wes – Zakiya N. Jamal

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.

Favorite Line:

Love does not make you weak; it is the absence of it that does.

Stars: 2 out of 5. The boring parts outweighed the action.

Borrow or Buy: Borrow!! Not worth being on your bookshelf.

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Switched at Birth Recap: “And Life Begins Right Away”

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

Usually I try to go in order of what happens in the episode but I just can’t today because nope, nope, nope, absolutely not. Bay is NOT going to jail for Daphne. What in the world is this BS? I’m sorry but no.

First of all I get the whole they’re really sisters now and Bay loves Daphne enough to be this selfless and that’s beautiful and blah blah blah. Whatever. That’s complete BS. First, Bay could totally still get jail time. Honestly it may not be as bad as Daphne but still. More than that it’s a felony. She’s going to have a permanent record for something Daphne did. Also, yes Bay wants to be an artist now but what if she wants to do something different later. This is on her permanent record. Just no.

I get that this was a great plot twist and honestly I applaud the SAB writers for creating such a great finale because it truly was wonderful but I’m so upset by this. Daphne really messed up this season and although I get that she was upset by everything with Angelo that shouldn’t be an excuse and she shouldn’t be able to just walk away with this. I’m really pissed that Daphne let Bay just take the blame for her and this made me dislike her even more. Own up to your own mistakes. If we’re going to try to play the “they’re real sisters now” card then Daphne should’ve of done a solid for her sister and not let her take the fall for something she didn’t do.

But I can talk about that all day so let’s just get to the recap.

The episode began with the return of Wes and him telling Regina he wouldn’t press charges against Daphne. Yay! Except when Daphne and Regina go to tell John and Kathryn the good news there’s an officer waiting to take Daphne in because someone else pressed charges and they found Daphne’s prints on the scene.

Oh, dear.

Once at the police station it’s revealed that there’s really no way Daphne can get away from this unscathed. Either they can fight it and she could get three years or she can take the plea deal and get 90 days. Either way she’ll be going to prison for reals and since she’s 18 it’ll go on her record. I guess Nacho wasn’t worth it after all was he Daphne? (Sorry I’m still pissed.)

After the Kennish’s and Vasquez’s have a family discussion Daphne decides she’s going to turn herself in and that she just wants to enjoy her last day at graduation and the family agrees.

MeanwhileBay is working on finding a reasonable plan to present to John and Kathryn so she can go to LA and be with Emmett. Though it takes her time to figure it out she makes a solid plan and with money from Angelo’s life insurance Bay is able to present her plan to John. After revealing to both John and Kathryn that Bay is at risk for developing an aneurysm they are especially not on board for Bay going to LA. However Bay points out that she’s 18 and she can legally do whatever she wants.

You go Bay!

Also, it’s revealed that Carlton will be closing after this year which sucks but that wasn’t a major plot point so we’ll move one.

At graduation Daphne freaks about her future and tells Bay she doesn’t think she’ll be able to give her speech. However, with encouraging words from Bay Daphne is able to find the courage to give her speech which left me in a ball of tears because it was so beautiful.

Afterwards there were a lot of beautiful moments at the graduation. First of which, Travis’ mom showed up all on her own. Apparently she’d been learning sign language via an app (that I now need to purchase) and it was really sweet to see her there meeting Melody and Mary Beth.

What got me the most was the scene between Daphne and Emmett (shout out to come-and-dance.tumblr.com for this awesome GIF set):

He then admitted that if Bay wasn’t going to LA with him he wouldn’t have gone to USC. Awww! He’s so in love with her it’s adorable.

Also, when Regina went to hug Bay Bay revealed she had a picture of Angelo pinned to her gown which also made me tear up a bit. This episode really hit me in the feels.

After Sharee says her goodbyes to Daphne and says she’ll see her at the graduation party Daphne decides to peace out and go to the police station straight from there. Bay decides to go with her telling her she won’t let her do this alone. From there we get the whole Bay lies and says she did it and Daphne lets her take the fall thing that I refuse to discuss anymore.

