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.

Switched at Birth Recap: “Black and Gray”

Posted on February 17, 2015February 17, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Emotions were running high on this week’s episode of Switched at Birth. After Toby told Lily about what happened to Bay she had to report it to Melody who then reported it to the university. Now that it’s in the university’s hands every one who was at the party is called into questioning about the events of the night and it quickly becomes clear to everyone who’s involved in the incident.

Bay quickly realizes she can’t keep this under wraps anymore and she’s going to have to face what happened. After Daphne goes to Regina for advice about a “friend” who went through the same situation as Bay’s “friend” Regina realizes that they were both probably talking about Bay. Regina then goes to Kathryn for help and they both confront Bay to try and get answers and help her. Bay, however, doesn’t want to talk about it. Feeling guilty for putting Tank through this when she’s not really sure what happened makes her feel like maybe she made a mistake. However, she can’t help but like she was violated that night.

After Kathryn confesses to Bay that she was sexually assaulted as a teen and never told anyone, she tells Bay that only Bay knows how she feels. Bay then decides that she does want to talk to the Title IX coordinator at UKC who’s handling the case. Bay attempts to explain to the coordinator that she’s not really sure what happened that night and she doesn’t think Tank meant to hurt her. However, she did wake up feeling like something was wrong but she thinks Tank just made a mistake and that there’s a lot of factors to take in. Despite her best efforts Tank was still expelled from UKC making Bay feel even worse.

Meanwhile, because everyone found out Bay was the person who was sexually assaulted, she knew she had to tell Emmett what happened. However, when she tried to explain to him what happened Emmett didn’t want to hear it, only thinking that she cheated on him with Tank and not wanting to hear the whole story.

To help Bay, Daphne flies to L.A. to talk to Emmett and try to convince him to hear Bay out before passing judgement. Honestly, I understand why Emmett was mad but seeing as how he cheated twice (let us not forget that kiss with Daphne) I think he owes it to Bay to at least listen. Moving on, Daphne tells Emmett that Bay was raped (strong choice of words but we can deal with that later) and suddenly Emmett is listening. Good thing too since it seems he was on his way to hooking up with his new “friend”. That definitely would’ve made the situation 10 times worse.

When Daphne returns home Bay asks her how it went and in response Emmett walks in. Yay! Hopefully these too can work it out. If they break up again I don’t think my shipper heart can handle it.

Other Highlights:

John went to Toby’s apartment to confront Tank but found himself conflicted when Tank made on a good case for why he would never try to hurt Bay.
Bay began to doubt herself after reading so many comments online about herself, leading Regina to fight with Melody. Eventually Regina realizes it’s not Melody she’s really upset with and they quickly make up. Regina then decides to bring another sexual assault survivor/activist to talk to Bay, which does not end well. Both Bay and Kathryn were upset and Regina apologized for overstepping.
Travis feels guilty for not protecting Bay and gets into a fight with Mary Beth because although she’s sorry about what happened to Bay she believes Bay should’ve been more careful and responsible with her drinking.

My Thoughts:

A lot of things happened in this episode that I’m not sure I agree with. First, Daphne telling Emmett that Bay was raped was a lot. Yes I understand Bay was drunk and blacked out and obviously that’s a huge problem but no one really knows what happened that night. Not even Bay. Tank definitely made a mistake. He shouldn’t have slept with her when she was that drunk but I’m not sure I would jump to use “rape” when it’s such a sticky situation.

Additionally, Travis and Mary Beth’s fight bring up some real questions. I love Mary Beth and I kind of get what she’s saying but it also felt like victim shaming. Of course Bay drank too much but Bay was going through a tough time and she probably didn’t even realize how much she was drinking. Is it her fault that Tank chose to have sex with her when she was so wasted she couldn’t even remember it? Although I know Mary Beth didn’t mean it this way all I could think while she was speaking is this is why rapists don’t get charged and victims don’t want to come forward. Because people say they shouldn’t have been wearing that dress or drinking that much or be out so late. I had to take Travis’ side in this argument. Bay shouldn’t be blamed for what happened to her. Period.

Tonight’s episode looks like it’ll be intense. With everyone trapped inside by a storm, drama is sure to ensue. Hopefully Bay and Emmett come out on the other side, together. Check out the preview below.

Book Review: Never Fade

Posted on February 10, 2015May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books

Book synopsis from Goodreads:

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster.

