“The Dragonfly Prophecy” by Jacquelyn Castle is narrated by Lexi, a 17-year-old with a perfect life. Lexi is highly intelligent, has loving, caring parents who (mostly) don’t smother her, and she is dating handsome, rich, British William who is taking Lexi and her parents on a surprise getaway to a tropical island. Well, Lexi’s life is perfect apart from her frequent – and worsening – fainting spells, her horrendous dreams of dragonflies, and now she’s hearing voices.
Then, perfect turns on its end. She gets stuck in a fainting spell. While coming in and out of her coma, she hears William and her mom and dad discussing “finding the right person” and yelling, with worry in their voices. Next thing she knows, she’s awake and nobody remembers William and she supposedly doesn’t remember the accident.
“The Dragonfly Prophecy” involves super powers (yes, super powers as in flying, and shooting lasers, and invisibility, and teleportation, and fighting), dual worlds (not parallel exactly, but co-existent), romance, and mystery. Castle has crafted a believable and creative universe for her story to take place in.
The plot was entirely unpredictable. The only thing I successfully predicted was the happy ending, but I had no idea, throughout the entire novel how that would happen, or, for a large part, what it would look like. The plot was intricate, well-crafted, and compelling. Castle kept twists coming that kept me reading far too late into the night. The ending was maybe a little quick, and I didn’t feel that the Evangeline subplot was fleshed out, but these are minor irritants in a largely well-done book. The largest fault I found was that the romance often irritated me – particularly with William – as the plot progressed. However, I am often cynical and unromantic, so that dig might just be me.
Overall, “The Dragonfly Prophecy” was a well-written book with good characters, a multi-layered world and plot, and good writing. I would recommend “The Dragonfly Prophecy” to anyone looking for an original and well-done fantasy novel.
I don’t care what you call it, cause it doesn’t matter what you call it; it matters how you live it.
– Matt R
I’m climbing a ragged staircase that’s in the process of being slowly sucked back into the cliffside from which it was carved. When I reach out to steady myself, I feel the fuzzy heartbeat of the moss nudging my hand like a contented thought. The seagulls fall like snow and rise again with the wind, calling out with voices that remind me of wilderness and playing hide-and-go-seek with anxiety. My wellingtons keep slipping on the loose gravel, and I’m concentrating so hard on the path that I forget to look around and smell the sea. There’s something about fear that sharpens my concentration and changes me from an amateur to a professional, and instead of the little tourist who just wants to splash the crabs and stay out of everybody’s way, I’ve suddenly become a park ranger with responsibilities… and now I have to strain my eyes unless I want to see the same things over and over again.
There was one day when the sky was a sheet of silver and I was keeping my eye on the rhododendron bushes because they kept jostling about in an unnatural sort of way, when someone poked me harshly on the shoulder and asked me the quickest way to town. I blinked twice and began to surreptitiously look for the fire escape. Because there’s something about that town I don’t really fancy… maybe it’s the identical lightening rods on all the apartments or the deserted playground behind the city hall. I always send people the long way back. And I stay out here with the friendly moss and the rocks that steam in the morning. But people are always asking me for directions to leave.
So now I’m climbing a ragged staircase up a wizened precipice, and everyone has left. Maybe I left them. I’m on a quest, see. I don’t really know what I’m looking for, but I’ve always wanted to go questing. When I was little, I used to lie in bed and make up stories that usually involved Ivanhoe. There was one hill in my imagination that I remember very clearly, though I don’t know why. I think we changed horses there once and spied upon the world at our feet before racing into its environs. Now I pull myself up to a narrow ledge that looks like it belongs on the stairs of Cirith Ungol and slowly turn around to face the wind. The muscular beauty of the sea owns the landscape far beneath me, and I can see the pinprick outlines of a few lingering tourists stooping to collect shells as souveniers. Suddenly, I begin to feel very lonely. Maybe there’s still something I need down there. Someday I’ll reach into my backpack, pull out the pieces of canvas and cord I stuffed inside, and assemble them with shivering hands. Then I’ll throw off my heavy coat, reach into my pocket for a little extra courage, and jump on the wind’s back (and away we will go). And maybe I’ll find in flight what I was looking for on foot. Maybe, suspended among the seagulls, grasping my hang-glider with reddened hands, I’ll know what to wish for when I see the first star at night, and when at last I reach the ground and roll before coming to a stop, I’ll rise knowing what God expects of me.
Alternatively, we could retain the love story by rerouting their courtship to be less disturbing. Bella Swan would rebuff his advances, despite her desire to yield to him. Her crush on him would be unable to subvert good sense. Edward would continue to be a creepy bastard, but eventually, he too recognizes his behavior was inappropriate and banishes himself from her company. If he could channel his interest into her by corresponding with her from afar, an epistolary romance could develop based upon mutual respect and shared interests. Twilight would become the story of a supernatural long-distance relationship, and much like people who fall in love online, they get past physical and lifestyle differences. At the end, he could cautiously return, and they would give “going steady” a whirl.
Pandas aren't racist
From 9gag.com. You’ve got to check out their source code. Pretty slick site. 
(but I’ll caution you that there’s also some “sketchy” stuff as well)
