A Golden Fury Blog Tour: Review

 

A Golden Fury
Author: Samantha Cohoe
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy
Release Date: October 13, 2020
Publisher: Wednesday Books

Description:

Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone—whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold—but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness.

While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of the French Revolution looming, Thea is sent to Oxford for her safety, to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists.

But in Oxford, there are alchemists after the Stone who don’t believe Thea’s warning about the curse—instead, they’ll stop at nothing to steal Thea’s knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die.

A GOLDEN FURY and the curse of the Philosopher’s Stone will haunt you long after the final page.

Early Praise:

*A Nerd Daily YA Debut to Watch Out for in 2020*

“Sharply written with a crackling, compassionately determined heroine, A Golden Fury is a vivid ride through eighteenth century Europe with darkness and dread creeping at its corners. Utterly enchanting.” - Emily A. Duncan, New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Saints

"An engaging concoction of fantasy, romance, and historical fiction." - Booklist

"Cohoe situates the supernatural among the historical, referencing the French Revolution and the Enlightenment while...keeping a sense of urgency as Thea struggles with the magical, demonic pull of the Stone." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"The attention to detail in the story is excellent. Thea herself is a confident lead with a strong voice. A solid fantasy to flesh out the world of alchemy that most readers know only from 'Harry Potter.'" - School Library Journal

“Cohoe transmutes the legend of the Philosopher's Stone into a dark, intoxicating tale of ambition, obsession, and sacrifice. Prepare for a magic that will consume you.” - Rosamund Hodge, New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Beauty and Bright Smoke, Cold Fire

“Steeped in mystery and magic, Samantha Cohoe’s A Golden Fury immerses readers in beautifully rendered world where magic and science mix, and where the intoxication of power can be deadly. Whip-smart Thea is a heroine readers will root for.” - Lisa Maxwell, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Magician

“A Golden Fury is beguiling and unpredictable. Cohoe weaves an international adventure set against a rich historical backdrop, and alchemist Thea faces adversaries both human and magical with wit and grit. A compelling debut from a writer to watch.” -Hannah Capin, author of Foul is Fair and The Dead Queens Club

“Alchemists used many methods to hide their secrets, but Cohoe has deciphered their riddles -- and uncovered a truth far darker and more complex than a miraculous rock. She lures you in with a promise of gold, then delivers something far more valuable: an intricate tale of ambition and sacrifice, loyalty and betrayal, the quest for knowledge and the wisdom to use it correctly.” -Marie Brennan, author of The Memoirs of Lady Trent

“I adore Thea - her fierce ambition, her intelligence, and the warmth she so desperately wants to share with someone worthy. This is an alchemical wonder of a book. It takes all the elements of a good story - mystery, magic, devastating stakes, compelling relationships and impossible choices - and weaves them into pure gold.” -Catherine Egan, author of Julia Unbound

“A Golden Fury invites you into a world of intrigue, magic and ambition. Set against the backdrop of the French revolution, it follows a talented, driven heroine, raised by her famous and overbearing mother to pursue alchemy’s ultimate dream—the Philosopher’s Stone—in a time when women had little rights of their own. Cohoe’s prose is flush with clever dialogue and flawed-yet-sympathetic characters, so realistic they leap off the page. First loves, family secrets and shocking betrayals abound as our heroine pits her intellect against a curse of madness in this impossible-to-put- down debut.” -Ellen Goodlett, author of Rule

“Full of rich historical detail, clever world-building, and tumultuous relationships, A Golden Fury transformed me. Cohoe's debut proves we are in the hands of a deft and dangerous creator. I sat up half the night thinking about it, and the other half longing to see her next book.” -Tracy Townsend, author of Thieves of Fate series

“I fell for this thrilling tale of madness and murder, alchemy and obsession— and the fiercely determined Theosebeia Hope who will stop at nothing to get her heart’s desire. I could not turn the pages fast enough!” -Gita Trelease, author of Enchantee

A Golden Fury is a wonderful new young adult historical fantasy that readers are sure to love. This book had a ton of elements that immediately drew me to it before I even started reading. I'm a huge Francophile, so with the setting being around the French Revolution and partly in France, I was super excited. Add in alchemy and magic - which are major selling points for me - and a kickass heroine, and I knew that I was going to really like this novel. And I'm so incredibly happy to report that I did.

