Author: Zakiya N. Jamal

Zakiya N. Jamal was born in Queens, raised in Long Island, and currently resides in Brooklyn. In other words, she’s a New Yorker through and through. She holds a BA in English from Georgetown University and a MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in Writing for Children and Young Adults from The New School. She has been published in Romper, BuzzFeed, People.com, Thought Catalog, and more. Her non-fiction essay about her "Cuban Impostor Syndrome" can be found in the Latinx anthology, Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed. You can find her on Twitter at @ZakiyaNJamal.

The Blessing Bank Account

Posted on March 23, 2015March 23, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Blog, Guest Post

*The following post is a guest post written by my friend Jordan D. Blackwell. Enjoy!*

Why should I be grateful?

Theoretically, I feel we all know being grateful is good for us. The question is why? Well what do we ultimately want out of life? Once we know that, it’s easy to see being grateful is a necessity in our lives.

What I personally want out of life is to be healthy, wealthy, and a positive influence in this world. I don’t want to worry about finances, about my family being in danger, about the future, etc. Of course there are other things that I would love to have, but if I had those few basic needs met I would be happy. I think many of us would be more than satisfied to be healthy, wealthy and positive. Just imagine having all that you could want and being able to enjoy it without worrying about whether you deserve it or if it’s okay to have it. Imagine having the house that you want, the boyfriend/girlfriend you want, the relationships you want. Wouldn’t that be amazing? How would you feel if you had those things in your life? Would you feel happy? Peaceful? Grateful?

For myself, those things would give me an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I would know that there is a higher power that loves me and wants the absolute best for me. I’d know that I’m being taken care of and I don’t have to worry about my needs being satisfied. My God has blessed me and continues to bless me because I am loved.

Interestingly enough, I already have most of the things on my list! How is it that when I think of the things that will make me happy, they end up being things I already have? Why aren’t I happier?

We aren’t as happy as we could be because we aren’t always aware of all the blessings we have in front of us. We don’t consciously try to keep count of the blessings we’ve already received and naturally we’ll forget about them as we live out our lives. We’re holding ourselves back from being happier people by not acknowledging the things that we already have. It’s a little sad but it’s also pretty amazing to think about. Just by increasing our awareness of what we have we can all become happier with our lives.

I was thinking of how I could best keep track of these things and started thinking about other aspects of my life that I do a good job at keeping a track of. I immediately thought of my finances. Most of us are pretty good at keeping track of our money. We check our accounts regularly and make withdrawals and, hopefully, deposits on a regular basis.

Why don’t we do that with our blessings? What if we had a sort of blessing bank account? We’d check our account regularly, make deposits whenever we could, and withdrawals when needed. I have a box in my bedroom with a pad and pen in it. I could make it even easier by using my phone or computer but I use the box because I can physically see it every day. Whenever I can, I write something that I’m grateful for on a slip of paper, fold it, and “deposit” it into the box. They may be things, experiences, or people; anything I’m grateful for.

If we continuously make these deposits, over time we will see our box grow and grow until we have an abundance of blessings from which we can “withdraw” whenever we need to be reminded of how wealthy we truly are. Whatever mood you were feeling before reading over your blessings, I’m sure you’d feel better after reading them. I believe using this method would make us all more aware of our blessings and therefore much happier people.

The crazy thing that’s happened to me since starting this habit has been that I have not yet looked over my list. Months have passed by and I haven’t needed to make any withdrawals because the simple act of regularly listing my blessings has caused me to become more aware of them as they enter my life. Taking three minutes out of my day to do this has caused a positive shift in my perspective and I have no doubt that it would for anyone else who tries it.

I hope this post has helped you out in some way and I truly believe that this exercise could change your life for the better. I love y’all. Be grateful and, as always, be well.

Book Review: Down to You

Posted on March 16, 2015May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews

*This book is part of my POPSUGAR 2015 Reading Challenge*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The scorching tale of one girl, two brothers and a love triangle…that’s not. Olivia Townsend is nothing special. She’s just a girl working her way through college so she can return home to help her father run his business. She’s determined not to be the second woman in his life to abandon him, even if it means putting her own life on hold. To Olivia, it’s clear what she must do. Plain and simple. Black and white. But clear becomes complicated when she meets Cash and Nash Davenport. They’re brothers. Twins.