When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her.

As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?

As far as sequels go, Never Fade was a wonderful success. With more twists and turns than The Darkest Minds, I couldn’t put this book down. The novel starts a bit after Ruby has been with The Children’s League and then leaves us with a million questions after the first chapter, when Alexandra Bracken then takes us through flashbacks to when Ruby first arrived at the League’s headquarters.

Why, Bracken, why? Probably because I sped through the next few chapters wondering what had Ruby so freaked out and the reveal did not disappoint. In this novel readers meet so many new characters, giving answers into the good and bad sides of the League and Liam’s past. We also get to see some old faces and some faces we were hoping to never see again.

The level of danger in this novel is taken up a notch from the first book. Although Ruby went into the League not trusting anyone, she doesn’t realize just how unsafe she is inside the League’s walls until it’s too late. Plus once she’s out, she no longer has to deal with just running from the government and PSFs but also the League and their top hunter, Rob. Ruby also has decide who she can and can’t trust while also trying to deal with the aftermath of taking away Liam’s memory of her and the loss of her little family with Zu, Chubs, and Liam.

Overall, I really loved this book. There were sometimes I wanted to slap Ruby because she couldn’t see what was going on right in front of her face but for the most part she made a great Leader even though she never wanted the title. The return of Liam and some other characters from the first novel kept this book interesting and the interactions between the people from Ruby’s life before the League and after was hilarious. I can’t wait to see what happens next and how this will all end.

Favorite Line:

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Chubs said. “Apparently the middle of my sentence interrupted the beginning of yours. Do continue.”

Stars: 5 out of 5. I’ve already reread some parts of this book. So great and so many good one liners. It was hard to just choose one.

Borrow or Buy: Buy! Definitely one you’ll want on your book shelf.

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Switched at Birth: “At First Clear Word”

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

1974983_846015278775684_6117383763033823286_n — via Facebook

*This episode contained discussion about sexual consent. Reader discretion advised.*

The Switched at Birth writers hit me squarely in the feels with this episode. This was such a tricky topic and I think the writers handled it very well.

After having a huge fight with Emmett, Bay went to the party at Daphne’s school and got black out drunk. The next thing she remembers is waking up in bed, naked with Tank. So what happened? At first Bay’s biggest concern was that she cheated on Emmett but after talking to Regina about it (strictly in hypotheticals of course) Regina suggests that the girl (Bay) was raped.

This leads Bay to question if she was and if she really gave Tank consent. Well there’s two sides to every story. According to Tank, Bay was making the moves and she kissed him first. Bay, from what she barely remembers, claims it went differently. She says he kissed her first.

Either way neither of them really remember exactly what happened and therein lies the problem. If Bay can’t remember what happened that night how does she know if she gave consent or not? Of course Tank is a good guy. We’ve all seen that but when you’re drunk things can be misconstrued and get really confusing. Even if Bay was making the moves shouldn’t he have realized how drunk she was? To be so drunk that you don’t even remember what happened, you had to be falling all over the place.

Tank claimed that Bay might just be feeling this way because she feels guilty about cheating on Emmett but I don’t think that’s it at all. From my one black out experience I can say it’s pretty terrifying waking up and not knowing what happened to you, and I definitely don’t recommend it. Trying to piece together what really happened to her is probably Bay’s top priority right now, and she has every right to feel concerned.

Moving on, things only get worse when Toby comes home and hears everything from Bay and Tank’s fight. Toby is conflicted because Tank is his roommate but Bay is his sister and he has to stand by her side. Tank leaves when he realizes Toby doesn’t believe him. Toby then calls his girlfriend, Lily, who he had a fight with earlier over trivial things, honestly, and they patch things up. Toby then asks for her help with Bay.

Meanwhile, Bay returns home where she finds Daphne, who had her own interesting night (we’ll get to that later). Bay tries to pretend she’s fine but Daphne can tell something’s wrong. Bay then tells her everything and tells Daphne she just wants to forget anything ever happened. Sadly for Bay, it looks like that’s not going to happen. Seems like the whole family will find out in the next episode. And so will Emmett. Oh dear.

Daphne’s situation wasn’t nearly as crazy as Bay’s but she had some of her own issues to deal with. Vimla, the girl in Daphne’s chemistry group that’s also dating Josh, butts heads with Daphne on their group project. Their professor then invites them over to her house for a party.