Honestly, I loved basically every aspect of this book and had no issues at all. I already spoke about being a Francophile and having the perfect setting as well as my love of all things magic and alchemy, which I think brings a fresh breath of air to the story. I loved Thea right from the beginning and I was able to connect with her almost immediately. She's an awesome heroine for the story. She's incredibly smart and educated as well as determined to prove herself and to find the truth behind her mother's secrets. She has her flaws like everyone though and we definitely get to see these throughout the book. She's stubborn, strong willed, and has internal issues like not feeling loved by her mother and not being good enough, for example. I found her character to be incredibly realistic and I loved getting to know her throughout the book. 

The last thing I want to talk about is the writing style. It's always a huge deal and can literally make or break a book for me. I almost always prefer the first person point of view because I feel like the reader gets to connect on a deeper level with the narrator and other writing styles don't allow this. I'm so glad that the author chose to write the book in the first person from Thea's POV. I felt like I was right beside her throughout the story and I got to really know her by the time the book was over. And the fact that this is the author's debut is ridiculous. I would never have guessed by reading it. I had all the fantastic elements I look for in a great book and shows immense storytelling ability and talent. This is definitely an author I'm going to be keeping an eye on and I can't wait for her next release. I very highly recommend this book for fans of YA, historical fiction, fantasy, historical fantasy, French history, and readers who enjoy reading about alchemy.

Samantha Cohoe writes historically-inspired young adult fantasy. She was raised in San Luis Obispo, California, where she enjoyed an idyllic childhood of beach trips, omnivorous reading, and writing stories brimming with adverbs. She currently lives in Denver with her family and divides her time among teaching Latin, mothering, writing, reading, and deleting adverbs. A Golden Fury is her debut novel.

Links:

Samantha’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/smcohoe
Samantha’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthacohoe/
Wednesday Books Twitter: https://twitter.com/wednesdaybooks
Wednesday Books Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wednesdaybooks/

Buy link for A GOLDEN FURY: https://read.macmillan.com/lp/a-golden-fury/

Where Dreams Descend Blog Tour: Review

 

 

Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards #1)

Author: Janella Angeles

Genre: YA Fantasy

Release Date: August 25, 2020

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Description:

In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes.

As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next.

The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost

The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told

The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide

Where Dreams Descend is the startling and romantic first book in Janella Angeles’ debut Kingdom of Cards fantasy duology where magic is both celebrated and feared, and no heart is left unscathed.

Early Praise:
"Janella Angeles steals the 2020 show with her fiercely imagined debut starring larger than life characters, a dangerous world alive with magic, and a dizzying dose of grab-a-fainting-couch-and-swoon-away romance!" - Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Gilded Wolves

"Where Dreams Descend is a glamorous dark gem of a tale, sparkling with romance, magic, and intrigue. Readers will be captivated by prima donna Kallia as the mystery is slowly unmasked. Bravissima!" - Julie C. Dao, author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

“Lavish and opulent in a way that feels warmly familiar yet demands your attention. There are secrets upon secrets, a girl who’s boldly ambitious, and truly riveting stage magic. I didn’t want the show to stop.” - Emily A. Duncan, New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Saints

"Vibrant imagery, jaw-dropping set pieces, sizzling romantic tension, and unstoppable heroine Kallia bring this ambitious debut novel to spectacular life. Fans of Caraval and The Night Circus will be delighted!" - Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn  

