Earth is underwater. Those who were lucky enough to survive The Sinking now live on the islands that remain. But only the naive believe they're safe.

So begins the teaser for Brillimous, Jade Havenaar’s debut novel, which one early review describes as: “futuristic and unsettling, but still believable and eerily relatable… an exciting adventure … characters that you can't help but root for (even long after they're gone)… the perfect blend of Hunger Games… meets Harry Potter…”

Brillimous is a work of dystopian fiction—a genre Havenaar discovered during her Holland Christian Middle School years reading books like Divergent and the Maximum Ride series.

The idea that a story could almost happen is what intrigues her—where you’re made to imagine or think about something in a different way, in a setting that’s somewhat futuristic, but not quite fantasy.

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When asked if her novel draws on any part of her real life, Havenaar shared that, as with all of her writing, there are elements of her own truth. In Brillimous, there are glimpses of her husband Ben in the character of Roen. There also are relationship dynamics and situations of others in her life that influenced the direction of her characters.

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Brillimous is classified as a Young Adult (YA) novel. While Havenaar enjoys reading all types of fiction, she said she has a soft spot for YA. As a former 6th grade English teacher, Havenaar appreciates the power books have to inspire.

“YA has such a way of making young people fall in love with reading,” Havenaar said. “That fast-paced and emotional kind of read can hook you right away, and it makes YA applicable to more than just high schoolers. It's why adults like to go back to it as well.”

Havenaar finds that YA has a way of captivating young minds and then, hopefully, continuing that love of reading into adulthood. Compared to adult, contemporary fiction, YA has more feeling of excitement. It’s fast paced and multifaceted. Characters tend to be externally driven, whereas characters in adult fiction often are internally motivated.

And for those looking to pick up Brillimous for a teenager, I asked Havenaar what moving rating her book likely would receive. “Probably PG-13,” adding that she considers it a clean novel, but there are deeper themes that might be more challenging for younger readers.

The PG-13 rating was refreshing to hear, since it's become more and more difficult to find teen books without inappropriate content. “I think that sometimes it's just in there for the shock factor," Havenaar said, "something I'm not interested in doing.”

Will there be a sequel? Havenaar does have plans for a follow-up. And, depending on how everything goes, there possibly could be a prequel. With her first book freshly launched, the blessings keep coming. Havenaar and her husband are expecting their first baby in January.  

Having met Havenaar at her book signing this week, one thing immediately stood out.

There is a genuineness about her, a kindness and generosity that radiate from her smile.

And so I asked her, what she would say to someone contemplating a dream, as she had. Without hesitation, she shared her journey.

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“The hardest thing is just starting.” The first chapters she wrote don’t exist anymore. “They’re not in the book. They were ugly,” Havenaar said. “But that’s okay because they got me going into the next phase I needed to get to. The more you write, the more comfortable you become doing it.”

Havenaar said she wrote at least five drafts of Brillimous—versions she had to work through to get to her finished novel. Listening to her, it was easy to imagine how inspirational she must have been to her English students.

“If someone has it in their heart that they want to be a writer and they want to write a story, or a poem, or whatever that may be, they definitely should go for it.”

She talked about all the notebooks of stories she wrote starting around fourth grade.

“You have to make time for whatever your passion is, because no one else is going to say something the same way that you are, or make the same music that you are..."

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There was one more thing Havenaar wants her readers to know. Where she is now couldn't have happened without God's faithfulness and her strong belief in Jesus. God has shown her His timeline and His way of doing things. “How He orchestrates things is so much better than how I would have envisioned.” She added that who you have around you is everything. Her husband is her rock, and her family and friends have been her support.

“Make sure you have your people in your corner, because they make all the difference.”

Brillimous can be found at Barnes and Noble, Schuler Books, Books-A-Million, Amazon, and more.