Not sure what to expect they go, although supposedly it’s not mandatory. Daphne and Vilma are joined by three other girls in their class and the professor instructs them to make ice cream. They decide to go at it alone and end up competing with each other and making a mess of everything. The professor comes in right when Daphne and Vilma come to blows and gives the girls a much needed lesson.

There are so few women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) so they have to work with each other and be willing to lift each other up instead of tearing each other down. The professor reminds them that she never said they had to make the ice cream individually but they just decided to go about it that way. She suggested from now on they learn to work each other so hopefully in the future there won’t be such a huge gap between men and women in STEM. You go professor!

Vilma and Daphne seem to patch things up and even agree to a “custody arrangement” when it comes to Josh. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Other Highlights:

Regina tried to deny her feelings for Eric but that was very short lived. They end up hooking up again. Is #Reric a thing yet? Or is it #Ergina? Either way I ship it.
Toby and Lily got into a fight over Toby’s spending/job. Lily decides to help him pay his rent but got mad when she found out he was spending money on DJ equipment that he could be using on rent. Luckily they reconcile and team up to help Bay.

Overall, this episode was well done and I’m excited/nervous to see what will happen next. Check out the preview below.

Switched at Birth Recap: “We Were So Close That Nothing Stood Between Us”

Posted on January 28, 2015January 28, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

I truly believe the Switched at Birth writers hate Bay. Honestly. They just keep giving her these sucky situations and she’s never allowed to just be happy. It’s so frustrating and it makes me not want to watch the show anymore.

This episode started with a high and then ended with a very low low. At the start of the episode Bay is excited about finally being off house arrest and is video chatting with Emmett to tell him so. But then Emmett surprises her with a visit and although it’s only for a couple days they promise to make it the best.

That’s short lived when Emmett starts talking about his great life in L.A. and his new found friendship with Skye. Bay begins to feel jealous and a little left behind since her life hasn’t changed at all. In an attempt to get on Emmett’s level, she takes him to see this fancy movie that she researched before. When Emmett calls her out on it she explains how she’s feeling and Emmett explains that he’s happy now. He shows some pictures of him in L.A. and up pops the one Skye took just before she kissed him. Oops.

Of course, Bay then asks if Skye likes Emmett. He tries to deny it but then admits that Skye did kiss him but he pulled away. Bay gets upset but then tries to play it cool like it’s not a big deal.

The next day they go to have a picnic in the park and everything hits the fan. Bay and Emmett end up having a huge fight. Bay is upset that Emmett didn’t tell her about the struggles he was going through. Emmett get’s mad that Bay is bothered by his friendship with Skye. He says she’s not allowed to be upset since it’s her fault that she’s not there with him. Seriously, Emmett? Really?

Bay tries to explain that she’s not even really mad about Skye, that it’s something else. Emmett says she’s just mad because he’s moved on and she hasn’t. Bay says that she’s still coming to L.A. as soon as her community service is done but Emmett doesn’t believe her. He says she changed the plan before, what’s to stop her from doing it again. Emmett then leaves, even though his flight doesn’t leave for another two hours.

Feeling upset and a little angry Bay decides to go to the party in Daphne’s dorm where she bumps into Tank. We don’t see these two again until the end of the episode where Bay wakes up naked, in bed with Tank, not remembering how she got there. Uh oh.

Meanwhile, Daphne is struggling with her chemistry class. Thinking she aced her midterm she actually ended up with a D due to a stupid mistake. Thinking about dropping the class, Regina visits Daphne’s professor and plays the “deaf card”. The professor isn’t having it and when Regina tells Daphne what she did Daphne is furious and they also have a huge fight.

Afterwards, Daphne visits her professor, prepared to drop the class when the professor stops her and explains why she did so bad. She lost 30 points on one section because of confusing too different chemistry terms that I don’t understand. The point is, the professor decided to give Daphne an extra credit assignment to help bring up her grade.

Excited, Daphne tells Josh (her interpreter, in case you forgot his name like I did) that she’s staying in the class. Josh tells her what we all already know, which is Regina is a boss mom and Daphne should be grateful. Realizing this, although she should’ve known already, Daphne apologizes to Regina and they make up and it’s happy ever after.

Until Daphne goes to the party and sees Josh who ends up leaving the party with another girl. Ouch. Sorry Daphne but you can’t get all the boys. Although let’s be honest, they’ll probably hook up before the end of this season.