Other notable points of the episode was Nikki deciding she wants an annulment rather than a divorce and Toby and Cool English Teacher deciding to do nothing rather than something together. In other words they’re leaving friendship territory and walking into relationship territory.

Speaking of new relationships I’m now a fan of: Wes finally made a move! Thank God. Took him long enough. When telling Regina he wouldn’t press charges he kissed Regina and at first she was totally about it but then pulled away saying she wasn’t ready. However, later in the episode after Regina had blamed Wes for Daphne’s arrest, Regina goes back to his office to apologize where he then invites her to go to Hawaii with him. We don’t know if she’ll say yes or not but I’m really hoping she says yes. I really like them together and I think he would be good for her. We shall see.

Sadly, now we’re on Switched at Birth hiatus which is always a sucky time. Thankfully, the writers are blessing us with a Christmas special in December so it won’t be too long of a wait. Check out the preview below.

Obviously the show really likes these what if episodes. I don’t care; I’m in support.

Until then let me know your thoughts on the finale and the crazy ending. Honestly I just hope this doesn’t wreck my Bemmett ship. I don’t think it will but what is Emmett going to do now? He better still go to USC. But then they won’t be together. Then again Bay might be in jail so there’s that. I can’t even think about.

Will Bay go to prison? Will Regina go to Hawaii? Does this mean Daphne’s going to Gallaudet now? What’s going to happen?!? Thankfully SAB got renewed for a fourth season so we’ll get all our answers soon enough. I can’t wait!

Switched at Birth Recap: “It Isn’t What You Think”

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

So many things frustrated me about this episode I don’t even know where to begin.

Because I love Bay so much I’ll start with her. Bay, seriously, what are you doing? Please explain.

I get that she feels guilty because of what she did to Tank but the way she’s handling it is so no bueno. She chooses to apologize again and help Tank out by going to a fancy dinner with Tank and his father because Tank now has to break the news to his father that he dropped out of his frat (because of Bay). Honestly Bay doing this really wouldn’t have been too big a deal if a) Emmett hadn’t just found out he got into Gallaudet and wanted to go out and celebrate with his girlfriend and b) if Tank hadn’t “forgot to mention” that he and Bay had broken up to his father. But both of these things occurred and it’s a hot mess.

Tank tells his father the truth (about the frat and him and Bay being just friends) and naturally his father is furious. I don’t really get why his Dad is so pissed. I mean yeah Tank is now ending the three generations in the frat but it’s not like he dropped out of college, as Tank points out. None of that matters to Tank’s father, who then storms out. Tank and Bay then agree to be friends which in theory sounds good but in reality is a terrible idea. First of all anyone with eyes can see that Tank still has feelings for Bay and at this point Bay should know that nothing good comes from remaining friends with an ex. I mean she was friends with Emmett and then cheated on Tank with him. Not good.

To make matters worse Bay then confides in Tank, telling him her fears about aneurysms being hereditary and how she’s scared to go to the doctor and find out. Bay, sweetie, these are things you tell your boyfriend not your ex. Do better. Seriously. Bay is walking a thin line right now I need her to stay on the right side. The Emmett side.

Now, the other switched sister, Daphne, has actually lost it. Previously I allowed her actions because everyone handles grief differently but she went way overboard in this episode. Coming into the house and seeing Wes there totally set Daphne off and she spoke disrespectfully to him then talked to Bad Boy #1 (who’s name I honestly don’t care to learn) telling him that the project was about to break ground. Of course BB#1 takes this as a great opportunity to strike and convinces Daphne to join him.

The two then join forces to graffiti and ultimately destroy the site we’re they’re going to break ground. They do so much damage and Wes says it’ll cost a fortune to get the project back on track … unless they enlist the help of Senator Coto. Regina is still against the idea but Wes tells her it’s the only way they can get the project done and Regina relents.