"[A] spellbinding melody of a book, and the true magic is how Angeles puts all the best parts of an enrapturing theatrical performance onto paper and ink. From the gripping twists in the first pages all the way to the final, heartbreaking crescendo, Where Dreams Descend will surge you to your feet in a standing ovation.” – Sara Raasch, New York Times bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes trilogy

Where Dreams Descend is the beautiful and mysterious first book in a debut YA fantasy duology that will leave readers begging for more. I know that it's been compared to The Night Circus - and I normally hate when books get compared to other titles and/or authors - but I have to admit that this definitely felt like The Night Circus to me in more than one way. I absolutely loved that novel so when I started reading this one and found so many similarities, I found myself falling in love all over again. Another confession: I've been in a serious reading rut for the past few months. I haven't even opened a book or tried to start reading anything. Nothing sounded interesting enough for me to try. I had signed up for this book tour quite some time ago and had a review scheduled, so I was going to have to at least try to get through it - that was my mindset going into it. But once I started reading, I felt the world around me melt away and I was at the Hellfire Club with Kallia and Jack with their magic and mystery. I fell in love with this book almost immediately and ended up reading it in one sitting.

I don't want to fangirl or ramble a lot about how much I adored this book, so I'll attempt to write a coherent review. As I said, I loved every single thing about this novel. From the various settings to the complex characters and fantastic story line. The author uses amazingly vivid imagery and detailed descriptions to bring every little thing to life that I found myself fully immersed in this world she had created within a page or two of starting. I adored the characters and getting to know each of them throughout the book. I also really enjoyed watching their relationships with one another and how they bent and changed. The magic was beautifully described and I felt like I could simply close my eyes and be right in the center of the scene with the other characters. I know I keep repeating it, but the author truly brought this world and the characters to life to the point where I didn't want the book to end. I wanted to stay hidden inside their world to experience it on every level. The plot wasn't wholly unique, but nothing really is anymore in my opinion. I felt the author put her own spin on the story line and added in the magic that made the book come alive. And this was her debut?! I never would have guessed it in a million years. It takes raw talent and amazing storytelling abilities to write something like this, and for it to be an author's first book is ridiculously mind blowing.

One last thing that I always talk about in my reviews is point of view. It's very important to me personally as a reader and can literally make or break a book in my opinion. I almost always prefer the first person POV because I feel it lets the reader connect with the narrator on a much more personal level than any other writing style. The author did not write this book in the first person, which bummed me out at the very beginning. It turns out that this is one of those very few novels where the third person POV didn't bother me like it normally does. Don't get me wrong - I still think I would've loved it even more if it had been done in the first person - and it would have surely blown my mind into a complete mess. It would've been insane; I just know it. But surprisingly, the writing style didn't hinder my reading experience and only a handful of books are on that list. The only downside is now I have to wait what feels like forever for the next book to be released. I'll definitely be re-reading this several times while I wait for the next installment to finish our characters' stories. I very highly recommend this book to fans of YA fantasy, mystery, romance and readers who love stories about magic and circuses - and yes - The Night Circus.

JANELLA ANGELES is a Filipino-American author who got her start in writing through consuming glorious amounts of fanfiction at a young age—which eventually led to penning a few of her own, and later on, creating original stories from her imagination. A lifelong lover of books, she's lucky enough to be working in the business of publishing them on top of writing them. She currently resides in Massachusetts, where she's most likely to be found listening to musicals on repeat and daydreaming too much for her own good. Where Dreams Descend is her first book.

Social Links: Twitter: @Janella_Angeles // Instagram: @Janella_Angeles

Buy Link: https://read.macmillan.com/lp/where-dreams-descend/

 

Tweet Cute Blog Tour: Excerpt

Tweet Cute
Author: Emma Lord
Release Date: January 21, 2020
Publisher: Wednesday Books

Description:

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming — mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account. 

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time. 

All’s fair in love and cheese — that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life — on an anonymous chat app Jack built. 

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate — people on the internet are shipping them?? — their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.

