of them are growing pretty quickly music wise and they’ve been pitted against each other, but because they don’t know any better, they’re pretty mean towards each other. FWB - I feel like she went to diamond bridge newly single and she HATES being single with a burning passion; it’s her toxic trait. So, she definitely would’ve slept with the first guy who gave her the time of day just to feel wanted...Bonus points if some douche from one of the frat houses got pictures/video and it’s an underlying secret that they’ve got a sex tape.

Allison ‘Ally’ Marie Cortes-Smith (GOLD COAST)

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Brett - Her current boyfriend and best friend. He came to her when she was really going through it and they definitely fell in love super quickly; but it’s also a really healthy and supportive relationship, something ally hasn’t had before. She definitely considers him as her family too, given the chaos of her own at times.

Haley - Her younger sister; their relationship has been turbulent and while Ally loves her, she doesn’t really want to at times. She feels like the childhood she should’ve had with her parents was spent on fussing over Haley and whether or not they’d get her back. Now she is back, it’s even worse and she can’t shake the feeling that Holly couldn’t care less about where she is - hence why she flew half way across the world for college.

Rowan - Rowan was ally’s boyfriend in high school. He got her pregnant in their final year and she chose to terminate the pregnancy after he told her she was on her own. He then claimed nothing of the sort happened, which turned a lot of people against ally and nobody besides the two of them really knew who was telling the truth. They’ve cut all contact.

Mila - Her best friend from violet springs; growing up, they were inseparable and ally would probably spend one too many nights at her house for sleepovers. They’ve turned out wanting very different things, though, which has strained their friendship - Mila has stayed local for college while ally left, and they’re both seeing their closeness fade.

Sofia - Another of her best friends, although they had some tension in high school because Sofia became close with Haley and Ally hated sharing anything with Haley.

WANTED

Goody Two Shoes Friend - Ally is a bit of a bad influence and Adrian and Holly aren’t TOTALLY to blame for who she is; she’s just a bit of a wild card & unpredictable. I really want her to have a friend she leads astray a little, maybe someone who’s used to always playing by the rules but it’s a hardcore platonic connection and they adore one another.

People who dislike her... - Since she and rowan go to the same academy, there could be more people who believe his side of events and just dislike ally by default. I won’t be offended by this! I just want all of my next gen characters to have deeper and more thought out storylines

Toxic friend - Ally is super impressionable and while she’s capable of leading people astray, she’s surrounded by enough sensible people - haley, brett, mila etc. to keep her grounded. I want her to have a toxic friendship with someone who maybe causes her to spiral and become more impulsive than she already is

Aurora Faith Kingsley (ROSEWELL)

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Peter - Peter is her boyfriend but they definitely don’t have it easy. They both have pretty big personalities and they aren’t necessarily compatible in the way that other couples are, but they love one another enough to make it work for them.

Avery - Aurora’s best friend, although since they’ve gone to different colleges and aurora’s started dating peter, that’s become super fractured and difficult. Regardless of what anybody tries to get her to think of avery, she’s always going to have love for him, he’s one of her closest and oldest friends.

Judah, Whitney & Rowan - The closest things she has to siblings after Josh. They’re the children of Hensley and Christelle; Soraya’s best friends. They all had no choice but to grow up with each other and get along. Aurora definitely considers them her best and they’re constantly hanging out with one another and staying in touch despite being in different academies a lot of the time.

Callie - Aurora’s second cousin and not somebody she gets along with. They clash endlessly and never see eye-to-eye on anything. It got worse when Callie clearly wanted Peter. Aurora being hot-headed and impatient didn’t take it too lightly.

WANTED

New Friends - I think it’d be really cool for her to be friends with certain models who are just starting out and they all grow together, starting with bonding over fashion but then they become even closer as they move through the years.

Unrequited/Flirtationship - I’ve realised in both verses, I need to keep things messy and interesting if I get bored. Maybe somebody from Paris or at least close by who kind of has a thing for her - or just somebody who flirts with her to annoy Peter, if that’s more believable. She wouldn’t take too kindly to it but wouldn’t be able to help admiring the boldness of it all. Frenemies - It may be that they got off on the wrong foot, they’re rivals or whatever! If you’re going to pick this one, please have a reason or an idea ready :)

Belle Cynthia Carmichael (WEST IVYS)

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Nila - EX BEST FRIEND. Nila’s definitely one to go to parties and get wasted and stuff but maybe after Belle’s parents divorced and Belle started going off the rails she was like woah you’re going too far. Maybe while Nila wanted her to tone it down, Belle expected Nila to follow her and eventually things went south, resulting Belle dropping her? I think from afar Nila would still be keeping an eye on Belle but she still thinks the damage has already been done Cam - HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART. They were high school sweethearts and the typical high school couple until Belle’s parents divorced and she pushed him away. Once one of his mother’s passed away and they ended up at West Ivy’s, they’ve sort of developed into messy exes-slash-friends with benefits. Belle’s all over the places with her feelings for everyone but she appreciates the familiarity. Louisa - COUSIN. They grew up pretty close since Kendall and Anastasia get along. Since Belle’s been off the rails, Louisa’s done her best to keep her grounded and prevent her from getting in to too much trouble. She’s almost like a second big sister. WANTED

Socialite Friends - Thanks to the abrupt ending of her parents marriage, Belle is well and truly off the rails. She’s very Paris Hilton-ish in the 2000s. That’s where I got my inspiration from. She’s all about excess and partying so I feel like it’d be appropriate for her to have a little clique with exactly the same vibe.

FWB - male or female - Now she’s at West Ivy’s, she’s definitely experimenting and getting a feel for her sexuality because she’s not fully sure. I think there could be one person - potentially a little bit older - that helps her with this. Although, I doubt Belle would form an emotional attachment, she’d like the excitement of having someone new in her life like that. She’s currently a virgin and hasn’t slept with anybody.

Daisy Louise Romano (LIBERTY ACADEMY)

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Peter and Carter - Her brothers. They’re extremely over-protective; especially Peter; but rather than rebelling and trying to act out like some younger siblings do in that situation, Daisy has become over-reliant on the both of them. They fight her battles, help her navigate through sticky situations and more or less think for her. She’s lowkey struggling without them in NYC but is determined to be her own person a little bit more.

