Reviewing: The 100 by Kass Morgan

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

*Do not read the spoilers unless you have read the book and watched the show or just don't care. Spoilers are between these: [  ] Highlight to read.

If you've been around for a month or two, you should know that I love the TV show The 100. Love it. I love the characters, the intensity of everything-- ALL OF IT.

So I started this book feeling really optimistic. 

I ended it feeling confused and mildly annoyed.

How did they get the TV show from this book? They are nothing alike. Nothing. Right from the first chapter, I could tell that this was very, very different, mainly because [Clarke's mom and dad were BOTH dead] and later you learn that [Wells DID tell his dad when Clarke had begged him not to] and also [Octavia was not arrested for being born, but rather for stealing pills].

There are four POVs. Clarke, Wells, Bellamy, and Glass (a girl who escapes the pod and stays on the Ark).

Also, Finn and Raven don't exist. Instead, there are Luke and Glass. No Jasper or Monty either. 

I'M SORRY I JUST REALLY LOVE RAVEN AND MONTY.

Instead of being called Privileged, like Bellamy was yelling about in episode 1 or 2 ("She's one of the Privileged. She had it good. Don't listen to her." *queue rebel leader rampage*) there are a bunch of other names of the units of the Ark, which I'm not sure I have all sorted out. To my knowledge there are three, but there are probably lots more. There's the Pheonix unit (which equals Privileged) and they get more oxygen, better food, etc. for some reason. Yeah. The Council (totally didn't see that name coming) is made up of jerks. 

There's the Wanden or Warden or Something, and it's a lower class unit. And then there's something that starts with an "A" that doesn't get mentioned a lot. Possibly something that starts with a "C." 

I read somewhere that Finn and Bellamy in the show were actually Book-Bellamy split into two, taking one of his personalities with Bellamy and the other with Finn. If that's the case, then I could tell. Book Bellamy is so much different from Show Bellamy that they might as well have been two completely different people. The only thing they have in common is their fierce need to protect Octavia. 

Who is FOURTEEN in the book.

Now, if you've watched the show, then you know that First Few Episodes Octavia was very flirtatious and quite stupid. (Who strips off and jumps into a weird lake right after seeing a two-headed deer?) Book Octavia flirted a little bit, but it was more teasing and innocent. 

Let me put this very simply: The 100 is basically the show's first episode.

• they come to the ground
• they discover that it is not, in fact, toxic anymore
• they do stupid things
• The Council continuously confuses me

Where is the logic? They make these super strict laws but then are super lenient when the characters need them to be. [Glass was SUPPOSED TO GO TO EARTH. She was supposed to go or DIE. But then they suddenly let her off the hook? Why?]

• Bellamy hates everything
• Clarke hates Wells
• Clarke/Bellamy are basically:

• Bellamy hates everything (except Octavia)
• Bellarke shippers die with happiness

Octavia was the only person in the world who truly knew him. There was no one else he really cared about ever seeing again. But then he glanced over Clarke, who was leaning over to breathe in the scent of a bright pink flower, the sun catching the gold strands in her hair, and suddenly he wasn't so sure.

This is all great and wonderful. But if you're reading this book only because of Bellarke DON'T DO IT. Yeah, you'll freak out over some of the stuff that happens. But they are such different people that I had to get to know them all over again and it just wasn't as magical as the show.

• Things happen that DO NOT MAKE SENSE

[Wells takes leadership. WELLS. Why would they listen to the Chancellor's son when the Chancellor is the one that basically gave them a death sentence? The show makes much more sense-- Bellamy is older and knows about survival + he's good at getting people pumped up to crush the empire.]

• Relationships develop very quickly

Too quickly, in my opinion. These 100 delinquents (seriously, whose idea was this?) are down on very, very different Earth that they don't know anything about and they're making out and sleeping together in moments??? Where are the kids with the adventurous streaks that want to explore?? Where are the logical ones that try and keep everyone together??? 

