14 June 2023

If you follow the blog, you will know that I usually pass the young adult books onto Alicia to review. This one is different only because I met the author. Yes, I could not believe it either – being in South Africa – I never meet authors face-to-face.

However, I met Anna Mackenzie in a completely unrelated setting – with no knowledge that she is an author and she had no clue about my blog. When she left South Africa she left me a signed copy of The Sea-Wreck Stranger – which I might add is my first and only signed copy. I will cherish this book forever.

When you reach for this book, you will find yourself on a small island where you are introduced to a community of people lead by a local council who have convinced everyone that the sea and everything about it is dangerous. These people live a simple life that centres around farming for survival.

This is the first Anna Mackenzie book I have read and, sadly, she has not written for a while. This is a moving story that leaves you falling in love with Ness. I loved the scenery in the book and enjoyed the details that the author included about farming. While this story is dystopian fiction, the author does not spend page after page telling you about a futuristic world. The setting might be in the future, but it’s very close to present-day reality.

Ness and Ty lost both their parent and have been taken in by their uncle and now live at Leewood. The local community has turned their back on the ocean which once sustained them. When people started dying after eating fish – the local council banned everything related to the sea.

When Ness, Ty and their cousin Sophie find a man washed ashore, barely alive – Ness convinces them that they cannot leave him to die. Risking everything to save the stranger’s life Ness finds herself questioning the life she lives.

I found myself lost in Ness’s world. This young girl leads a difficult life, yet she never gives up. No matter what, she stays true to her beliefs – even when she is uncertain, she trusts her instincts.

Ness is a remarkable character – the author did a brilliant job creating this young girl. She is determined, hard-working and caring. She trusts her instincts and relies on the memories of her father to guide her. Your heart breaks for her as you endure her daily struggles with her.

While I generally stay away from young adult fiction, this was a book I found myself really enjoying. It’s a moving story with brilliant characters and just a touch of a warning about the damage we are causing to the world around us. The author brings a young girl to life who is hard-working and strong-willed – she risks everything for what she believes in and does not blindly follow rules.

I passed this one on to Alicia and I look forward to hearing what she thinks of this one. If you are looking for a dystopian fiction that does not spend forever on world-building and instead delivers a moving, realistic story with characters that will steal your heart – then you will not go wrong by reaching for this book.