Month: January 2024

This month, I read the prequel to the dystopian series The Hunger Games titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. I have not yet finished this novel; I’m on page 212. This novel is about eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow and his experiences as a mentor for the tenth annual Hunger Games. Coriolanus was hoping to get a tribute from one of the career districts (one, two, and four); when it came time for the tribute assignments, he was given the embarrassing assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, (Lucy Gray) the worst of the worst. Disappointed, Coriolanus tries to make the best out of his unlikely situation.

My favorite character (so far) is Lucy Gray. She’s my favorite because she is grateful. On page 121, when Coriolanus gives Lucy Gray some crackers, she “…immediately ripped open a packet and stuffed one of the two crackers into her mouth, chewing and swallowing the dry thing with difficulty. She pressed a hand against her stomach, sighed, and ate the second more slowly. The food seemed to focus her, and her voice sounded calmer. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘That’s better.’” Based on this information, one can infer that even though Lucy Gray may not have thought they were enough, she didn’t show it because she was so grateful.

My favorite line can be found on page 99, at the end of chapter six, “In one movement, the tribute yanked Arachne forward and slit her throat.” Suzanne may have put this shocking and unexpected line at the end of the chapter to create suspense and make the reader read on to see what will happen later.

This quote means that whenever you are asked to do something, ask yourself: should you complete the assignment the right way, regardless of how dangerous, tedious, or difficult it may be, or the easy way; the way you would prefer to accomplish the task, but choosing this path may lead to incorrect or even unwanted results.

In my life, more often than not, I pick the easy way over the right way. I usually pick the easy way because I’m too lazy. For instance, I had the option of going to run club (I really hate going there) and then have no time to do homework, or stay home and complete my homework (I had a lot of homework that day). I picked to stay home and do my homework, mostly to get out of run club. My choice would eventually backfire, though; after I finished my homework, my parents said that based on how long it took me to complete my homework, I would’ve been able to go to run club and still have been able to finish my homework.

I greatly admire my friend, Colin. I look up to him because he’s kind, supportive, and optimistic.

He’s kind because he greets me with a wave and a smile everyday. My other friends do this, but they either don’t say hi everyday, or their tone isn’t as cheerful as Colin’s. Colin’s also kind whenever I ask him a question. He not only replies with a very helpful response, he also uses a positive tone of voice. When Colin is supportive, he gives me positive words of affirmation, including “Good job!”, or “Nice.” (he uses this one fifty times more.)

My word of intention for 2024 is fun! Looking back at last year, I felt I could’ve done a few things differently in order to make the most of my time.

For example, my mum said she had a fun surprise for me and my sister one day. As usual, that resulted in us asking her over and over what it was that we were doing. It was a Korean thing, so she told us the name in Korean. As always, we were super confused. Once we got there, to my sister’s delight (and my utter horror), she had taken us to a Korean karaoke studio.

Another example was when my mum offered for Patty (our nanny) to take us out to Yogurtland. It was a hot summer’s day, so in theory I would’ve said yes, but the alternative was swimming with my cousins in their family’s pool. I picked swimming, mostly because I would’ve been super depressed for the rest of the day about eating melted frozen yoghurt. I highly regret my decision.

To sum up, I will try to take more time to think about my two (or more) options, and to pick the one that seems the most enjoyable at that moment. This will benefit not only my well-being as a whole, but doing this will also allow me to socialize more (social skills are something I need to improve on).

In December, I read Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth, which includes scenes from Divergent (the first novel in the series) told from Tris’s boyfriend’s (Tobias’s) perspective.

In Four, Veronica starts by telling the reader about Tobias’s life as a child, how his mother, Evelyn, “died” giving birth to another child when he was five (that was the cover story she asked Tobias’s dad, Marcus, to tell him when he asked why she’d left; what happened was she’d faked her death to leave Abnegation because she wanted to help improve the lives of the factionless, but she knew that her husband would never have approved of her leaving her faction.)

I would recommend this book because it has adventure (which sometimes, in this book, can mean violence), romance, and just the overall dystopian environment, which enhances the above characteristics and therefore only makes the book more interesting and enjoyable to read. I would also recommend reading Four because the characters’ personalities vary. For example, Tobias’s personality is adventurous and brave, while Christina (Tris’s friend) is intelligent and kind. Add that to the book’s characteristics and the dystopian environment, and you get a pretty good example of your next great read.

My favorite character was the main character, Tobias “Four” Eaton. I thought he had the best overall personality: kind and brave. On page 285, Tobias compliments Tris by telling her “‘You look good, Tris.’” By complimenting her, Four has further solidified his relationship with Tris and therefore ensures Tris’s positive thoughts about him as a friend, (and eventually a boyfriend!)

The most memorable quote from Four comes from page 33, “…I am the first Abnegation-Dauntless transfer in more than a decade.” In other words, no Abnegation—except for Tobias—has been brave enough to transfer to Dauntless in over ten years.