Tag: female writer

Geopolitics: India and Pakistan

Leave a comment

…

I don’t even know where to begin with this.

If you’re unaware, over the last few days, India sent missiles into Pakistan in retaliation to a horrific attack that killed 22 people in April.

The history of India and Pakistan is a complex one that can be pinpointed to partition, but in all honestly, that was the culmination of cultural and religious fighting that started before then.

Many 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians whose ancestry hail from India (pre 1947) carry the weight and pain of partition with them, and when the violence between these 2 nations escalates we all hurt.

Tha narrative that says ‘all Indians hate Pakistanis’ and vice versa is hateful and pushes the discord further. It is damaging. It is misinformation. But it is dangerous. It allows specific groups and sects to weaponise it and utilise for their own advantage.

These are lines drawn on a map by people who did not know the land or its people.

Lines that turned into borders that ripped apart families, communities and friends. Forced displacement of millions of people who had no choice but to watch loved ones die. From Amritsar to Lahore, the land has never really healed, it’s people and the diaspora have carried it with them since.

I always find it SO interesting about how geography and politics are so intrinsically linked. How a line on a map can make or break a nation and it’s people. How borders shape identities. How they include and can exclude, who has rights and who does not. The notion of power and control all comes down to lines drawn on a map. History is built on nations going to war all for that extra slice and slither of land to add under their territory.

Why do people fight, kill and maim over lines in the dirt? Why does it matter? Turning swathes of people with shared blood and lineage against one another, what does that get you? Where does it get anyone? And I don’t think it’s the majority of people, but the rhetoric that is coming out of India right now is so hateful.

In a world where it’s so easy to hate, empathy is much harder to have and hold onto.

This all felt like a bit of a rant with no real point, but my heart is heavy.

xo

Book review: ACOTAR 1 – 3

Leave a comment

Hello!

This has definitely been a long time coming…

I recently went through, sorted and cleared out my MANY boxes of books. A woman on a mission, I vowed to get through my physical tbr this year and force myself on a book buying ban (I have already broken this of course🫠). So, I spent a few hours sorting books into piles and came up with a few piles to read.

Whilst sorting, I found A Court Of Thorns and Roses, A Court Of Mist and Fury and A Court Of Wings and Ruin as a trilogy…wrapped in cellophane…with a receipt from 2017. That should give you an indication of how far back my physical tbr goes 😭 But I thought why not, they seem to have had a resurgence lately. About 8 people I work with are reading them, so I thought why not see what all the fuss is about?

Sarah J Maas has worked on creating a universe that is interesting to delve into – all the courts and their personalities – was definitely something that’ll interested me as I read the trilogy and kept me engaged. I did like how she spent time fleshing out these different courts and their High Lords, differences, similarities, unique aspects. With fictional universes, so many times this aspect is rushed, I find, so this was definitely a nice breath of fresh air. A lot of the characters were fleshed out, given somewhat complex personalities. Only so much can be achieved over the course of three books, especially when you have a diverse range of characters.

Freyre

Ah, our protagonist. I wasn’t sure how to feel about her in all honestly. Over the course of the three books, I didn’t feel like her arc progression amounted to much, but maybe she wasn’t meant to. A stable 1st person narrative that allows the reader into the mindset of a girl trying to manage herself in a new and volatile world. It’s a trope that’s been done, of course, time and time again. Set against the backdrop of magic and faeries the strong-willed, fiesty, snarky female didn’t really feel that much different from other fantasy females. I did like seeing the inner conflict and how she dealt with that, the way she loses and then remakes herself in this new world.

Rhysand

I mean. I love me a chaotic good character. Couple that with enemies to lovers…ooh! Rhysand. A white Knight saviour, hidden under the mask of being a prick. I get it. He’s the guy who treats you right, gives you the choices, doesn’t force you into doing something you don’t want. Respectful. But coupled with being messy, willing to be sneaky to get what he needs, all whilst having peoples best interest at heart. I think I would have just liked to see a bit more push and pull between Freyre and Rhysand. Once the mating bond kicked into place, then everything became really easy for them as a couple. No fights or disagreements, really. I think having that would have just added to their relationship.