Delena - Delena was an amazing friend to Daisy and stood by her when she got sick again. The girls aren’t the closest and seem to be doing their own thing at the moment, but Daisy will always consider her a good friend.

Josh - Josh is someone she’s always had something close with and it’s been complicated, in all honesty. They’ve been close friends for a while and always walk the border between that and something more. Daisy doesn’t really know what she feels towards him; she knows her brothers prefer him more than the other guys she’s been involved with but that’s almost more reason to keep her distant because she’s trying to make her own choices.

Rowan - Rowan is interested in one thing and one thing only; being the first person to sleep with Daisy Romano. He’s charming and knows how to make her blush and go all dizzy, but she’s still cautious of him.

Nicolai - Nicolai is Peter’s friend and at one point, he had a crush on Daisy. Daisy is kind of fascinated with him in the same way younger girls are fascinated with slightly older guys. She finds him both intimidating and endearing at the same time, but definitely keeps her distance because she knows that’s a no go.

Avery - Avery is Daisy’s newest friend. She always knew who he was but they never really had much to do with each other until they started at Liberty Academy. She does have a little crush on him and finds him super attractive, but again, she knows he’s not Peter’s favourite person and also has a sneaking suspicion that he’s more interested in Aurora. She’s not a stupid girl and won’t settle for being second choice; if that’s the case, she’d be happy to stay friends with him. Sylvia - Syl and Daisy would always bump into each other at the hospital when they were getting check ups and stuff, but never really got close aside from that bc they were in different schools. So maybe they ended up being roommates and they got really close and Sylvia accidentally took one of Daisy’s treatment letters thinking it was her’s, and that’s how she found out. Louisa - Louisa is her Liberty roommate. Since they’re sharing space, she finds out about Daisy being sick although Daisy doesn’t know that. If/when it gets worse, she sends anonymous copies of her doctors letters to people Daisy’s closest with so that she can get more help.

WANTED

Girl friends - Daisy’s seriously lacking close girl friends! I feel like she could do with these two types below Responsible friend - Someone who’s kind of like a Mum friend and has her sit down and think things through, because she’s very impulsive by nature. Hype (Wo)man - A friend who just hypes her up and encourages her to live her best life, probably the opposite of the responsible friend most of the time :’)

Darcy Briar Carmichael (ST JUDES)

TAKEN

Nila - They started as best friends and never really officially agreed to date. Things just went that way after they caught feelings and got a lot closer than they originally thought they would. Dacy still adores Nila but they were 16 at the time, so naturally they’ve grown apart in a romantic sense. Louisa - Her older cousin. They’re really close and like best friends, they’ve supported each other through everything. WANTED

Platonic Best Friend - male or female - I feel like because Darcy was the sister who internalised the pain of her parents break-up the most and didn’t show her emotions, it’d make more sense for her to have that one best friend who just knows everything about her. She’s really shaky with it and tries to hold herself together. Obviously their whole friendship isn’t just about her parents breaking up, but still, a friendship where they can just count on each other and it’s obvious they’ll never betray one another would be so cute.

On again, off again boyfriend - Perhaps one guy who she’s not good for/isn’t good for her but they always fall together and then apart again, but everybody knows they won’t be end game. I think she’d know it too but finds it hard to let go of people because there’s probably genuine fondness there too.

Enemy - Darcy isn’t really the competitive type. She hates bitchiness and would rather have 0 friends than surround herself with all the wrong people like Belle does. I feel like it’d be really cool for her to have someone she flat out hates on her modelling course because maybe they’re very full of themselves and outspoken, and one day Darcy just snaps? And it’s been tense and bad blood between the two of them ever since.

The son/daughter of her father’s new wife/girlfriend - I imagine her Dad has found love with another woman. Perhaps it’s the Mum of somebody at St Judes? Belle would hate this person but I think Darcy would make more of an effort to get to know them since they’re going through similar things.

Dixie Gisele Carmichael (ROSEWELL)

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Fleur - Her twin sister. Fleur is her best friend and worst enemy at exactly the same time and it’s hard for anyone but the two of them to make sense of. They’re on the same wave length at all times and it doesn’t take much for one to know what the other is thinking. They grew up at the top of the social hierarchy in the Upper East Side and in Paris; you’re not in the right crowd on either side of the Atlantic if you don’t know who the twins are. HOWEVER, there’s huge competition between the two of them too. Fleur was the first to really break on to the fashion scene and start getting a whole new level of attention, leaving Dixie behind - bitter and ignored. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight though. She rejected her sisters Rosewell application, meaning she had to settle for a different university outside of the fashion capital of the world.

Whitney - Whitney is her cousin through Blake being Disney’s step-brother, even though it’s not biological, the Cruz-Mendozas and the Carmichaels have been raised as if they are. Dixie and Whitney arguably have two of the biggest personalities in the family and can be caught clashing and pissing each other frequently, but they make up just as fast and are back to bringing the flavour to family events. Roman - Dixie has a huge crush on Roman and she really doesn’t care who knows it. She’d never go to the point of making him uncomfortable or putting him in awkward positions - especially because I think he’s dating someone? - but she will always openly flirt with him. Even if it pisses off Fleur, who also has a thing for him and is his best friend.

WANTED

PETTY Best Friend - She needs a right hand woman who’s like equally as petty as her and maybe they have the shared goal of being at the TOP of their game for this generation, and going down in History. That is a very Dixie goal and I feel like she’s really only interested in people who match her energy and ambition. There’s not a chance in HELL that she’ll be friends with self-victimising/self-pitying people who only care about being in relationships or their love life.

I-love-you-but-not-like-that-lol jk-definitely-like-that-why-are-you-so-crazy-and-obsessed-with-being-the-best-though? - I really imagine Dixie to have a best friend (male please, because it’s mildly romantic) who is just the total opposite to her. I feel like she’d probably meet them through the academy stuff and they’re just grounded/prefer simple things/aren’t raging lunatics who are constantly competing with their sisters BUT they kind of get dragged along with her craziness because they care about her :’) I feel like it’d be a slow burn relationship tbh. They start off purely platonic & see each other through a whole string of other relationships but it’s obvious they really like one another.