Cash is everything she’s always wanted in a guy. He’s a dangerous, sexy bad boy who wants her in his bed at any cost. He turns her insides to mush and, with just one kiss, makes her forget why he’s no good for her. Nash is everything she’s ever needed in a guy. He’s successful, responsible and intensely passionate. But he’s taken. Very taken, by none other than Marissa, Liv’s rich, beautiful cousin. That doesn’t stop Olivia from melting every time he looks at her, though. With just one touch, he makes her forget why they can never be together.

Black and white turns to shades of gray when Olivia discovers the boys are hiding something, something that should make her run as far and as fast as she can. But it’s too late to run. Olivia’s already involved. And in love. With both of them. Both brothers make her heart tremble. Both brothers set her body on fire. She wants them both. And they want her. How will she ever choose between them?

This review will have spoilers because I have to spoil this book to explain just how bad it is.

First of all, the main character, Olivia, is presented as this shy girl who has a thing for bad boys. This idea is so messed up on so many levels. As soon as Olivia meets boy #1, Cash, she’s willing to take his shirt off, supposedly to help a friend, but also because she wants to. She also initiates multiple hook ups with both Cash and his twin brother, Nash. At one point one of the brothers sneaks into her room to sleep with her and she doesn’t even care that she doesn’t know which brother it is. She’s basically the opposite of shy.

As for her “love for bad boys” I guess that’s true? The author presents us with two examples of Olivia’s love for bad boys: her one ex-boyfriend and Cash. That’s it. Somehow, however, this is supposed to prove to me that she always falls for the bad boy. Yeah, sure.

Moving on, let’s talk about this “love triangle”. For reasons that I didn’t really understand Cash and Nash both fall hard for Olivia real quick. All of sudden it’s like, “Whoa this girl is hot. I want her.” There’s no build up to this. It’s just all physical, which would be find if Ms. Leighton wasn’t trying to sell this as a love story. Seriously, Olivia knows these guys for all of two seconds before she’s freaking out because she can’t decide which one to be with.

Well lucky for Olivia she doesn’t have to choose because, PLOT TWIST, Cash and Nash are the same person. Now this could’ve been really cool. This could’ve been a great twist if it weren’t for two things:

It was so obvious something suspicious was going on with the twins. It’s clearly evident that they’re never together at the same time and I quickly began to believe that they were the same person but I couldn’t figure out why. Was one of them (Cash, apparently) crazy? Did he have multiple personality disorder? What was the problem? This leads me to the second issue.
The explanation! Cash was doubling as his brother to protect his father from getting charged for double homicide. Really? And he’s been doing this since they were in high school (about 10 years) yet no one caught on. So I’m supposed to believe that Cash had no friends in high school. That no one at that school could tell these identical twins apart. That somehow Cash just jumped into Nash’s identity and no one was the wiser. Additionally, “Nash” had a girlfriend who also believed Cash was his twin brother and not the same person. How did he pull that off and for so long? I don’t understand.

There’s so many plot holes in this book and just general things that made no sense but this post would be very long if I continued so I’ll stop here.

My final verdict is don’t buy this book. Do not waste your time reading this book. It’s not worth it and I definitely will not be reading the sequel.

Favorite Line:

Hearing her laugh is like listening to the best kind of symphony.

Stars: 1 out of 5. No, just no.

Borrow or Buy: Borrow or just don’t read. Definitely don’t spend money on this book.

Other Reviews

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Book Review: Where We Belong

Posted on March 12, 2015May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books

*This book is part of my POPSUGAR 2015 Reading Challenge*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Marian Caldwell is a thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . . only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world—and her very identity—will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her.

For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.

*This review will contain minor spoilers!!!*

I fell in love with Emily Giffin’s books when I read Something Borrowed I don’t even know how many years ago. I haven’t had a chance to read a lot of her books but thankfully one of my friends bought me three and I finally got a chance to dive in.

Where We Belong tells the story of Marian who’s world gets turned upside down when her daughter, who she gave up for adoption, shows up on her doorstep. Marian has been keeping the secret about her daughter for the past 18 years. Only her mother knew about the baby and the adoption and Marian has been trying to keep it that way ever since.

Unfortunately for her Kirby, Marian’s daughter, not only shows up at her apartment but comes with questions, mainly who’s her father? Marian is then forced to confront the past she’s so nicely tucked away. This is made even worse when she’s right in the midst of trying to convince her long time boyfriend to marry her.

