Discussions Only We Know: When Religion/Political Topics Come Up

Discussions Only We Know

When Religion/Political Topics Come Up

So last week we discussed How Outspoken is Too Outspoken?. As I mentioned in that post, this comes in various ways and in various weights. Being over-opinionated about whether a book was good or not and trying to force that opinion on others is not on quite the same level as forcing a religious, political, etc. belief on someone. So how do you tackle that? The last post was more geared around the first example, the kind of over-opinionated that wants you to feel the same way they do about a particular book or way to blog, etc. But in this post, I’d like to stop for a minute to discuss what do you do when it’s the other scenario? What do you do when an author or a blogger or anyone else is trying to force a religious or political belief on you?

Who’s right and who’s wrong? Is there a right and a wrong? What determines that? Is it actually possible for two people that have differing opinions to both be right? Can two people with different opinions live in harmony? Is that actually possible? And I’m not talking about “I like the color green and you like brown so we can’t be friends.” I’m talking heavy, weighty, important topics.

This particular subject is difficult for me because I am a religious person. I don’t wish to force my religion on others, but I believe what I believe because I honestly think it is truth. Some of my religious beliefs aren’t popular right now, and the more I feel my beliefs are persecuted against the more vocal I want to become. It has never been my desire to go into politics or even religion very much on my blog. That’s not what I started this for, and to a large extent I still don’t want to bring those things into my blog.

But I am defined by my religion. I am a Christian. I am a Christ-follower. Am I perfect? Of course, not. That’s the very reason why I need Jesus Christ in the first place. He lifted me up out of my sin and death and covered me with His blood so that I can have eternal life with Him. I’m not trying to preach to you, but I am trying to explain to You that that’s who I am. I am a redeemed believer. I am a daughter of the Most High. And after He offered Himself up to die for me—His blood as the payment for my sins—how can I be ashamed of the calling that He’s given me? How can I be ashamed of Him at all? I’m not, and I won’t be. It’s who I am.

Regardless of whether I’m a Christian or not, I still have a right to my voice. As do you. When faced with being force fed something we don’t believe in or agree with one way or the other, what do we do? Do we keep quiet? Shut our mouths and hope that it’ll pass? Do we stand up and speak? Do we let our voices be heard? So what happens if everyone is speaking so loud that no one is heard? Who is right? Who is wrong? Who determines that? What am I supposed to do when my belief in what’s right and what’s wrong isn’t popular? Do I sit down and keep quiet? If I speak up will I be accused of being full of hate or malice or discrimination or following blindly an antiquated and outdated religion? Should that cause me to keep quiet? Should I let misconceptions about me and my God go unaddressed?

What do you guys think? Would you keep silent when you disagree? Or do you feel compelled to speak out even when what you think isn’t popular? Let me know!

Crimson Bound - Review

Crimson Bound

By: Rosamund Hodge

Published: May 5th 2015 by Balzer & Bray/Harperteen

448 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

I listened to Cruel Beauty on audio a while back, and I enjoyed it. But I also think I enjoyed it as much as I did because it was on audio. It had more of a slow progression than I typically enjoy, so I was a little concerned about reading Crimson Bound over listening to the audio version. But sometimes you don’t really get much choice in the format, so I was just happy to have the opportunity to read and review Crimson Bound. And well, Crimson Bound was a little slow. And truthfully, I might have liked it better had I been listening to the audiobook versus reading it. But I did enjoy it.

Crimson Bound is kind of a combination of two fairytales: Little Red Riding Hood and The Girl With No Hands. Personally, I know nothing about The Girl With No Hands, and so I wasn’t able to really look for how all the pieces of that fairytale fit into Crimson Bound. The ins and outs of the world Rosamund Hodge created in Crimson Bound are fairly complicated to describe. It was easy to understand while reading, but to break things down for you here would be a bit much.

As the description says, Rachelle makes a bad decision that ends up with her being bound to the evil she was trying to figure out how to defeat. Even as a young girl, Rachelle never wanted to sit idly by as the world around her suffers. Now she’s faced with carrying the guilt of her decisions with her or die trying to redeem herself and save those who she was seeking to save from the beginning.

The description isn’t quite accurate when it says that Armand—who Rachelle is charged with guarding—is the man she hates most. She hates the Devourer. She hates the forestborn who turned her bloodbound, and she hates the bishop. Armand…well he falls in line definitely after these three. Armand survived what Rachelle could not. When a forestborn approached him to turn him bloodbound, Armand was able to resist completeing the process and Rachelle hates what that means. It means that she might have been able to resist too. And that’s what Rachelle hates. Herself.