Status!Boyfriend - And by that I mean, a boy who treats her like absolute crap but she kind of keeps him around because he helps boost her status. She’s not like Disney, where she genuinely cares for Brody so she drops her standards a bit. She’ll happily make his life hell too and make it very clear that he’s nothing more than another step to get to where she needs to be - but he’s probably in a similar situation, I imagine.

Ex-Friend - This could definitely be something to do with Fleur, maybe they KNOW she betrayed her sister and think she’s a bit of a bitch for doing so, so they cut her off. They’d 100% be on Fleur’s hitlist too and I feel like there could be a lot of petty going backs and forth. Like Ally, she really can’t bring herself to fully understand how people can like BOTH her and her sister equally, because she’s kind of the underdog in a sense, so she’d feel super betrayed.

Dylan Samuel Powell (WEST IVYS)

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Lily - Lily is currently his girlfriend. To be honest, I don’t know where they stand because I can’t remember LOL. They’re both at West Ivy’s and came together at the end of high school. There was a little bit of tension because there was stuff still between her and Nicolai; Dylan definitely isn’t the drama type and I feel like if it was obvious Lily still had split feelings, he’d be prepared to just call it off rather than let it get messy. Josh - A good friend that he bonds over photography and directing with. It’s a mutual friendship that’s developing now they’re at the academies.

WANTED

Old friend - Maybe an old family friend. He spent a lot of time away from Violet Springs. He and Janey both lived in Sweden before they came back to the UK full time. But, perhaps the child of Janey’s friend is quite close to him? I feel this person would know what happened to Janey and why Dylan is so protective over people, particularly his Mum, and is quite attached to home and not leaving her.

Ex Long Distance Gf - Maybe he was dating somebody long distance for a long time. I feel like growing up in Sweden, he would’ve been a little bit of a loner, but found a lot of connections online. I feel like they would have maybe dated for about 2 years maximum and met up a handful of times, but he might’ve called it off because it just wasn’t working or he found the distance wasn’t working? Maybe she cheated (I feel like he wouldn’t.) Bonus points if there’s a bit of a connection now they have crossed paths again.

Emmett Charles Hamilton (ST JUDES)

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Cameron - They’re friends and get high together. There’s really not much else that goes with it. Louisa - This probably would have been painfully young, like early-mid high school and wouldn’t have lasted any longer than a few months. He would’ve got with her to lose his virginity for sure, because douchebags and peer pressure. Just so that there’s somewhere to go with their connection and it’s not just there, maybe they’ve weirdly grown closer now they’ve grown up a bit and still hook up occasionally.

WANTED

Fake tutor: Emmett was pretty bright but failed classes because he was lazy. Maybe there’s somebody who used to tutor him through his last year in high school because Nate made him have one, and he used to just pay them to sit around and play video games with him before leaving. Current girlfriend/Love Interest: I feel like this would work better if they were at different academies. Maybe they got together over the summer and genuinely really like each other but they have A LOT of ups and downs. Maybe she’s his complete opposite and somebody who stresses over every little thing, whereas he just coasts through life. It might be nice if she isn’t necessarily from money either - because that could be a big tension point. I feel like their eyes would definitely wander when they’re away from one another and maybe one or both have actually cheated but always feel so bad when they sit back and think about it.

Jay Alexander Hamilton (LIBERTY ACADEMY)

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Sylvia - Jay always had feelings for Sylvia and it was a slow burn throughout high school. Please don’t shoot me @ tiah, I can’t remember if they ever became official but they’re definitely closer now they’re at Liberty and a little bit more mature than they were before.

Amelia - Gisele and Disney are still good friends, so Jay met Amelia through his cousins and aunt. They’ve always got along really well and Jay is super protective over her, whether she likes him to be or not. Neither of them currently realise the past that their parents had. Ethan - Ex-best friend. Him and Ethan used to be inseparable but their personalities have started to clash and they’re more like frenemies these days. Victoria - Ages ago at the beginning of high school, he was dared to date her as a dare and because he was young and stupid, he obviously agreed. She ended up finding out - or he confessed, i can’t remember - and she’s never forgiven him. He gets that, even though he’s personally moved on from it. Louisa - A new friend that he’s gained from Liberty.

WANTED

Ex girlfriend - Obviously from school before Sylvia. They’re all still young so I think it wouldn’t have been serious. I just imagine he’s had experience in relationships before. I don’t really have any specific ideas for what the dynamic of the relationship was like. Summer Fling - This one is more apparent. Obviously, in the summer, he lives with his Dad in the Canary Islands. So, maybe somebody who came on a family holiday with to the hotel and they got pretty close. I feel like he would’ve been good at cutting it off though because...Yeah. Liberty Friends - I feel like one thing Jay is good at is going from place to place and remaining popular, but he’s also shifting in popularity. He’s not popular because he’s associated with the mean/horrible clique but because he’s a pretty nice person. So, if you have any Liberty characters, please throw them his way for friendships and we can develop!

Kai Arden Powell - son of Louis & Lexi.

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Sofia - His girlfriend. They’ve been dating for a while and he wouldn’t change it. They’re definitely not completely stable and I feel like they’re young and have a lot to work out, but through Kai’s eyes (because he doesn’t know any better) she’s the one for him.

Aliyah - One of his good friends he’s made since starting at Willow House. He’s made it clear that he wants to be out of there and is trying to transfer asap but if one thing has come out of it, it’s his friendship with Aliyah! He likes her a lot and will definitely stay in contact if he does move on.

