Roecker Reviews

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Birthday and Appreciation

This is a super short, super informal post!

It's my birthday!

That means I am 18 years old! This is absolutely insane!

I just wanted to thank all of you, my blogger/author friends and family that check up on my blog for being such wonderful people that I absolutely adore.

Everyone I have met through this has changed me as a person, every little interaction means so much to me.

To everyone I have talked to, thank you for taking the time to be kind to me. Your graciousness and patience with us newer bloggers is monumental. I appreciate all of you, and I respect you and I hope to one day give to others what you have given to me.

Without you guys I would never have had the courage to do this and continue with my passion despite my love for this. It's the love and support and the connections that really make this all worth it.

I love you all.

- Cody Roecker @ Roecker Reviews

Sunday, February 7, 2016

This Goes Out To (Poetry by Me #3)

This goes out to the bookworms
Trying to escape the world
From dusk until dawn
Turning that one last page
Before sleep at night

This goes out to the athletes
Working hard to please the crowd
All day and all night
Sweat pouring, showing their passion
Passion for something they love

This goes out to the outcasts
Who are misunderstood misfits
Seeking acceptance anywhere they can find it
But knowing they don't need others acceptance
To feel content with themselves

This goes out to the lovers
Who love unconditionally
Despite the mistakes one has made
Those who have a heart of gold
And the power to forgive

This goes out to the soldiers
Fighting for their countries
And what they believe is right
Giving up their lives
So we can live ours without worry

This goes out to the activists
Who take a stand for equal rights
And refuse to take no for an answer
Standing up for their beliefs
And knowing when a fight is worth it

This goes out to all of humanity
To those who need the motivation
To speak up and stand tall
And know they are not alone

Friday, February 5, 2016

Theatre Competition! (Personal Update for Funsies)

Hi Everybody!!!

Tomorrow is a day that is very important to me because I have Regional Competitions for Theatre. This is my final year of doing this and it terrifies me!

This year I am doing 3 different things:

A duo dramatic scene called The A Word by Linda Faigao-Hall which is a scene in which my character, Young Man, and this woman in her 50s, Beth, discuss her life... her mistakes, her problems, her falling in and out of love. And the entire time I am trying to get her to talk... about something she did in her past... And we have never gotten to the point of her admitting it... I am 'haunting' her because she is too afraid to admit to herself that she killed me... She aborted me twenty years prior...

This scene is incredibly powerful and reading it for the first time killed me. Performing it has been a dream, and it's something near and dear to my heart.

My second scene is a group scene entitled Slop Culture by Rob Badlam and it is a commentary on how our entire lives are based on 25-years of bad TV... It's hilarious... Scooby Doo, Gilligan's Island, Tom & Jerry, Happy Days and more... I have such a joy performing this scene!!! Some of my favourite lines include: "Silly Rabbit, Jobs are for grownups!" and "You can take the boy away from the coconuts but you can't take the coconuts away from the boy. Coconuts the great social equalizer!"

My third, and probably my most proud is a script I wrote called 'Monsters In The Light' in which A teacher gives an assignment to two students to draw a monster... one of them draws something like this:

and the other draws this:

and the scene is a conversation they have after and how people perceive the world differently and the realization one of the kids have about 'angels' and 'facades' in his life.

It is one of my favorite things I have ever written and I really want to share it with everyone! (Someday soon!)

Regionals gives me the opportunity to learn more and perform for my final time in competition (unless I qualify for state which would be SO COOL)

If I qualify for state that means that I place in the top 10% of everyone at the competition (or 2 groups depending on the amount in the category)

Are any of you guys into theatre?
Leave some comments down below I would love to hear from you!

- Cody Roecker @ Roecker Reviews

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Book Review: Lifer by Beck Nicholas (Lifer Book 1)

Title: Lifer
Author: Beck Nicholas
Page Count: 300
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Rating: 2 Stars
Source: I received this book from Month9Books in exchange for an honest review
Blurb: The Bourne Identity meets Under the Never Sky in this intergalactic tale of love and deception from debut novelist Beck Nicholas.

Asher is a Lifer, a slave aboard the spaceship Pelican. A member of the lowest rung of society, she must serve the ship’s Officials and Astronauts as punishment for her grandparents' crimes back on Earth. The one thing that made life bearable was her illicit relationship with Samuai, a Fishie boy, but he died alongside her brother in a freak training accident.