Switching between the points of view of Marian and Kirby, Giffin crafts an amazing story of love and family. She shows how one decision Marian made when she was only 18 changed her life forever and how Kirby’s life completely changes when she herself turns 18. It’s interesting because although Marian is 18 years older than her daughter they both seem to grow up in this novel just in different ways. For Marian it was realizing what she really wanted for herself and her life. For Kirby it was finally realizing that her life, despite it’s craziness, isn’t as bad as she first thought it was.

I fell in love with both Marian and Kirby (I loved Kirby a little bit more) and was rooting for them the whole book. I really like Kirby’s wit, sarcasm, and love for music and I loved the relationship Marian and Kirby create together. It’s awkward and hard to understand but it’s also a good one.

My only problem with the book was the ending. It wasn’t terrible but I definitely wanted more from it. I could’ve used two more chapters at the end to tie things up. Otherwise, this is definitely a must read.

Favorite Line:

But now I can see that there is redemption and beauty in an accident emanating from love.

Stars: 4 out of 5. I really liked it but the ending just didn’t do it for me. I want to know more!!!

Borrow or Buy: Definitely buy. This is a goodie y’all want on your book shelf.

Other Reviews

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Switched at Birth Recap: “There Is My Heart”

Posted on March 11, 2015March 11, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Honestly this finale was not as shocking as ABC Family advertised and for that I was a little disappointed.

Let’s begin with the end of Bemmett, supposedly forever. After deciding to take a chance Bay hopped on a plane to L.A. and gave Emmett the surprise of his life. Especially since he’s in the middle of shooting his film about him and Bay’s relationship, the ending of which shows fake Emmett and Bay breaking up because fake Bay ~~slept with~~ was sexually assaulted by fake Tank.

Bay, after discovering Emmett’s script, confronts Emmett asking him if he’s still upset about what happened between her and Tank. Emmett says that he is and that maybe they should break-up. Bay says she’s willing to move to L.A. to be with him now and try to make this work but Emmett isn’t having it. He doesn’t want to feel pressured to be there for Bay all the time. He says she doesn’t have a job and isn’t going to school. That he would have to be there for her all that time and he needs to focus on school.

Usually I’m all for the focus on school argument but this is just crap. Emmett isn’t even willing to try. He claims he loves Bay but as soon as things get difficult he bows out? Seriously. Bay doesn’t plan on sitting in his room waiting for him to come back from school each day. She’d already started looking for apartments in L.A. Plus she had a plan before, I’m sure she could make another one. Emmett didn’t even give her a chance.

Then Bay gave Emmett the ultimate ultimatum. If they broke up this time it would be “for good”. No go backs. Damn. Even with that statement Emmett still ends it. I just can’t.

Bay then heads home and packs up all her Emmett stuff to get rid of it. I don’t believe this is the end of Bemmett but I just don’t know where they can go from here. It’s not fair.

The other Switched sister is doing pretty well in the romance department, however. After getting a D in chemistry Daphne believes her dreams of being a doctor is officially over. She’s just about ready to give up until Natalie and Travis get hit by a drunk driver. When Daphne gets to the hospital Natalie tells her she doesn’t know what’s happening. After confronting a nurse, the nurse admits they don’t have an interpreter there and don’t have the necessary materials to talk to Natalie. Daphne steps in as the interpreter and helps Natalie get the help she needs.

Afterwards, Daphne talks to Mingo who accompanied Daphne to the hospital and he tells her not to give up. To retake chemistry until she gets the A she needs for med school. Daphne agrees and they kiss. Yay!

I ship it! Hopefully this boyfriend sticks. She needs to have a solid relationship for once.

Speaking of relationships, Regina told Eric she loved him … and he didn’t say it back. At least not at first. Ouch. Claiming Will has to come first right now he also tells Regina they should sell the coffee house. Talk about a double whammy.

Thankfully, Regina’s the best thing to ever happen to Eric and when he sees her talking to Will he finally realizes it. He then tells her that he’s “stupidly in love” with her too and it was the most adorable ending. That is until Will admits to Regina that his mom isn’t actually dead. What the heck does that mean? Where is she? Why would Eric lie and make his son lie? Eric, what are you hiding???? This was the only shocking thing to happen in this finale and the closest thing we got to a cliff hanger. Who knows what will happen next?

