This summer, when I was revealing the beautiful covers of the Drumbeats Trilogy by Julia Ibbotson I accepted the challenge of later reading the full series, following the adventures of a young woman ready to fight the challenges of the life she chose for herself.
The trilogy starts with Drumbeats, featuring the young 18-year old Jess who decided to take one gap year to travel to Ghana. Those drumbeats will follow her for the rest of her life, as the events she is involved in are not only of a personal nature, but of a larger international importance too, with Ghana being torned by a bloody civil war. It is a good introduction to the character and announces smartly events that are expected to take place later in the other installments of the trilogy. We are also introduced to characters and events that will influence the rest of the story.
Walking in the Rain follows Jess as she is happy married with the man of her dreams. Soon after though, she is about to discover that everything was an illusion and the man she used to love may be someone else completely. The story takes a dramatic turn of events, and we are hardly able to understand where the story will lead too, while following how Jess is growing and becoming a different person, coping with personal challanges that in the end will just make her a different stronger person. This volume has the role of an intermezzo but with an important role in defining Jess and her incoming life steps and decisions. The pace and the mood are different compared to the previous volume, in sync with the unfolding events.
dThe last volume in the Trilogy, Finding Jess, was my favorite, for more than one reason. Our character is about to take hold of her destiny and she is back to Ghana, when her adult story began. I liked how the character changed throughout the story and its ways of dealing with adverse situations and people. Returning to Ghana may have been an unexpected decision but makes sense in the story. It is a new life waiting for her, but in order to discover it, she should find herself first.
Drumbeats Trilogy is an interesting story centered on a woman-character, a timeless personality that can serve as inspiration and role model to any woman trying to get in charge of her story, while turning even the worse of situations into an existential lesson helping her to grow.
Rating: 4 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
Thank you so much for reviewing my Drumbeats trilogy. Much appreciated.
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