Undine's Blessing by Tessa Hastjarjanto - BBNYA 2024 - 12th Place Finalist

Undine's Blessing by Tessa Hastjarjanto

Undine's Blessing was the 12th place finalist in BBNYA 2024!

About BBNYA

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists (16 in 2024) and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.

Book Details

COVER ARTIST: Ravven
PUBLISHER: Narratess
LENGTH: 298 Pages
GENRE: Fantasy
AGE CATEGORY: Young Adult
DATE PUBLISHED: January 27, 2024
RECOMMENDED: Yes

Bookshop (Affiliate): link

Indie Story Geek: https://indiestorygeek.com/story/8459

Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/3A6CTUC (Canada) https://a.co/d/cFNzg3k (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/iR6Injk (UK)

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199001923-undine-s-blessing 

The Story Graph Link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/acdc824e-225e-40be-9778-03566593b1cb 

Blurb

A dutiful daughter, a mystical archipelago, and a hidden power waiting to command the tides...

Marella spends her days caring for her sick mother and selling her father's fish. Bound by duty and love, she dreams little of adventure. But when her mother must travel to the city for treatment, her father takes her out to sea, despite her fear of water.

A storm steers them to Emberrain, home to a tribe of magical nymphs and a place of secrets, where Marella discovers a startling truth: her father is a frequent visitor to these mysterious islands. Soon she learns that Emberrain isn't the only secret he had kept from her.

Marella has the power to control water and communicate with aquatic animals.

Overwhelmed by the magical but dangerous islands, and the secrets of her father, Marella must learn to harness her powers to save herself and her new aquatic friend before they are separated from their parents forever.

Undine's Blessing is a journey of wonder, where fears are faced and mysteries unravel, and a young girl learns that true adventure begins when you dare to embrace who you truly are.

My Review

Queer Rep Summary: No canon queer rep.

*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book. 

Not really my thing, but it got more interesting towards the end. The worldbuilding unfolds slowly, and Marella doesn't immediately realize how weird things are at the island until they start getting bad. The narration did a great job of staying in Marella's perspective and what she knows, especially since she's a child and doesn't necessarily pick up on what the adults are doing. 

If you like stories with fairies and magical islands with mysterious pasts, this might be your thing!

If you like this you may like:

• The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa

Moderate CW for chronic illness, death.

Author Bio

Tessa Hastjarjanto is a Dutch/Indonesian writer from the Netherlands. She writes speculative fiction, and blogs at narratess.com about books, fountain pens, and writing.

From a young age, she imitated popular stories and games in creating her own worlds. This love eventually led to a master's degree in media and game studies at the University of Utrecht. However a mundane desk job was enough to inspire her to follow her creative passion. The first fanfics were written in lunch breaks and soon original fiction followed.

With the support of her husband, she now focuses on her writing career while battling chronic pain. Swiss white shepherd, Shiro, acts as a therapy dog to keep her healthy and reduce stress through extensive cuddle sessions.

You can find her on Twitter (@endalia), Instagram (@tessa.hastjarjanto), or on Bluesky (@endalia.bsky.social).