The inner circle

Definitely very well fleshed out, interesting characters that added richness and depth to the story. Azriel definitely needs a whole arc to himself. Mor…it’s been 500 years, just tell him already. And Cassian, the glue holding them together. Odd love truangle – that wasn’t really a triangle – but was forced to be was odd for me, especially when nothing came from it? It had been teased for two books and then nothing? I delt slightly cheated if i’m honest. I felt like Amren just disappeared from A Court Of Wings and Ruin, appearing sporadically and not really doing much when she arrived.

Writing and pace

The pace of the trilogy was pretty decent. I didn’t really feel like there were any major sections that were unnecessary. The plot itself tied together quite neatly with no plot holes and a somewhat happy ending for all involved. I do think the writing of the courts and the world building could have done with more  “show not tell”. I never felt 100% immersed in the courts. I could envision them well enough, but I wanted to feel like I was there, the smells, the sounds, the fell of the grass and roughness of the bark and ash trees.

I understand why people are raving about this series. For me, it was okay. Nothing special, but an easy read with decent pacing. Would definitely help to get someone out a reading slump if need be.

Overall rating for the trilogy: 3/5

xo

Deeds not words.

Leave a comment

Happy International Women’s Day to all!

In 2018 I wrote about a badass woman Princess Sophia Duleep Singh who led an incredible life. If you don’t know who she is please give it a read!

This IWD I want to pay homage to one of the original suffragettes – Emmeline Pankhurst.

Emmeline Pankhurst statue in Manchester.

Seen by many as a radical and a threat, Emmeline was a woman who refused to back down and allow women to be mistreated after seeing the dire conditions that many worked in in Manchester’s workhouses. Her methods may have been extreme, and their effectiveness has been disputed, but there is no denying that her work was crucial and seminal in leading the movement and gaining votes for women.

Born and raised in Manchester, it’s amazing to see this statue everytime I make my way into the city centre. It genuinely brings a smile to my face watching and seeing people young and old surrounding the statue. It gives people, especially young boys and girls, a chance and an opportunity to discover a part of Manchester’s history that went on to change the entire UK.

Feminists don’t wear pink

“Feminists Don’t Wear Pink” is a collection of short stories and essays from women across Hollywood from actresses to teenage activists. They l tell their story of their personal relationship with feminism and what it means to be a woman. For me, it shows is how far we have come as women and a society, but still how far we have yet to go.

There are still 31 million girls in the world not in school and 17 million of them probably never will. 1 in 5 women in the UK have experienced sexual assault – but these are just from the brave women who have come forward to report it. And at the rate the word is going it will take over 100 years just to close the gender parity gap.

Emmeline Pankhurt fought over 100 years ago for the rights for women, but in order to make the world a fairer and just place we must all come together to create it.

Let us all incite this meeting to rebellion.

xo.

Book subscriptions🤗

Hi😁

One of the (many) things that I love about books is that book subscriptions exist! For me, nothing beats wandering around a book store, but receiving a monthly book parcel in the post is just😌 A little gift from me to me🤗

I currently have a monthly book subscription to Reposed and did also have one with Bookishly if you would like to check them out.

What I love about the Reposed subscription is that it’s not just about the book you receive. They take the time to include handmade chocolates, teas, beauty products and/or stationary. All made independently and to the highest standards. So you dont just pay for a novel, which is great in itself, but you’re also paying to help local and independent businesses.

The novels that are sent in the Reposed subscription are modern literary fiction if that’s your jam. Or if you’d like to start reading more modern fiction then definitely give this a go! They handpick the newest, inspiring and insightful novels to send and I’ve enjoyed every single one.

February’s box of goodies!

If modern fiction isn’t your thing, not to worry, Bookishly is there for you! They will send out classic novels that they have beautifully re-created the cover to in house. And if classics aren’t your thing, there are so many different types or book subscriptions out there from Crime and Detective to YA to Women led/feminist literature to just receiving a completely random book, there’s a subscription box for you!

xo

Placement level…complete!

Hello everyone 🙂

Hope January is treating you all well. I know it can be a difficult time for a lot of people, but bigger and brighter things are around the corner for you!

What’s new with everyone?