WANTED

The person who snitched - Kai basically found himself in this predicament because he let it slack in the last years of Gallagher. He ended up paying somebody to write his admissions essays and got found out. Maybe he never paid the person who wrote his and they snitched to the board of West Ivys (where he was originally going to go) and that got him kicked out? He’d definitely hold it against them. Ex-friends - A friend he used to be close to back in high school but after he flopped and kind of fell of track, they haven’t really spoken to him or reached out for support. Family friend - Someone he keeps in regular contact with who still supports him and maybe tries to convince him that Willow House isn’t that bad. Like, they recognise that clearly things have bit him in the ass and don’t understand why he’s still trying to cheat himself into a different academy. Basically a sensible friend that he ignores because he’s an idiot LOL

Ex-boyfriend - He’s bi and I feel like he was one of those kids in school who was super aware of it and open about it early. He obviously had the privilege of having Louis and Lexi as parents, who are VERY loving - almost to a fault, so he’s never really been afraid of judgement or being pushed out because he’s never really been exposed to that. He’s very privileged in that sense. Maybe his ex wasn’t? And it ended because Kai couldn’t keep hiding it, whereas his ex almost needed to, so they went their own ways?

Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Bradford - daughter of Drew & Annabel.

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Yasmine - Yasmine is her best friend. They never really spoke in high school and it didn’t help that Lottie wasn’t there for a lot of it, because Annabel and Drew agreed to let her be home-schooled while she focused on music and (unsuccessfully) try to get the attention of record labels. But, now they’re both in Liberty and they’ve bonded quite quickly. She’s aware that Yasmin is super shy and anxious. Lottie’s the opposite, they balance one another out and she’s very protective over her. Louisa - An old friend of hers. They were closer during high school and even though they have new friends and are in different points in their lives, they still care about one another.

WANTED (she isn’t even new but has nothing and it hurts my heart)

Old friends - I feel like Lottie is very much a hometown girl even though she’s moved out and gone far for college. There’s definitely four or five people that she’s been friends with since the beginning of high school and no matter where they are in the world, they keep in contact. These would be people she’d literally cross the world for to help out because she loves them that much. She was never cool at school, but didn’t ever crave to be.

First Love (3 way plot) - Her first love in high school, male please. Again, I hate it when high school romances are super developed and deep because 9/10 times, that’s not the case. I think maybe he thought she was pretty and she loved the idea of being in love, but when she started to become home-schooled, he obviously lost interest slowly and connected with other people...whereas she lacked that social progress because she wasn’t around people her own age. Eventually he called it off, and she took it...awfully. Her toxic trait is she takes all minor inconveniences horrendously :’)

Ex friend (3 way plot) - Perhaps this was the friend that her first love moved on to. I don’t think cheating would have happened. Maybe with Lottie gone, the two of them just caught feelings for each other. Lottie would have probably cut her out before she even got a chance to explain herself because it would’ve hurt. Bonus points if maybe they both miss each other more than they miss the high school relationships they fell out over. So, there’s potential for them to reunite.

Ex Boyfriend (2) - This would have been her late high school boyfriend, after she came back from home-schooling. I’d love it if they were relatively new in town or maybe they were outsiders somehow, but him and Lottie just had an instant connection. Lottie was never in the conventionally popular group but she was well-liked and known around the school, so I feel like her getting with somebody who maybe wasn’t on that social level would’ve been a little unexpected? But, I feel like she would’ve been totally in love with him and he would’ve been the person she’s had a lot of firsts with. I think he’d probably be the one to end it after they grew up and maybe wanted different things from life. Lottie definitely is more angry about this because she’s hurt, rather than because he did anything wrong.

Crush - She’s now at Liberty (and straight btw!). So, a guy that she’s super into now she’s in a new city and starting a new chapter. I feel like it’d be very surface level right now and maybe he has no idea that she feels that way? OR maybe he does know, but kind of plays on it but never commits and she’d like that :’) but also get frustrated

New friendship - A new friendship that’s perhaps a bit competitive. Liberty is a very high ranking academy and Lottie is used to music/doing cool things being her thing because nobody really started the same way she did in high school. But, now everybody has a goal of being famous and is doing amazing things? So they go in and out of being friends and being rivals?

Pippa Elizabeth Carmichael - daughter of Kelsey Calemine

WANTED

She’s VERY new and I’m still working out the details of his bio, so I’ll update whenever I can!

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Fate: The Winx Saga Review (Spoiler-Free) – Tween Fairy Tale Wants to be Gen Z Potter

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This Fate: The Winx Saga is based on all six episodes and contains no spoilers.

Fate: The Winx Saga, the newest YA fantasy effort from Netflix, is the live-action remake of an animated series that takes the story and pitches it at an older age group. There’s a magic school surrounded by gorgeous landscapes (courtesy of filming locations in Ireland), a group of students trying to uncover a conspiracy protected by the teachers, and more than a couple of secrets about the origins of our main character.

If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The 6-episode series borrows liberally from its predecessors, but none more so than J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. Now, while many of us would welcome a new iteration of those particular ideas, the homage it pays (the first episode contains a scene in which two characters share what Hogwarts house they’d be sorted into) is often so heavy that it distracts from anything new the show is trying to do.

We follow newly-identified fire fairy Bloom (there are air fairies, water fairies, earth fairies, you-name-it-fairies), who has been enrolled at Alfea after an incident involving her non-magical parents. She moves in, bonds with her four roommates, flirts with some boys, and attempts to tap into her power. Soon enough, several mysteries start to emerge and she begins to suspect that headmistress Dowling (Eve Best) isn’t telling her everything.

Of the five main female characters, Bloom (Abigail Cowen) is perhaps the least interesting. The token American in a cast of Brits intended to act as the entry point for international audiences, she serves her purpose well enough but is trapped in an archetype that was worn out long ago. She’s too often merely an audience surrogate, but there are clues that Cowen could be capable of more if given the material.

Her roommates – Stella (Hannah van der Westhuysen), Musa (Elisha Applebaum), Aisha (Precious Mustapha) and Terra (Eliot Salt) – take turns being more engaging, whether it’s Neville Longbottom-esque Terra as the underdog finding her confidence, Musa being forced to deal with the feelings of everyone around her, or Stella struggling with her status as the heir of the Fairy royals.