Lastly, Toby and Kathryn showcased their musical to a producer. Well, at least they thought they are. Unfortunately it turned out the producer thought the idea for the musical sounded flimsy and didn’t even come. Thankfully, John is there to give them a confidence boost and tells them not to give up. Hopefully Toby takes this advice when it comes to Lily as well. Although I don’t really think she deserves him after treating him this way I really want Toby to be happy. Hopefully she can realize how good she has it with Toby and not give him up. We shall see.

Because it was the finale there’s no preview for next week. Let us hope we can all survive until the return of SAB.

Book Review: YOLO

Posted on March 9, 2015May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books

*This book is a part of my POPSUGAR 2015 Reading Challenge*

Synopsis from Amazon:

Through texts and messages, the mega-bestselling, beloved Internet Girls series followed the ups and downs of school for three very different, very close friends. Now it’s freshman year of college for the winsome threesome, and *everything* is different. For one, the best friends are facing their first semester apart. Way, way apart. Maddie’s in California, Zoe’s in Ohio, and Angela’s back in Georgia. And it’s not just the girls who are separated. Zoe’s worried that Doug wants to break up now that they’re at different schools, and Maddie’s boyfriend, Ian, is on the other side of the country.

In the face of change and diverging paths, Maddie’s got a plan to keep the friends close, and it involves embracing the present, making memories, and . . . roller derby! Using of-the-moment technology, Lauren Myracle brings her groundbreaking series into the brave new virtual world of texting and tweets.

I didn’t realize how much I missed the “winsome threesome” until I read through this book in one day. Somehow I found myself being able to relate to each of these girls in some way and it was awesome.

Just as the first three books in the series, the entire book is done in IM (although Lauren Myracle tries to sell it to us as texting). I say it’s still IM because the characters are still using their old screen names. Obviously this is done for the purpose of continuity but I struggle to picture college students using screen names as the names of their contacts in their phone.

Additionally there were multiple times when it was supposed to seem like they were group texting but some one was currently not responding to the group at the time. This was hard to keep track of at times. I wasn’t sure if Maddie was just texting Zoe or Zoe and Angela at some points and vice versa.

Despite these small failings I truly enjoyed this novel. It brought me back into the world of these characters that I loved so much years ago and reminded why I loved them in the first place. Although they’ve changed a little bit, as we all do when we get older, they were still the same characters I knew and loved.

Zoe was still the “good girl” but she let loose a bit and for that I was proud. Angela was still her bubbly, somewhat superficial self, but she was able to let go of the negatives that came with her superficiality (judging people on their physical traits before getting to know them for example). She also found a use for her love of fashion and beauty products, which was really cool.

As for Maddie she continued to struggle to be honest about her feelings and although I think by the end she learned that hiding things from her friends and not being honest with them or herself wasn’t healthy. Hopefully she’ll be able to figure out a way to better handle her emotions instead of bottling them up.

What I loved most about this novel and all the other novels in this series is the trio’s unending love for each other and unbreakable friendship. I think it’s amazing to create bonds like that with people and as the girls realize, it’s these bonds that help them through the tough times.

Myracle does an excellent drop of bringing this trio into the college world while keeping their friendship and separate personalities in check. All three of the girls face their own different challenges at college and in very different ways.

Favorite Line:

and I quote from the Bible: thou shalt not let a sorority girl named Candy dictate anything about your personal lifestyle, or thou shalt turn into a pillar of salt.

Stars: 4 out of 5. I loved it but there were some parts I struggled to find believable.

Borrow or Buy: Buy. I kind of wish I had the whole series to be honest. I’d love to reread them all in order.

Other Reviews

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Book Review: The Here and Now

Posted on March 8, 2015May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books

Synopsis from Amazon:

An unforgettable epic romantic thriller about a girl from the future who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.

Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.

But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.

Honestly I went into this book with low expectations. I loved The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series but I wasn’t sure how Ann Brashares would fair in the sci-fi genre. Overall, I think she did okay.

I can’t say I’ve read a lot of time traveling books but I have seen a lot of movies and Brashares does something different with her novel. Most often when people time travel it’s usually just one person and it’s for a specific purpose. In this novel although the time traveling group claimed their purpose for going to the past was to prevent their terrible future it immediately becomes clear that is not the case.

Rather, they have actually just made a move to the past to have a better life, the same reason many people immigrate from other countries today. They create their own little society in the midst of the past (our present) and start new lives.

