Accepting her imperfections with Innovera Yakov
Apart from the extraordinary selfie that Ellen DeGeneres orchestrated at this year’s Oscars, all eyes would have been on the decadent, flowing gowns, the flawless celebrity figures and the immaculate make-up. It is no secret that these celebrity appearances are often mimicked by young girls who feel pressurised to look like their role models.
This notion of imperfection is slowly being discarded in the literary world with the emergence of fictional supernatural characters who thrive on their faults. After an initial 62,000 books sold, a sell-out Waterstones visit and Reading Agency support, 29 year old Kia Garriques, the author of Innovera Yakov: The Journey of a Thousand Eyes was encouraged to demystify the myths of Innovera Yakov by readers who were dying to know more about this imaginative yet imperfect world. We caught up with Kia to talk about perfection and the nation’s lovable characters of Ayana and Taqua and why they are slowly encouraging the world to embrace their imperfection.
Without knowing it, all of us are constantly training to be the best version of ourselves. Whether this is at the gym, at work or in our relationship, we strive for perfection. Kia herself states that she believes that natural perfection does not exist but is essentially a creation of our minds.
“Perfection is a chimera. It only exists in the imagination” she says. “Yet, we all strive to achieve it, to have it all, to have beautiful perfect family, lifestyle, career, education and when we don’t achieve these things, the inevitable starts to happen. We either self-destruct or self-harm because we feel we have disappointed ourselves. This is what goes through the minds of many young girls who chase the perfection dragon. For me Ayana’s scar reminds me that there is no perfect thing, state or concept. She epitomises imperfection and remind us that everything has a purpose even the most flawed. Essential Ayana’s gives hope to many young girls and boys that write to tell that she showed them that it is okay to be imperfect because you are special no matter what.”
In Innovera Yakov, Kia’s breaks down the perfection barrier, by presenting the duality of a perfect world, plagued by an imperfect world, both living side by side. Although Innovera Yakov is a beautiful world of crystals that turns under five moons and two brilliant suns that never set, the world, itself can be so dangerous, that it makes you wonder how such beauty hides such hideous darkness beneath the surface.
“We all have our flaws.” Kia said, “Just as Innovera Yakov is beauty and romanticises the perfect existence, beneath its hidden core lays a darkness just waiting to erupt. The whole perfection and beauty of the world is essentially an illusion.”
With its capacity to invent original characters in a fleeting moment, test the quintessential perceptions of love and investigate the deepest secrets of our mind, Innovera Yakov: The Journey of a Thousand Eyes has quickly placed itself in our hearts. While it’s supernatural beings are firmly rooted in worlds similar to those in Avatar, Twilight, the Matrix or Harry Potter, several readers have already given it the biggest accolade of all; the world goes beyond our everyday imagination ‘but is something that we can connect with’.
As you continue on your journey of Innovera Yakov, it becomes clear that one of the main premises of this novel is to end an old world with a new creation. So, it is no surprise to discover that half- French and half-German Kia Garriques was born in the Caribbean, a place which has been through unprecedented change. So, how did Kia’s Montserrat-influenced creation push the confines of perfection and shake up the mainstream literary world?
The danger and beauty of this volcanic island is portrayed wonderfully in Innovera Yakov, giving the readers a taste of an exotic world that is not out of reach:
It happened suddenly. The bright hues of the sky paled as if a light had been switched off. A wave of choking heat and gasses sent them scurrying for the shelter of their Pods and the Learning Dome. Great waves of fiery wind and dust rolled in on them…there came the awful groan of Golkan trees as they hit the ground followed by the heave of the earth as it sucked everything that had fallen, back into itself.
Young Innoverans are haunted by a forgotten past recalled only in strange dreams. Loss makes you powerful, love makes you weaker and death is seen as something regular. The characters have amazing powers; they can fly, communicate through ‘thought-words’, their minds can travel to other worlds. The Circle of Knowing decides their fate; the forbidden forests of the Dimmer Zone swallow trespassers. At the very edges of Innovera Yakov, there is the terrifying watery darkness of Verheer. Romance is perilous as lovers long to merge to become stronger, better Beings. But it can go terribly wrong and when that happens they perish.
In Innovera Yakov, perfection exists as an abstract notion of the characters minds, constantly strived for by main character Ayana but always remains unattainable. Ayana struggles with her imperfection, which are hideous scars that shed its skin, hidden under her hair. Her greatest nemesis, constantly calling her Scarface, reminds her that she is weaker than everyone else. However, it was only in battle that they realised that Ayana’s scar was the gift that would save them all, in the face of danger.
