Unshockingly Shocking Lack of Racial Diversity in Novels

The title of this post is about an oxymoron of a situation. This situation is the 'Unshockingly Shocking Lack of Racial Diversity in Novels'. 

The reason why this is shocking but at the same time not, is because I was aware that many novels(particularly those with tremendous popularity) were lacking in the diversity sector, however I wasn't aware that this many were.

The other day whilst sorting my book shelf into a rainbow pattern, I started playing a game with myself - as the sorting can become very tedious, which involved naming the race of each main character as I stacked. 

Results:

1st Shelf - All white apart from one who is Greek. (The Song of Achilles - Patroclus)

2nd Shelf - All white apart from one who is half Asian half Demon. (The Bane Chronicles - Magnus Bane)

3rd Shelf - All white apart from 2 who are both black women. (Noughts and Crosses - Sephy and The Color Purple - Celie)

4th Shelf - All white apart from 2, one being Mexican and the other being Pakistani. (The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Changez and Aristotle and Dante Discover the secrets of the Universe - Aristotle)

 

I want to make it clear that I do not see anything wrong with white main characters, but there is obviously something wrong here when most are and we grow up with a warped way of viewing the world due to the media. We can be that change needed to make diversity change in books. All we need to do is pick up a pen and write.

***

So those are my main shelves, and the diversity within my main shelves. I was so shocked at this realisation, it makes me more motivated to write fiction with main characters that contain all sorts of people. 

And hopefully the world will get to see more diversity in the fututre. Please do check out the books mentioned above, they are awesome and I think a lot of you guys will like them.

(Disclaimer: The images used in this post are not mine.)

Yours Faithfully, 

~ She Who Writes

K Drama Review : She Was Pretty

Hello! I had this idea of making posts every now and again on K Drama's I am watching/ have watched. 

For those that do not know what a 'K Drama' is; it is a Korean TV Drama. 

They are amazing, and addictive and I recommend them to everyone - especially those that need something to binge on.

***

Before I start, I am going to give you an outline of how a K Drama series is structured. 

The majority  - as in over 90%, of K Drama's only have 1 season. This is because they literally only need one season to kill you and overload you with feelssss! So if pretty little liars was a K Drama, I can bet we would know who A was by episode 3.

Also you'll notice that K Drama's have an original sound track...and these songs become your life, and can trigger the emotion you were feeling when the song played in the Drama at any given time in your life. They are amazing.

So the first K Drama I will be reviewing is...

She Was Pretty 그녀는 예뻤다

(Image of the main cast)

Synopsis: "A romantic comedy about two past acquaintances who meet again after they've gone through a reversal of fortunes and appearances, set in the backdrop of a fashion magazine's publishing office.

Kim Hye-jin was a very pretty girl from a rich family. After her family's publishing company went bankrupt, she experienced hardships then lost her beauty too. Ji Sung-joon was an unattractive boy with low self-esteem, but grows up as a handsome and successful editor.

The two decided to meet again as adults, but Sung-joon was unable to recognize Hye-jin. Ashamed to meet her first love and ruin his perception of her, Hye-jin asks her attractive best friend, Ha-ri, to appear in her place. Things, however, soon get complicated as Hye-jin was assigned to work at The Most magazine publishing office where Sung-joon is the deputy chief editor. He openly mistreats and belittles her for her clumsy nature, not knowing that she was his real childhood friend. Ha-ri also continues to meet Sung-joon, and soon develops feelings for him. On the other hand, Hye-jin finds a good friend in her workplace, Shin-hyuk, who slowly falls in love with her." - wiki

I watched this K Drama for the following reasons:

1# primarily because of the fact that the two main characters in the show happen to be some of my favourite actors.

(hwang jung eum and park seo joon)

2#... as well as the fact that Choi Siwon from the band 'Super Junior' is in it hehehe.....

(Choi Siwon in all his glory)

(Super Junior)

3# And the last reason being that it is rated extremely high...so I usually go with the ratings when watching K Drama's or my friends opinions.

What I liked about it: I loved the general story line, it was so cute and fun. Once upon a time I wanted to be something to do with the fashion industry and upon seeing that this was set in a fashion type world, it interested me immediately.

I also loved the side love story, I ended up shipping it so hard...it made me cry. Then again I cry a lot.

I am also obsessed with her best friend Min Ha-Ri...she's so cute!

What I didn't like about it: So onto what I didn't like....

I didn't like what they classed as 'pretty'. In order to transform the once pretty character into an uglier character, she is given freckles and frizzy hair...I think this sends a negative image again that certain features make you ugly. 

I didn't like what she had to do in order to become 'pretty'.

The again, it was justified at the end when she goes back to how she naturally was and is happy this way, as well as the fact that those close to her never had a problem with her looks...it was society around her.

I give this drama a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5.

That's the end of my post...I hope I have convinced a few of you out there to take a look at K Dramas, and if this post didn't convince you I hope my next one will!

(Disclaimer: the images used of these amazing people are not mine.)

