“𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝,” 𝐄𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐢𝐭, 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. “𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞.”

“𝐍𝐨, 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐚. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧.”

It’s revelations such as this that elevated the story for me; the opportunity to see things from a different perspective. This Canadian author has given her readers plenty of food for thought!

Although the book is 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙨, its root is ‘𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝’. Everyone is searching for the elixir! Society tells us that it’s important to stay young for our looks, for our careers, to lessen the impact of sports-related injuries, and to fend off/slow down Alzheimer’s.

If you had a magic wand would you take advantage of it to successfully stay young?
How would you deal with the heartbreaking moment you realize that you’re remaining young while those you love continue to age? You’d want to make sure they had the same wand.

What if you could simply slow down ‘growing older’? Would this have heartbreaking effects, too?
That’s exactly what happened to one of the characters in this book. Kit McKinley was born ‘normal’ in every way except that she ages/grows older more slowly than those around her. For those who’ve parented teenagers, can you imagine stretching those teenage years out to double or triple? What about the ‘terrible twos’? Kit’s parents keep her slow-aging to themselves as long as they can, but even then, their lives are forever changed.

Without giving too much away, know that Woods has crafted a ‘what if’ story tracing 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙥 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨. I loved Woods’ perfect balance of history, medical mystery, and love. It drove me to Google and made my STEM heart consider the pros and cons of medical advances. It really is a double-edged sword. I realized that despite thinking I’d like an internal calendar “set at a slower tempo”, it would be too heartbreaking. Although I’d taught Canadian history before, I’d not realized the scope of the suffragists nor the advancements Canadians such as Carrie Derick made to eugenics. It’s safe to say that this teacher got a wonderful education within the pages of this spectacular book!

There’s no doubt 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐩 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫. Don’t miss out on it. Also, keep your eye out in the news for Julie and Phumlani’s research as it comes to fruition in real life!

I was gifted this copy by Harper Collins Canada and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

This is the type of book someone who loves biographies and/or history would love.

Kit's story, almost year by year, for a hundred years while she is just 25 and under, was so fascinating to follow.

It only left me wanting more. I think the ending is satisfying but I would really love to know what happens to her for the next 100.

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