The male characters introduced across the series fare pretty poorly in comparison, almost entirely occupying the patchier parts of the world-building. We meet-cute dreamy love interest Sky (Danny Griffin) first but, despite his exposition dump explaining that Alfea is a “college for fairies”, he appears to not actually be a fairy himself.

In fact, pretty much all of the named male characters are part of a group called ‘specialists’ – soldiers being trained for a past war that may or may not return. While it’s true that the fairies in this story are shown to be very powerful, the fact that their brothers, fathers and boyfriends are the ones being trained as soldiers seems a bit odd for a show aimed at an age-group not forgiving of aggressive gender norms in their entertainment.

But Fate: The Winx Saga isn’t exactly bad. For the most part, the show ticks along at a nice pace and certainly doesn’t lack ambition. It benefits from the actors’ commitment to the sillier parts of the dialogue (Downton Abbey’s Robert James-Collier in particular is playing his role as if it’s a serious BBC drama), and it’s hard to argue with a concept as tried and true as ‘teenagers coming of age as they fight the forces of evil’.

Still, it’s hard to guess how much it will be able to take off with viewers who aren’t already familiar with the animated series. For one, the show’s title is one that, even with the best will in the world, is hard to remember. It wouldn’t look out of place on a YA bookshelf, but putting the word ‘Saga’ into the title of a first installment is rarely a good sign.

It’s clear from the finale that The WInx Saga is one eager for more installments, and there are some interesting directions for it to go should it be granted one.

One of the main drawbacks of this first season is how little time it has to flesh out the world before throwing us into the action. With just six hours, there’s barely enough time to get to grips with the status quo before it starts to unravel. As such, the series strives to Deathly Hallows levels of epic-ness by the end, but with far less material to get us there.

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Never quite living up to its ambition of being an adaptation for ‘adult fans’ of the original, Fate: The Winx Saga has the potential to hook younger viewers eager for a new fantasy series made solely for them.

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yespoetry · 7 years

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What ‘Lady Bird’ Got Wrong — And What It Got Right

By Joanna C. Valente

In a movie about growing up, you can expect a lot of pains. You can expect those silent traumas to happen without the main character fully realizing how a seemingly ordinary moment, like a slapdash comment from your mom about weight or losing your virginity to someone who is indifference to you. When you watch any movie about growing up, you know it’s going to be uncomfortable – which Lady Bird was, even while it made you laugh.

The abuse we see in Lady Bird hurts – and it’s dangerous. And what’s most dangerous about it is the fact that it seems so ordinary, so glossed over by the fact that it’s done with the best of intentions – that the abuse is done out of love. This is something we tell ourselves, as humans, everyday: If something is done out of love, it isn’t abuse. That isn’t true.

Lady Bird's mother, Marion, is often the culprit of this kind of “silent” abuse, whether it’s focusing on Lady Bird's bad grades (although you question how bad they could really be if she’s on scholarship), how she walks, what she wears, etc. Really, Marion picks on Ladybird just to pick on her, and takes any opportunity to belittle her.

It’s never necessarily what an outsider could call severe, or even abusive, since it seems like motherly nagging on the surface – but when you truly take a deeper look, especially into the fact that it’s unending, it really is abuse. Lady Bird never gets a break, as Danny pointed out. In many ways, her unhappiness and self-centeredness and need to lie, stem from the fact that she’s often told, even if by implication, that she’s not good enough. And she won’t ever be good enough.

The telling scene is when Lady Bird asks her mother if she likes her, and if maybe, this is the best version of her she can be, and her mother ignores the question, even makes a face. That says it all. That is abuse—and it’s the kind of abuse that teaches girls to ignore their desires, to feel small, to silence themselves.

Another telling moment in the film is when Marion stops talking to Lady Bird because she applied to New York schools (as if that is also a crime). Employing the “silent treatment” on your own kid when they live in your house, even after they plead with you and apologize profusely, is abuse. Considering Marion is a psychiatric nurse with a husband who takes medication for depression, she should also know better. She’s the adult in the situation, whereas Christine is not. Marion desires control, regardless of how it affects others.

This is what the movie does well: It portrays ordinary abuse, the kind of ordinary abuse so many of us have endured that we usually deny it’s abuse at all. Because it’s hard to admit when loved ones belittle us in ways that become part of our psyche. Yes, Christine is thoughtless and selfish (she is a teenager, too), and her treatment of Julie illustrates this, but she is never intentionally cruel.

When she realizes she has ignored Julie for her richer, cooler friend, Lady Bird promptly tries to right it. Lady Bird, despite her flaws, is not full of the kind of pride that prevents you from taking accountability. Her empathy for Danny is indicative of her openness—and her kindness. She could be upset Danny lied to her about being gay, but she also realizes it’s not about her. There’s more going on.

The thing is, many abusers understand what they do is abuse—and know what they are doing as they’re doing it. Marion, for instance, must understand she is mistreating her daughter, especially when she tells Lady Bird her own mother was an “abusive alcoholic,” also implying that anything less extreme must not be abuse, which is a way for her to rationalize her own actions. This rationalization is merely that, though, and not logical or ethical. As Paul Bloom wrote in his recent New Yorker piece on cruelty, “The truth may be harder to accept: that our best and our worst tendencies arise precisely from seeing others as human.”

Marion isn’t unintentionally dehumanizing Lady Bird when she refuses to use her chosen name (as opposed to her birth name, Christine), she is intentionally doing so – and because she knows this will hurt her. In order to actually hurt someone, you acknowledge their feelings because you can understand them, a kind of reverse empathy. If being cruel meant you actually didn’t view the other person as a human with emotions, you would probably miss the point of cruelty.

The fact that Lady Bird chooses a name for herself clearly proves all of these points: She is trying to find her identity, she is trying to shine like a radiant star in the same way she and Danny named their star Bruce, she is trying not to feel like a failure, she is trying to rise above the abuse and see herself as a survivor, not a silent victim. She merely wants to carve her own identity.

When she chooses not to use Lady Bird at the end, it’s a signal – both for Lady Bird's nostalgia for home (and her mother) and a way to show gratitude for the life her family gave her, but it’s also a strange sign of defeat. When she uses her birth name, we see her after one of the most isolating moments of her life, probably: Waking up alone in a New York City emergency room after having alcohol poisoning within her first month or so in college. That is not exactly a triumphant moment, and is also the result, perhaps, of her trying to cover up her loneliness and isolation, both from her family and her new surroundings.

