YA fiction Archives - Joy Margetts

I was thrilled to be invited to be part of the Blog Tour for Downstream by Maressa Mortimer.

Image shows front cover of the book 'Downstream'. It depicts the outline of the back of a young man's head and shoulders against a watercolour blue background, with the title in white.

BLURB

Radio signals have been picked up that might reveal the location of Downstream. Macia longs to find her mother there and tries to persuade her friends Gax and Caecilia to join her in the search. But is it a dangerous mistake or a mission from God? Many difficulties await them and they will need to trust God as they encounter darkness and danger, reaching out with the Light.

Downstream is the third book in the series of the Elabi Chronicles, fiction aimed at young adults but suitable for anyone teen and above.

REVIEW

The first book Walled City introduced us to Elabi, a dystopian world set sometime in the future, where society is strictly controlled, emotions are frowned upon, and faith actively prohibited. Gax, a young man on a mission to share his faith, infiltrates the city for a time and becomes frustrated at how little he can seemingly do to make a difference. But he has made a difference – to at least one young girl’s life. When Gax is forced to leave Elabi, he takes Caecelia with him.

The second book in the series, Beyond the Hills, shows just how much a legacy Gax actually left. In the form of a few thin pages torn out of an ancient book. Macia, the daughter of a council member is aiming for the highest class status she can achieve, but inwardly she is struggling. She finds a letter containing a bundle of thin pages from a now barred book. Reading those life-giving words changes her heart, but also sets her out on a dangerous path.

DOWNSTREAM

In Downstream we are re-introduced to Gax, Caecelia and Macia. Now safely away from Elabi they are free to explore and grow in their faith. But there are people they have left behind that they just cannot forget. When a friend picks up a radio signal from a place called Downstream, Macia knows she has to go and find the source. Downstream is a foreboding place – a place where those deemed no longer useful in Elabi are sent – never to be seen again. And it is where Macia’s mother and baby brother went when she was a small child. Overwhelmed with the urge to seek out her mother, she determines to find her way to Downstream, and Gax and Caecelia offer to go with her.

The journey is not easy. They have to travel through difficult terrain, fight off wild animals, and escape evil in the form of sinister masked men and the looming dark waters of the stream. But they also carry the Book with them, and the Breath of Life within them, and they experience God’s protection and deliverance, as well as making true friends along the way.

The end of their journey is not what they hoped for, but amidst the pain and disappointment they see God do the miraculous. And it is more than their own lives that are changed for the better,

A KINGDOM STORY

I did enjoy Downstream. It did help that I had read Walled City and Beyond the Hills first, but it does stand alone as a very readable and compelling story. I found myself drawn into the journey which, as it is told in the first person is fast paced and immediate. There were some sections, particularly in the jungle setting, that I found a little confusing and repetitive, but the character portrayals and the sense of danger were well done.

I particularly loved the ending. The power of the Breath of Life to overcome evil and to restore and redeem was beautifully demonstrated. This is a Kingdom Story with Jesus very much at the centre.

LINK TO BUY Amazon

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Maressa grew up in the Netherlands, and moved to England soon after finishing teaching training college. Married to Pastor Richard Mortimer they live in a Cotswold village with their four children. She is a homeschool mum, enjoying the time spent with family, travelling, reading and turning life into stories, she wants to use her stories to show practical Christian living in a fallen world.

You can find out more about Maressa and her writing here:

Website

http://www.vicarioushome.com/

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/vicarioush.ome

Joy Margetts is a published author and blogger. Her books are works of Christian Historical fiction. Set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, they tell stories of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. Her debut novel ‘The Healing‘ was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021.

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022, and her third novel, ‘The Bride‘, published on 20th October 2023. Her first non-fiction book, an Advent Devotional, ‘Christ Illuminated‘ was published in September 2023.

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here

I was thrilled to be asked to participate in the blog tour for the latest book from my prolific author friend Maressa Mortimer*. Burrowed is a full – length novel, designed primarily for teens and young adults, but equally suitable for all adults to read.

Front cover of Burrowed. Black text on an image of red tulips floating above a grey sea

Daydreaming in words

Maressa describes her stories as daydreaming in words. She writes because the stories in her imagination just have to be put down on paper. As a result we get to have an insight into her extra-ordinarily imaginative brain, and to read stories that are told with an immediacy that keeps you gripped. You live each moment with the characters, wondering what is going to happen next. Wondering if the author knew when she was writing it!

Burrowed is an fantastical adventure story. It has two main characters, teens who live on the imaginary Island State of Ximiu. The island has being going through major changes, and those changes are still happening, perhaps too quickly. You get the sense that things are quickly getting out of control, so much so that when more sinister things start to happen the people in charge don’t know what to do about them. In fact they seemingly are doing nothing.

Believable characters and topical issues

Apart from telling a good story Maressa has done a great job creating characters that are believable and empathetic. Jasira is the bold and brave, inquisitive and questioning daughter of the Island’s female leader. Her male friend Ilori, is wheelchair bound, a more sensitive soul prone to poetic outbursts, but with a genuine faith in God. Together, with two new unexpected allies they set out to solve the mysteries of the things that have been going missing from the island – cars, asphalt, energy – and some things that are much more precious.

It is an engaging tale, and you are definitely drawn in. Towards the end it becomes harder and harder to put down, as the action becomes increasingly dramatic. But Burrowed is more than a good fantasy adventure story. It deals with topical issues such as climate change and the costs of going green, and autocratic government dangerously tainted by lies and deceit. It also describes a state religion that has become increasingly godless. All things that resonate with the reader.

Image listing the blog sites on the official blog tour

Emotive and dramatic

The book also sings with hope – woven throughout are references to faith, and the power of God to answer prayer. Themes of loss, grief and sacrificial love are also beautifully handled. As is the growing relationship of trust and dependency among the main protagonists. It is heartbreakingly emotive at times, edge of the seat dramatic at others.

Burrowed is a great book. And it needs a sequel. What happened to Jasira and Ilori next? Will the Island’s government survive and change for the better? What really happened under the surface and did anyone survive? And where on earth did Xandra’s sister go?

Time for some more ‘burrowing’ I think!

*Maressa Mortimer is Dutch but lives in the beautiful Cotswolds, with her husband and four (adopted) children. Maressa is a home-school mum as well as a pastor’s wife, so her writing has to be done in the evening when peace and quiet descend on the house once more. Her debut novel, Sapphire Beach, was published in December 2019, followed by two self-published YA novels, Walled City, and Beyond the Hills, and a novella, Viking Ferry.

Burrowed was released on 22 April 2022. All Maressa’s books are available from her website, www.vicarioushome.com, Amazon or through local bookshops.

Joy Margetts is a blogger and a published author. Her debut novel ‘The Healing‘ was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021. A work of historic fiction, set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, it is also a story of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. Joy has also self- published a short novella, ‘The Beloved‘ as both a companion to ‘The Healing‘, and as an easy to read standalone story, which is available to buy on Amazon Kindle.

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, will be published by Instant Apostle in July 2022

More information on Joy and her writing, and links to purchase her books can be found here www.joymargetts.com

Tag: YA fiction

BOOK REVIEW: DOWNSTREAM by Maressa Mortimer