Early Praise:
"Tweet Cute delivers in every possible way: a perfect enemies-to-lovers romance, a whip-smart plotline, and endearingly real characters. I devoured it.” - Francesca Zappia, author of Eliza and Her Monsters

"Sweet and fun! An adorable debut that updates a classic romantic trope with a buzzy twist." - Jenn Bennett, author of Alex, Approximately and Serious Moonlight

“A witty rom-com reinvention for the Twitter age, Tweet Cute pairs delicious online rivalry with deeply relatable insights on family pressure and growing up. This fresh, funny read had us hitting ‘favorite’ from page one.” - Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of Always Never Yours and If I’m Being Honest 

Buy Link: https://read.macmillan.com/lp/tweet-cute/

 

JACK

“Look.” I glance into the classroom, where Ethan is thoroughly distracted by Stephen and
no longer keeping an eye on us. “I may have...overreacted.”
 
Pepper shakes her head. “I told you. I get it. It’s your family.”
 
“Yeah. But it’s also—well, to be honest, this has been kind of good for business.”
 
Pepper’s brow furrows, that one little crease returning. “What, the tweets?”
 
“Yeah.” I scratch the back of my neck, sheepish. “Actually, we had a line out the door
yesterday. It was kind of intense.”
 
“That’s...that’s good, right?”
 
The tone of my voice is clearly not matching up with the words I’m saying, but if I’m
being honest, I’m still wary of this whole overnight business boom. And if I’m being honest, I’m even more wary of Pepper. If this really is as much of a family business as she claims it is—to the point where she’s helping run the Twitter handle, when even I know enough about corporate Twitter accounts to know entire teams of experienced people get paid to do that—then she might have had more of a hand in this whole recipe theft thing than she’s letting on.
The fact of the matter is, I can’t trust her. To the point of not knowing whether I can even
trust her knowing how our business is doing, or just how badly we need it.
 
“Yeah, um, I guess.” I try to make it sound noncommittal. My acting skills, much like my
breakfast-packing skills, leave much to be desired.
 
“So...”
 
“So.”
 
Pepper presses her lips into a thin line, a question in her eyes.

“So, I guess—if your mom really wants you to keep tweeting...”
 
“Wait. Yesterday you were pissed. Two minutes ago you were pissed.”
 
“I am pissed. You stole from us,” I reiterate. “You stole from an eighty-five-year-old
woman.”
 
“I didn’t—”
 
“Yeah, yeah, but still. You’re them, and I’m...her. It’s like a choose your fighter
situation, and we just happen to be the ones up to bat.”
 
“So you’re saying—you don’t not want me to keep this up?”
 
“The way I see it, you don’t have to make your mom mad, and we get a few more
customers in the door too.”
 
Pepper takes a breath like she’s going to say something, like she’s going to correct me,
but after a moment, she lets it go. Her face can’t quite settle on an expression, toeing the line
between dread and relief.
 
“You’re sure?”
 
I answer by opening the container she handed me. The smell that immediately wafts out
of it should honestly be illegal; it stops kids I’ve never even spoken to in their tracks.
 
“Are you a witch?” I ask, reaching in and taking a bite of one. It’s like Monster Cake, the
Sequel—freaking Christmas in my mouth. I already want more before I’ve even managed to
chew. My eyes close as if I’m experiencing an actual drug high—and maybe I am, because I
forget myself entirely and say, “This might even be better than our Kitchen Sink Macaroons.”
 
“Kitchen Sink Macaroons?”
 
Eyes open again. Yikes. Note to self: dessert is the greatest weapon in Pepper’s arsenal. I
swallow my bite so I can answer her.

“It’s kind of well-known, at least in the East Village. It even got in some Hub Seed
roundup once. I’d tell you to try some, but you might steal the recipe, so.”
 
Pepper smiles, then—actually smiles, instead of the little smirk she usually does. It’s not
startling, but what it does to me in that moment kind of is.
 
