Blank Canvas by Mere Joyce

by Mere Joyce

Three years ago, sixteen-year-old Maddie Deacon was abducted on her way home from her school’s Art Showcase. Five months ago, she escaped the madman she calls The Painter. Before being taken, painting was Maddie’s life. Now, it’s her nightmare. Maddie wants to forget her years in captivity. She’d rather spend her time getting reacquainted with her parents and her sister, not to mention her cello-playing, beautiful boy next door and childhood best friend Wesley. But paint is everywhere, and tormenting shadows linger in every portrait she encounters. When the yearly Art Showcase once again approaches, Maddie has the chance to win a scholarship and start planning a future far away from the horrors of her past. She knows she has to make a choice–confront her memories of The Painter and overcome her fear of the canvas, or give up painting forever.

Genres: Young Adult

Paperback

First published June 18, 2015

About the author

Mere Joyce lives in Atlantic Canada. As both a writer and a librarian, she understands the importance of reading, and the impact the right story can have.

Reviews

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually enjoy books about abductions and returns, but BLANK CANVAS was dreadful. Mere Joyce writes as if she’s done no research on trauma, therapy or art therapy. Add subpar writing and lack of character development and that makes for a book I can think of mo reason to recommend.

[Teresa Barrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are brought into the life of Maddie 5 months after she escaped her abduction. She's struggling to recover and heal not only for herself but for her family and her childhood friend nextdoor who's grown into the boy she has feelings for.
She's not the person she was before her abduction and because of her abductor who she calls The Painter, she's lost her love and passion for painting and has yet been able to pick up a paintbrush.
We are there with Maddie as she finds her way through healing and recovery. We see how her abduction affected her family and Wesley, her best friend she's falling for.
It's a gripping story and although we don't know the full details of what happened to Maddie in the beginning, we are given small details throughout and we begin to understand what she went through and how hard it is for her to heal.
I really enjoyed how this story was brought to life and I felt for not only Maddie, but each of the characters. Maddie's sister is wise beyond her years and I enjoyed their relationship.
This was yet another book of Mere's that had me glued from page 1. I enjoy the realism in her writing and how easily I'm sucked into the world.
Great read!

[Mcf1nder_sk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know @merejoyce as an exceptionally talented author of YA/paranormal after reading Shade, the first book in the Oracle of Senders series earlier this year. After she so graciously sent me a copy of her first novel, Blank Canvas, I was completely floored. This is not a paranormal story; instead, it is the tale of Maddie, a 13-year-old girl who was kidnapped and kept for 2 1/2 years until she escaped. Before her abduction, Maddie was a painter who dreamed of becoming a professional artist. After escaping her captor, she can't even pick up a paint brush again.
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Mere Joyce has created such a depth of emotional turmoil in her characters, this novel, although written for a younger audience, had me choking up at points. Maddie's struggles to deal with her inner demons is so well-written, it is logical to assume the author has a psychology degree. Maddie's relationships with her family and friends, most notably Wes, are touching in their crafting.
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This was not my usual genre of choice, but Mere had enough questions for the reader. (What's with her feet? What did her captor actually do to her?) that this was a suspenseful story, as well as a heartfelt book of recovery. Kudos to Mere Joyce for one of the best stories I have read in several years.

[Simple · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fine one. Not great or mind blowing. Not deep enough. Not indulging enough. Just an average read.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn’t a thriller, or a suspenseful mystery. Taking place between the police investigation and trial, it’s a deeply personal journey about one girl’s struggle to reclaim herself. Although Maddie’s experiences are far from normal, there’s a certain universality to her story, touching as it does on feelings of loss and the struggle to adjust to life afterwards.

Maddie spends a lot of time trying to not be the person her captor, The Painter, wanted her to be. He took her because she was herself a painter, and so she avoids art, because what was once pure joy has been tainted. Equally, however, she struggles against her loved ones’ expectations and inability to understand; they all want her to paint again, trying to get the old Maddie back, but they don’t comprehend the struggle she faces. Her core journey throughout the novel is about accepting that The Painter changed her, possibly irrevocably, but those changes do not define her.

One of my favourite things about this book is its treatment of Maddie’s younger sister, Autumn. For one thing, I simply like her as a character: she’s a driven, thoughtful, enthusiastic teenage girl who does her utmost to help her sister recover from her ordeal, but who simultaneously refuses to sacrifice the things that are important to her. For another, I appreciated that the narrative acknowledged the very real struggles she has faced for the past three years and continues to face; while this is Maddie’s story, Autumn has had to confront the loss (and later return) of her sister, as well as the underlying possibility that it could have been her that was taken. I liked that Autumn wasn’t pushed to the background or treated as just someone else for Maddie to reconnect with, but someone with her own hopes and dreams and, yes, problems, too, stemming from her sister’s disappearance.

