Aus YA Bloggers Blog Tour: I am Change review

Good morning everyone and welcome to my blog stop on the Aus YA Bloggers, in conjunction with Walker Books, tour for I am Change by Suzy Zail. 

I Am Change is a revolutionary book which focuses upon female empowerment and determination in the face of a society where women have no voice. It tackles some very complex and serious issues within Ugandan society and is influenced by a number of women from the country. Zail has taken elements from each woman’s story and woven them together to create a heartfelt narrative which gets to the core of the lack of human rights in the country, especially in regards to women. From the outset, it is an extremely moving and emotionally challenging read but has the power to provide those women with a voice of their realities in the 21^st Century.

The narrative follows Lillian, a young girl living in a small African village, and her plight to fight for change in a society where women are considered to solely bear children and look after their family. While the norms of her society are against her, Lillian is strongly determined to show her family and her village that she is capable of so much more than just getting married off at a young age and having a large family.

From the outset of the book, it is clear that Lillian is a strong willed and determined young girl. She, unlike many other girls her age, is completely focused on attending school and getting as far in her education as she can. This isn’t considered the norm as it is in developed countries, as it is really only the boys who are expected to further themselves. While she is subject to many setbacks, her goal never seems to waver. Despite her family trying to prevent her from going to school and throwing obstacles at her, she still tries her best at everything that she does. When all this is going on, the raw emotion in the writing is evident. The reader is able to sense the fear instilled in Lillian, that her dream of completing her education is slowly being torn away from her.

This book is so raw and emotional and makes the reader aware of the injustices still going on the other side of the world. There are various triggering scenes which include rape, domestic violence and female genital mutilation. These are unfortunately all things which are still occurring in the daily lives on Ugandan women. Female students are exploited at school by male, dominating teachers who believe that they are there to rule over the female students. These girls are taken advantage of so that they are able to have the rights that the male students are given automatically. Lillian’s friend is one of the girls who is affected by this and Lillian wants to seek revenge but due to her standing, this seems like an impossible task. One of the saddest scenes in this book regards Lillian’s sister, Nakato. Nakato went missing years ago and when Lillian goes to the city, she sets herself a goal to find her. The reader discovers that the only reason Nakato fled was because she did not want to her genitals to be mutilated, which was considered to be a custom of their tribe. Due to this and the fact she was unable to return to her family, Nakato resorted to a life so far from what she had hoped for herself.

Another aspect of the book which really drew out the emotion was when the characters were talking about marriage. In the 21^st Century, it is still common practice for girls under the age of 16 to be married to men more than double their age. The characters in this book were no exception as some of Lillian’s school friends were married off. Lillian was horrified by this and wanted to ensure that she was not subject to this, as she believed that people should marry for love and not to improve their social standing.

Overall, I am Change is a book which I believe all young girls should read (but maybe not until they are 15-16). While it did take me a little while to get into the book, by the end I was in awe of Lillian and the strength she possessed over her short life thus far. It is a book which promotes women’s rights in countries where women still have little rights and are treated incredibly poorly. It raises awareness of issues which, in Western countries, many people would consider to have disappeared many years ago. I hope that by raising more awareness of the injustices of these women, that change is able to occur in the future and these traditional views of these countries are able to adapt to be more inclusive of all.

I rated this book: 3 and a half stars out of 5

Thank you to Walker Books for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review and for Aus YA bloggers for providing me with the opportunity to participate in the blog tour!

I am Change is available now in Australian bookstores.

Crown of Coral and Pearl: Review

Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford is the first instalment in a new young adult fantasy series. Taking place on top of the ocean and on land, it shows the lengths that those will go to for their family and others, for almighty power. It is fast paced and action packed and despite this, the characters are also extremely well developed. 

Before I go too much further, I will add the synopsis below:

For generations, the princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. But though every girl longs to be chosen as the next princess, the cost of becoming royalty is higher than any of them could ever imagine… Nor once dreamed of seeing the wondrous wealth and beauty of Ilara, the kingdom that has ruled her village for as long as anyone can remember. But when a childhood accident left her with a permanent scar, it became clear that her identical twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the crown prince- while Nor remained behind, unable to ever set foot on land. Then Zadie is gravely injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place…  When she arrives in Ilara, Nor is confronted with a cruel prince and a castle that is carved into a mountain which is difficult to leave. She discovers that the prince has sinister plans for her homeland and that she needs to uncover them before it’s too late.

Crown of Coral and Pearl is a unique take on young adult fantasy. It incorporates settings which I have never read about before and a fascinating plot.  The idea of having an ocean village was interesting from the get go. It was intriguing how this race of people lived out in the sea, on top of the ocean in floating houses and were unable to step foot on land without getting into trouble by the kingdom that ruled them. Once we get further into the story, I really liked the idea of the New Castle and Old Castle. Having a castle built into a mountain, with all these interesting caverns underneath and other features made for a change from the normal ‘royal castles’ which feature in every young adult fantasy book. The castle appeared to have a personality of its own which really added to the plot.

The plot was a wonderful aspect of this book and really made it shine. I liked how the author focused on so many themes including the strength of a sisterly bond, the concept of beauty, hidden love, the struggle of ultimate power and the strength of determination to name a few. I admire the author and how she didn’t rush into the main plot of the story. She allowed adequate time to set up the main setting (ocean village), the relationships between the main characters who were living there, provided an opportunity for the reader to understand their situation within the kingdom, what they did for an occupation and an insight into how the most beautiful girl was sent away to be queen. By setting the book up like this, the reader was able to have a strong grasp about what was occurring before the plot moved along and a deep understanding of the characters and their motives. Throughout the rest of the book, the plot was well paced and the reader was not left bored at any point. There was constantly something happening to Nor or something that she was trying to find out, to assist her overall motive to stop the prince.

The characters were extremely well rounded and developed. They made the book so enjoyable and were very realistic in their descriptions and actions. While there were little physical descriptions, the characters were easily able to distinguish from their emotions and their actions that they made throughout the book. When the characters were happy, as a reader you could feel that through them and the same when they were sad or distressed. The author used a substantial amount of emotive language to get this across to the reader. I loved the relationship between Zadie and Nor and how they would do anything for each other. Despite the hardships that they faced, they were both willing to make sacrifices for each other to ensure that they were where they were meant to be. I also enjoyed seeing the relationship between Nor and Talin develop over time, as they came to help each other in their plight for the same thing, to protect the people of Varenia. The author can also write a villain extremely well. From his introduction, it was clear that Ceren was a character to be aware of as he appeared suspicious from the beginning from his intentions. One character I really struggled to like and did not feel sorry for was Nor and Zadie’s mother. She was so concerned about maintaining her twin daughter’s beauty, no matter the expense it had on her relationship with them. She was cold and even when her daughter was sent away to be married, she did not even have the heart to say goodbye. While she did not appear in the book for long, her impact on Nor was felt throughout the course of the book.

I extremely enjoyed reading Crown of Coral and Pearl. It was a wonderful book which delved into a new land and featured so many interesting and deep characters with calculating motives. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a new young adult fantasy read.

I rated this book: 5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Harlequin Publishers Australia for providing me with an advanced copy to provide an honest review.

Crown of Coral and Pearl will be released on the 19^th of August in Australia.