Other highlights:

Toby got a little too comfortable and started saying no to jobs even though he’s broke, which led his parents to cut him off. Toby, although angry at first, quickly realized he needed to get his life together and decides to work with Kathryn on her musical.
John and Melody get into a showdown over Travis. John wants Travis to play baseball but Melody wants Travis to focus on school. Travis, being 19, gets to make his own choices and chooses baseball, which I personally think is a great idea.

Stay tuned for next week when things are going to get really serious and probably heart breaking. Did Tank rape Bay? Or is it just a misunderstanding? What will happen with Bemmett? Check out the preview for next week’s episode below and comment what you think will happen next.

Switched at Birth Recap: “I Lock The Door Upon Myself”

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

The Kennish-Vasquez children reunited in this episode, mending fences and giving apologies.

First, Toby apologized to Daphne for snapping at her in the first episode of this season (although personally I still think it was warranted). Although Daphne is happy for this reconciliation she’s now dealing with Bay’s hostility. Bay is finally realizing what it really means to be a convicted felon and she’s mad at Daphne for letting her take the fall but knows she can’t really be mad because it was her decision. Even so, Bay doesn’t want to spend any more time with Daphne than necessary.

Bay’s feelings are only worsened when she becomes a finalist for an art contest and realizes one of the questions on the application was, “Are you a convicted felon?” Getting upset, Toby, who’s on Bay duty that weekend, decides to help her cover up her ankle bracelet so the judge won’t know that Bay’s on house arrest when she comes to check out Bay’s art work. Of course, this plan doesn’t work out. Just when the judge is telling Bay she’ll definitely be in the showcase, the battery starts to die making it beep, giving her away.

The judge then leaves and Bay is devastated. Bay’s day only get’s worse when she doesn’t get to the charger fast enough and the battery actually dies. Luckily for Bay, her corrections officer let’s her off the hook and just gives her a new charger. Also, the officer tells Bay her ankle bracelet should be back on in a few hours which means she has a few hours to kill before she has to go back home.

Meanwhile, Daphne and her fellow deaf students are getting pranked by hearing kids in the worst way. Their bathroom was flooded and now they all have to share one bathroom. When Daphne confronts Mingo, the guy who’s responsible, she ends up agreeing to a dorm triathlon to get access to their bathroom rather than having to go to another building.

With the stakes set they enter into competition and Mingo cheats the first round by bringing in his friends from the lacrosse team to help them win tug of war. Daphne confronts Mingo but he says there weren’t any rules against it. Following Mingo’s theory Daphne calls John to help them win the next contest. While playing John realizes Travis has a great throwing arm and decides to help coach him.

For the last leg in the triathlon, Daphne’s roommate, Iris, helps out my giving advice from her own experience in mud racing. Iris had been feeling left out because she’s the only hearing kid in her dorm and although she’s good at signing she was having trouble keeping up. Daphne promises to be a better roommate and with Iris’ help they’re able to beat Mingo (who will probably become Daphne’s next love interest, of course).

By the end of the competition Bay and Toby show up. Bay at first wanted to apologize to Daphne for the way she treated her but after seeing Daphne having so much fun Bay changes her mind. Taking a chance Daphne throws mud at Bay leading to a mud fight between the three siblings. Nothing says reconciliation like a mud war.

In L.A. Emmett made a new friend, Skye, who tries to help out by bringing him to set with her while filming. Things don’t go as planned when Emmett is shafted to work at the food cart and opens a bag of chips right when they start rolling. After such a sucky day Skye takes Emmett to the set of Psycho and apologizes for letting him be treated that way. They both agree to stand up for themselves in the future and Skye kisses Emmett but he thankfully pulls away. He tells her he has a girlfriend and apparently she has a boyfriend as well. Someone should let Skye know that she probably shouldn’t be going around kissing people then.

Regina was missing Angelo hard in this episode and I just wanted to give her a hug. She ended up hooking up with Eric (Coffee Shop Guy) but it just ended up making her miss Angelo more. Poor Regina.

Next week’s episode looks way more drama filled and I’m praying nothing bad happens to Bay but I know it will because obviously the writers hate her. Check out the preview below.

Book Review: The Darkest Minds

Posted on January 19, 2015May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

I’ve had this book on my book shelf for so long and I’m so glad I finally got the chance to read it. Dystopian fiction has become one of the hottest genres right now so you’re hard pressed to find a dystopian novel that really stands out but The Darkest Minds does just that.