Blank Canvas is at once gripping, emotional story about one girl’s struggle to cope with horrifying experiences and a deeply universal tale about loss and acceptance. It drew me in and held my attention long after I’d turned the last page.

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not usually a big fan of coming-to-terms-with drama, but Blank Canvas swept me in and didn't let go. The main character, Maddie, has escaped from being held in the basement of a madman she names The Painter. We meet her five months after her escape, and even though she refuses to really work with the therapists, it seems as if she's already worked her way through some things, which gave the story a good point to start off from.

We are given bits and pieces of what happened to Maddie during that horrible time, just enough to hint at how horrendous it was without delving on the period too much. I appreciated that because it let the story really focus on what the plot was about - her healing. Certain points are even kept hidden on purpose, allowing a nice mystery and suspense to filter in. This being from Maddie's viewpoint, the reader gets to know her very well--but not completely. It was a great twist which made me want to read on.

The setting itself was simply well done. It's easy to fall into Maddie's world and understand why she does what she does. The school itself is only lightly touched upon, but this isn't Maddie's main focus either. It's her closer environment, her family and long-term friend next door, which play the center in her life and take color in the story. I loved the interactions and felt my own heartstrings pulling as Maddie tries to find balance with the ones she loves.

There's a sweet romance, nothing shocking or unexpected. Simply sweet and that's perfect for a character like Maddie.

Summed up, I really enjoyed this and am glad I got a chance to read it (through winning a copy). The writing is wonderful and the author really knows how to pull the reader in. I can't wait to see what other stories will be coming from this author.

[Mary Ann Clarkson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maddie is free from The Painter which is what she calls her abductor. But she still hasn’t escaped him totally. She sees him in everything she tries to do. Art was her life and because of that she sees him still everywhere.
She has to try and find herself again in this nightmare that is her life now. She wants to be herself again but she will never be that person again. The kidnapping has changed her forever. I feel that she has a constant struggle to get through each day. She goes to see therapists but isn’t ready to talk to either of them.

As the story is told, I find myself pulled in and cheering her on. Hoping that eventually she finds that her life has to have painting in it. That it is a part of who she was and still is even though it is overshadowed by the Painter. In the end, painting her kidnapper helps her to heal.

Wesley her neighbor has always been her friend and even though there was no romance there before Maddie finds herself hoping there is more there. I want there to be the romance of teen love but it seems to take a long time to get there. Maddie has to find her way back to him first.

I really liked the relationship Maddie had with her sister. Her sister loved life and tried to enjoy everything knowing how fragile things were. Maddie also saw how much she had to suffer because of Maddie’s kidnapping. Their parents were so afraid to let them do anything which is understandable since they lost Maddie once. They wanted to keep her and her sister safe.

[Danielle Shipley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll admit I went somewhat dubiously into this book. Not because of any particular doubts about the author – I’ve followed her blog for some while, and so knew she was quite capable of stringing a sentence together – but because of the book’s premise. This isn’t the sort of story I usually gravitate toward. And yet, as it unfolded chapter by chapter, I began to think that, just maybe, it’s the sort of story I kind of needed to read right now.

I felt so much for Maddie – someone trying for normal after everything’s been cruelly shaken up and she doesn’t feel like herself; doesn’t know what self she even is, anymore.

I empathized more than I thought I would. Related more than I expected to. Though I’m blessedly ignorant of what I’d think and feel and do in Maddie’s situation, her telling of it rang true and honest. She made it understandable. And with or without the traumatic cause, I know all too well how painful it is to be an artist who is – for whatever reason – unable to feed their starving passion.

I might as well also point out that Maddie’s determinedly enthusiastic little sister came darn close to making me cry. So here’s to you, Mere Joyce.

This book read like art, and I deeply appreciated it. Simple as that.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great story! I couldn't put it down and read it in a matter of hours. I know I will reread it. Not only has Mere created a very realistic character in Maddie. Her reactions, and those of her family and friends, are quite believable. But she also excels at painting with words - her descriptions come alive and I could picture her scenes quite clearly.
I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read more of Mere's work

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mere Joyce provides a gritty journey of emotional healing told from the point of view of Maddie Deacon after the trauma of her kidnapping and captivity. The text flows naturally with almost poetic descriptions and the author's eye for detail is very apparent.
A thoroughly enjoyable read that is hard to put down as the reader stays hungry for answers through to the end. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

[Morningdew11 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not something I thought I'd enjoy reading. It was a surprisingly well written.