Still grieving for the loss of her loved ones, Asher is summoned to the upper levels to wait on Lady, the head Official’s wife and Samuai’s mother. It is the perfect opportunity to gather intel for the Lifer’s brewing rebellion. There’s just one problem—the last girl who went to the upper levels never came back.

On the other side of the universe, an alien attack has left Earth in shambles and a group called The Company has taken control. Blank wakes up in a pond completely naked and with no memory, not even his real name. So when a hot girl named Megs invites him to a black-market gaming warehouse where winning means information, he doesn’t think twice about playing.

But sometimes the past is better left buried. As Asher and Blank’s worlds collide, the truth comes out—everyone has been lied to...

Review:

I feel so bad writing this because I have very little good to say about this book. I am going to format this review a little differently. I will start with 10 not so good things about this book and end on 10 positive things.

Things that did NOT work...

1. The writing itself lacked in its depth. I found it very surface level, very telling instead of showing, and although I myself often am guilty of that, I felt very bored way too often.

2. Asher's POV started out very boring. I didn't like the style and I was struggling to get into it.

3. Davyd. Holy crap. Creep alert.

4. The name Fishie in general.. I cringed... I... gah.

5. Everything seemed so underdeveloped.

6. Going off of #5... I was confused. I didn't understand the different character relations. I understood that Nauts are better than Fishies and Fishies better than Lifers... Lady is of the utmost importance.

7. I was only interested in half the storyline for over half the book.

8. The descriptions of everything happening, though well thought out at times, overall it lacked.

9. The rebellion/revolution itself lacked something that made sense.

10. Blink immediately saying he was plain at the beginning of his thoughts. GAH NO DONT DO THAT.

Things that DID work!

1. Character names. Loved them. Blink, Asher, Zed, Tesae, Megs, Keane, Jaric... I loved them all!

2. Blink's POV. It was more interesting to me than Asher and I connected more with Blink. While reading, I was confused at what was going on... similar to how Blink was feeling.

3. The well thought out rebellion.

4. Beck Nicholas clearly put so much planning into this book and thought and I commend that.

5. The cheap move that was pulled, that is a commonality in YA today. Though predictable, it wasn't done horribly

6. Blink's character and character development felt mostly natural.

7. Asher's growth by the end of the novel. I liked her more than I did at the beginning.

8. Davyd. He's creepy but he made sense to me... Yes I put him on both lists... I am so conflicted with this book

9. Keane. Oh the lovely Keane. He should be the main character because there is so much depth to him that wasn't there with the other characters except maybe Blink.

10. THE GAME. Though it could have used a little more description (Like what Karen Bao did in Dove Arising... something more detailed, more emphasized... I feel it was more important and shouldn't have been skipped over so quickly.)

Consensus: Though Lifer promises us something grand and intriguing and mysterious, the dull writing and dull characters overwhelmed the interesting idea behind the story. Keane and Blank are the sole reason this book is getting two stars, because I feel like their characters deserve to be read at some point. I pray the sequel is better, because I do care, at least a little.

I feel bad for this because the writing has potential, this just wasn't for me...

Feel free to try it if you wish! It has an interesting storyline, even if it does get muddled!

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Waiting on Wednesday (Waiting On Wednesday #1)

As far as I understand, Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted over at Breaking The Spine where we post one of our most anticipated releases of this upcoming year.

I am so excited for the book I have chosen to share with you guys! It sounds wonderful! It is a Young Adult Contemporary Novel that focuses on Cassie O'Malley and her relationship with her mother, among other things...

So for my first Waiting On Wednesday post... I have chosen...

The First Time She Drowned

by Kerry Kletter

Publication Date: March 15th, 2016

The beautiful struggle of a girl desperate for the one relationship that has caused her the most pain

From Goodreads:

Cassie O'Malley has spent the past two and a half years in a mental institution—dumped there by her mother, against her will. Now, at 18, Cassie emancipates herself, determined to start over. She attends college, forms new friendships, and even attempts to start fresh with her mother. But before long, their unhealthy relationship threatens to pull Cassie under once again. As Cassie struggles to reclaim her life, childhood memories persist and confuse, and Cassie must consider whose version of history is real, and more important, whose life she must save.

