Hawaiian Islands Travel Series: Central Maui: Paia and Makawao

Day 3: Central Maui: Paia and Makawao

YOU’LL KNOW you’re almost to the Hana Highway when you drive through Paia, a chic and lively town that is definitely worth a stroll. There is a free parking lot on the west side of town. From there, walk down the main street and try not to find a place to eat here. Wonderful eating experiences abound, such as the Flatbread Company. A fun place for family—or for hungry hikers who have just come down from Haleakalā National Park. The kitchen is in the back of the dining area, so you can watch the action as hot, woodfire-baked pizzas are whisked from the oven and brought straight to your table.

   

Paia is also known for being kinda, semi-close to legendary surf spot Jaws. However, Jaws is in a pretty remote location; be prepared for a hike. If you’re really itching to look at the waves, then you will want to look for this street: ‘O‘ili Road. Walk down until you see the Cattle Guard. This is as far as we went, but Jaws is beyond here down a cliff.

Quite a ways above Paia nestled in the foothills of Haleakalā is Makawao. It has the reputation for being a "cowboy town." This is in reference to the paniolo, who trace their heritage back to Mexican vaqueros/cowboys hired by John Palmer Parker in the 1800s to help herd cattle. I'm not sure how much of this tradition remains; we mainly traveled through Makawao on our way up to Haleakalā Summit. I suppose the town square looks kind of like that old saloon style. There were many art studios, sculptures, and carvings on display. 

We were staying at Waianapanapa State Park by Hana, so we had quite the drive to Haleakalā Summit. Start early so you can stay off the Hana Highway at night if at all possible. Cut up Highway 365 if heading to Haleakalā from the east side. This will lead you up a few windy back roads before you'll come to Makawao. Make sure you fill up on gas here, because there will be little to no options once you head up Highway 377-378.

 Upcoming: Day 4: The Hana Highway
  

*Disclaimer: This article is presented as fiction, not fact. Names have been changed for the sake of privacy.

Read more in the Hawaiian Travel Series:
(0) Intro: Welcome to Maui
(1) Day 1: Northwest Maui: Lahaina

(2) Day 2: Kihei and Makena

January 2015 Book Review: The Young Elites

THE YOUNG ELITES

Marie Lu

~Book Review~

 Warning! Spoilers!

  

I WENT INTO THIS HAVING NO IDEA it was a story starring a villain. I assumed The Young Elites was about your standard secret society with powers that rises up against the tyrannical government. And originally, it would have been. Lu talks in the afterward about how the story followed a generic heroic rebel guy in the first drafts. However, that story wasn’t working. Her agent remarked upon a dark and aloof secondary character named Adelina, who seemed to have more of a story to tell. And just like that, Lu made the smart decision to throw fantasy conventionality out of the window. This book was going to be about a tragic and abused heroine’s descent into infamy, it was going to be full of twists, it was going to be dark.

There have been too many times where I’ve read about a character who has an awesome superpower, but they are too noble or too nice to use it. Adelina uses her power, the ability to create illusions, and it is devilishly fun to read about. I also enjoyed how Lu created the sense of isolation Adelina feels within the superpower secret society: the Young Elites. She feels held at a distance or treated mistrustfully because of her powers and the results of her test, which foretell she is prone to violence.

Another plus was the romance, which Lu does another twist with. Again, I was bracing myself for angst and sappiness that would destroy the plot, but Lu avoids this with a horrific choice made in the climax. Loved it, and I personally hope what happened can’t be undone (such is the way of life muahahaha).

Okay to stop being so dramatic: loved the atmosphere, enjoyed Adelina’s descent and her relationship with her sister, but I really take issue with the name of their rebel group: The Young Elites. Does that convey people of all classes and social backgrounds who developed special abilities because of a plague to you? Does it enhance the book’s dark atmosphere? No. In fact, the title was the reason I was hesitant to read in the first place, because it seemed light and generic. This rebel group who works against the monarchy is often referred to as “Daggers,” which is better, but still pretty bland. The world-building suffered for me because I was pretty confused about what “The Young Elites,” the principal name of the starring secret society, was supposed to mean. A more unique group name would have made this series really stand out from others going forward.

My overall recommendation? Ignore the lack of creative names and pick up the book. The storyline is interesting, it puts twists on traditional fantasy conventions, and it has a diverse range of characters in social standing, race, and sexual orientation. The number one reason I want to continue this series is because Lu gave her characters awesome, dangerous powers and then had them use them. This makes me believe that in future installments, she won’t shy away from the tough moral choices. She’ll go there.

Recommended for fans of: Julie Kagawa, Susan Ee, Zoraida Córdova

Upcoming Book Review: Silvern by Christina Farley

December 2014 Book Review: The Vicious Deep

The Vicious Deep

By Zoraida Córdova

~Book Review~

THE MERMAID CRAZE in YA fantasy inevitably began after our love affair with contemporary, everyday vampires who “just want to fit in.” Well, mermaids want to hang out in high school forever, too. I’ve had some hits and misses with mermaid books. Lost Voices by Sarah Porter was cool because it was a haunting story about sisterhood, where innocent drowned girls turned savage after “death.” Of Poseidon by Anna Banks was less my thing because I found the characters stereotypical and the plot contrived. I worried the same thing would happen with The Vicious Deep but I was pleasantly surprised. This is a fun story, and I want to see how the trilogy turns out.

Tristan Hart gets sucked out to sea by a tidal wave. He survives, but now he is haunted by dreams of a vicious silver mermaid. The sea holds the answers, and Tristan will need them—especially after he grows a fish tail in the bathtub. With the help of his best friend and long-time crush, Layla, Tristan dives deep into an underwater kingdom full of wonder and peril.