Like Rachelle, I wasn’t fully sure who to trust or who to root for in the beginning. And even when the emotional connection began to develop with Rachelle, I had a hard time connecting to her choice fully. I didn’t really have all of the twists figured out beforehand, but I also didn’t feel the need to try. The ending felt a little clean for me. But this is based off a fairytale afterall.

Favorite quotes:

-“I grow impatient, little girl.” “Then learn to wait,” she bit out..

-“Do you think that doing the right thing will always be pretty?”

-“I think sometimes there is no right thing.”

-…”my mother used to say that if we all got what we deserved, we’d all be dead. And yet somehow God refrains from smiting us.”

-She was bloodbound, after all, and being bloodbound meant knowing how easily I could never turned into Yes, I will.

In the end, I enjoyed Crimson Bound. I wanted to keep reading and was more invested than I thought I would be. Yet at the same time, Crimson Bound was also easy to put down when I needed to. When I finished Crimson Bound I realized that it was a good book, but not exceptional. There wasn’t much for me to complain about, but I wasn’t blown away either. Crimson Bound gets 3 Stars. Have you read Crimson Bound? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Paradise Road

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Paradise Road (Paradise, # 2)

By: CJ Duggan

Expected Publication: August 28th 2015 by Hachette Australia

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--In the sequel to CJ Duggan's PARADISE CITY Lexie Atkinson discovers that the road back to Paradise is never easy . . .

More than anything, seventeen-year-old Lexie Atkinson wants to move forward with her life, but she can't seem to shake free of the heart-pounding memories of Paradise High. Back on her parents' property in rural Victoria, she thought she'd left behind the glitzy, gritty nightlife of the big city and the group of misfit friends she'd loved to hate, but she soon realises that in order to move forward, there's something she must do first ...

Lexie's going back to Paradise City to face the boy who stole her heart.

Lexie arrives in Paradise City eager to determine if her future includes bad-boy surfer, Luke Ballantine, but Luke is nowhere to be found. Determined not to lose her drive, she focuses on the positive - her amazing new apartment and a chance to try her hand at slinging drinks for the wild partygoers of Paradise City. But when Dean Saville, the owner and broody boss of the Wipe Out Bar, starts stirring more than just her drinks Lexie's future seems less cut and dry; and when Luke barrels back into town, Lexie is forced to choose between her head and her heart.

I've loved CJ Duggan's Summer series, but I can't say that I loved book 1, Paradise City, as much as I wanted to. I'm hoping this one will be better, but I'm a little wary.

Top Ten Books I Plan to Never Read

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Books I Plan to Never Read.

With no reasons why, here are ten books I plan to never read:

1. Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
2. Have No Mercy by Shannon Dermott
3. anything by David Levithan
4. Simone vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
5. anything by Holly Black (Well with the exception of The Iron Trial she co-wrote with Cassandra Clare because I have that for review.)
6. Seth & Grayson by Jessica Sorensen
7. anything by Libba Bray
8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
9. Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin
10. The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sara Ockler (Ok so technically I’ve already read this one, but I wish I could take it back.)

There's no use in trying to talk me into reading any of these, so if you've enjoyed one of them in the past then that's cool, but I'm still not planning to ever read them. Which books do you plan to never read? I promise not to try to talk you into reading them. Let me know!

Heat of the Moment - Review

Heat of the Moment (Moment of Truth, # 1)

By: Lauren Barnholdt

Expected Publication: May 12th 2015 by HarperTeen

304 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Before graduation, I promise to...learn to trust. In the first book in the Moment of Truth series, Lyla discovers that trusting her head might be easy but trusting her heart is a whole other matter.

Each book in this paperback original series is told from the perspective of a different girl—Lyla, Aven, and Quinn—former best friends who wrote emails to their future selves back in freshman year about one thing they hope to accomplish before they graduate. When the emails get delivered on the first morning of their senior trip all three girls will spend the next three days trying to keep the promises they made to themselves four years ago. While each book follow’s one girl’s life-changing adventure, you have to read them all to get the whole story, including why they’re no longer friends and whether they can get their friendship back on track.