Having felt like this from a very young age, Kia says, “Perfection was key when growing up. At a young age, I was thought that being the best and having wisdom and intelligence was more important above anything else. I noticed how hard my mother worked to ensure that my sister and I had the same opportunities as everyone else.
“My determination to succeed has always been because of the competitive nature instilled in us as a young child. Growing up in the Caribbean was about being the best role model you can be as a child. I knew that to be accepted, appreciated and loved all came with how successful you were and how proud you made your family. Mostly, when I was perfect, others commented to my mother on how well I was doing and that made her proud. I always wanted my family, especially my mother to realise that everything she had given up for us was worth it and that I was worth it. What I didn’t realise was that I had set such a high bar for myself that I would struggle to maintain. My life became a battle against beating my previous score, my own high expectations and when I didn’t achieve that, I punished myself with the notion that next time I had to work harder. Without knowing I was caught up in the circle of chasing the perfection dragon like so many young girls today. I remember being taught in Sunday school that “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
“For me, Innovera Yakov was a form of escapism, a way to create my own world. It was always my escape away from all this anxiety about growing up and self-acceptance. In Innovera Yakov, material things don’t matter- people survive off the bare minimum and they appreciate life in its entirety.”
Within Innovera Yakov, readers will be thrilled to discover the poster girls for anti-perfection who come in the form of Ayana, Taqua and Blu Tara who are fantasy’s very own Pussy Riot.
In previous interviews, Kia has said that Innovera Yakov has helped her get back in touch with her Caribbean roots and celebrate her multi-ethnicity while the characters also showcase this re-discovery of her roots. Although black and white Ayana, the main character of Innovera Yakov is not the most beautiful character, has physical scars and lacks warrior-like powers, it is wonderful to discover that, towards the end of the book, she is solely responsible for leading the rest of the beings out of Innovera Yakov, even with all her problems.
There has been a lot of mixed feelings about another female character, Blu Tara who, on the other hand, represents a different kind of imperfection as she isn’t the perfect citizen of Innovera Yakov. While others dream about love and follow the words of the invisible God Odors Apeno, she questions the dangers of merging your soul with another and wonders why she has to believe in a figure who never reveals himself.
Readers will find that towards the end when all the characters are left distraught, it is Blu Tara who takes control of the situation and suggests that they move on. Innovera Yakov also has Taqua who is a black character, from an unknown tribe, who appeared mysteriously and disappeared mysteriously towards the end. Taqua is not afraid to be who she is and fans love her for her extremely cool powers and her strong, yet gentle personality.
Prior to Innovera Yakov being released, Kia teased fans with new illustration of a scarred Ayana, thereby bringing her imperfect character to life.“The very first original picture of what Ayana looked like to me with the scar has so much meaning. It just told the story and depicted Ayana’s struggle so forcefully that I wished I had kept it. However, when I showed the draft illustration to a focus group, many felt that the darker image might be too risky. Reluctantly, I amended the image to create a more beautiful version of Ayana, where the scar wasn’t too grotesque.”
She adds: “However, when I started to tour schools, young girls and boys said they loved Ayana and the fact that she wasn’t perfect. She felt so real to them because of this imperfection. I finally realised that the majority of readers, loved this imperfect image of Ayana and I felt more confident to reveal it on my blog. I guess you can say that they even taught me about myself and that is to dare to be different. I had actually given hope to these young people through her character and so I started thinking more about the message rather than the image.”
This move away from perfection was also brought on by Kia’s passion for educating teenagers about the joys of following your dreams. No dream is built perfect but every young entrepreneur, like Kia, knows that it is the time, effort and the knowledge that you dedicate to a project that will bring it to life.
She says, “Three years ago, I was not at the best place in my life. I was getting older and I really had no idea what I was going to do. I was stuck in a rut and the only thing I had was my dreams I decided that I just had to change and this was the hardest thing you can ever do because habits can become your worst enemy. I didn’t know how this book was going to happen. Many people told me not to bother- I just started writing to help me but friends kept encouraging me to send off my work. I did and offers for my short stories came flooded in. The more I did, the better it got. And now here I am. So, never give up.”
She continues: “A close friend of mine told me a story of how he always wanted to become a footballer but was rejected by the smaller team. However he didn’t stop. He went and tried off for one of the bigger team in Spain and he got it. He is constantly puzzled by how a small team rejected him but this bigger team took him on and he had a great career in football for many years. He said, Kia, never give up because someone will notice you one day. If it is your passion to be someone then this will carry you to the end, even in the hardest of times.”