Yours Faithfully, 

~ She Who Writes

Goal 1# : Read 100 Books in 2016

If you read a recent post of mine titled 'Goals 2016', you would have seen a list of goals that I plan to achieve this year. Me being the idealist I am, probably won't get through most of them...but I always love a challenge. 

I will be making posts on what will be involved in my completing each goal, as well as a separate post on me actually completing the goal!

if I actually complete my goals I will be so happy...I'd need to celebrate with pizza or something.

So with that said, here is how I plan to carry out my first goal:

Goal 1#: Read 100 Books in 2016 

1. since I am super behind on reading, I would have to read a minimum of 10 books per month or slightly less. 

2. I will hopefully participate in a lot of readathons! I just never know when they are...

3. I will read with friends of mine - as in the same book at the same time, ....that usually motivates me to read.

4. Lastly, I will make a book reading schedule since I love planning!

So that's what I plan to do! I will hopefully make a post for each goal I plan to achieve - if necessary.

(Disclaimer: the images used in this post are not mine.)

Yours Faithfully, 

~ She Who Writes

Book Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist By Mohsin Hamid

So today I will be reviewing 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' which is a novel we have been reading in my English Lit class. 

WARNING: *some spoilers ahead*

(This is the move version of the book, the subtitles tell you a lot about what the book is actually about.)

I generally enjoyed the book, but as I do with many books I read, I had a few problems with this one. Despite the problems I had, I gave this book a rating of, 4.5 stars out of 5!

*

Favourite Quote: " 'You look cute,' she said 'Your beard brings out your eyes' "

This is my favourite quote - amongst others, due to the fact that Erica - his love interest, is the only person that seemed to accept him for who he was. Even his own parents told him to shave his beard in order to avoid suspicion about his intentions. 

What I liked: I really loved  the message that the novel was trying to get across about assumptions and race. The main character Changez is from Pakistan and is also a Muslim. after 9/11 there were a lot of suspicions because of this. Despite him being an American citizen, going to one of the best schools - Princeton, and working in a top firm, he would never be accepted and would always be treated as an outsider.

(The person that plays him the movie is really attractive...wow.)

What I disliked: So in the book there are many things that I didn't like/agree with. Some things that I should have hated didn't bother me as much as I knew it was significant to the story-line...however, there is a debate going on in my English class as to whether Changez - the main character, rapes his love interest or not. This is a debate as she gives consent...but she is still not in her right mind...and she thinks he is her dead ex boyfriend....this feels like a violation in mine and many others opinions. 

In general the main character pisses me off; he has a very elitist attitude and denies where he comes from, yet is ironically not even accepted by America through out the book. 

I also disliked the ending...all I will say is, those that leave standalone novels on a cliff hanger want to kill me. *cries* 

In general, I really enjoyed the novel - which you can say is particularly hard when the main character is as annoying as he is,  and I really recommend it because I think it is an eye opener for people who haven't viewed the world in a certain way before...or just people who enjoy the politics of things. 

(Disclaimer: The images used are not mine)

Yours Faithfully, 

~ She Who Writes

The Phone Incident .....

So today's post is about a funny - yet slightly scary, incident that happened with my phone recently.

As you can tell by my blogs title, I love tea...so much that it is ironic that my other love - my phone, got jealous and decided to drown itself in my cup. My phone literally fell into my cup of tea.

I had a low battery charge later on, and decided to charge it...only to realise that it wasn't charging at all...so I tried charging my sisters phone....and it charged straight away, and so I tried my brothers phone and it charged straight away.

At this point, I started to panic - mildly, over the fact that my phone was at 5%.

And so I resorted to checking google. Google can do one of two things. Give you everything you need concisely and help you figure out your problem. OR!! (with my case) it can tell you that you are completely screwed. 

Google basically told me that there was nothing I could do but get a new phone.

 And so I resorted to something strange. I calmly plugged my phone in, and looked up at my bedrooms ceiling, promising to be religious if my phone started charging. 

....and I kid you not. In that exact moment, my phone lit up and started charging....so now I have to be religious. I just find this hilarious that this is all it took for me to change my ways. I can't stop laughing. 

(Disclaimer: The images used are not mine.)

Yours Faithfully, 

~ She Who Writes

Goals 2016

I am a very future orientated person, who likes to plan everything I do, everyday 24/7 365. So it comes as no surprise to anyone that I have made a list of things that I want to accomplish this year. 

The list itself is very long, but I won't be sharing a lot of things that are on the longer version....just the main things.

1# Read 100 books

This is a goal that I set for myself last year, but didn't manage to complete due to school and just life in general. It would be so awesome if I could complete this...because my TBR is ridiculously long. 

2# Be fluent in Korean

Korea is a place and culture that I have loved for 7 years now, ever since my cousin and I decided to do some spontaneous research one stormy afternoon. I then obviously discovered the things popularly associated with foreigners that love Korea such as K Pop and K dramas. (this gif by the way is of an awesome person called G-Dragon, and he is saying 'Hi')

3# Get into my dream university

I wont say what my dream university is...but a clue is....it is currently ranked 3rd in the world. Hence why I haven't had the chance to read lately!