Before I can examine the unfamiliar lurch in my stomach, the bell rings and knocks the
smile right off her face. I follow just behind her, wondering why it suddenly seems too hot in
here, like they cranked the air up for December instead of October. I dismiss it by the time I get to my desk—probably just all the Twitter drama and the glory of So Sorry Blondies getting to my head.
 
“One rule,” she says, as we sit in the last two desks in the back of the room.
 
I raise my eyebrows at her.
 
“We don’t take any of it personally.” She leans forward on her desk, leveling with me,
her bangs falling into her face. “No more getting mad at each other. Cheese and state.”
 
“What happens on Twitter stays on Twitter,” I say with a nod of agreement. “Okay, then,
second rule: no kid gloves.”
 
Mrs. Fairchild is giving that stern look over the room that never quite successfully quiets
anyone down. Pepper frowns, waiting for me to elaborate.
 
“I mean—no going easy on each other. If we’re going to play at this, we’re both going to
give it our A game, okay? No holding back because we’re...”
 
Friends, I almost say. No, I’m going to say. But then—
 
“I’d appreciate it if even one of you acknowledged the bell with your silence,” Mrs.
Fairchild grumbles.
 
I turn to Pepper, expecting to find her snapping to attention the way she always does when an adult comes within a hundred feet of disciplining her. But her eyes are still intent on me,
like she is sizing something up—like she’s looking forward to something I haven’t anticipated yet.
 
“All right. No taking it personally. And no holding back.”
 
She holds her hand out for me to shake again, under the desk so Mrs. Fairchild won’t see
it. I smile and shake my head, wondering how someone can be so aggressively seventeen and
seventy-five at the same time, and then I take it. Her hand is warm and small in mine, but her grip is surprisingly firm, with a pressure that almost feels like she’s still got her fingers wrapped around mine even after we let go.
 
I turn back to the whiteboard, a ghost of a smirk on my face. “Let the games begin.”

Emma Lord is a digital media editor and writer living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn’t writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, grilled cheese, and a whole lot of love. Her sun sign is Hufflepuff, but she is a Gryffindor rising. TWEET CUTE is her debut novel. You can find her geeking out online at @dilemmalord on Twitter.

Social Links:  @dilemmalord (Twitter/Instagram)

Six Goodbyes We Never Said Blog Tour: Excerpt

Six Goodbyes We Never Said
Author: Candace Ganger
Genre: YA Contemporary
Release Date: September 24, 2019
Publisher: Wednesday Books

Description:

Two teens meet after tragedy and learn about love, loss, and letting go
 
Naima Rodriguez doesn’t want your patronizing sympathy as she grieves her father, her hero—a fallen Marine. She’ll hate you forever if you ask her to open up and remember him “as he was,” though that’s all her loving family wants her to do in order to manage her complex OCD and GAD. She’d rather everyone back the-eff off while she separates her Lucky Charms marshmallows into six, always six, Ziploc bags, while she avoids friends and people and living the life her father so desperately wanted for her.
 
Dew respectfully requests a little more time to process the sudden loss of his parents. It's causing an avalanche of secret anxieties, so he counts on his trusty voice recorder to convey the things he can’t otherwise say aloud. He could really use a friend to navigate a life swimming with pain and loss and all the lovely moments in between. And then he meets Naima and everything’s changed—just not in the way he, or she, expects.
 
Candace Ganger's Six Goodbyes We Never Said is no love story. If you ask Naima, it’s not even a like story. But it is a story about love and fear and how sometimes you need a little help to be brave enough to say goodbye.  