For me, I finally completed my first placement of my teaching training course which means I’m more than halfway through! Gosh. I didn’t think this would come around so quickly. It felt like it was dragging its heels😅 but in the best way. I enjoyed it completely and gained so much from it that really cemented that teaching is the career for me.

I bawled like a baby (in private – can’t let the kids see that!) when one of my classes gave me a notebook filled with lovely comments about my teaching. Urgh😭

With teaching there’s that constant feeling that looms over you that you’re not good enough or that you’re not doing enough. And boy did I feel that on an hourly, never mind on a daily, basis. There is always something more you could be doing. Even right now, writing this, there is something that I probably could be doing to enhance my teaching career. But where is the stop sign? Where are the boundaries? There aren’t. It’s as simple as that. The main thing I learnt on my first section of this journey is the need to switch off and to separate myself from my teaching and my teaching persona. It’s hard and I’m still navigating through the currents, but I’m slowly starting to get there. Waking up in a panic at 3am most nights thinking about things I hadn’t completed, or even started, was not the one. Everything I watched or heard, or conversations I took part in made me think about how I could use it in my lessons. Pages upon pages of notes of ideas…have I used any of them? Big fat nope.

It’s definitely an all encompassing career and one that 100% will take over your life if you let it. Yet, I’m thriving and crossing everything that my next placement goes just as well.

xo

You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess. It’s a love story, baby just say yes.

Leave a comment

Hello 🙂

I love love. I love romance. Give me heart wrenching, tear jerking couples pushing and pulling at each other, not realising they’re made for each other only to recognise it at the last moment to love happily ever after. Give me couples who shouldn’t be together or are enemies who fall in love, along with all the other soppy clichés. I’m a sucker for it. Ahhh ❤

But that’s not to say I enjoy reading romance novels where that becomes the only plotline and everything else redundant. For me, I like to have romance in novels/literature as an added bonus rather than being the main plot. I don’t want characters to be reduced to being love interests, I want their love to add to a story, to enhance it further, to be a driving force. More often than not however, that’s the case. Whether it be women thrown into a narrative, reduced to being nothing more than a one dimensional sexual character, or a male character being written purely to enhance a female’s story – to give her story purpose – because she can’t have a purpose without a man surely(!) I want flawed characters. I want them to fall in love with the person and the not the idea of romance. I know that it might be a little hypocritical to say that given that the first thing I said was I love romance. I mean the whole idea of romance is to sell an idyllic version of it right? To allow us to fulfil our fantasies and escape to a world where everything is easier and simpler, where a boy would come in and sweep you off your feet or a girl would give everything up for you in a heartbeat, you take one look at the movie industry in the 90’s and you can see that, it distorts or perceptions and our ideas of what love and romance should be and more often than not, the reality never lives up to the fantasy.

But. When you think of the best fictional couples, or when I think of my favourites, the ones that instantly spring to mind aren’t the perfect couples where everything goes right. My favourite literary couples are the ones where actually, everything goes pretty wrong. Where they butt heads and clash. Where they have a difference of opinions but compliment each other, making each other whole. Love is imperfect so why shouldn’t the couples be imperfect with it? Love is blind and romance is a fantasy, but what I love about my favourite fictional couples is their resilience, their strength and their fight for one another. Give me Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy with their different stances on pretty much everything. Give me Ron and Hermione who are imperfectly perfect for each other (no matter what JK says!) and give me Oliver and Jennifer who show that romance will never die.

“The very essence of romance is uncertainty.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays.

xo

Tbr: January

Leave a comment

Hello 😊

So many books, so little time!

I’ve splurged on quite a few books over the past few months but haven’t read any of them (yet!) So I should probably get a move on, read them, and then buy more 😁

So here’s my tbr for the month, hopefully I get through them all! (I’ve linked them all if anyone would like to buy 😊)

  1. Swing Time – Zadie Smith
  2. A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas
  3. Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
  4. Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
  5. So Happy it Hurts – Anneliese Macintosh

I’m currently reading 3 of these at the same time because I just couldn’t pick one to start and I’m already halfway through How to be Happy so we’ll see how it ends. At the moment the story itself isn’t really gripping or keeping me interested (I started it in November…) But it is a light read, so I’m easing myself into the year with a nice and gentle story😊

I also want to re-read a few if I get the chance.