Alexandra Bracken has crafted a novel that weaves together a rag tag group of characters that in a normal world probably wouldn’t make sense but works perfectly in this dystopian world where children are either dead or outcast. There is Liam, the hopelessly hopeful hero, who just wants to save and protect everyone. He cares for everyone and always looks for the good in people even when it’s not there. He’s optimistic but not in an annoying way.

Of course in a dystopian world where children are being hunted down by the government, bounty hunters (also know as skip tracers) and an anti-government terrorist group, being optimistic isn’t always helpful. That’s where Charlie “Chubs” Meriweather steps in. He’s a realist that’s untrusting of strangers and always guarded. He doesn’t like taking risks and prefers calculated plans. He’s the kind of kid that knows how to cross stitch in case someone needs stitches, which is handy but isn’t something you expect from a kid.

Rounding out the group is little Zu, the youngest and smallest of the group, that everyone wants to protect and keep safe. What’s great about Zu, though, is she doesn’t actually need the group’s protection. If anything they need her. She’s got the strongest ability out of the group, right after Ruby, and can handle her own when need be. The fact that she is mute and afraid of her powers makes her the perfect mirror image for Ruby who has been running scared from her abilities since the age of 10.

Ruby, herself, is the type of heroine that you want to root for. She makes mistakes but they’re mistakes that can be expected of a sixteen year old girl that’s been locked up for almost half her life. What I loved about Ruby is even though she can’t see it herself she is one of the most, if not the most, selfless character in the novel. All she wants to do is protect the people she cares about and she does that in any way she can. Although I didn’t always agree with her choices I respected her for them. I cheered with her when her plans worked and cried when they fell apart.

Following these four on their journey as they tried to find East River, the Promised Land for “freaks”, and everything that happened after I laughed, screamed, had butterflies, went back to reread, and cried. There are so many elements in this novel that you have to be paying attention to keep up. No one can be trusted and nothing is ever as it seems and just when you think you have it all figured out Bracken hits you with another curve ball and you’re floored. It’s brilliant!

If you haven’t checked out The Darkest Minds yet you really need to. Meanwhile, I’m going to get started on the next book.

Favorite Line:

‘The darkest minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces.’

Stars: 5 out of 5. No doubt about it.

Borrow or Buy: Buy!!! I’m so glad I own this book!

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Switched at Birth Recap: “Bracing The Waves”

Posted on January 16, 2015January 16, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

This episode broke my Bemmett heart. Again. Throughout the episode Bay and Emmett attempted to video chat but things kept getting in Bay’s way. First, it was every one having their cell phones taken away during lunch because of Bay’s unfortunate sandwich/heroin incident. Then after a fight with Tess, Tess stomps on Bay’s phone, destroying it. Did I mention I don’t really like Tess, because I don’t.

Even so, Bay and Emmett’s texts were cute and I like that Bay feels it’s her job to make sure Emmett stays in L.A. and pursues his dream even though it hurts her. It still makes me mad that Bay is going through this while Daphne’s biggest ordeal is how she’s going to pass her Chemistry class.

Speaking of which, Daphne struggled at the start of her Chemistry class when she was running late and showed up to class in sweats which was a no no to her professor. She also got reprimanded by one of her classmates for signing with Josh too much and Josh kept picking and choosing what he would sign for Daphne, making her furious.

Daphne then landed herself in a study group with the same girl that was “distracted” by her signing. After going to one study session with the group, the other members in the group get frustrated because they have to keep slowing down so Josh can interpret for Daphne. Daphne and Josh then catches the group meeting without her. Josh then gets angry, defending Daphne and telling the group they can suck it. This only makes Daphne more angry because she doesn’t need Josh to fight her battles. She then inadvertently fires him which is crazy since she needs him if she wants to pass her chemistry class.

After working with her roommate to try and learn how to better read lips so she can understand the chemistry terms, Daphne quickly realizes she needs Josh. Lucky for her Josh shows up to her next class anyway and with advance notes, no less. Later, when Josh and Daphne are studying outside the same girl that didn’t want to study with Daphne now asks Daphne to rejoin their study group because she has advance notes. Although Daphne knows that’s the only reason they’re letting her in she realizes she needs them more than they need her and takes them up on their offer, making them promise to slow down for her. Therefore, once again, everything works out perfectly for Daphne.

