Review: Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid

Title: Never Always Sometimes                               

Author: Adi Alsaid

Publication: August 1st 2015, Harlequin Teen

Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages

Source: Pinoy Book Tours (Check out the tour)

Buy it on: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | The Book Depository | Kobo | National Bookstore / Fully Booked (PH)

Synopsis:                                      

Never date your best friend

Always be original

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids — the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they’d never, ever do in high school.

Some of the rules have been easy to follow; like No. 5, never die your hair a colour of the rainbow, or No. 7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he’s broken rule No. 8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It’s either that or break rule No. 10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.

Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they’ve actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.

Misfit Review:

Things I NEVER got to do in high school:

1. I NEVER had a lunch spot.

2. We didn't have prom, so I NEVER got to be prom queen (WTF?) and I NEVER got into student council.

3. I NEVER attended any beer parties coz I NEVER got invited into any of them.

4. I NEVER hosted a BEER party coz my Dad would've killed me or disowned me by then.. Plus I don't drink liquor. HA!

5. I NEVER dyed my hair a different color. Catholic private schools weren't lax about that kinda stuff.

6. I NEVER got to streak, skinny dip, or do anything else that could result in a viral nude pic, coz why? LOL

7. I NEVER hooked up with a teacher coz hello, Catholic school... The horror. (We also never got substitutes, so... too bad)

9. I NEVER got to go on a "life-changing" road trip coz I never looked for myself then.

10. And, I NEVER dated my best friend... coz well, I didn't swing that way... also, I didn't have male best friends in high school.

The Angst/Joy of a College Student Going Through... Viewing of Grades..

It's been a while since I've done this Angst and Joy episode. I mean, I've only done it once but it seemed too much if I didn't do it at an appropriate time. So today's episode is going to focus on both Angst and Joy since we are gonna talk about, yup! Grades.


Now for sure any college student's either pissed or jumping for bliss once they see/saw their grades... I for one am part of this huge spectrum. Okay, let me start...




Le Angst!

So college mongrels, how were you're grades? Did you cry over them? Did you want to rip off that piece of evidence that you almost failed a subject, apart? Yeah, I feel yah brother. And as much as I would like to think that being in college is much different than when we were in high school, I can't help it dudes, I'm sorry.


I put some heart and soul into my studies over the course of the semester, but why is it that my grades were in the verge of giving any genius a heart attack? I didn't fail though guys. Phew. But coming from decent grades before, I sincerely feel bad for the grades I received this term. I don't want to blame the teachers at all because I know that I had my cracks to fill, but then again, I end up worrying about my distant future.

HUMAN CLASSIFICATION : WEIRDO

Weird, adj. A trait or characteristic of a person who does things in a uniquely odd fashion. It could also be used to describe someone who speaks or does things not ordinary to people in his or her environment. n., weirdo, misfit, dweeb, eccentric 

Credits of Trendland

Yes folks. I am most certainly a weirdo. Don’t worry. Not in a perverted sort of

way. You can be rest assured I am sane enough to not allow myself to do something so senile but at the same time, let me warn you that I can be quite the perv sometimes, which goes to show how messed up my first statement of defense was.

I speak and act accordingly to what I want and not what others want. In the case of teachers, that’s another story. You could say I have breaches to the security of my own thoughts; spontaneous in layman’s terms. I get the saying, “You’re so weird.” all the time. I’d take it as a compliment actually. I have become immune to trying to fit the norms of the people who have some sort of inhibitions in them.

In all honesty, I was once someone who just wanted to fit in with the crowd be with the cool kids and stand-out. But I guess in my choice of inklings and my odd personality, I stood-out, not in a good way. I had hated being called weird. It was just something I could not accept myself. It was probably because of peer pressure. Yeah, peer pressure’s a B. It’s just that being in high school and having such a peculiar way of being human didn’t quite make a good combo. I barely made friends. It was quite the miracle that I got some. What I’m saying is that I wanted to have lots of friends back then and being weird didn’t actually provide me the grounds to having the majority.

For some strange reason, I came into terms with my oddity. We had a good long talk. She had her side while I had mine. She was quite persistent if I say so myself. In the end, I realized that that is how I was and that being weird is how I can classify myself as a human being and how God planned that I become the weird one in the group.

So yeah, I came to accept the fact that I sometimes blurt out my feelings or my thoughts are way beyond what people normally would hear or believe in. I would end up liking the movie that someone hated or would understand the unconventional. I would be emphatic about what happens towards fictional characters. And of course, add to that me talking to myself in the mirror. A lot.

It’s not so bad to be the different one. It’s exciting actually. I don’t have to pretend to be somebody I’m not and at the same time, I could truly be happy with myself. Do not be discouraged if you’re not like someone you admire or if you not part of the in-crowd. As long as you know you are yourself, there’s no reason to change. Well, that’s if you have some psychological problem. You might want to see a psychiatrist for that or maybe I should…:p