In the book, there are only two or three teenagers who actually try and think about the situation. The rest either blend in or make trouble.

I feel like too many adults just assume that a bunch of teenagers in one place are going to only care about making out and doing sexual things and not actually about surviving. 

• And then it ends with a cliffhanger

If you've watched the show, you know what this cliffhanger is. [GROUNDERS. BOOM.] But for those who don't know, it is quite the good cliffhanger. It does makes you want to read the next book.

The writing style is good. It's poetic. There were moments when it seemed to be not really well-placed, but for the most part I liked it. It brought a depth to the book that was hard to see past the romance and other drama and reminded me of what I really, really wished this book was 100% about: Teenagers coming to a harsh, transformed Earth and seeing the brutality of what it had become. 

Goodreads for The 100 + Day 21 (Book 2) + Homecoming (Book 3)

Fangirling: The 100 + Links

Yo! So, in my recent post, I blabbed about stuff I obsessed about in 2014.

In this post, I want to talk about a specific that I obsessed about.

I kind of already talked about The 100 a little, but... I didn't exactly get to blab all I wanted. (I basically have two moods: don't say anything or say everything. Neither are very good.)

*Some of these names are people that only enter in Season 1's finale or in Season 2. Don't freak out if you don't know who I'm talking about!

Yeah. 

So, anyways. 

I told you about Bellamy and Clarke, and how they're the leaders.

I mentioned Octavia, Raven, Wick, and Monty. 

BUT THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO GUSH ABOUT. *squeals*

The first thing I want to talk about is the cast. They're from all nationalities and are hilarious and adorable. And although it can be argued that the cast is dominantly white, you've got a BUNCH of POC (people of color) characters. (Ex: Raven, Bellamy, Monty, Chancellor Jaha, and WAY MORE but I don't want to list all of them because of spoilers.) And a lot of them are in positions of leadership.

Also, a lot of the leaders are female. (Ex: Abby, Clarke, Anya, etc.) That's not to say all of them are. But there are so many powerful women in this show. And even if they're not all that powerful, they're strong in their own way. The men share similar roles.

And don't even get me started on the character development in the show. Sometimes characters change for the best or the worst. But they are always changing. (Ex: EVERYONE.)

I think the biggest theme in the The 100 is loss, and how we let it affect us. 

Now that I've talked about the strengths of the show, I'll talk about the weaknesses, because let's be real: Every show has them.

• Unrealistic insta-love happens. (At least, in my opinion.)
• Some really stupid and not-well-thought-out decisions are frequently made. 
• SOME PEOPLE JUST THROW THE WORD "LOVE" AROUND WAY TOO EASILY.
• Positions of power are constantly shifting and sometimes it doesn't make sense.
• Wait, so... what made this character go insane???
• Sometimes characters are jerks for no reason at all. It's mostly the adults.

So yeah, there are some continuity errors. But I think most of the stuff that happens (I'm ignoring the "romance" here) makes absolute sense. 

If you're just sort of watching the fandom from afar and not watching the show, then you know about a couple of ships. And by a couple of ships, I mean Bellarke. 

Also, maybe Linctavia.

I'm gonna make a list of my top three ships in the show...

1. Bellarke (Bellamy x Clarke)
2. Linctavia (Lincoln x Octavia)
3. Rick (Raven x Wick)

I laughed so hard when I was thinking about Raven and Wick's possible ship names and got Rick. Of course, Waven is a possibility, but it sounds more like something you call a baby named Raven while squishing its cheeks and cooing. Ew.

I'm going to be totally real here. 

I didn't like Linctavia for the longest time ever. With all the guys Octavia had been paired with within the first five or six episodes, I wasn't even sure if Lincoln was gonna last very long. 

I also didn't like Bellarke until nearly the end of season 1. I didn't get it when people talked about how they immediately loved Bellamy. I thought Bellamy was an a-hole at first. Plus he had bad hair that first episode. 