Praise:

"Two teens maneuver painful routes through profound grief as well as the complex quagmire of severe mental illness...Ultimately hopeful, and readers will connect with the messy, visceral lives simmering on the page. Profoundly emotional and truthful." – Kirkus Reviews

"Six Goodbyes We Never Said is a knowing tour de force filled with crackling wit, pain, and mini, freeze-dried marshmallows. Original and funny, the best parts may be found in the small moments, especially Ganger’s hilarious, spot-on dialogue, as well as tucked within the brilliantly-placed parentheticals. All that and a bowl of Lucky Charms. Or maybe six boxes." - Gae Polisner, award-winning author of The Memory of Things and In Sight of Stars  

More Praise for Candace Ganger:

"Naima is diagnosed by the author with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, while Dew is diagnosed with social anxiety. These issues are explored with humanizing examples that invite empathy. Sure to be reassuring to those working their way through grief."- Publishers Weekly on Six Goodbyes We Never Said

"Candace Ganger weaves a beautiful story of loss, grief and the struggle to move on in Six Goodbyes We Never Said. One of the realest voices of our generation, Ganger infuses this story with relatable, flawed teens who must learn how to cope in this world or be lost forever. I laughed and cried while reading and this book will stick with me for ages." - Jessica Burkhart, editor of Life Inside My Mind: 31 Authors Share Their Personal Struggles on Six Goodbyes We Never Said

“Smart, raw, often biting in its reflections of the haves and have-nots, this debut will appeal to fans of John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines...You’ll find yourself not only wanting to (re)study chemistry but learning what you get in life isn’t always what you deserve—sometimes it’s more. [A] must-have for every shelf.”—Patty Blount, award-winning author of Some Boys

“A stunning and brilliantly crafted debut that peels back layers to the raw and the real. Birdie + Bash = 2 characters impossible not to fall in love with.”—K.M. Walton, author of Empty and Cracked

"THE INEVITABLE COLLISION OF BIRDIE & BASH is part love story, part page-turner, and part intricate character study. Ganger writes her characters with great care, and the beautifully structured story is filled with giant truths and tiny, perfect details. Falling for this book was quick, thrilling and, yes, inevitable."―Corey Ann Haydu, author of OCD Love Story and The Careful Undressing of Love

"Smart, emotionally rich, and beautifully written, THE INEVITABLE COLLISION OF BIRDIE & BASH is an unforgettable, heartfelt novel―realistic YA at its best.”―Jamie Kain, author of Instructions for the End of the World and The Good Sister

Candace Ganger is the author of Six Goodbyes We Never Said and The Inevitable Collision of Birdie & Bash as well as a contributing writer for HelloGiggles and obsessive marathoner. Aside from having past lives as a singer, nanotechnology website editor, and world’s worst vacuum sales rep, she’s also ghostwritten hundreds of projects for companies, best-selling fiction and award-winning nonfiction authors alike. She lives in Ohio with her family.
 
Twitter: @candylandgang + @WednesdayBooks
 
Link to retailers: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250116246







 

The Last Hope Blog Tour: Excerpt

The Last Hope (The Raging Ones #2)
Author: Krista & Becca Ritchie
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Romance
Release Date: August 13, 2019
Publisher: Wednesday Books

Description: 

A stunning conclusion to the sci-fi romance duology by writing duo Krista & Becca Ritchie, The Last Hope is filled with twists and turns you'll never see coming.
 
Sacrifice all you have to survive.
 
Imprisoned for weeks on an enemy starcraft, Franny, Court, and Mykal have sat with an unfathomable revelation. But as they fight to stay alive, escaping prison means trusting a young mysterious stranger. He knows everything about their lost histories, and when answers aren’t given freely, the bonded trio are forced to join a mission. One that will determine the fate of humanity.
 
Legend says, a baby—the first of her species—has the power to cloak and teleport planets. Tasked with retrieving the infant, Court fears the baby is just a myth, and if they fail, they’ll never find the truth about their origins.
 
As Court and Mykal grow closer, their linked bond becomes harder to hide, and dynamics change when Franny begins to fall for someone new. Vulnerable and with no choice, the hunt for the baby sends the trio on a dangerous path to Saltare-1: a water world where their enemies can’t die and survival comes at a high cost.

ONE
Court

You’ve escaped one prison before, so you’ll be escaping another in no time.” Mykal spoke those optimistic words thirty-one days ago, but I didn’t have the heart to remind him that it took me five years to flee Vorkter Prison.
 

