halloooo! Long time no review * face palm *
This review is really overdue...I just saw on Goodreads that I finished this book end of September😱 It has been a bit of a struggle this month to focus. My brain is just like...sleeeeeep, I need more sleep if you want me to work! Lol, come on brain, I give you lots of coffee!🤷🏼‍♀️🙈 Am I right?

Tradition

~ Brendan Kiely

Tradition is a YA contemporary "drama" in a private school setting.
This is a story about friendships forged, it’s a story about bringing to light the bigger issues that nobody wants to face and standing up for what is right even if it is unpopular. It is also a story that takes a look at the darker side of tradition.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5 stars

All in all I enjoyed this book. I feel like the whole story is designed to make you think, it touches on the deeper issues of society but based in a private school/campus setting. With the subject being of a more serious nature than I would normally prefer to read when it comes to contemporaries, I did find it a bit hard to get through…this is more personal preference than anything else though. (Yeah I enjoy the more fluffy romantic comedy types…feel good contemporaries for me all the way…when it comes to fantasy…yeah by any means shower me with thrilling action, drama, heartbreak and everything bone crunching and heart wrenching…but I prefer my contemporaries like a good sunny day…passing thunderstorms and rain fall allowed as long as the clouds make way for the sun rays again 😂)

[Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/pride-and-prejudice-u4IZuwx0KTxW8/links ]

↑↑This is the feeling I seek while reading contemporaries 😍

Synopsis:

Review:

First of all, I really love the idea of the whole private school setting, and this one started out totally reminding me of Gossip Girl, with the elite running the show. One big difference is that Fullbrook is a campus school.(I actually ended up watching a few episodes of Gossip Girl again 😂 Just call me the 31yr old teenager🙈)

[Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/gossip-girl-hBDgQQFWrVMuk/links ]

Introducing the setting. Let’s get some facts out about Fullbrook:

• A very elite private school
• Tradition is a big part of school life…Some traditions you can be proud of while others need to be squelched. Like the disgusting traditions that violate girls…from humiliating initiations to senior send-offs.
• The rich get away with almost everything
• Boys have the upper hand
• Concealed discrimination
• The authority figures would rather turn a blind eye than aknowlege the truth
• And as quoted from the book…“Fullbrook’s unspoken motto: This is how to grow up—eat shit and learn how to smile.”

[Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/leighton-meester-gossip-girl-blair-waldorf-ckrkpM10FX1VS ]

We also have an interesting range of characters…
Meet the main players: (The book is written from the dual perspectives of Jules and James)

• Jules goes into the school year as a force to be reckoned with, she has clear goals…she comes first…no boys…no distractions…one more year and she is free. She seems to be indefatigable in her efforts to make a difference…ha, I learned a new word. (*persisting tirelessly - I had to look it up🤣)
  
  [Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/blairedit-GzAXnPYc9VZlK]

• James(aka Buckeye, aka Bax ) is the new star player…a scholarship kid….bought by the school. He seems to be walking on eggshells…fit in, play the role…don’t screw up. He is unsure of himself…in the end he just wants to know what the right thing is to do and do it.
  
  [Source: href="https://giphy.com/gifs/gossip-girl-dan-humphrey-AlwOWr42IMLMA/links">https://giphy.com/gifs/gossip-girl-dan-humphrey ]

• Aileen is a goth artsy girl with a bad reputation (The Viking, the slut)
  
  [Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/gossip-girl-taylor-momsen-gg-Wvw5zWSjuMeGs ]

• Javi is the gay best friend who wants nothing more than to have a boyfriend and be a normal couple with the same non-discriminative “privileges” that other couples enjoy. (It doesn’t feel like his character was just forced into the story for diversity👍🏻…his character helps drive home the whole point of the book.)
  
  [Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/my-ghd-connor-paolo-O2xLRmhwHlGgM ]

All of them at some stage and at some level had there POWER removed and I think this was in a way what secured their friendships in the end.

#QUOTE:

“Everything that had once felt so alive now suddenly felt so dead. That was what I wanted the world to know…."
"....everywhere I went, I walked as a person with something missing.
I wanted it back.”

Even though this story wasn't a total hit with me (I didn't really relate to the characters), I do believe that the issues raised are important, discrimination of any sort is not right and it is not fair, but unfortunately it still happens all to often…the only way to initiate change is to bring to light the problems that we face in society. Nothing can be done…no transformation can happen…before the issues are acknowledged AS an actual issue. I sure hope I’m making some sense

"They can only not care if they continue to pretend they don’t know. So we can make them know. All of them. Make it impossible to pretend.” (Quote from the book)
Sexual assault is not something to be swept under the rug…or claimed as an unfortunate event caused by intoxication, rape culture is not okay. It has devastating consequences, even more so if others act like it doesn’t matter or the person isn’t even believed.

#QUOTE:

“I was slipping away, or breaking away, like a crumbling glacier cracking from the continent and drifting out to sea.”

Some minor things that bothered me a little bit:

In the interest of being honest without breaking down the writer or book(A difficult feat, because I wouldn’t want to dissuade anyone from reading this book) I love dual perspective, I really enjoy the different perspectives, but I have to admit that the p.o.v’s didn’t always feel consistent. However it was not to such a degree that it discredited the character…the main essence and concerns stayed the same.

It also felt like the author has a whole lot to say and maybe by splitting the issues into two books, he could’ve covered more ground or focused more solely on one issue, but it did all fit into the whole “fight tradition, equal rights for all” mantra.

The book left the following with me:

1)Our reaction to somebody else’s news/story/experience/feelings can have a profound effect on them sometimes even just as much as the experience they went through. (Good or bad)

2)Sometimes being there for someone is the most important thing you can do. Showing up for someone can be a brave and important step.

3)Don't stop fighting...change doesn't just happen by taking a stand once...it takes multiple people standing up against the issues we face multiple times.

A great big thanks to Penguin Random House South Africa for sending me this review copy!

Much love!
Please leave me a little comment with what you thought of this review and any changes I can make😊 Also let me know if you've read this book and what you thought?