A bold, literary story about the fragile complexities of mothers and daughters and learning to love oneself, The First Time She Drowned reminds us that we must dive deep into our pasts if we are ever to move forward.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Book Review: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

Title: More Happy Than Not
Author: Adam Silvera
Page Count: 293
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Sci-Fi elements
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5 Bazillion Stars
Blurb: In his twisty, gritty, profoundly moving debut—called “mandatory reading” by the New York Times—Adam Silvera brings to life a charged, dangerous near-future summer in the Bronx.

In the months after his father's suicide, it's been tough for 16-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again--but he's still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he's slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.

When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron's crew notices, and they're not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can't deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can't stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Why does happiness have to be so hard?

Review:
Consensus: Adam Silvera's debut More Happy Than Not is not only a story of Aaron Soto and his struggle with his sexuality, it is a story of being happy with yourself, with others, with life. Silvera has told a story that not only lingers in the readers minds for days, it stays with them forever in their hearts. Silvera has told a story of heartbreak, sexuality, love, loss, and has wrapped it in this bow of utter perfection. I don't like calling a book perfect, but this book has changed my life... it has made everything better in some way, it has made an impact. I have felt something because of this book. Damn good job, Silvera, damn good job.

I have been wanting this book since it first came out, it has been a necessity of mine... yet somehow I never bought it. FINALLY after months of it being out, I have purchased, read, and loved every page of Silvera's debut More Happy Than Not.

Adam Silvera has written a story that needs to be read by absolutely everyone in existence. I'm considering making it a requirement to be my friend....

More Happy Than Not is a story of the difficulties that Aaron Soto faces in his life, and his power to overcome them. Aaron's story involves Genevieve, his girlfriend, his crew, new boy Thomas, his mother, his brother Evan and a few other characters and such. The story also involves the Leteo Institute, a place that offers memory-alteration. The story has heartbreak, it has love, it has sadness, it is a dark book.
And none of my explanation is doing this book justice.
This book is a wild ride full of twists and turns and things that seem so obvious when you get to it, but beforehand you had no idea they were coming. This book deals with living in the Bronx in a time where homosexuality wasn't something accepted, and imagine what it could do to someone like Aaron, growing up in a low socio-economic class, having to deal with these crazy kids he grew up with, like Me-Crazy... oh that character.

Aaron Soto is a lovable and flawed main character, as any contemporary main character should be, and any main character in general (not that you have to love the characters actions but that's beside the point...) He goes through so many things and it is heartbreaking. I found myself tearing up so many times throughout the course of this book, and it was really something profound and powerful.

Aaron is seventeen-years old and abnormally tall (not like me, I am only 6'1" but like Adam Silvera who is much taller... like 6'7" or something.) This character feels like Adam Silvera would be... and that is incredibly hilarious, but the humor is used to mask the pain felt deep inside. Obviously I hope this is not Silvera's life, but hey, writing helps us all cope. Anyways, Aaron is beautiful and I adore him to pieces and watching his story play out, it killed me... in all of the best ways and all of the worst of ways.

Thomas, holy shit. He was everything I could ever dream of in a best friend (kind of... I mean I love Aaron and would like him to be my best friend) But he was so perfect for Aaron, and good lord... Everything that happened as their friendship developed was realistic and fantastic and it hurt at the same time.

Genevieve is such a kind and caring person and I would love to see some of her artwork.... like please Adam, gift us with her paintings... please? Anyways, she felt so real, so different, so pained, and that gave her so much depth. I felt for her so much. Who wouldn't? By the end of the novel you understand all of her actions, all of everyone's actions.

Aaron's mother was a beauty to this novel and she felt like my mother. She reminded me of things she would do or say and it was a perfect edition to one of my favorite books I have read in a long long long time. It would have been in my top 3 of last year, for sure. It will probably be in my top 3 for this year. I LOVED this book.

I don't want to talk too much more because I do not want to spoil everything but I will say this: By the time you get to the big reveal... you will cry. I bawled, tears streamed down my face and I had to wipe them away so they didn't spill on the book. It was such an ugly cry too...

I needed this book. You do too. Buy it.

Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

Book Depository

Amazon

Monday, February 1, 2016

February TBR

Below are 10 books I am planning to read this month! Complete with links to Goodreads so you can all add them to your TBR as well! I am learning how to add links and other things and I hope to be including them in my reviews from here on out! WOOOO!

I will also be participating in #LoveAThon from February 20th-22nd

1. Lifer by Beck Nicholas

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23214197-lifer

2. Temper by Beck Nicholas