Meanwhile Melody gives Daphne a stern talking to basically telling Daphne to get over herself and forgive Regina. Naturally once Daphne decides to let it go she goes to Wes’ office and sees Regina and Wes talking to Senator Coto. Oh, dear. This then undos every forgiving thought Daphne had and fuels her anger, leading her to find BB#1 and tell him she doesn’t want to slow down she wants to speed up. I’m guessing “speeding up” will lead to more than kissing but we shall see.

Also, Travis made me very sad this episode. He’s decided to drop out of high school because he didn’t get into Gallaudet and his friend is hooking him up with a job that starts the following Monday. There’s so much that upsets me about this. First, I get that Travis is sad but this is not the best way to handle things. He literally only has three weeks left before graduation. Just graduate. Second, Melody made a good point about how this happens to a lot of deaf kids because there’s not a lot deaf universities and it’s difficult for deaf kids to go to hearing schools. Let be me clear I’m basing this all on Melody’s words not any of my own knowledge. I would never pretend to know what life is like for someone who’s deaf. But I get Melody’s point and I was just saddened to see Travis going down this path. I hope he does graduate. I think he will from pics I’ve seen from the cast but one can’t be too sure.

Lastly, Toby and Lily, the cool English teacher, get into it because of Sharee who needs to make up a test if she has any chance of passing Lily’s class. Lily is absolutely against a make up exam even when Toby tries to convince her so he goes over her head to the principal. Lily then goes to Toby at his apartment infuriated. Of course this then leads them to have sex because somehow that makes sense. Afterwards instead of having pillow talk Toby brings up Sharee again making Lily feel like he only slept with her to get her to change her mind which he denies.

Lily leaves more infuriated than when she first arrived and Toby later goes to the school to apologize and Lily tells him about her deaf brother who was always babied and it wasn’t until her family and everyone else stopped babying him that he really reached his potential. Somehow this explains why she’s so hard on her students. Personally, I don’t really get it but sure, okay. Either way their conflict is resolved and they’re now heading down the road to a relationship. How cute.

I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen next. The promo for the next episode looks so crazy I’m having trouble believing it myself. Check out it below and I’ll see y’all next week.

Switched at Birth 3X11 Recap

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Zakiya N. Jamal in TV

So far this episode has been my favorite of all the ABCFamily spring finales I’ve seen this season. Here’s the recap. Beware the spoilers!

First, Toby is all distraught and sad because he realizes that he and Nikki are really going to get a divorce but he truly doesn’t want to because he loves her and “wants to be with her.” That being said he comes up with this crazy idea to just go run off and follow her even though he knows that’s not something he really wants to do.

Katherine, being the wise mom that she is, gives some advice that she should have given her past self way back when. If you start sacrificing the things you want for someone else eventually you’ll come to resent them. She’s able to convince Toby that what he’s doing is crazy so Toby decides not to follow Nikki but instead to take a trip to Ice Land for some crazy reason. Hopefully he remembered to bring a jacket.

Daphne has finally made her choice and she’s officially dating Campbell. To bad she forgot to let Jorge know. He quickly found out the truth, however, when he walked in on them making out.

Talk about awkward. Daphne then explained that Campbell’s the one she wants to be with and Jorge said he understood but asked her to limit the PDA and soon she’d be gone anyway so no worries.

Sadly, for Jorge Daphne has now decided that she wants to be doctor and plans on staying at the clinic after her community service is over. It was not a good day for Jorge. However, when Daphne runs into one of the guys who robbed her food truck she begins to question if she’s really up for this doctor job. If those are the kinds of people she’s going to have to help will she be willing to save their lives?

Her first instinct was absolutely not and went so far as to ask Angelo for a job at his new restaurant. Later, however, her attacker came back in struggling from drug withdrawal and she agreed to help him. She even volunteered. She then realized that people are still people no matter what crappy thing they’d done and she was willing to put her anger and fear aside to help save a life. Go Daphne!

The Vasquez women were all about facing their fears this episode as Regina stands up to her boss and tries to help the people of East Riverside by ensuring they get the money they deserve. Wes of course quickly catches onto what she’s doing and fires her and tells her she has to return her car and the $50,000 he gave her for her business. He also promises to give the residents of East Riverside hell and to blame their troubles all on Regina.