Wherever she is, she doesn’t seem to “fit in,” and most of the film centers around Lady Bird trying to find her niche. In many ways, she romanticizes New York City, thinking she will find her place there, and in many ways, is disappointed she hasn’t – and perhaps begins to feel homesick for a place she couldn’t wait to get out of. This journey felt real because it was real.

For me, as someone who attended Catholic school for 13 years who often felt not good enough (and also dealing with feelings of queerness), who was the "poor kid" in a rich school, Lady Bird's world echoed mine in a lot of ways. I often found myself in the homes of other students, homes so unlike my own (and many of those students liked to point it out too), and felt out of place. Feeling out of place also means you can become silent, and try to blend in, or you have to find your real, authentic self. I chose the latter, as Lady Bird was also trying to do, but often struggling to (because who doesn't?).

Finding yourself is not an easy task. It’s not something you can simply do by moving, but by being honest and allowing yourself to fail. When we find Lady Bird at the end, in a bittersweet moment, we find her at the cusp of change, of potentially finding who she is. This is what the film does well – of not necessarily giving us everything we want in a neat bow.

But, in many ways, it’s also the film’s downfall, because we often do get what we want. The film is still portraying ideas of privilege and whiteness, with room for little else. While Lady Bird is definitely not rich, and often mentions how she’s the “poor one” who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, she is still much more privileged than most: She’s white, in a middle class family who is sending her to a private Catholic high school. Beyond that, she’s also conventionally attractive, talented, and smart. While she is struggling like any teenager struggles with sex and identity, her struggle is also not unique. The American Dream (one of whiteness, wealth, desire) is there, but the film is not exactly a commentary on its toxicity either.

And really, the film, in a lot of ways, can be boiled down to this: She’s an attractive middle class white person who gets into college. And whose parents refinance their home to make that happen in a private New York City school, nonetheless. Going to college at all is a privilege, but an expensive one even more so.

And that’s where I felt disappointed. What about kids like Miguel or Julie or even Danny? What about the kids who aren’t privileged in the same way Lady Bird is? Lady Bird does suffer abuse, but her story has also gotten told over and over and over again in other films. Rarely do films focus on characters who are kids of color, kids with disabilities, queer, or even “unattractive” without a makeover at the end.

I left the film feeling disappointed that Julie, for instance, was relegated to a side character role. While this is part of the point of Julie’s character (she is the “nice fat friend” who gets ignored and silenced, whose depression is rarely explored), it’s also fulfilling the same vicious cycle, the same male gaze. Her story is never told—even though it’s a common one, it’s just a common story hardly told. At least, not common when there isn't a makeover at the end. The same goes for Miguel, who is Lady Bird's older brother. The same even goes to Danny. While Danny is incredibly privileged (he lives in one of the fancy houses), he reveals that he’s gay, letting us into the fact that he has a huge struggle of his own (especially at a Catholic school)—a struggle not commonly explored in coming-of-age films.

What would the film look like if the character was transgender or non-binary, having to choose a new name and pronouns—and watching as the people around them chose to react and welcome or not welcome that kind of change. While I loved the idea of Lady Bird choosing her name, especially in a time where choosing names and pronouns is especially relevant, I also felt this was a missed opportunity to explore more.

While the film doesn’t judge the characters, falling away from the easy stereotypes of jocks and popular girls and anarchy-loving boys that many 80s and 90s films do, it also doesn’t dig deep enough. It could choose to highlight more marginalized people in Lady Bird’s small Sacramento community, but it doesn’t. Perhaps that’s not what this film is about, and that’s fine, but I can’t help but wonder, why not?

The film so artfully deals with abuse, depression, classism and homophobia, even if below the surface, I wished it dug even deeper, into the parts of American life that everyone knows to be true, but rarely wants to explore past the picture perfect life with the happy enough ending. Because, let’s face it, the end of the movie is “happy enough” and the struggle all seems to dissipate, as if the abuse can be stifled in a travel bag. Perhaps, of course, that’s what Lady Bird wants to believe, and so we want to believe it too. And that, of course, is the magic of the film.

Even so, we can all go a little farther.

Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (The Operating System, 2017), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016) and the editor of A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). Joanna received a MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College, and is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, a managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM, as well as an instructor at Brooklyn Poets. Some of their writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, Apogee, Spork, The Feminist Wire, BUST, and elsewhere.

#film #review #gender #lgbtq #art

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inloveandwords · 4 years

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Lately, I’ve been adding the books I want to read to my Amazon Wishlist instead of my Goodreads TBR. This is mostly because I can see right away if it is available on Audible Escape or Kindle Unlimited, which is nice.

Anytime I’m shopping for books, I just refer to that list more often than my Goodreads TBR (and my shelves there anyway).

I want to rethink how I use my Goodreads TBR, but for now, I’ll just focus on decluttering it.

It works like this

Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.

Order on ascending date added.

Take the first 5 or 10 books (I’m doing 20 because I have way too many on my list)

Read the synopsis of the books

Decide: keep it or should it go?

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

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Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo’s sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline’s mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he’s convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she’s going?

Sarah Dessen’s devoted fans will welcome this story of romance, yearning, and, finally, empowerment. It could only happen in the summer.

Date added to TBR: 12/29/16 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: I’m planning to read all of Sarah Dessen’s backlist.

Gardenia by Kelsey Sutton

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Seventeen-year-old Ivy Erickson has one month, twenty-seven days, four hours, fifty-nine minutes, and two seconds to live.

Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been able to see countdown clocks over everyone’s heads indicating how long before they will die. She can’t do anything about anyone else’s, nor can she do anything about her own, which will hit the zero hour before she even graduates high school.

A life cut short is tragic, but Ivy does her best to make the most of it. She struggles emotionally with her deep love for on-again, off-again boyfriend Myers Patripski. She struggles financially, working outside of school to help her mom and her sister. And she struggles to cope with the murder of her best friend, another life she couldn’t save. Vanessa Donovan was killed in the woods, and everyone in town believes Ivy had something to do with it.