What I found most interesting is Brashares combines two different genres because although it’s centered around time-travel it also has a dystopian aspect to it as well. The messed up future that Prenna and the other travelers leaves is definitely a dystopia, in this instance caused by climate change. The society that the travelers create in our present, however is also a dystopia with the type of surveillance and “Big Brother” watching that is typical of dystopian fiction (1984, anyone?).

Besides that, Brashares then adds the romanic plot that to be fair appears in almost any time travel story but makes this book a little more interesting. The love that appears between Prenna and Ethan is a good one that is ultimately destined to fail. Despite that idea you can’t help but root for them and want them to work. That’s what a forbidden romance does to a reader.

Brashares filled this novel with multiple twists and turns that kept me interested but also made me a little confused. Although I liked the idea of different time lines and how one little thing could completely disrupt the future it was often hard to remember what time characters came from. Are they from our present? Are they from Prenna’s present? Are they from a totally different time all together? It was a lot to keep track of.

The love story intertwined with the time traveling made this a very interesting read that I couldn’t put down. I wanted to know how it all ended, how everything was going to come together, and what all the little clues Ethan and Prenna discovered meant. Brashares did a good job of answering most of those questions but there were still some at the end that I’d like to know more about. For example, (SPOILER ALERT!) why did Prenna have that date on her arm when she first arrived in 2010? Did her father write it on her arm before she left? We never find out and I think this is important. What’s also important is why can Ethan tell who’s a traveler? Is it really because he happened to see Prenna when she arrived in our present or something more?

I think there’s so much more that could happen with this story and I’d be interested in a sequel. Brashares hasn’t said yet whether there will be one but I truly hope so. I wanted to know more and I was not satisfied with the ending of this novel at all. I guess you could say it didn’t exceed my expectation, unfortunately.

Favorite Line:

“When you open yourself to somebody, when you feel these thing that you feel, well, what do you do? You can try to ignore it, maybe you can try to forget about it, but you can’t undo it and you can’t give it back.”

Stars: 3 out of 5. I think this book definitely was good in that it kept me interested but there’s too many unanswered questions for me to really feel satisfied with it. Moreover, I wasn’t a big fan of the ending.

Borrow or Buy: Borrow. I can’t see myself rereading this book. Not one you need on your shelf.

Other Reviews

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Switched at Birth Recap: “Players Choice”

Posted on March 7, 2015March 6, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

The Switched at Birth writers are breaking fans hearts left and right. For why???

Let’s begin with Travis and Mary Beth. I wanted them to stay together forever and of course there’s the possibility they might get back together but I’d say the odds are slim. Mary Beth, although I used to love her, began to annoy me this episode and I understood why she broke up with Travis. I wasn’t liking the person she was becoming either. She just got so jealous and needy. I think it’s good they went their separate ways.

One good thing that came from their break-up, however, was Bay realizing she needs to start trying to fix her own relationship with Emmett. After trying to mend Travis and Mary Beth’s relationship the whole episode she was devastated when it didn’t work out and even tried to convince Mary Beth to give Travis another chance. Finally Mary Beth told her there was no fixing it but that didn’t mean Bemmett couldn’t still happen.

Meanwhile in L.A. Emmett enlisted Skye’s help to pitch his movie idea to a professor so he could be one of the lucky few to do a student directed film for a showcase. Although the professor dismisses Emmett’s first idea, Emmett then uses the story of his relationship with Bay to pitch a different idea. That one the professor likes and Emmett’s in and he’ll be working with Skye to make the film. Of course.

If you would like Skye to disappear please raise your hand.

Thankfully, Bay will be in L.A. next week and hopefully this will be the end of Skye for good. Let us pray.

Toby is also having his own relationship issues, although he didn’t know it at first. At the start of the episode Toby reveals to Katherine that he’s going to ask Lily to move in with him. Unfortunately, when Katherine goes to UKC to flyer about her musical she runs into Lily with her male co-worker. Instead of referring to Katherine as her boyfriend’s mom she calls Katherine “Daphne’s Mom”.

Ouch. Katherine calls Lily out on it later and Lily admits there’s something going on. Later when Toby takes her out to dinner and proposes they move in together Lily admits that she has feelings for someone else and even though she still has feelings for Toby she’s not sure what to do. Way to break Toby’s heart, Lily. Hasn’t Toby been through enough?