4# Create my first short film

I really want to create short films in the future, and I have a lot of friends that have the same type of vision so I am hoping to do something along the lines of that towards the end of the year.

5# Make 100 blog posts in total

After this blog post, I would have made 69 in total since I started last year. By the end of this year, I hope to have at least 100.

6# go to YALC 2016

I missed the opportunity to go last year, and I was so bummed...so hopefully this year I can go and meet so many new people! (much excite)

7# Read at least 5 fantasy novels

This will be a challenge for me - since I am not a fan of fantasy, but I have been told that the genre is awesome...so maybe it is the books that I have read in the past that have ruined fantasy for me. 

8# Go to a concert

I have never been to one....and I basically want to. I really want to go to a BTS concert, or a Beyonce concert (these two are at the top of my list) These are two concerts that you have to train for though...in my opinion. 

9# Introduce 5 people to something I love, and get them inspired by it or get them to really love it

I like introducing people to things, it makes me happy when their lives are ruined because of how amazing something is.

10# Lastly (but not least) finish writing and possibly editing my story

This is another thing I don't like discussing as publicly as others choose to because I just don't like jinxing things, but just this once, I will discuss it.

So that's everything from my list that I am willing to share! the rest are more personal...or just insignificant. 

So excited!

(love this guy, whoever he is...)

(Disclaimer: the images used in this post are not mine)

Yours Faithfully, 

~ She Who Writes

Shadowhunters

So as everyone who is a lover of Cassandra Clare knows, her book series - The Mortal Instruments, became a movie...yay! The movie flopped sadly, but due to the awesomeness that is Cassandra Clare, it was then picked up as a TV show - which is extremely rare. 

Now, I wish I had low hopes when waiting for this show to come out. But I couldn't help but feel excited - my downfall in this life, which is why I am probably this disappointed. 

I last spoke about my thoughts on the casting way back in 2015 when I hadn't seen them act or anything which you can check out here: 'Shadowhunters Casting'.

Clary portrayed by Katherine McNamara 

As you can see from the post I did back in May, I was extremely pleased with this casting and thought she would be amazing. As I said, my high expectations are my downfall. Sadly, I do not like Kats portrayal of Clary one bit. Now I am sure it is a mixture of a bad script as well as her acting abilities, but overall it just makes a really bad product that makes me cringe whenever I watch the show. Hopefully, her acting as well as the script matures as the show progresses - if it progresses that is. 

Jace portrayed by Dominic Sherwood

Now I think that Dom is an excellent actor, but in his case it is the script that sadly doesn't favour him. The script in general makes me angry, and the way they present Jace in the script is totally inaccurate. Him and Alec were a lot closer in the books, even a pretty girl wouldn't have broken their bond. But in the show, it seems like she was all that was needed in order to ruin their bromance. Dominic is amazing, it's just such a shame that the adaptations he gets cast in are so bad.

Alec portrayed by Mathew Daddario

Alec is one of my favourite characters in the novel, so his portrayal was one of the most important for me and so I was so happy to see that Matt is an amazing actor. Even the writers present him correctly...so I really haven't got much to say other than his acting skills are amazing. I am quite upset that he hasn't got blue eyes or at least a feature that is specific as it is important to the novel that he is unique in Magnus' eyes but oh well....the show runners have got a lot more things that were important wrong.

Isabelle portrayed by Emeraude Toubia

This is one character that I am very angry about, and it has very little to do with the actress herself, but the way in which the writers interpreted Izzy. They have over sexualised her character and made her more dependent on men whereas in the series she was known to break hearts and be ultra focused on completing their missions as shadowhunters. I think that if I start my rant, I will never finish.

So in  conlusion, I am furious. 

Simon portrayed by Alberto Rosende

Alberto is another Matt like situation where the writers are accurately presenting who Simon is, as well as the fact that Alberto is an amazing actor. 

Magnus Bane portrayed by Harry Shum Jr.

I was a hardcore  gleek for many years, so finding out that Harry was playing Magnus made me feel very safe as Magnus is my favourite character in the series. But again, due to my downfall...I was disappointed. The writers number 1, are making Malec happen in a completely wrong way...I feel like crying....my OTP, how dare they ruin my OTP. 

Number 2, Harry's acting isn't good nor is it bad....but the writing is definitely the major problem here.

Luke portrayed by Isaiah Mustafa

I love his acting. again the writing. what's the point in elaborating....it feels like this is the main issue with most of the cast....maybe they should just change writers I don't even know.

Overall, I just really dislike the show. This was their chance to make it something amazing and they didn't. It is quite simple to make it amazing actually, simply open Cassandra's books and CHANGE NOTHING. thank you, and goodbye.

(Disclaimer: the images used in this post are not mine.)

Yours Faithfully, 

~ She Who Writes