Moving on, the parents are dealing with their on stuff. Kathryn is trying to have her book be made into a movie but it becomes clear that the producer is really just fishing for money when he askes John if he could chip in for the budget. Disappointed Kathryn worries her book will never become a movie but after talking to Renzo she’s convinced making the book into a musical would be a better idea.

Meanwhile Regina returns to East Riverside to drop off Bay for her community service. While there she knocks off one of the lights on someone’s motorcycle who turns out to be building a new coffee shop in East Riverside. Regina and Eric (aka Coffee Shop Guy) hit it off until one of Regina’s former friends, now enemy, sees Regina and gives her hell. Not wanting to enter East River Side on the wrong foot Eric decides to cut ties with Regina.

Regina, always a fighter, refuses to be deterred and convinces Eric to let her help him fix up his coffee shop so he can open it for business and get a lot of customers. She hopes by helping him she can also show East Riverside she’s on their side. Let’s see how that turns out.

There was no Toby in this episode and barely any Emmett. Hopefully we’ll get to see more of the boys soon. Check out the promo for next week’s episode below and try not to freak out over the potential Emmett-cheating-again thing. It’s totally not going to happen. I think.

Book Review: Bossypants

Posted on January 13, 2015May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews

Synopsis from Amazon:

Before Liz Lemon, before “Weekend Update,” before “Sarah Palin,” Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey’s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon — from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

Although this took me long to finish (mostly because I forgot I had it) this was great. I listened to the audio version because I’m now in this phase of letting female comedians inspire me. Seriously though, Tina Fey was great. Listening to her autobiography made me cry with laughter, nod in agreement, and shake my head at her sass.

Starting with her life in her hometown and her participation in a drama troupe filled with a lot of gays all the way to her success with 30 Rock, Fey documents her struggles with boys, her weight, body image, and being a female writer in a male dominated field.

What made this audio book so great was Fey’s bold honesty. She would talk about bodily fluids in a way that made me cringe and talk about her marriage, daughter, and thoughts about having more kids in a way that made me feel like we were friends. She discussed the world’s infatuation with butts and her confusion about the new obsession. She also debunked any glamorous ideas I had about magazine photoshoots (although Mindy Kaling kind of already did that for me but still).

Overall, I highly recommend this book, specifically the Audible version. It was great listening to Tina while I worked out at the gym (it made it go by faster) and whenever I was doing mundane things. I would hire Tina to be my life coach if she didn’t, you know, already have a job and such. Anyway, definitely a good book to pick up if you’re looking for a new read.

Favorite Line:

If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?

Stars: 5 out of 5. Definitely a must read.

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Switched at Birth Recap: “And It Cannot Be Changed”

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

1604390_831946286849250_1320324379564941867_n — (Via Facebook)

This episode infuriated me to no end. Just all of it, every second. I hated it.

The episode begins right after Bay stupidly takes the blame for Daphne and Bay goes to Emmett’s house to try explain but he’s not really having it, and rightfully so. They had plans, how could she do this? Meanwhile, Daphne’s at the Kennish’s house telling all the parents about what happened and John is over the moon with the idea.

The thing that makes me so mad about this is although Regina and Kathryn are kind of against it at first they are easily persuaded into believing this is a good thing. Daphne is not punished for her actions. She doesn’t get reprimanded for allowing Bay to take the fall for her. This is a huge deal and no one really seems concerned.

The episode then jumps forward 10 weeks when everyone is getting ready to start college (except Bay but she was never going to college anyway). At first everyone seems to have accepted Bay’s decision and is cool with it. She’s put on house arrest and has to serve community service.

However, both Toby and Emmett are mad at Daphne for letting Bay take the fall for her. Toby is more vocal about his anger but Emmett keeps it in until later.

Melody has opened up her upper education deaf program and both Natalie and Travis will be attending. Meanwhile Daphne and Emmett are preparing to leave for college. Daphne starts wondering if she should really go to Gallaudet, especially after Toby calls her out for just living her life while Bay has to suffer for her mistakes. Emmett also struggles with the idea of leaving for L.A. without Bay by his side.

Bay is able to convince Emmett to go to L.A. and she’ll be with him for Christmas as soon as her probation is over. However, that plan is dashed when after accidentally passing a inmate some hidden heroin she’s slapped with another 100 days of probation. Ouch!

