Skip to main content

This is Where I Introduce You to Marieke Nijkamp!

Image result for marieke nijkamp
You may or may not have heard of This is Where it Ends, a debut novel by Marieke Nijkamp about a school shooting spanning 54 minutes that made it to the New York Times Bestsellers list. If you have, great! If you haven't, even better, because I'll even give you a biography about the amazing author of the amazing book (that you need to read), Marieke Nijkamp.

Marieke grew up in the Netherlands, and she still lives there. She has degrees in Philosophy, History and Medieval Studies. From the FAQ page on her website, it says that she can speak a bazillion languages. Well, it's only Dutch, English, German, French, Latin, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew, but hey, it's not like that seems like whole Eastern Hemisphere or anything.

That's pretty much the basics. I did quite a bit of research and found that Marieke did her research, too. I was interested in her writing process for this book (because it was such a great book), and I was surprised to find about how much research she had to do. Looking back on it now, of course it makes sense to do research for this type of book, one full of topics where it can get quite sticky. Reading about how much research she went through actually helped me better understand bits and pieces of the book. Of course, I'm not going to tell you what parts were clearer to me, because I think you should just go read the book.

Image result for marieke nijkampSpeaking of books, Marieke does have some things in store for excited readers. From the interview she did with School Library Journal, it seems like Marieke is going to be writing more stories with heart-pounding conflicts, including "friendship, grief, and never-ending nights" along with "war, family and the deepest betrayal." Color me intrigued! You'll definitely see me heading to my local Barnes and Noble when those hit the shelves!

Lastly, I want to point out that Marieke is a human just like you and me, even though she's an author and people like me want to raise all authors on a pedestal. Below are some quick facts about Marieke that remind people like me that she's just like us. Hope you liked this short biography of Marieke Nijkamp and inspired you to go to your local bookstore and read This is Where it Ends!

"coffee or chocolate: Coffee all the way. I can't eat chocolate!
pie or cake: Both?
cats or dogs: I am 100% a cat person.
summer or winter: Snow! Ice! Winter!"

*All the links lead to interviews about Marieke that I did prior to writing this post. Feel free to go to them and read them. They're all extremely interesting! I would also like to note that any mistakes in this text are all mine.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Lovely Bones Book vs. Movie Review

The Lovely Bones book cover I am a firm believer that the book is always better than the movie/tv series. I could point you to multiple examples where the characters were botched on screen, or plot holes prevailed. The statement that the book is better than the movie usually holds true However, with the increased use of streaming services and the increased utilization of published book material being pulled into the movie/tv world, more and more of our familiar stories are being put to the screen, and hence being put to the test. Some pass: despite some alterations and plot changes, the story and characters remain relatively the same, which bolsters excitement from the fan base. However, others don't, and screenplays that drastically alter the storyline leave fans wishing for a do-over. I definitely have some conflicted feelings regarding The Lovely Bones  and its book-to-movie adaptation. I really did like the book. It's not my favorite, or by any means the best book...
2 comments
Read more

The Dark Artifices Series Review

I have been reading Cassandra Clare's work since I was a freshman, and have avidly followed the release dates of her Dark Artifices series. I felt like even just these past four years I could track all the amazing improvements she's made in her storytelling, world-building, and characterization. Being a writer myself, I know that there is so much that goes behind make choices for the novel or choosing the best paths for the characters. These decisions that can be extremely hard for the author, especially if you're an author as Cassandra Clare, and even more so when those decisions are made for the third book in a trilogy whose ending has been much anticipated.  Overall, I give Cassandra Clare's The Dark Artifices  series 5/5 stars. I loved the pacing of the stories and how intimate the storytelling is, even if I wasn't quite satisfied with the ending of The Queen of Air and Darkness , which is what I'll be talking about below. I enjoyed all of the plo...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Bronze Key Book Review

To be destroyed from within is more dangerous than having an outside enemy. It's easy to turn against the people you thought you knew and trusted when a mysterious spy enters the story. With this new enemy, the kids of the Magisterium face a new threat, one they can't see. The third book in the Magisterium series is cleverly crafted; the authors point readers to where they want us to look, so no one can guess what's coming. Striking and heartbreaking, with such a crazy cliffhanger, Holly Black and Cassandra Clare succeed again at writing another well-paced, action-packed, complex middle grade novel.  Holly Black and Cassandra Clare first met over ten years ago at Holly's first-ever book signing. They have since become good friends, bonding over (among other things) their shared love of fantasy. With Magisterium, they decided to team up to write their own story about heroes and villains, good and evil, and being chosen for greatness, whether you like it or not. Holly is...
Post a Comment
Read more