Now that we’re trapped aboard an enemy starcraft and only fed scraps every three days, we don’t have five years to spare. Our bodies heave in miserable hunger and pain, and I’m in far worse shape.
 

With time running out, I refuse to lie on the only cot, our only comfort, and I sit on the hard floor. 

Slumping against the firm wall, my spine aches, and a sharp pang in my hip radiates like hot agony throughout my rigid bones. I breathe shallow breaths between dry lips, and my shaking hand constantly hovers near my hip. As though I can fix what’s wrong, but the only remedy is outside this brig. Medicine, antiseptic, water.
I have none.
 

We’re all together, but there is nothing here besides a single cot. There are no bars to peer out of, like at my last cell. This is just a tiny, bare, enclosed room inside a starcraft. Clean with polished floors, sterile walls, and a spotless padlocked door, all bathed in soft pink hues from an overhead rouge light. 

Mykal hunches as he stands, the ceilings too low, and since I’m much taller, I spend most of my time sitting or crouching.
 

Franny squats next to a hatch on the cumbersome door. No windows, the hatch has been our sole view outside the brig, but it only opens when they feed us.
 

She presses her cheek against the chilly pink metal. Listening.
 

With our linked emotions and senses, I try to concentrate on Franny. Just for a reprieve from my own torment. I wouldn’t be able to hear what she hears or see what she sees; we still only share touch and taste and smell. I can barely feel the bite of the cold door against my jaw and ear. 

Her senses, his senses—they both sweep past me as another pang of misery scratches at my flesh. 

I look down.

Crude, gnarled stitches weave jaggedly along my lower abdomen. My golden-brown skin is sickly green and inflamed. I resist the urge to itch.
 

Franny scratches her own hip—she feels my pain.
 

I shut my eyes for a long moment. Hating that they both feel the deep cuts from a man I loathe. From Bastell: the man I shared a Vorkter Prison cell with, the one who relentlessly hunted me until he attacked me at Yamafort’s museum. 

We may’ve left Bastell behind on our home planet, we may’ve stolen the Saga starcraft and reached space, but he left real wounds that can’t disappear easily—focus. 

I open my eyes and try to focus on our plans of escape. Though we’ve failed each and every day. I try to think of anything to forget that last encounter in the museum.

We’re out of Bastell’s reach.

I try to breathe stronger, and then I wince and shift, a stabbing pain shooting up my side. Gods be damned.
Mykal swings his head back, his hard-hearted blue eyes meeting my grim grays. If he could beat down the door with his fists alone, I’m certain he would. 

Because he’s already tried. Until the skin on his knuckles busted and bled, and sores formed.

“What are you moving for, Court?” Mykal asks. “Rest yourself. You’ve hardly slept one blink of an eye.”
“It’s not so easy when we need to leave,” I say in a single breath. I sink my head back to the wall, our eyes not detaching.

Mykal.
 

I asked him to fly away with me, and I’ve led him to a prison. No apology I speak can erase the guilt. I just need to free Mykal and Franny from this place. 

I have to. 

“There’s no time,” I say with another wince. 

Franny stiffens and cautiously glances back at me. I don’t know how to ease her worry. 

Mykal takes a step toward my spot on the floor. I don’t know how to ease his either. 

“Don’t,” I say weakly, stopping him. 

He scratches his jaw. Frustration burrowing through his body and mine. He stays an arm’s distance away and gestures to me. “I may not be a physician like you, but once upon an era, I nursed you from the brink of something foul. I can do it again, you realize?” 

It’s too late for that. 

His muscles flex. “Court?”

He can’t read my mind, and so I’m left to wonder what emotion accompanied my thought. What did he sense?

I blink a few times. Unsure of what I felt. But I want him to know something. “I still remember...” I swallow hard and fight to speak louder. “I still remember the winter wood.” 

His eyes redden. “Yer telling me this now?” His northern lilt breaks through. I’m truly happy to hear it again. 