And, well... Rick doesn't happen until season 2. And... they're not canon. And... it's a teeny ship. I don't even know if anything's going to happen between them other than snarkiness.

Anywho, this is getting preeetty long so I'm going to stop here. Want to watch the show with no ads ANYWHERE?

Season 1 Episode 1

Season 1 Episode 2

Season 1 Episode 3

2014 Recap

(for some reason the spaces between pictures and words and stuff is wack so sometimes there are huge gaps between stuff. sorry.)

So, 2014...

It was okay, I guess.

First off, I completed my challenge! 71 of 60. Some of my favorite reads were...

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

Reviewed: here

Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told.
There is.

She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She should.

She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.
She will now.

Reviewed: here

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.










Of course, I loved more than just three out of what I read. But these really stuck out to me (plus I only rated maybe two others five stars and one of them was the second Mara Dyer book that just didn't hit me as hard as the third).

What else did I do in 2014?

GOT ADDICTED TO TV SHOWS OF COURSE.

The 100:

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Of course, the only solution to that is to send 100 of their delinquents to the ground, mainly because they're "expendable." Ahem. Actually, the reason why they send the 100 is to buy more time for the rest of the civilization back on the Ark. With less people, they'll need less oxygen. But they're still running out of time.

Fortunately for the 100, they got stuck with two very good leader-peoples. 

Bellamy Blake, who's a gigantic pain in the butt at first, but, thanks to his sister (Octavia) and Clarke, becomes a waaay better person. (Takes him some time, though). Along with being the best shot the 100 have, he's also a great motivational speaker (which comes in handy when you want to keep a big group of reckless kids in order). Plus, when it comes right down to it, they're scared of him. Like, really scared.

Clarke Griffin, who earns the kids' respect by being BOSS. Okay, sorry. By a) being their only medical assistance, b) trying to see the good in people while also c) setting goals and not backing down until she reaches them. Also, she's smart as heck and not scared of Bellamy at all.



I'll tell you how the leadership works. Bellamy tells the kids what to do and Clarke tells Bellamy what to do. Bellamy sees things from a very.. well... WE WILL FIGHT ANYTHING THAT MESSES WITH US sort of way, while Clarke sees things in more of a WE WILL FIGHT ANYTHING THAT MESSES WITH US but-only-if-we-have-enough-weapons-and-support-and-we-have-a-good-chance-of-winning sort of way. Also, she avidly seeks peace above ALL ELSE. Bellamy agrees that peace would be good, but doubts that it's possible at that point.

Also, Honorable Mentions:

Octavia, Bellamy's sister.
Monty, the nicest dude ever while also being the voice of reason when neither Clarke or Bellamy aren't there.
Raven, who's just BOSS. Everyone would be dead without her.
Wick, who's sense of humor is much needed and appreciated amongst all the dead and destruction.


Okay, I'll be honest. I was addicted to Teen Wolf before 2014. Oops.

Scott McCall (a.k.a real actual puppy) and his best friend Stiles (a.k.a real actual idiot with sarcasm) hear about one half of a dead body being out in the woods, and--because what else do you do when hear about this sort of thing-- head out to find it. Of course, it all goes down from there, and Scott finds himself in the midst of werewolves and werewolf hunters, and all the supernatural things. Such as Allison Argent's beauty. But have no fear! Derek is here!

Just kidding, still have fear. Derek is sort of helpful but mostly just roars in Scott's face and throws him around while supplying healthy doses of you're-an-idiot and why-am-I-even-here.

But that's just season 1. By the time you hit season 4, everything is different and much, much darker. Occasionally you get some of the old humor and general ridiculous-ness, but let's face it-- there's a lot more blood and gore than humor.

Anywho. I also watched a bit more than those two (I watched some Reign, The Secret Circle, and The Vampire Diaries) but nothing stuck out as much as these two.

But, do tell.

What were some of your favorite reads of 2014? And TV shows?