Obviously the residents of East Riverside were not happy about any of this and threw a brick threw the window of Regina’s business, K&D, that had a sign taped to it that said, “Stay out of East Riverside.” We’ll just have to wait until next season to see what happens with that.

Katherine’s book was leaked and she accused Renzo of committing the crime. This led Renzo to let her know his world does not revolve around her and all her issues, and he actually has a friend who’s going through chemo that’s been his main focus.

After talking it out Renzo forgives Katherine for the accusation and tells her that she shouldn’t be afraid of one bad critique of her book and keep trying new adventures. In the end it turns out it was actually her publisher who leaked the book for publicity. And it worked. Good job Katherine!

Lastly, and I’m sure what almost everyone is most excited about, the reunion of Bemmett. As I suggested in my last recap Emmett was indeed being catfished. He didn’t listen to Bay when she told him the photo was stolen and instead accused her of meddling. Bay couldn’t just let it go however, and with the help of Tank, did a reverse image search where she found that “Maddy” was actually a girl who attended a high school close by.

Bay and Tank decided to stake out the school to try to talk to the girl. While waiting Bay and Tank get into another fight about his fraternity because although Tank is now safe from being black balled Bay can’t understand how his friends could’ve not stood up for him. The only reason Tank was able to stay was because his coach vouched for him. Tank of course is upset that Bay is still talking bad about his frat and doesn’t get why she can’t just be supportive. This leads Tank to storming out of the car leaving Bay to deal with the Emmett issue.

After waiting around a while she sees “Mandy” and questions her about why she’s lying to Emmett. First it comes out that the girl isn’t even deaf and that she has no idea who Emmett is and has never spoken to him. Bay is about to leave, feelings embarrassed about calling this girl out when the girl says she has a deaf cousin that might know Emmett. Of course, it’s Matthew.

Realizing what has happened Bay immediately texts Emmett trying to warn him but unfortunately Emmett has been acting like a jerk lately and got his phone taken away so he didn’t get any of Bay’s messages. He therefore goes to the park expecting Mandy but instead opens a picnic basket with a catfish inside and out walks Matthew with a video camera saying, “Gotcha!” Of course, Emmett is furious (rightfully so) and fights Matthew. Matthew then beats up Emmett, leaving him wounded on the ground.

Hours laters Bay shows up to the park, thanks to Travis’ info, and finds Emmett sitting on a rock, hurt. She is of course concerned and asks what happened and he tells her the whole story, admitting that she was right and that he’s so embarrassed. Bay tells him that Matthew is sick and a jerk, it doesn’t matter, and that everyone loves Emmett.

Emmett then asks if she’s including in that list of people that loves him. Bay doesn’t answer and instead reminds him that he came out to the park to be with a different girl. Emmett then reveals that it wasn’t the same as what he had with Bay and that he’s just been trying to find that again with someone else but hasn’t been able to.

Which is when Bay finally admits:

Insert all the feels.

This love revelation then led to the Bemmett sex scene that fans have been waiting for since season one. Now of course fans have to wait until June 16 to see what happens next.

Obviously there’s a lot of things that need to be addressed. First of all, Bay and Tank did not officially break up. In fact, Tank actually dropped out of his frat, essentially for her. Therefore Bay committed the same crime that Emmett did which made them break up in the first place. I guess we’ve come full circle?

But really, as much as I love Bemmett and am happy to see them together will this last? Because Bay is obviously going to feel guilty about what happened, especially when she finds out what Tank did. Tank is one of the good ones and she messed up and she’s going to have to acknowledge that.

Also how will Emmett take it? Will he just be so happy to have Bay back that he won’t care that once again he’s involved in a cheating scandal? And what will everyone else think? The Kennishs loved Tank and everyone knows how much it hurt Bay when Emmett cheated on her. I can’t see everyone just saying, “Oh, yeah that’s fine. Just get back together.”

Only time will tell. Until next season, let all the Bemmett shippers rejoice.

Sources for photos/GIFs: Tumblr, ABCFamily