Get lost in the newest fantasy from the author of A Hunger of Thorns, on a beguiling journey behind the closed doors of a sinister secret society. Featuring a steamy enemies-to-lovers romance and a fight for the witching world that will get your heart racing.
Merry doesn’t need a happily-ever-after. Her life in the charming, idyllic town of Candlecott is fine just as it is. Simple, happy, and with absolutely no magic. Magic only ever leads to trouble.
But Merry’s best friend, Teddy, is joining the Toadmen—a secret society who specialize in backward thinking and suspiciously supernatural traditions—and Merry is determined to stop him. Even if it means teaming up with the person she hates most: her academic archnemesis, Caraway Boswell, an ice-cold snob who hides his true face under a glamour.
An ancient Toad ritual is being held in the sinister Deeping Fen, and if Merry doesn’t rescue Teddy before it’s finished, she’ll lose him forever. But the Toadmen have been keeping dangerous secrets, and so has Caraway. The farther Merry travels into Deeping Fen’s foul waters, the more she wonders if she’s truly come to save her friend . . . or if she’s walking straight into a trap.
There’s nothing the Toadmen love more than a damsel in distress.
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""An immersive, fascinating allegory that tackles, among other things, toxic masculinity and government control over women's bodies. Patient readers will be well rewarded with a nimble, romantic, and clever fantasy that pushes boundaries."
— Booklist
An exposition-heavy start gives way to an immersive world in which Wilkinson employs beguiling imagery to craft a thought-provoking love letter to fierce and tenderhearted friendship.
— Publishers Weekly"An entertaining, well-characterized foray into a world of magical secrets.
— Kirkus Reviews"An entertaining, well-characterized foray into a world of magical secrets.
— Kirkus Reviews"The perfect choice for readers who enjoy secret societies with dark magic and mysterious rituals paired with true friendship and unexpected romance.
— School Library Journal"The perfect choice for readers who enjoy secret societies with dark magic and mysterious rituals paired with true friendship and unexpected romance.
— School Library Journal"An immersive, fascinating allegory that tackles, among other things, toxic masculinity and government control over women's bodies. Patient readers will be well rewarded with a nimble, romantic, and clever fantasy that pushes boundaries.
— Booklist"Evocative and deeply atmospheric, this novel offers a fen-deep narrative that will suck readers in with a fast-paced plot and moments of heartbreak, budding romance, and rousing revolution.
— The BulletinBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!