What I do not understand about the DACA debate.

This is a great post by Ed. I don’t think anyone can deny that Dreamers shouldn’t be punished for something that was out of their control. Dreamers have added to the rich tapestry that makes up our country which makes the rescission of DACA even more heartbreaking.

DearTedandJody

What I do not understand about the DACA debate.

T. Edward Westen, Ph.D. and Professor Emeritus, Central Michigan University.

September 5, 2017

As I listen to the talking heads on television, voices on the radio and stories in the print media I hear about the undocumented alien, children who only know the US and the rule of law, and a whole bunch of other “stuff” that the utter seems to think applied and makes sense. This is not to mention the assertion that if we can’t control our borders . . .

The people in the DACA program were brought here illegally as children by their parents. They were in fact kidnapped from their native countries, even it if was for a good reason. DACA participants are victims of a crime—they are kidnap victims. Unlike kidnap victims in domestic kidnapping cases, they have no family that we can return them…

View original post 163 more words

The Woman Who Couldn’t Scream (Virtue Falls #4), Christina Dodd ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

352 Pages

Synopsis: Beautiful Merida is married to a wealthy older man who takes her around the world as his trophy. Merida is everything a man could want. But a traumatic accident years before left her unable to speak. When her husband dies, she knows it’s her chance to exact revenge on those responsible for her accident—and that vengeance begins in Virtue Falls. Reinventing herself, she slips into village life, biding her time. But someone knows exactly who she is and will use this chance to finish what was started years ago. And this time an accident for Merida will mean silencing her forever.

The Woman Who Couldn’t Scream is the 4th book in Christina Dodd’s Virtue Falls series, and although I haven’t read the first three books, for the most part I had no problem following along. 

Although the premise makes it sound like the book is all about Merida, there’s another main character whose viewpoint also tells the story, Kateri. Both women share a past as well as a few other similarities. Despite the trauma they’ve both suffered from these are strong female characters and I liked both of them. That said, I do think the story would have been better served if it had just focused on one of the women. I grew frustrated at times when a revelation was about to be uncovered about Merida, only to be yanked into Kateri’s story. 

The plot itself focuses more on mystery instead of romance, and it kept me guessing with its many twists and turns. It’s extremely fast-paced and I breezed through it in two sittings.

The Woman Who Couldn’t Scream is really two stories that are connected by a very fine line. It’s a bit disorganized at times, but its fast pace, intriguing mystery, and likable main characters kept me reading. It’s also made me want to go back and read the other books in the series, so that’s a plus. Despite the issues I had with this, I’d recommend it for fans of mystery and suspense with some light romance thrown in.