Aaaahhh the summer holidays! As an educator there is nothing sweeter than that silence which follows the last child out of the door. Those precious few seconds where you can soak up the contentment of getting through a hard year's work.
It's a blessing and a curse.
I don't know how many of you will have booed at their screens after reading the last sentence, but before you switch off completely please permit me to elaborate. Yes the summer is great. I enjoy not having to set the alarm clock in the mornings. I relish that freedom that comes with waking up and thinking ‘what am I going to do today? Am I even going to do anything at all?’
But it is also a shapeless piece of time, without form or routine. And when you spend ten months of your year bound by rigid routines that are often planned and changed at a moment’s notice (including those of your own children’s extra-curricular clubs) the sharp veering from one extreme to another can be disorientating.
It allows the brain time to procrastinate and over work itself, sadly in my case without ever shutting off completely. There is nothing worse for a person than a mind that WILL NOT settle, with thoughts racing through it at ten to the dozen speed; thoughts which are neither constructive nor positive. So what do you do when time becomes a forest that you’re stumbling through with little direction and even less drive? You attempt to conquer it.
I’ve tried hard to fill my time so far with almost anything I can think of (bearing in mind my family and financial considerations). I’m completely redecorating my son’s bedroom from taking the first piece of furniture out to putting the last fixture back into place. There’s a multitude of other DIY jobs that I’ve held back till now to try and get done over the summer.
I’ve gone bowling, eating, drinking, line dancing, to parades, birthday parties, for long walks, for coffees: I’ve socialised with anyone who can stomach being in my company.
Worst of all? My social media usage has gone through the roof. Instead of being online when I can find the time in the schedule I’ve found myself hopping on and off every couple of hours. Being honest there was one day about two weeks back that I was online EVERY FEW MINUTES! That’s what happens to someone like me when:
• routines are not in place and
• the battles with mental well-being have raged on as long as they have.
Actually, I say that’s the worst but it’s not. No, the worst is thinking about work, about it’s impending return. Having all these ideas about the future whizzing through my head but failing to do anything constructive because, whilst my mind is a blur my body is repeatedly sending signs that it’s close to exhaustion.
So yes, I love spending 6 weeks off with my family but sometimes, if not channelled properly it can do me more harm than good. Case in point? Last summer when I went back to work more stressed than when we’d broken up. Within a month of being back at work I had a breakdown.
Notice that I’ve done all of this ranting but haven’t given a single mention of my book yet. A 525 page book that I’d read 468 pages off across 3 days last week. I was that eager to keep my time full of activity. This past fortnight has felt like a fall from grace, which is very much what happens to the central character of this book at it’s outset.
Born into the race of maji, Zelie is set to inherit powers on her 13th birthday when she will evolve from simple diviner into full scale sorceress. But that day doesn’t arrive as the magic of her people is lost and the King of their lands orders a barbaric genocide of all adult maji, which includes poor Zelie’s mother. Anyone left alive in the race is quickly sold off into slavery apart from the select few (Zelie amongst them) who go into living a life in hiding.
Cursed with harrowing memories that she can’t block out and a poisonous hatred that burns her inside out, Zelie bides her time and waits (rather impatiently) for her chance to avenge her family and save her people.
A sudden random encounter with a stolen artefact and a runaway princess brings Zelie dangerously close to the ultimate goal, restoration of the magic powers to her people (imagine Hogwarts students finally getting their power back from the muggles). But with the King so desperate to keep magic from ever returning and his entire army hot on her heels Zelie’s race to fulfil her destiny will lead her to make the ultimate sacrifice.
This story is told in first person perspective from the eyes of it’s 4 protagonists and it does a fantastic job of intricately weaving those stories together; whilst not letting up for a single second on the emotional pull that they each have. It is densely packed with rich and elaborate vocabulary which only starts to ween off as the pace picks up towards the end. Chapters are average sized for a novel this big and chapter sizes are actually well used in terms of building and maintaining a pace. One morning I was so desperate to see how it progressed, I ploughed through seven chapters, finally pausing for breath to see that I’d only actually read 40 pages! And that folks, was my excuse to keep reading!
The references of gore can be quite explicit so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone under the age of 11. There are plenty of plot twists, some you see coming, some you don’t and some that you KNOW are coming in spite of the fact that in your head you are screaming, cursing and offering up silent prayers to the author not to do what she’s about to do!
The true power of this book though is in it’s message. Inequality between people still exists, in fact the world is rife with it. In a world of social media and quick fix distraction it is easier than ever to look at someone and make a snap judgement without really stopping to try and understand them.
I’ve spoken out in this blog, telling people all about who I am (as I often do). I don’t do it for attention or pride, it’s not my ego talking or simply my need to be loved. I do it in an effort to ask people to understand, to walk a mile in my shoes or spend a minute in my head so that they don’t cut and run at the first signs of my eccentricity. All I ever ask from the world is to love and accept me enough to be tolerant of me and straight with me.
This book is asking for love and tolerance. It asks for you to really walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, much like I’m asking. Nothing brings that plea home more than the author’s note at the end of the book. It brought me to tears I’m not ashamed to admit. Give this book a read please, it’s underlying message should never be lost.
As for me? I’m off to spend the next week working on my own mind instead of trying to change the minds of those around me! Hope you’re all reading this summer! This is book 31 of my 52 book challenge and my 500+ page book.
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