This great injustice leads Emmett to confront Daphne and tell her what we were all thinking: she messed up. Emmett then tells her she can never forgive her for what she did and letting Bay take the fall. The heroin situation also forces Bay to realize how serious what she did was. She realizes she will always be seen as a criminal now even though she wasn’t the one who committed the crime.

While Bay’s dealing with the consequences of her actions, Daphne, after deciding not to go to Gallaudet, has to find a interpreter who’s also fluent in chemistry for her to take the chemistry class she needs for pre-med at UKC. Of course what should be an impossible task becomes easy for her when she learns her new roommate has a cousin who has two deaf parents and used to be pre-med.

The show has to pretend they’re actually giving Daphne a challenge though, so at first he’s completely against the idea, telling her he hates the pre-med program and the professor. However, Daphne is able to persuade him after giving him a heart felt speech about her struggles in the past year and how he should want a deaf person to become a doctor to help people like his parents. He then agrees and all is right in Daphne’s world, as usual.

Back to Bay; after a heartfelt speech from Melody, Emmett found the courage to go to L.A. without Bay, which sucks for Bay and the Bemmett ship but is good for Emmett. After having to say goodbye to her boyfriend with no guarantee on when she can reunite with him Bay is fairly in a terrible mood. When Daphne pays her visit, Bay is thoroughly pissed off and doesn’t want to talk to her and asks her to leave. You go, Bay!

Overall, as far as the script and the acting goes the show was fairly well done. I just hate seeing Bay suffer for this when she didn’t do anything while Daphne continues to get everything handed to her. She was grounded and all the parents seemed to just accept that what Bay did made sense. I understand they both could of got in trouble if they confessed that Bay lied but she still wouldn’t be in as much trouble as she is now. Also, as Toby pointed out Bay could’ve got serious time for Daphne’s crimes and it’s lucky she didn’t.

I just wish for once Daphne would get punished for all the things she does. Even when she got probation for the Chip Coto thing, it wasn’t as bad as what Bay is going through now. I just hate that the Switched at Birth writers just won’t let Bay be happy. Honestly, if this doesn’t get better soon I’m not sure I want to keep watching.

Book Review: Stolen

Posted on January 3, 2015May 21, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Who is Eliza Wesson?

Months after Nat and Wes said good-bye on the shores of the Blue, Nat is learning how to control and use her new power. She and her drakon are the last of their kind—and she’s risked her life for their reunion. When she receives a mysterious distress call, she races to help, soliciting the guidance of her new friend, the beautiful and aloof Faix Lazaved of the Blue.

Still heartbroken over losing Nat, Wes is racing cars on a New Vegas racetrack while his team is scattered and lost. When he finds out that his sister, Eliza, is being held in the golden domes of El Dorado, he does what he’s best at—running to her side—and gambles on luck to see him through one more time.

Magic, romance, and danger collide as Nat and Wes become entangled in a dark new adventure that leads right to the heart of the mystery of their frozen, broken world. They soon discover that the answer to both their quests lies in the same question: Who is Eliza Wesson—what is she capable of, and why was she stolen from her family so long ago?

*This review will contain spoilers*

The fact that it took me a year to read the sequel to the first book in this trilogy, Frozen, should indicate how much I wasn’t really interested in this trilogy. However, because I was trying to get one more book in for my Dystopia Book Challenge before the end of the year I decided to give the second book a shot.

It was worse than the first one. I didn’t really get into this book until half way through the novel when Wes and Nat are finally reunited. Also the whole “icehole” and “freezing” as replacements for curse words seriously annoyed me. Just say what you mean. I can’t imagine in a dystopia world they change their curse words to words that include the fact that their world is not covered in ice. I just can’t.

The only thing I really liked about this book was the Eliza Wesson plot twist. I knew she was probably going to be evil but I wasn’t expecting her to be the high priestess. Also I was surprised to find out Faix was actually a good guy. I thought he’d turn on everyone and Wes would be proven right. Although he did some shady things he was always on Nat’s side and that was cool.

The ending was also pretty good. It was a nice cliffhanger that almost makes me want to read the last book just so I can know how it all ends. I’m not sure I will (I have a bunch of other books to read) but we’ll see. Overall, I was not a fan of this book and it took me way longer than it should’ve to finish. The beginning was very slow and then things started to pick up around the 50 percent mark. However, once you work past the build up in the beginning it is a bit better.

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