Lastly, Daphne and her roomie, Iris, decide to try the whole pledging them. They both fall in love with different sororities and each do a “suicide pledge” meaning they only signed up for one sorority each with no back ups. I’m glad they didn’t apply to colleges with that system.

Iris got into her sorority and was devastated when Daphne didn’t get a bid. Iris is so sweet. Honestly, I’m glad Daphne didn’t get a bid. She needs to chill right now and I don’t think joining a sorority would’ve been the way to do so. Especially since she accused a girl who she saw leaving Mingo’s room of blackballing her, which wasn’t the case at all. Silly Daphne. You still have so much to learn.

Next week should be interesting as Bay heads to L.A. There’s sure to be a lot of Bemmett drama next week and I can’t wait. Unfortunately it is the spring finale but that only guarantees it’ll be really good. Check out the preview below!

Who Did Rebecca Sutter Text in the HTGAWM Finale?

Posted on March 3, 2015March 3, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Thursday night’s HTGAWM finale left fans with a lot of questions, including who is “Eggs 911”? While being held captive in the Keating house, Rebecca Sutter (Katie Findlay) was able to grab Michaela Pratt’s phone long enough to send a text to an unknown number. All it said was, “Eggs 911. Lawyer’s House.”

Whoever it was either didn’t get to the house in time to save Rebecca or killed her themselves. The question is who is this mysterious person and what do they have to do with Rebecca’s murder? We’ll have to wait a few months to really find out but here’s a list of possible suspects.

1. The Security Guard

In part one of the finale Rebecca tells the Keating 4 that she tracked down the security guard who saw them all leaving the Keating house the night they killed Sam. It turns out Annalise and Frank “handled” him by having him fired for stalking some sorority girls. He’s now living in Delaware and Rebecca admitted to knowing just how to reach him in case she needed him to testify about what he saw that night. Maybe she thought he was the best bet to help her out of the mess she found herself in at the Keating house and sent him a text. Then again why not just use Annalise’s name? So many questions!

2. Griffin O’Reilly

Sure Griffin and Rebecca had a rough relationship to say the least but maybe they patched things up and started working together. We haven’t seen Griffin (at least not in the present) for a few episodes and who knows what he’s been doing with his free time. Maybe Rebecca reached out and asked for help or made a deal with him. Either way it’d be an awesome plot twist if Griffin reappeared in season two. Here’s to hoping!

3. Rudy

I know what you’re thinking. This is extremely unlikely but bear with me for a second. What if Rudy isn’t as whacked out as he seems? What if it’s all aploy so no one would know he’s really working with Rebecca. The text was sent to a number with the 215 area code, which indicates it’s someone in Philly. Who’s to say Rudy isn’t totally sane and he’s actually been helping Rebecca somehow? Wouldn’t that be crazy.

4. Hannah Keating

Everyone knows Sam’s sister, Hannah, hates Annalise and may have been in love with Sam. Who better to team up with Rebecca and help her against Annalise and crew? Plus she also disappeared rather quickly and has yet to return. Maybe she gave Rebecca her number before she left town but seeing the mess Rebecca was in when she arrived at the Keating house, killed her to tie up loose ends. But is Hannah really the killing type? Plus she probably wouldn’t have a Philly phone number. Unless she was using a burner phone. There are endless possibilities.

5. A new character

This is the most probable answer. “Eggs 911” is probably someone we haven’t met yet who’s sure to bring more drama and tension into the show. Maybe it’s one of Rebecca’s former dealer friends. Or another sorority girl Rebecca befriended. Who knows? Either way a new character would be good considering how many characters died in the first season. We could use some new faces at Middleton University. Plus Wes is going to need a new girlfriend to console him when he finds out his ex is dead. Talk about a bad breakup. Ouch.

Switched at Birth Recap Season 4 Episodes 7-8

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to recap last weeks episode so this will be a combined recap of last week’s and tonight’s episode. Get ready for a lot of Switched at Birth.

Last week Mission Hills and East Riverside got hit with a massive storm, keeping everyone in doors. Meanwhile, the Kennish household got a lot of guests including Emmett, Grandma Kennish (Bonnie), and her lady friend, Lucille. At the same time, Daphne and Regina were trapped at the coffee shop with Eric and Nacho.

Emmett returned to comfort Bay after learning she was sexually assaulted and doesn’t want to listen to Bay’s side of things. Although at first Bay wants to just agree with Emmett and blame everything that happened on Tank she knows it’s wrong to do so.