Then more girls start disappearing. Ivy tries to put her own life in order as she pieces together the truth of who ended Vanessa’s. To save lives and for her own sanity.

The clock is always ticking. And Ivy’s only hope is to expose the truth before it runs out completely.

Date added to TBR: 12/30/16 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: I actually can’t believe I haven’t read this one yet. I love Kelsey Sutton!

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham

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In Talking as Fast as I Can, Lauren Graham hits pause for a moment and looks back on her life, sharing laugh-out-loud stories about growing up, starting out as an actress, and, years later, sitting in her trailer on the Parenthood set and asking herself, “Did you, um, make it?” She opens up about the challenges of being single in Hollywood (“Strangers were worried about me; that’s how long I was single!”), the time she was asked to audition her butt for a role, and her experience being a judge on Project Runway (“It’s like I had a fashion-induced blackout”).

In “What It Was Like, Part One,” Graham sits down for an epic Gilmore Girls marathon and reflects on being cast as the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore. The essay “What It Was Like, Part Two” reveals how it felt to pick up the role again nine years later, and what doing so has meant to her.

Some more things you will learn about Lauren: She once tried to go vegan just to bond with Ellen DeGeneres, she’s aware that meeting guys at awards shows has its pitfalls (“If you’re meeting someone for the first time after three hours of hair, makeup, and styling, you’ve already set the bar too high”), and she’s a card-carrying REI shopper (“My bungee cords now earn points!”).

Including photos and excerpts from the diary Graham kept during the filming of the recent Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, and—of course—talking as fast as you can.

Date added to TBR: 12/31/16 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: I love Gilmore Girls and Lauren Graham!

The Throne of Glass Coloring Book (Throne of Glass) by Sarah J. Maas

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Enter the world of Throne of Glass

Experience the vivid imagery of Sarah J. Maas’s expansive world in her breathtaking New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass saga. Celaena on the rooftops of Rifthold, Chaol in the gardens of the glass castle, Manon riding her wyvern through the Crossing, and many other favorite moments, characters, and objects from the vibrantly detailed realm of Throne of Glass come to life. With stunning original black-and-white drawings, The Throne of Glass Coloring Book is a must-have companion for any reader looking to be swept up in the adventure of a lifetime.

Date added to TBR: 12/31/16 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: I have the Court of Thorns and Roses version of this, I just need this one, now.

Off Sides (Off #1) by Sawyer Bennett

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“I’m not sure what possessed me to do it. Maybe it was the impossible expectations I faced, maybe it was my own self-loathing. But I just knew I needed something different to happen. I needed someone… something… to derail me from my current path. Otherwise, I would become lost… a hollowed out shell of a man. So I did it. I approached her, then I pursued her, then I made her mine. And my life was saved…”

Ryan Burnham is the privileged son of a U.S. Congressman and captain of his university’s hockey team. While he is on the verge of fulfilling his dreams to play in the NHL, his parents want him on a different course. One he is expected to accept for the sake of his family’s public image.

Forced her to abandon her music career after the heart breaking death of her parents, Danny Cross exists on the opposite side of the tracks from Ryan. She is struggling to make her own way, working two jobs, attending college part time and volunteering in a homeless shelter. She is on a mission to build her own success.

With a chance meeting, their vastly different worlds collide, causing each to evaluate whether they are truly on the correct path to self-fulfillment and happiness. Can their relationship survive? Particularly when others are against them every step of the way. A lot can happen in just ten short days…

Date added to TBR: 1/4/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: I have this on audio and started it, but never finished. I think if the timing is right, I’ll enjoy it.

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

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In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret…

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city’s vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city’s Banished people, second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan’s enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra’s sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

Date added to TBR: 1/11/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: I love Beauty and the Beast retellings!

A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire #1) by Jessica Cluess

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I am Henrietta Howel. The first female sorcerer. The prophesied one. Or am I?

Henrietta Howel can burst into flames. When she is brought to London to train with Her Majesty’s sorcerers, she meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, young men eager to test her powers and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her. As Henrietta discovers the secrets hiding behind the glamour of sorcerer life, she begins to doubt that she’s the true prophesied one. With battle looming, how much will she risk to save the city–and the one she loves?

Date added to TBR: 1/11/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: This one is on my bookshelf.

The Lonely Ones by Kelsey Sutton

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When your only friend is your own endless imagination, how do you escape your mind and connect to the world around you?

With parents too busy to pay her attention, an older brother and sister who would rather spend their time with friends, and peers who oscillate between picking on her and simply ignoring her, it’s no wonder that Fain spends most of her time in a world of her own making. During the day, Fain takes solace in crafting her own fantastical adventures in writing, but in the darkness of night, these adventures come to life as Fain lives and breathes alongside a legion of imaginary creatures. Whether floating through space or under the sea, climbing mountains or traipsing through forests, Fain becomes queen beyond – and in spite of – the walls of her bedroom.

In time, Fain begins to see possibilities and friendships emerge in her day-to-day reality. . . yet when she is let down by the one relationship she thought she could trust, Fain must decide: remain queen of the imaginary creatures, or risk the pain that comes with opening herself up to the fragile connections that exist only in the real world?

Told in breathless and visual verse, THE LONELY ONES takes readers through the intricate inner workings of a girl who struggles to navigate isolation and finds friendship where she least expects it.

Date added to TBR: 1/12/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: Again, I love this author and want to read everything she writes.

Radiance (Wraith Kings #1) by Grace Draven

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THE PRINCE OF NO VALUE

Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE

Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.

Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.

Date added to TBR: 1/12/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: This book has such high ratings, and I vaguely remember really wanting to read it!

Passenger (Passenger #1) by Alexandra Bracken

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Passage, n. i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes. ii. A journey by water; a voyage. iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them—whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home… forever.

Date added to TBR: 1/12/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: I am determined to read this.

