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Thank God I grew up in the age of Nicholas Sparks writing romance novels, because good grief these new romances are weak. I blame 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight for this narrative of wimpy weak women getting the attention of genius, headstrong, independent, powerful men. Olive is 26 years old and doesn't have the faintest idea about love. Did she live in a shell her entire life? She watches rom-coms with her roommates on the weekends and you mean to tell me she can't recognize when a guy has a thing for her? My problem with Olive is that she plays the victim too much. She thinks she's underserving of love, attention and even friendship. I hate when she complains that everyone around her either dies or leaves; the "everything I touch gets destroyed." And as for Adam, he really couldn't find anyone else? I'm certain Academia pumps out some brilliant and sensible wifey material. Beyond that, the story had potential but please let go of the smart guy preys on dumb girl storyline. It gives the rest of us a bad name.

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Where would I be without these two treasures by my side? Both teach Travel Writing in different ways, but offer amazing advice and tips as you learn the trade. I actually got to meet the author Peat O’Neil. 

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I've seen this movie about three times and just finished the book two days ago. As with tradition, I have to watch the film again now that I know more about the characters. Overall, I want to say the book was just a great as the film, but in my opinion, the main character, Maddie, created her own hell. 

Yes! Her mother kept her in a safety bubble since she was a baby because she didn't want to lose her after losing her husband and son to a truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel. Yes! Her mother shouldn't haven't have stolen Maddie's childhood by pretending she was suffering with "baby bubble disease." Yes! It was wrong for her mother to sacrifice her daughter's childhood because she didn't know how to properly cope with her family's loss. Yes! Maddie trusted her mother because she was a doctor and took care of her every need. I get that. I do. But...

Maddie was smart, which makes this entire situation silly to me. Maddie had no restrictions on her internet use. She browse however she wanted to. She was smart enough to apply for a credit card, shop for her own stuff and research the recipe for a bundt cake but NOT ONCE researched her own illness. HOW?!!!! 

By nature, humans are curious creatures. We can't help ourselves. Look at everything that was ever invented or created through curiosity. Everything from vaccines to new complex architecture designs were all started from being curious about how something works. Think about the invention of the wheel. It took someone who got tired of struggling to transport something and probably became curious on how to make it easier. 

Anyways, how on earth can you have such a fatal disease such as baby bubble disease and not be curious to research it? The story took place in year 2015. Facebook was created in 2004. Google has been around since year 1998. You mean to tell me she didn’t use either services to know more about her own disease? Listen, when I found out I had herpes, I researched so much about the infection, I could re-teach it to a medical class. I researched everything from how the virus is contracted to how to live with it and how to prevent my future partner from contracting it. Like come on! 

Maddie read a ton of books and was smart enough to study architecture. It surprises me how she wasn’t smart enough to know more about her own disease despite her putting 100% of her faith in her doctor mom.