Marieke Nijkamp

Marieke Nijkamp is a Dutch author of young adult fiction. Her novel This is Where It Ends was a New York Times bestseller.

Personal life Nijkamp was born in Zwolle and raised in Twente, the Netherlands. As a child, she read the Dutch novel The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt and felt compelled to start writing too.

Nijkamp holds degrees in philosophy, and medieval studies from the University of Groningen. She identifies as non-binary, homoromantic asexual, and is Catholic and autistic.

Career In daily life, Nijkamp is a civil servant.

Her debut novel This Is Where It Ends was published by Sourcebooks Fire, an imprint of Sourcebooks, in January 2016. She then released the novel Before I Let Go in 2018. In the 2020s, she wrote the young adult novels Even If We Break (2020), At the End of Everything (2022) and After We Burned (2025). She also started a middle grade fiction trilogy, Splinter & Ash, with the first book released in 2024 and the second book released in 2025. The trilogy originated with a short story Nijkamp wrote for This Is Our Rainbow (2023). A companion graphic novel, titled Clock Hands, is scheduled for release in April 2026.

Adaptations and licensed properties Nijkamp has also written multiple media tie-ins, such as her first graphic novel The Oracle Code (2020) for DC Comics.

Nijkamp is the author of the Critical Role prequel novel, Critical Role: Vox Machina – Kith & Kin, which was also released in November 2021. In February 2023, Dark Horse, with Critical Role and Amazon Studios, announced a new interconnected prequel graphic novel series for the animated show The Legend of Vox Machina which are written by Nijkamp. The first volume was published in April 2024. The second and third volumes are scheduled for release in March 2026 and June 2025, respectively.

Reception

In May 2015, This Is Where It Ends was announced as part of Publishers Lunch's selection of buzz books (Fall/Winter 2015:Young Adult). Reviewing the book, Kirkus Reviews wrote, "This brutal, emotionally charged novel will grip readers and leave them brokenhearted." Publishers Weekly stated that "A highly diverse cast of characters, paired with vivid imagery and close attention to detail, set the stage for an engrossing, unrelenting tale." School Library Journal called it first purchase for libraries serving teens." The book entered The New York Times Best Seller list (Young Adult Hardcover) in March 2016. It remained on the list for 67 weeks and was optioned as a film by Gotham Group in 2018 with Lysa Heslov attached as director.

In 2020, The Oracle Code received positive reviews, especially for Nijkamp's portrayal of Barbara Gordon's disability. Publishers Weekly stated that "Nijkamp repeatedly explores the idea that people with disabilities needn’t be 'fixed,' along the way considering how stories can be used to reveal hard-to-communicate truths". The Beat highlighted that "Nijkamp has written something for DC’s Young Reader books that feels like the Vertigo of yesteryear, mining innovative stories from the pillars of what it means to be a DC comic". CBR stated that "Nijkamp's previous work, the widely acclaimed prose novel This Is Where It Ends, had provided an unflinching, heartbreaking look at high schoolers confronting horrific violence in their midst. While The Oracle Code is nowhere near as brutal as its predecessor, Nijkamp's first foray into the comic book medium similarly doesn't pull its punches when it comes to depicting the emotions experienced by its protagonist. [...] Nijhamp's first tale in the comic book medium is more accessible than her previous prose works, and she makes the transition between fields naturally". On her next comics work, The A.V. Club wrote that "Nijkamp made her comics debut last year with DC’s YA graphic novel The Oracle Code, a compelling psychological thriller about a teenaged Barbara Gordon dealing with the recent trauma of a gunshot wound that left her paralyzed from the waist down. The script for Hawkeye: Kate Bishop doesn’t have that same level of emotional depth".

In 2021, Nijkamp's handling of IP in Critical Role: Vox Machina – Kith & Kin was praised. Jennifer Melzer, for CBR, highlighted that Nijkamp's "insight into these beloved characters made the story itself feel like the reader was there in Exandria, following closely behind the twins and growing ever closer to understanding exactly how they became who they were before joining forces with Vox Machina. Bailey and O'Brien's deep love for Vex and Vax shines through in every moment, as if their voices whispered in Nijkamp's ear while penning their adventure and expanding the canon lore".

Publications

Middle Grade fiction Splinter & Ash trilogy Splinter & Ash, Greenwillow Books, September 10, 2024 At the End of Everything, Sourcebooks, January 25, 2022 Hawkeye: Kate Bishop (collects #1–5, trade paperback, 120 pages, 2022, ) The Legend of Vox Machina: Whitestone Chronicles Volume 1 – Ripley, Dark Horse Comics, 2024, with Tyler Walpole (Illustrator) "2:00 A.M.: Wren Willemson" in The Grimoire of Grave Fates, ed. by Hannah Alkae and Margaret Owen (Ember, 2023) "Anchor Points" in Out of Our League ed. by Dahlia Adler and Jennifer Iacopelli (Feiwel & Friends, 2024) "Sports as Confrontation and Celebration" in Athlete Is Agender: True Stories of LGBTQ+ People in Sports ed. by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby (Christy Ottaviano Books, 2025, )

Editor Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, September 18, 2018