Finally, having enough Bay tells Emmett she has to be honest and tell him the truth about what happened that night. Emmett gets upset because he feels like she’s defending Tank but Bay is just trying to be clear about what happened, even though she’s not really sure what that even is. Emmett gets upset and leaves the house, telling Bay he’s not sure he can be okay with what happened between her and Tank. Hopefully, these two can figure out a way to make this work.

During the Bemmett drama, John suggests to Kathryn that Bonnie’s “friend”, Lucille, is more than just a friend. Kathryn denies it at first, not believing that her mother could be gay. Well Kathryn is in for an even bigger surprise when her mother tells her that she has Alzheimer’s and has known for a year. And she’s also gay.

Talk about a surprise. Kathryn decides that her mother has to move in with the Kennish’s and let them take care of her but Bonnie refuses. She and Lucille plan to go to Europe and follow theirs dreams. Kathryn becomes upset, not wanting her mother so far while she is ill, but eventually relents. It would’ve been interesting to see Bonnie and Lucille living with the Kennish’s, though. It sounds like the plot for a new sitcom.

Moving on, Daphne and Regina were surprised to see Nacho at the coffee shop. Apparently, he lives in the same building as Eric and was hired to do some handy work. When Nacho starts asking questions about how Daphne got off after their acts of vandalism Daphne foolishly tells him what Bay did for her.

Daphne, Nacho can’t be trusted. His name is freaking Nacho. You can’t trust a tortilla chip. #SwitchedatBirth

— Zakiya Jamal (@BooksTVMe) February 18, 2015

Of course, this was a terrible mistake. Even though Daphne told Nacho he’s off the hook and could go live his life that wasn’t good enough and instead he decided to black mail Regina and Daphne to get some money for himself and his daughter.

Thankfully, Eric realizes something is going on and asks Regina to tell him the truth. Although she doesn’t tell him everything she tells him Nacho is blackmailing them. Eric then goes into hero mode and shows Nacho his gang tattoo, warning him not to mess with the Vasquez’s ever again.

Then being the great guy he is, he gives Nacho some money for his daughter.

This week Bay was finally freed from her community service and probation. After saving her community service boss(?) from choking he decides to pay it forward by recommending Bay for early release. Bay is finally free! She can go to L.A. Too bad her boyfriend (maybe?) is not speaking to her at the moment. Talk about terrible timing.

Now with so much free time on her hands, Bay is looking for something to do. Daphne suggests going back to the woman who was going to put her in that art showcase but the woman says they have no openings. Instead she suggests Bay finds a way to make her own art and to be proactive.

Taking her up on her suggestion, Bay goes back to the community service spot and talks with Tess. In typical Tess fashion, she’s not really open to being friendly with Bay, mostly because she’s dealing with her own issues. Tess calls Bay out on not really knowing anything about Tess at all and Bay, realizing Tess is right, asks Tess about her life.

Tess explains her son, Sam, has a bad heart valve making him sick and difficult for him to breath. Tess had to bring Sam to work the day before and was fired because of it. Now Tess has to struggle to find a way to pay for Sam’s medicine.

Bay decides she wants to help Tess in some way but she’s not sure how. After talking to Kathryn, Bay decides to find a way to show Tess how great of a mom she is. Using her artistic skill, Bay starts an “Everyday Heroes” campaign on park benches, showing Tess with Sam. Bay, you’re my hero. Bay will continue to paint more park benches of different everyday heroes to fill up her free time. And it’s totally legal. Go, Bay!

While Bay is saving the world, Daphne is trying to get her love life in order. Bad boy Mingo asked her out and although he’s very hot, she’s not sure if she’s ready for the hook up lifestyle. Listening to Vilma, Daphne decides to give it a try.

Unfortunately for Daphne, her hook up with Mingo didn’t go as well as she wanted to, at least not afterwards. Not being able to locate the condom they go to the student health center to have Daphne checked out. While there Daphne and Mingo have a fun time talking and Daphne realizes she actually likes him. Too bad for Daphne, Mingo isn’t looking for a relationship. After getting out of a three year relationship with his high school girlfriend, Mingo is just looking for something casual. Realizing she wants something more Daphne ends it.

