I received a digital copy of this book from the author, Madeline Meekins, as part of a YA Buddy Readers’ Corner group read.
This book was also available on Amazon, and the information given there certainly makes it sound intriguing. Jamyria is a parallel world, that people get drawn into and are desperate to escape from. They await the arrival of the New Mark, a god-like person who arrives in Jamyria every 50 years, who will help them to return home.
The Prologue was beautifully written, although Margo’s initial foray into this new world had a slightly surreal quality that felt rather odd. As we journey through the world with Margo I felt that I was getting some way to understanding the construction of the world, but I could not understand how Margo was so unfazed by what she was experiencing. Unfortunately I was struck by the absence of much happening in the middle section. It didn’t really have enough to engage my interest. Though it picked up a little with the big fight scene there really wasn’t enough in there to make me want to read more.
For me, the most interesting part of this novel was the background to Margo’s story, and yet we never really find out about this because the focus is on her finding her way around this new world.
This is probably a book I’ll mention to fantasy fans, but it wasn’t really one for me.