We'll Sing Hallelujah

Hello, dear readers. This is my official February 7th post, after the fifteen-minutes-late February 6th post. Just, you know, in case you didn't know.

So today is Superbowl Sunday. I really couldn't care less about the Superbowl. Football is not exactly my cup of tea. I'll probably be doing math homework (or thesis homework, or creative writing homework, depending on what I do now) during the actual game, and then I'll look up for just long enough to watch the commercials. Because really, the advertising is the best part of the Superbowl.

However, I did not write this post to tell you that I don't understand the point of football but find talking animals and cute children saying funny things about random products amusing. I was originally going to recommend the song Change by Taylor Swift, which I'd heard once or twice but really listened to for the first time the other day. I know it's country and therefore not something that I'd usually listen to, but I think I am somewhat in love with this song. It's amazing. Because of lyrics like this:

"You can walk away, say we don't need this, but there's something in your eyes says we can beat this. Because these things will change. Can you see it now? The walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down. This revolution, the time will come for us to finally win, and we'll sing hallelujah..."

Amazingfultastical. (Yes, that is a word.) I love it. And that was originally going to be the sole focus of this blog post, and you should absolutely go listen to it now.

But then I spent the first part of my afternoon reading instead of doing homework, and I discovered a book that I absolutely had to share with you all: TANGLED, by Carolyn Mackler.

At first, I wasn't sure I liked it. I thought it was going to be just another chick lit where the dorky-girl-who-has-no-life either ends up with some hot guy who turns out to have a sweet personality or discovers that being hot and popular is not all it's cracked up to be. But I kept reading, because I kind of liked the characters, and...wow. It turned out to be really good.

TANGLED is the story of four teens - Jena, her mom's friend's daughter Skye, a hotshot jock named Dakota, and his dorky younger brother Owen - who for various reasons have to spend a week at a resort called Paradise. Jena meets(/falls for) Dakota and finds a suicide note by a hot tub, and then things are in motion that are beyond their control. There are four sections in the book, each told from a different character's point of view and surrounding that character's individual story, but there's definitely crossover between them. The book is about how their lives get tangled together and how it changes all of them. That sounds sappy or dorky or something, I know, but it's not. It was sooo good. Skye's and Owen's sections were probably my favorites because I could relate to them better, but they were all great.

There is some strong language and some sexual content, especially in the first half, but it's written in so that on the whole it adds to the book rather than taking away from it. I almost put it down because of some of that content, but I am reeeally glad that I kept reading. Seriously. Sweet story, great characters, and just overwhelmingly real. Probably more of a girl book than a guy book, although guys would probably enjoy Dakota's and Owen's sections just as much; you should read it if you get the chance. :) You can find out more about the author, Carolyn Mackler, at her website.

So now you have a song to listen to and a book to read. Two if you take into account ALL UNQUIET THINGS from last night. And I have homework to do. So that's gonna be all for now. Until next time, internetfolk!
~Bex