Other Highlights:

Travis struggles in his English class and Kathryn helps him out. Despite Kathryn’s help, Travis thinks about handing in a plagiarized paper that he later tells John he got from Coach Walsh. John and Kathryn motivate Travis to keep trying in school and John tells Coach Walsh to confess about what he did leading Walsh to be fired and John made head coach.
Eric’s keeping a secret about his deceased wife but after Regina tells him she can’t be with someone who keeps secrets he agrees he’ll tell her one day, when he’s ready. Also, Eric, Regina, and Will make a really cute family. Just saying.

My Thoughts

I’m so glad the writers finally let Bay have a good episode. She’s finally free from community service and probation and she gets to join Emmett in L.A. when they’re ready. I’m so excited. Also, I really hope Daphne and Mingo work out. I like him. Then again Daphne doesn’t need another boyfriend but let’s face it we all know she’ll get one eventually. It might as well be him.

Check out the preview for the next episode. We’re so close to the mid-season finale and I’m not ready for it end. 😦

Book Review: The Ruby Circle

Posted on February 18, 2015May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books

*This book is a part of my POPSUGAR 2015 Reading Challenge*

Book synopsis from Amazon:

The epic conclusion to Richelle Mead’s New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series is finally here…

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.

*This review will contain spoilers*

First of all I want to thank Richelle Mead for a wonderful two series worth of books. I’ve been following these characters for years now and it’ll be hard to let them go. Actually I’ll probably just reread the books forever and never really let them go. Really though, this has been a wild ride, and I hope Mead means it when she says this won’t be the last we see of these characters.

As far as conclusions to a series go this was phenomenal. Using the kidnapping of Jill as an excellent plot device Mead brought back so many characters and elements of both the Vampire Academy series and the Bloodlines series that I was floored. We got the return of the evil witch, Alicia, Dimitri and Rose joined Adriana and Sydney on a road trip where we learn Dimitri and Adrian are actually cousins, and the Warriors were brought back as well.

The one loose end I wish was tied up was the cure to Strigoi-ism (?). We know Sonya is still working on it but there was only one cure made for Neil and then nothing. That would seriously change the world for the vamps. Besides that I think Mead wrapped everything up perfectly.

The plot itself in this book was also great, albeit predictable. The most shocking things about the novel was Neil and Olive’s son, Declan, and the reveal of Dimitri and Adrian’s familial relations. Otherwise it was obvious early on that it was Alicia that took Jill, although I didn’t expect the Warriors to come into play. Additionally, although I wanted Neil to take care of Declan, I could tell by the way Adrian suddenly became so good with kids that Adrian and Sydney would probably become Declan’s parents.

Speaking of Declan, although I liked that Mead has now provided a way for Rose and Dimitri to actually have kids if they choose to do so, I think it’s a bit of stretch. To suggest that spirit somehow allows dhampirs to now produce seems unlikely. However, this is a series about vampires, witches, and everything in between so everything is already unlikely, therefore I just have to take Mead’s word for it that this is possible.

I would have liked to see more of Declan and know just how special he really is. Will he have some spirit powers or is he just a regular dhampir child? Maybe there’ll be another series surrounding Declan and everyone else’s kids? Please?

Moving on, I also wish we got to see Angeline. She’s the one character that was missing and I wanted to hear her sass one last time. She would’ve provided a lot of comic relief, although I think Adrian may have provided enough.

What I loved most about this book was really the relationship between Adrian and Sydney. Even though they struggled, mainly because of Adrian’s spirit use, they were able to work through their issues and support each other no matter what. It was interesting seeing them as husband and wife but it worked well too. Then seeing them become parents was icing on the cake.

I also really liked that Mead brought Rose and Dimitri into the epilogue, as well, allowing us to see that they would be married too … at least some day, maybe when Rose is 30. Mead wrapped up the Bloodlines series but it also felt like she was ending the Vampire Academy series too and that was really cool. Well done.

Favorite Line:

“Sydney,” Adrian interrupted, cupping my face in his hands. “Never, ever think like that. I don’t regret anything we’ve faced. Being with you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, the one perfect decision I’ve made in a lifetime of fumbling and poor judgment. I’d go through it all again to be by your side. Never doubt that. Never doubt how I feel about you.”

Stars: 5 out of 5. Such a great book and end to a wonderful series.

Borrow or Buy: Are you kidding? Buy this. Put it on your bookshelf and then reread it always. Buy the whole series while you’re at it.

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