Tag: Young Adult Fantasy

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Spotlight & Opening Lines: Violet Made of Thorns, by Gina Chen

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Violet Made of Thorns

Violet Made of Thorns
(Violet Made of Thorns Duology #1)
by Gina Chen
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Romance
Publishing Date: July 26, 2022

A darkly enchanting fantasy debut about a morally gray witch, a cursed prince, and a prophecy that ignites their fate-twisted destinies—perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and Serpent & Dove.

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it.

But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom—all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus.

Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom—or doom them all.

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Opening Lines:

Today, Prince Cyrus returns to the capital with a bride, or else.

From the Seer’s Tower, the tallest point in the Sun Capital, I can see a train of purple banners fluttering amid the fields outside the city–the royal caravan making the steep approach to the south gates. Cordoned-off crowds pack the streets, waiting to welcome their prince home. Six months have passed since Cyrus departed to tour the continent, since he set out to “seek from the land and its generous people all the wisdom” that he could not learn in a palace.

About the Author:

Gina Chen tells stories about fantastic worlds featuring heroines, antiheroines, and the kind of cleverness that brings trouble in its wake. A self-taught artist with a degree in computer science, she generates creative nonsense in all forms of media and always has a project stewing. Violet Made of Thorns is her debut fantasy novel. For more info, visit actualgina.com and follow @actualgina on Twitter and Instagram.

Gina Chen

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Spotlight: Imagining Elsewhere, by Sara Hosey

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Imagining Elsewhere

Imagining Elsewhere
by Sara Hosey
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Paranormal
Publishing Date: June 28, 2022

Being a better person can be a lot harder than it looks.

It’s 1988, and former bully Astrid is forced to move from Queens to the small town of Elsewhere. Although this town is totally weird, Astrid sees the move as a way to reinvent herself. That is, until Candi—the teenage tyrant with supernatural powers who rules Elsewhere—decides she wants Astrid to be her new bestie.

Having to choose between the perks and safety of being the Queen B’s best friend and the desire to be a better person could literally cost Astrid her life. As Astrid and her new friends begin to dig into the dark history of Elsewhere and the source of Candi’s powers, they form a dangerous plan to resist Candi’s compulsion and to escape Elsewhere, or else be doomed to live under Candi’s rule forever.

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About the Author:

Queens native Sara Hosey is the author of a novel, Iphigenia Murphy, and a novella, Great Expectations, as well as short fiction appearing in publications including Cordella Magazine and Casino Literary. Sara has also written an academic book about popular culture: Home is Where the Hurt Is: Media Depictions of Wives and Mothers.

Sara has held many jobs—she’s been a nanny, a home health aide, a chaperone for exchange students visiting the United States, a relay operator for the hearing impaired, and a security guard at the US Open in Flushing. She has worked in retail and in restaurants, in theaters and on screen as an extra in an educational film. These days, however, she mainly teaches English at a community college and writes. When she’s not working, she likes to spend time with her family and pets in upstate New York.

Sara Hosey

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Spotlight: Blood and Moonlight, by Erin Beaty

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Blood and Moonlight
by Erin Beaty
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Thriller
Publishing Date: June 28, 2022

In this medieval YA fantasy thriller, an orphan with a secret, magical sight gets caught between a mysterious genius and the serial killer he’s hunting.

Rising above the city of Collis is the holy Sanctum. And watching over its spires is Catrin, an orphan girl with unique skills—for she alone can spot the building’s flaws in construction before they turn deadly.

But when Catrin witnesses a murderer escaping the scene of his crime, she’s pulled into the web of a dangerous man who will definitely strike again. Assigned to capture the culprit is the mysterious, brilliant, and enigmatic Simon, whose insights into the mind of a killer are frighteningly accurate.

As the grisly crimes continue, Catrin finds herself caught between murderer and detective while hiding her own secret—a supernatural sight granted by the moon, destined to make her an outcast, and the only thing that might save her and those she loves from becoming the next victims…

Content Warning: graphic death, violence, incest, talk of mental illness

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About the Author:

Erin Beaty was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, which means she can’t drive a tractor but won’t eat veggies that come from a can.

She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2000 with a BS in Aerospace Engineering (Astronautics) and German, then served in the fleet as a weapons officer on a combat destroyer and later as an instructor the Center for Naval Leadership.

After a few years as a stay-at-home mother and navy wife with a casual family blog, Erin upped her game and started writing her first novel in the spring of 2014. She is now the author of the Traitor’s Circle Trilogy published by Imprint, Macmillan and in several foreign languages.
She and her husband have five children, two cats, and a vegetable garden and live wherever the navy tells them to go.

Erin has taught classes at The Muse Writers Center in Norfolk and has also served on the advisory board of Hampton Roads Writers.

Erin Beaty

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