Lyla McAfee had all but forgotten the email that she wrote to herself freshman year and scheduled to be delivered right before graduation—the one promising that she’d learn to trust by the end of senior year. But when she receives it the first morning of her senior trip to Florida her life is sent into a tailspin. Soon she’s questioning her seemingly perfect relationship with her boyfriend, Derrick; her attraction to the school player, Beckett; and whether ending her friendship with Aven and Quinn, her former BFFs, was one of the biggest mistakes of her life.

The first book in a captivating summer trilogy, Heat of the Moment flawlessly balances romance and humor as Lyla embarks on her totally reluctant but completely irresistible journey of self-discovery. And readers will have a chance to discover whole truth about the fight that ended Lyla, Quinn, and Aven’s friendship in the next two installments of the series, coming out later the same summer!

What to say…what to say? First off, I don’t feel like this book was exactly as the description advertised. Lyla doesn’t appear to begin questioning her relationship with longtime boyfriend Derrick because of the email she sent to herself. And she doesn’t really even start to question whether ending her friendship with Quinn and Aven was the biggest mistake of her life either. I mean I don’t want to give too much away, but that’s just not how this book went down. I mean that might have been how things ended up, but it’s not exactly as advertised.

Anna @ Anna Reads (*sniffs* miss her) occasionally talked about “Old Lady Syndrome” and that’s exactly how I felt while reading Heat of the Moment. The gist of OLS is while reading a book you realize how much of an adult you’ve become by contrasting your now self to the character. And yeah, I was having MAJOR Old Lady Syndrome with this one. Truthfully, I remember having some of the exact same thoughts and feelings as Lyla when I was much younger. But in my old age of not quite thirty, I just wanted to scream at her to open her eyes and stop being such an idiot. Her thought process, missing the obvious, not stopping to explore why she feels whatever she feels, her reaction based actions…all of it just made feel OLD.

Lyla as a character was painful to read at times for me. There were just too many “DUH” moments. I was discussing this with husband and he made a good point. He said that since character growth is so important that it’s almost like authors sometimes make the characters so idiotic, immature, etc in the early parts of the book so that by the end it’s easy to see their progression. I think he’s onto something. Subtlety is not always easy to write. And so yeah, except that Lyla STILL didn’t feel like she made much progress to me by the end of the book. She was still pretty immature (and this is a girl contemplating having sex..it blows my old lady mind).

Derrick, Lyla’s longtime boyfriend, wasn’t much better. If Lyla sees in black and white then Derrick sees in the darkest of blacks and the purest of whites. Thank goodness this wasn’t a dual narrative because I feel like I would have been just as annoyed and old feeling seeing inside his head as hers. Like Lyla, Derrick missed the obvious so many times.

Beckett on the other hand was probably the only character I really connected to. He liked Lyla—for some reason that I’m still not exactly sure about. But I felt like I understood him and could even relate some. That’s about all I’ve got.

The writing was smooth enough. This was an easy and fast read. That wasn’t the problem. But I just couldn’t connect with the characters because of how immature they felt. This might be the perfect book for younger YA fans.

By the way, the word “probably” was used entirely too many times in this book.

Some quotes to illustrate my points:

-As the car gets closer to the front circle, I see someone standing on the sidewalk, right where the bus should be. Derrick! He probably waited for me! He probably decided that if I wasn’t going to Florida, then he wasn’t going either. I wonder if he had some sixth sense about me losing my virginity to him this weekend.

-I’m texting Derrick now, trying to figure out how far away the bus has gotten. Maybe I can catch up with it somewhere. Like if it stops at a red light or something, I can just run up to it and get on. Of course, that will be horribly embarrassing. Probably everyone will be looking.

-What am I supposed to do until he calls me? And what about his phone? He said it was dead. How long will it take him to charge it? Twenty minutes? An hour? Will he plug it in right when he gets to his room? Will he text me while it’s charging, or is he going to wait until it’s fully charged? He’ll probably wait until it’s fully charged. Boys are so stupid like that. He probably doesn’t even realize he can just text me while it’s plugged in. He probably doesn’t—

Seriously, I could keep going. Just search “probably” and you’ll find all the annoying rants and ravings and questions of an immature teenage girl looking for all the wrong things in all the wrong places.

I feel like I’m making this book sound worse than it was. Like I said, the writing wasn’t horrible. Sentences flowed. Things made sense. I never really wondered how we got from point A to point B—like the author left out some steps. But I just can’t really tolerate characters like Lyla too well. Heat of the Moment gets 2.5 Stars from me. Have you read Heat of the Moment? What did you think? Let me know!