{"id":4450,"date":"2018-02-06T05:00:22","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T13:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4450"},"modified":"2018-02-04T10:42:13","modified_gmt":"2018-02-04T18:42:13","slug":"mark-reads-games-wizards-play-chapter-8-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/02\/mark-reads-games-wizards-play-chapter-8-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Games Wizards Play’: Chapter 8, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first half of the eighth chapter of Games Wizards Play<\/i>, Dairine and Nita bond, and Dairine gets closer to understanding Mehrnaz. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Young Wizards<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of child abuse, emotional abuse<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Sisterly Love<\/b><\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re at a point now where it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undeniable how close Dairine and Nita are, and the opening of chapter eight filled me with FEELINGS OF FRIENDSHIP. Yes, part of the reason Dairine behaves as she does out of exhaustion, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to ignore that their conversation is just so effortless<\/i>. Dairine easily falls into assisting Nita with Penn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spell, and I LOVE EVERY PART OF IT. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a mutual respect here: Dairine helps Nita because she recognizes that her sister is stressed out dealing with Kit on top of Penn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s foolishness. Nita recognizes how exhausted her sister is and OFFERS TO MAKE HER COFFEE. And this is all done so casually and I just??? THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE SO GREAT.<\/p>\n

Mumbai<\/b><\/p>\n

I wanted to spend the bulk of this review talking about Dori Farrahi, though, because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 good lord. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I can relate, though it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not because my mother was exactly the same. Dori hides her real intentions in kindness, and my mother was far too passive aggressive (or flat-out aggressive) to be comparable. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an element that Duane imbues within Dori\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterization that was<\/i> intimately familiar to me. How exactly do you counter what an abusive or manipulative person is doing when they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re masking it in concern?<\/p>\n

See, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a part of this chapter that was most striking to me: Dori claims (or, rather, performs<\/i>) her love for her daughter over and over, so much so that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all she can seemingly talk about. She just doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want Merhnaz to be hurt! Or to get in trouble! And Merhnaz is a bit more sheltered, so maybe she won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fit in!<\/p>\n

Duane does a fantastic job of reminding us of how observant Dairine is, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how we get some of my favorite exchanges in the book so far. The interplay between what Dori says and Dairine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s internal translation is brilliant, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also violent<\/i>. Abusive and manipulative people can be exceedingly<\/i> good at hiding their real meaning within things like politeness, protocol, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153respect.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly what Dori does. She claims to support and believe in her daughter, but then undermines her in increasingly subtle ways. Which is all to say: NO WONDER MERHNAZ DOES NOT BELIEVE IN HERSELF. If this is how her mother treats her while there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a guest present, it is most assuredly worse<\/i> in private. Which is why I respect how<\/i> Dairine pushes back against Dori. It is rarely, if ever, a good idea to call out an abuser in public because that abuser will take things out on their victim in private. I speak on this from experience because I had a teacher in high school tell my mother to her face that she was crushing my spirit. That the way she treated me at home was affecting my school work, that I was in desperate need for support and love and affection. She wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wrong, and despite that I had barely<\/i> told her what was going on, she could tell just how bad things were. And maybe her outbreak was due to frustration; my mom was pulling me out of a club for a completely bullshit reason, and my teacher could see through it.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t admire that teacher for standing up for me. I really do! It meant the world<\/i> to me. At the same time, my mother lashed out at me at home for months<\/i> because of it. She spread horrible rumors at school about this woman; she made me drop out of all the extracurricular activities I wanted to do so she could keep me under her control; she refused to let me have friends outside of school. It was an unintended consequence, sure, but it still happened<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Dairine, however, casually shifts the conversation away from Merhnaz specifically to remind Dori about the manual. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just<\/i> passive aggressive enough that Dairine keeps the conversation casual and informative. And then she even gets Dori on her side by strategically using the Speech to claim she has no interest in any guy \u00e2\u20ac\u0153on this planet.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d WHICH ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T A LIE, OH MY GOD. BLESS.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Dori is as bad as others, and her manipulation is downplayed for the most part. But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that Dairine recognized it and stood up for her mentee. IT IS VERY SATISFYING, OKAY.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/PIEQddu124s<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"