You don’t usually read stories about a teenage guy turning into a mermaid—excuse me, merman. That caught my interest. Also, Tristan was funny and endearing. His awkward conversation with his stoic mentor, Kurt, about where their junk goes and how they get it on as mermen was pretty entertaining. He’s very determined and protective of his family and friends. Overall, he’s a nice change in the genre from the typical outcast, woe-is-me type hero. He reminds me of a more grown-up version of Percy Jackson.

Layla, his love interest, was kind of a let-down. It’s very difficult for fantasy authors to introduce a “normal human” as a main character and keep them that way without them becoming useless. Oftentimes they end up as helpless objects that the hero must save. Although the author attempted to empower Layla by having her face down other merfolk with her attitude and “athletic” skills, I wasn’t buying it. Luckily Gwen and Thalia were awesome.

The world-building felt a bit jumbled and underdeveloped. The author had just introduced this cool underwater kingdom of the merfolk to us—but suddenly there were witches and vampires and werewolves and what-have-you running around, too. It felt unnecessary and took attention away from developing the merfolk world.

The villainous silver mermaid doesn’t do much besides stalk Tristan in this book, but she’s intriguing enough to make me want to continue the series. Overall, this book is adventurous underwater quest fun.

Recommended for Fans of: Julie Kagawa, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan

Upcoming Book Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Hawaiian Islands Travel Series: Kihei and Makena, Maui

Day 2: Southern Maui: Kihei and Makena

*Disclaimer: This article is presented as fiction, not fact. Names have been changed for the sake of privacy.

Read Day 1: Lahaina, Maui here.

SOUTHERN MAUI is pretty famous for luxury resorts, terrific snorkeling, and nudist beaches, if you’re into that. One of its most highly anticipated snorkeling spots is Molokini Crater, a crescent-shaped islet a couple miles from Maalaea Harbor in Kihei. Other boat departure points are Lahaina Harbor on the west side, Kai Kanani in Makena, and Kihei Boat Ramp. Once in the deep waters of the crater, snorkelers can explore a colorful reef and see hundreds of feet down. They might even have the chance to see a whale shark or two.

Molokini Crater. Photo courtesy of I Travel Hawaii.

 My boyfriend and I debated heavily about doing Molokini. People we talked to, including Maui locals, advised doing it at least once. Ultimately, our tight budget ruled it out, but I would recommend it. There are a variety of boat options to choose from, if you’d like to choose a leisurely all-day catamaran adventure like Aloha Blue Charters offers, or a zippy adventure aboard Blue Water Rafting.

A neat little church near our snorkel spot.

We drove to the southern end of Maui from Lahaina. Kihei looked like a smaller version of Kahalui: densely-populated with more brand name stores. The roads are eventually flanked by hotels and resorts on all sides as you drive closer to Makena in the far south. I remember my boyfriend and I were astounded at the lack of visible Starbucks on Maui, but the friendly server at Peggy Sue’s told us Kihei had one.

Speaking of Peggy Sue’s…let’s talk food. There is a strip mall off of South Kihei Road, which is pretty easy to spot. There will be an Amigo’s Mexican Restaurant on the street corner. We ate at three places there: the aforementioned Amigo’s; Peggy Sue’s, a 50s-style milkshake and burger joint; and Coconut's Fish Café, which we’d heard offered mouth-wateringly delicious fresh fish at decent prices. My recommendation? Eat your meal at Coconut's Fish Café: I had this wasabi ahi burger that was gone in about two seconds, and my boyfriend had the famous fish tacos. Hop over to Peggy Sue’s for milkshakes. The service there was extremely friendly and accomodating; when the lady heard I was a fan of salted caramel mochas, she whipped me up a milkshake version not on the current menu. Last, maybe have a drink or two at Amigo’s. The service was good, but the food was sub-par chain restaurant fare.

Ulua Beach

Of course I talk about dining options first, but we did do some exercise before enjoying our well-earned meal! We ended up snorkeling in Makena…where, we’re not exactly certain. Originally we were trying to find Five Graves. We found this neat shady secluded spot where a lot of divers were getting ready…but it looked a bit too treacherous without aqua socks. So we ended up at what I believe might have been Ulua Beach, or as we like to call it: “Sleeping Turtle Point.”

It was easy snorkeling; the current got a little rougher when snorkeling around the outcrops. We snorkeled a fair ways along the coast before meandering back and finding our sea turtle fast asleep again.

I would have liked an extra day to explore Makena. It has some fantastic white sand beaches. However, we’d booked our next accommodation on the northeast shore of Maui. It was time to brave the Hana Highway.

Read more in the Hawaiian Travel Series:
(0) Intro: Welcome to Maui
(1) Day 1: Northwest Maui: Lahaina

Upcoming: Day 3: Central Maui: Paia and Makawao

Year of the Boar: Tica is Published!

Woohoo! Another book to add to the Changeling Sisters Series!

Goes along well with the Hawaiian Islands travel series, doncha think? Another post on that coming soon.

I ended up having to substitute a grave accent for the Hawaiian ʻokina, because Kindle doesn't support that character. However, it still came out looking like an apostrophe. If anyone has any pointers on that, let me know.

Without further ado, here is the Amazon link. Available in Kindle format on any type of electronic device!

Changeling Sisters #1.5 Year of the Boar: Tica will be released on Amazon 01/17!

Check out Amazon.com on Saturday, 01/17, for the release of Changeling Sisters #1.5: Year of the Boar: Tica!

If you haven't already, take a sneak peek on Wattpad.com here.

To celebrate the first Changeling Sisters novella, The Tribe of Ishmael (Afterlife Chronicles I) will be free 01/17 - 01/18 on Amazon.com here. Happy New Year!