(I may have put in another book order after writing this…)

xo

Book Review: The Night Brother

Leave a comment

Hiiiii 😊

So i just finished reading the ‘Night Brother’ by Rosie Garland and oh man, I loved it! It was such a sublime mix of poetic and descriptive language and all set in my beloved home town of Manchester❤ As a Manc I was super invested as soon as I read the ‘set in Manchester’ sentence of the blurb😅

the_night_brother.jpg

The Night Brother

It has a Jekyll and Hyde theme that runs throughout, and the book really plays with this in a number of ways – characters, journey’s, day and night. Through the protagonists, Edie and Gnome, the novel goes on winding and difficult journey’s of self discovery and is set in the early 1900’s which helps give, and keep, the air of mystery surrounding the plot. It also allows you to lose yourself in a period set piece of fiction and go back to a time free from the constraints of modernity. Touching upon today’s prevalent issues such as women’s rights, what it means to be a man and gender fluidity, they’re all mixed together with a touch of intrigue, flair and vital importance.

The theme of duality that runs through the entirety of the novel is such an interesting one because we all have different personas depending on who we’re with and the situation we’re in. A lot of people (myself included) probably feel like they are living separate lives sometimes. The novel deals with sexuality and gender fluidity in a way that shows you that you are more and can be more than what you are born into. Edie and Gnome differ in every way, they are complete opposites. But, they need each other. They’re constantly battling against each other for freedom and you do, like with Jekyll and Hyde, get the sense that this could easily be interpreted as someone battling with their inner demons. They desperately yearn for freedom from each other, fighting against their restraints and bonds, but if one of them does win in the end, can they really be whole? To survive one cannot be without the other no matter how hard they try – they are indeed 2 halves of a whole.

Some people might say the ending is anti-climactic, and while I can see where they might be coming from, I have to disagree. The ending, for me, wrapped up the story of the 2 siblings and their arduous journey and provided a sense of comfort. Not just for them, but for us the reader. You become invested in their stories and you really (or I did anyway) want to see them find stability and safety in a world where they would be chewed up and spit out.

I adored reading this and I don’t want to give too much away, but I highly recommend😊

xo

Gotta love a bit of Shakespeare 

Leave a comment

Hi!

Look at me writing two blogs within 2 days😊 Fingers crossed this streak continues!

Today I want to talk about Shakespeare…I mean, it’s not as if no-one’s given the man enough of a spotlight right?

I was disillusioned with Shakespeare for so long – mainly because it had been improperly taught to me and forced down my throat from the age of 7 when I couldn’t really comprehend the complexity of his writing. It wasn’t until I was in my final year of University (doing a Shakespeare module I might add) where I fell in love with good ol’ William. My lecturer was so passionate and taught his work in a way that was digestible, understandable and most of all, enjoyable. I finally understood why he was a big deal in the literary world – his prose, poetry, descriptions and language are just sublime.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a few plays I don’t like ***controversial opinion upcoming*** like Romeo and Juliet (🤤). Why this one you ask? Again I’ve been forced to read, react and perform this since the age of about 10 over and over and over again. I think by the time I was 14 I was so sick of it. I mean once again, don’t get me wrong, I’ll watch Leonardo DiCaprio in all his 90’s cute glory at any given point in the day, but the play itself I just can’t bring myself to enjoy reading. Maybe I need to bite the bullet and give it another go…maybe.

But I will say this about Shakespeare. All his plays are strongly rooted in terms of genre – whether it be tragedy, comedy or history – and his characters are widely flawed, human, and real. That’s what makes his play so memorable and so contemporary at the same time. There’s a reason why he’s stuck in the public mind for over 400 years. His plays, while written in the Elizabethan era, are so adaptable and transferable for any time period or actor.

Coriolanus

Coriolanus is my favourite play of his. It’s classed as a tragedy, but like so many of Shakespeare’s plays there’s overlaps with other genres. It’s so witty (I think anyway), and relatable especially in these recent times. I was lucky enough to see Tom Hiddleston’s performance at the NT which was incredible (and he’s super hot too🙊). Please give it a read if you haven’t!

Ah Shakespeare, you keep on doing your thing❤

xo