In a whisper, I clarify, “I know what you’ve done for me.” 

“Court—” 

“I wouldn’t have survived without you.” My voice cracks, days and months and years rushing toward me. Frostbitten skin and the crackle of fire and his impossibly bright laughter. I remember the moments after I escaped Vorkter.

Where Mykal brought me to his warm hut out of the wet snow. Hovering over my gaunt frame, nearly nose-to-nose, he lathered mud and herbs on my wounds. Grenpale remedies. 

He was a wild Hinterlander.

I was a lost boy of fifteen, and years later, we’ve found ourselves in a similar position. I’m on the brink of something foul again, but there are no trees, no mud, no plants, nothing that can save me by his hands. 

I’m afraid. 

I take in a breath, finally understanding my emotions, and I do everything I can to contain them. Bottle them. Swallow them. So they won’t know this fear. 

Let me suffer alone. 

Mykal bends low to be at eye level, palm on the floor. “I don’t want yer praise. I got you in this mess—” 

“No.” I cut him off. He’s still kicking himself for not stopping Bastell. In his mind, he broke a devout promise. He swore that I’d never encounter that cruel bastard again, but I did.

I already forgave Mykal a hundred times, even when he didn’t need to be forgiven. He’s just not ready to absolve himself yet.
 

He reaches out his hand to me...

“I don’t want your guilt,” I say, more strictly than I intend.
 

Purposefully pushing him away, and it works. He retracts his callused palm. And he flicks his forefinger in a vulgar Grenpalish gesture. Rising to a hunched stance again. 

I try to bury my disappointment. Because I long for Mykal. I want him closer and closer, our chests pressing together and the heat of our bodies easing us into a contented sleep. I’m called toward him. Every minute of every day.
 

Toward his kindness and fortitude and foolish optimism. A great pull beckons me into his arms, but in the same breath, I’d rather Mykal be far, far away from my suffering. 

If we touch skin-to-skin, the link will make him feel what I feel tenfold, and since we’ve kissed, we’ve already heightened this bond between us a significant amount. He’s noticed the shortness of my breath, whereas Franny can’t distinguish the subtleties as well. 

He’s even started recognizing emotion in me that I can’t even name. 

“I’ll just be standing right here,” Mykal says, angling toward me, “where I can stare at your handsome face.” 

I roll my eyes, but I don’t mind him staring at all. I want to smile, but it seems like an impossible feat.

Quietly, his gaze slides down my weakened frame. Inspecting me from afar.

I do the same to him. Sweat builds up on his pale skin and drenches his wheat-blond hair. 

All we’ve ever known was the ice and snow on our frozen planet of Saltare-3. None of us are used to the sweltering room temps here.

The brig stinks badly of a musky odor, our stench the obvious culprit.

We’ve all shed our onyx-and-gold StarDust uniforms to combat the scorch. No slacks, no cloaks, and Franny slung off her bra. Left only in black underwear, we sweat through those and make the best out of the absolute worst.
 

Beads roll off Mykal’s sideburns and slip down his stubbly jaw. I watch his eyes lower to the tangled scars and ink over my heart, and then I scrutinize his brawn. Bands of his muscle have begun to lose their tautness, not as carved or cut as they once were.
 

My squared jaw tightens, and a rock lodges in my throat. I want to believe that he’s fine. That he’s not hurting, but I can feel him starving. I can feel his stomach gnawing on itself and his body withering away. 

Franny is worse. Her rib cage is visible and juts in and out as she breathes, more skin and bones than either him or me. 

My concern for her grows and grows every day. 

She refuses to eat our rations. No one is willing to take more than our share, but we’ve all volunteered to take less.

Krista & Becca Ritchie are New York Times Bestselling Authors and identical twins, one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek. With their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. Graduates from the University of Georgia in Biology and English & Journalism, the twin writing duo now lives in Atlanta. The Raging Ones is their first young adult novel.

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