Wednesday, April 2, 2025

BBNYA2024 Blog Tour ~ 12th Place Finalist ~ Undine's Blessing by Tessa Hastjarjanto


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.




BBNYA is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website or Twitter





Tessa Hastjarjanto
27 January 2024
YA | Fantasy
298 Pages

My Rating ~ 3 bites and a nibble



The beginning of this story is just about perfect. The writing sweeps the reader along, characters shine, and Marella is a wonderful main character. I love every minute I spend in this world. Then Marella and her father head out to sea when her mother goes to the city to be healed. And that’s when the disappointment swells like the ocean in an epic storm. There are secrets revealed which aren’t necessarily a bad thing. However, Marella turns into this whiny petulant brat who thinks she knows what’s best for everyone, especially herself when she has absolutely no clue. If that’s not bad enough, she puts her new friends in danger. I just wanted to ground her until her Thanksgiving Day balloon head deflated. The story arc itself is interesting and unique, but Second Half Marella really ruined the story for me. If you like young adult fantasies with unique settings then give this one a go. Maybe I’m just a nitpicky curmudgeon. ←-strong possibility




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.




BBNYA is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie or small press authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the 2025 BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website, Twitter BBNYA, or follow this link  to enter! Please make sure to carefully read our terms and conditions before entering.

If you are Book Blogger or reviewer you can apply to be part of the awesome 2025 BBNYA panel via this form. Please remember to read the terms and conditions before signing up.

BBNYA is brought to you in association with book blogger support group TheWriteReads.





1 comment:

  1. I have no idea why but I struggle with books with sea settings and sea-people.

    ReplyDelete