From New York Times bestselling author Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton comes the first book in a ferocious YA fantasy duology featuring ancient magic, warring factions, and a romance between the two people in the world with the most cause to hate one another. Darling Seabreak cannot remember anything before the murder of her family at the hands of House Dragon, but she knows she owes her life to both the power of her Chaos Boon and House Kraken for liberating her from the sewers where she spent her childhood. So when her adoptive Kraken father is captured in battle, Darling vows to save him—even if that means killing each and every last member of House Dragon. Talon Goldhoard has always been a dutiful War Prince for House Dragon, bravely leading the elite troops of his brother, the High Prince Regent. But lately his brother’s erratic rule threatens to undo a hundred years of House Dragon’s hard work, and factions are turning to Talon to unseat him. Talon resists, until he’s ambushed by a fierce girl who looks exactly like the one his brother has painted obsessively, repeatedly, for years, and Talon knows she’s the key to everything. Together, Darling and Talon must navigate the treacherous waters of House politics, caught up in the complicated game the High Prince Regent is playing against everyone. The unlikeliest of allies, they’ll have to stop fighting each other long enough to learn to fight together in order to survive the fiery prophecies and ancient blood magic threatening to devastate their entire world. Gr 7 Up-Political intrigue, magic, and intricate worldbuilding will draw in readers and leave them wanting more. Darling Seabreak's family was murdered when she was very young by House Dragon, leaving her the sole survivor of a dead House. Talon Goldhoard, the War Prince for House Dragon, serves his people dutifully, even when his brother, the High Prince Regent, begins acting more erratically. Darling and Talon must learn to work together if they are to survive the deception and obfuscation of factions that seeks to tear the world apart-or rebuild it into something better. Ireland and Gratton have created a world with deep lore, and then show readers very little of it. Darling and Talon, the two point-of-view characters, are interesting and complicated, with shifting motivations and a deep desire to do right by the people they care about. The side characters are diverse and add to the richness of the world. Readers should watch out for mis-gendering a side character, though the other character in the scene immediately corrects it. Overall, while set in a deeply interesting world with engaging characters, the novel suffers a bit from uneven pacing. VERDICT A fantasy story with an engaging premise, this will circulate well in libraries where other epic fantasy and enemies-to-lovers romances are popular.-Ness Shortleyα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. “A gripping fantasy about betrayal, forgiveness, loss, and loyalty amid a magical war.”— Publishers Weekly “The focus on family bonds and support adds realism, while the inclusion of prophetic dreams and visions creates intrigue.” – Kirkus “This fast-paced, action-filled fantasy reads like a mix of Game of Thrones and Avatar: The Last Airbender. ” – BCCB “Political intrigue, magic, and intricate worldbuilding will draw in readers.” – SLJ “Gratton and Ireland are no strangers to new and fantastic settings, and this first of a duology should prove to be as enthralling as all their individual offerings.”— Booklist “An intriguing cast of characters and a diverse, queer normative fantasy realm make this novel stand out.” – Shelf Awareness Justina Ireland is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen novels and four anthology contributions, including Dread Nation and Deathless Divide . She is a former editor in chief of FIYAH M agazine of Black Speculative Fiction, for which she won a World Fantasy Award, and her work has been shortlisted numerous times for state and literary awards. She holds a BA in History from Georgia Southern University and an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University. Visit her at authorjustinaireland.com or follow her on Twitter @justinaireland. Tessa Gratton is the author of adult and YA SFF novels and short stories that have been translated into twenty-two languages, long-listed for the Otherwise Award, and several have been Junior Library Guild Selections. Her most recent novels are the dark queer fairy tales Strange Grace and Night Shine , and the queer Shakespeare retelling Lady Hotspur . Her upcoming work includes the YA fantasy Chaos and Flame (2023), and novels of Star Wars: The High Republic. Though she has lived all over the world, she currently resides at the edge of the Kansas prairie with her wife. She/any. The first time the scion of House Dragon painted the eyeless girl