Friend Me (Mates, Dates #1-3) by Cathy Hopkins

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Lucy, Izzy, and Nesta are sassy, sparkling…and utterly smitten.

In Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras, Lucy is at a turning point. She doesn’t feel like she fits in with her friends Izzie and Nesta. Then Lucy sees the most wonderful boy, and things start to change — in all areas of her life.

Izzie is smitten with Mark in Mates, Dates, and Cosmic Kisses. When Izzie cancels plans just so she’s available if Mark should call, Lucy and Nesta know they need to intervene. But how can they help when Izzie is convinced that she and Mark are destined to be together?

Nesta meets a boy of her own in Mates, Dates, and Designer Divas. Simon is rich and his lifestyle is totally glamorous. So is his friend Cressida. But competing for Simon’s affections could cost Nesta more than she anticipated.

Date added to TBR: 1/12/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: This is on my bookshelf

The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr

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HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO TO TRUST WHEN YOU CAN’T EVEN TRUST YOURSELF?

I look at my hands. One of them says FLORA BE BRAVE. Flora has anterograde amnesia. She can’t remember anything day-to-day: the joke her friend made, the instructions her parents gave her, how old she is. Then she kisses someone she shouldn’t, and the next day she remembers it. It’s the first time she’s remembered anything since she was ten. But the boy is gone. She thinks he’s moved to the Arctic. Will following him be the key to unlocking her memory? Who can she trust?

Date added to TBR: 1/12/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: This is on my bookshelf

The Book of Luke by Jenny O’Connell

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Emily Abbott has always been considered the Girl Most Likely to Be Nice — but lately being nice hasn’t done her any good. Her parents have decided to move the family from Chicago back to their hometown of Boston in the middle of Emily’s senior year. Only Emily’s first real boyfriend, Sean, is in Chicago, and so is her shot at class valedictorian and early admission to the Ivy League. What’s a nice girl to do? Then Sean dumps Emily on moving day and her father announces he’s staying behind in Chicago “to tie up loose ends,” and Emily decides that what a nice girl needs to do is to stop being nice.

She reconnects with her best friends in Boston, Josie and Lucy, only to discover that they too have been on the receiving end of some glaring Guy Don’ts. So when the girls have to come up with something to put in the senior class time capsule, they know exactly what to do. They’ll create a not-so-nice reference guide for future generations of guys — an instruction book that teaches them the right way to treat girls.

But when her friends draft Emily to test out their tips on Luke Preston — the hottest, most popular guy in school, who just broke up with Josie by email — Emily soon finds that Luke is the trickiest of test subjects . . . and that even a nice girl like Emily has a few things to learn about love.

Date added to TBR: 1/16/17 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: Not super interested in this one anymore.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns #1) by Rae Carson

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Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness. Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

Date added to TBR: 1/16/17 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: Eh.

Spindle Fire (Spindle Fire #1) by Lexa Hillyer

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A kingdom burns. A princess sleeps. This is no fairy tale.

It all started with the burning of the spindles.

No.

It all started with a curse…

Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king’s headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close.

And then everything changes, with a single drop of Aurora’s blood—and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.

As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen.

Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls; and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape…or the reason for her to stay.

Date added to TBR: 1/20/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: This one is on my bookshelf.

Rise (Rock Solid #1) by Karina Bliss

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Rise – The redemption story of a rock star going straight(er) through the love of a good(ish) woman.

Acclaimed literary biographer Elizabeth Winston writes about long-dead heroes. So bad-boy rock icon Zander Freedman couldn’t possibly tempt her to write his memoir. Except the man is a mass of fascinating contradictions–manipulative, honest, gifted, charismatic and morally ambiguous. In short, everything she seeks in a biography subject. When in her life will she get another chance to work with a living legend? But saying yes to one temptation soon leads to another. Suddenly she’s having heated fantasies about her subject, fantasies this blue-eyed devil is only too willing to stoke. She thought self-control was in her DNA; after all, she grew up a minister’s daughter. She thought wrong.

Rock star Zander Freedman has been an outlier–many would say an outcast–for most of his life. But there’s no disaster he can’t overcome, from the breakup of his band to the inevitable damage to his reputation. His Resurrection Tour is shaping up to be his greatest triumph–if his golden voice holds out. Contracting a respected biographer is simply about creating more buzz. Elizabeth’s integrity is the key to consolidating his legacy as one of rock’s greats. All the damn woman has to do is write down what he tells her. Not force him to think. Or encourage the good guy struggling to get out. And certainly not make him fall in love for the first time in his life. Turns out he is scared of something: being known.

Date added to TBR: 1/22/17 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: Nah.

Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino

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When a bestselling debut novel from mysterious author J.Colby becomes the literary event of the year, Emiline reads it reluctantly. As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn’t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer.

Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio.

That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby” must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending.

The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,” but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?

Date added to TBR: 1/22/17 Keep or Ditch? Ditch Comments: Nah.

Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1) by Kendare Blake

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When kingdom come, there will be one.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown.

Date added to TBR: 1/22/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: This is on my bookshelf.

Song of the Current (Song of the Current #1) by Sarah Tolcser

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Caroline Oresteia is destined for the river. For generations, her family has been called by the river god, who has guided their wherries on countless voyages throughout the Riverlands. At seventeen, Caro has spent years listening to the water, ready to meet her fate. But the river god hasn’t spoken her name yet—and if he hasn’t by now, there’s a chance he never will.

Caro decides to take her future into her own hands when her father is arrested for refusing to transport a mysterious crate. By agreeing to deliver it in exchange for his release, Caro finds herself caught in a web of politics and lies, with dangerous pirates after the cargo—an arrogant courier with a secret—and without the river god to help her. With so much at stake, Caro must choose between the life she always wanted and the one she never could have imagined for herself.

From debut author Sarah Tolcser comes an immersive and romantic fantasy set along the waterways of a magical world with a headstrong heroine determined to make her mark.

Date added to TBR: 1/22/17 Keep or Ditch? Keep Comments: This is on my bookshelf.

Decluttering my TBR #2 Lately, I've been adding the books I want to read to my Amazon Wishlist instead of my Goodreads TBR.

#declutter

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