The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this stand-alone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything. By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society. Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet. Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks. When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs—the Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she’s had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother she might stand a chance of staying alive. For Melinoë, this is a game she can’t afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption. As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there’s more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she’s capable of more than killing. And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.  “A dark and gripping feminist tale.” - Kirkus Reviews "Lusciously evocative and dripping with verbal texture." - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “Achingly atmospheric and beautifully sharp,  A Study in Drowning  will draw you in from the first page. A spell-binding mix of magic, myth, and mystery.” - Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls “Haunting and elegantly rendered, A Study in Drowning is a lyrical examination of stories told, cherished myths, and an unraveling of truths held dear. Darkly romantic and unsettlingly eerie, I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come.”   - Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows and Small Favors "Stunningly crafted, Reid displays an eye for human connection with her enemies-to-lovers Sapphic romance and portrayal of complex familial relationships. Inesa and Mel are thoughtful foils to each other, their characteristics bleeding together as they survive the Gauntlet and the painfully realistic depiction of the ramifications of climate change. Fraught with social commentary as well, Reid's tale touches on the dangers of debt and late-stage capitalism, the addiction to screens and technology, and the realities of corporations buying out governments. Suzanne Collins fans, meet your new favorite dystopia." - Booklist (starred review) "An immersive setting rendered via descriptive prose ferries this invigorating story, which questions the nature of humanity, survival, and memory. . . . Reid deviates from the expected through the leisurely unspooling of Mel and Inesa’s dueling POVs and their heart-pounding sapphic romance." - Publishers Weekly "Ava Reid’s latest hearkens back to the dystopias of yore: a world of highs and lows, haves and have-nots, a drowning underworld ruled over by a city of brittle, icy beauty. Reid’s observant, compelling prose makes this at once an homage to those classic tales, and something fresh and necessary, and all her own." - Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Three Dark Crowns “With her singular gift for metaphor, Reid has crafted a frighteningly prescient dystopia about the ravages of corporate greed—and also a beautiful love story between two girls determined to survive. Brilliant and devastating, Fable for the End of the World will arm you with the strongest tools we have: both anger and hope.”  - Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic "Knife-edged and tender-hearted, Fable for the End of the World will at once feel like your favorite classic dystopia and like nothing you’ve ever read. In a cruel, debt-driven world not vastly unlike our own, Reid explores the bravery of not just surviving, but learning to be truly alive. I will be thinking of the final line for years to come.” - Courtney Gould, award-winning author of What the Woods Took "Reid is well regarded for her lyrical writing and nuanced characters; here she paints a vivid portrait of a world fallen to climate change and capitalism, juxtaposed against the ways love is redemptive. VERDICT A dark dystopian novel for readers craving something more mature than The Hunger Games . Perfect for high school collections." - School Library Journal (starred review) “Nobody balances sweetness with brutality, tenderness with