Penny Dreadful meets The Gilded Wolves in this captivating young adult historical fantasy sequel to the “bloodily spectacular” (Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights ) The Bones of Ruin that follows immortal Iris as she desperately tries to thwart her destructive destiny. Iris Marlow can’t die. For years, she was tormented by her missing memories and desperate to learn her real identity. So when the mysterious Adam Temple offered to reveal the truth of who she was in exchange for her joining his team in the Tournament of Freaks, a gruesome magical competition, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. But the truth would have been better left buried. Because Adam is a member of the Enlightenment Committee, an elite secret society built upon one fundamental idea: that the apocalypse known as Hiva had destroyed the world before and would do it again, and soon. But what the Committee—and Iris—never guessed is that Hiva is not an event. Hiva is a person… Iris. Now, no matter how hard Iris fights for a normal life, the newly awakened power inside her keeps drawing her toward the path of global annihilation. Adam, perversely obsessed with Iris, will stop at nothing to force her to unlock her true potential, while a terrifying newcomer with ties to Hiva’s past is on the hunt for Iris. All Iris wants is the freedom to choose her own future, but the cost might be everything Iris holds dear—including the world itself. "Bloodily spectacular. The Bones of Ruin builds page after page of visceral intrigue, steamrolling toward the end of the world in Victorian London. These characters could tear you apart, but you will love them all the same. Sarah Raughley’s world breathes true to the past and yet gleams brilliantly new." -- Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS and OUR VIOLENT ENDS "Sarah Raughley proves once again that, like her intricate worlds and wonderful characters, she is a master of decolonization and a force to be reckoned with." -- E.K. Johnston, New York Times bestselling author on THE BONES OF RUIN "This cryptic, enticing journey is told in alternating, third-person perspectives: Adam’s cold and calculating, Iris’ searching and daring. The author builds a delicious tension that will have readers putting the pieces together as the end of the world nears and wanting more after they reach the climactic cliffhanger ending. A rousing series opener." -- Kirkus Reviews on THE BONES OF RUIN ― July 15, 2021 "The fantastical premise supports a multilayered plot and vibrant characters. Meanwhile, themes of racial abuse, violence, and rebirth, paired with a wealth of romantic options, add further complexity to this series starter." -- Publishers Weekly on THE BONES OF RUIN ― September 27, 2021 Sarah Raughley is a Nigerian-Canadian novelist and a member of the Royal Society of Canada: the national council of distinguished Canadian scholars, scientists, and artists. She’s best known for her YA books: The Effigies Series, The Bones of Ruin Trilogy, and The Queen’s Spade duology. Raughley is also an English professor and public intellectual who has written for journals such as The Washington Post and CBC . You can find out more about her work at SarahRaughley.com. Chapter 1 1 November 23, 1884 On the other side of the world… TWO HOURS PAST MIDNIGHT, A woman with too many names broke into the British Museum while the streets of London burned. In her grip was the collar of the museum’s director, still in his white nightshirt because she’d kidnapped him from his bed. “You! You…” The director devolved into whimpers as he stumbled over his ankle-length shirt and struggled to keep his nightcap on. The woman grimaced. She had become used to calling herself “Iris,” but she’d collected too many aliases during her immortal life to be satisfied with “you.” This hidden hall below the basement of the museum was one of the secrets she’d wrangled out of the eccentric Riccardo Benini. The hall existed solely to lead the Enlightenment Committee, of which Benini was a member, to a secluded room tucked away from the prying eyes of visitors. The Library of Rule. The secret room was home to a mysterious collection of artifacts curated out of the remains of the civilization she’d annihilated millennia ago. It was why she needed the director and his key. It was why there were guards standing by in their silver-buttoned black jackets and pants, ready to bash in the heads of intruders. And here the intruders were. The guards’ custodian helmets lifted a little as they began attacking with batons. Iris didn’t need to lift a finger. “Wha’s ’at?” cried one guard, pointing in terror. “Wha’s ’at?” He was referring to the white crystal sword emerging out of the chest of the young warrior trailing her. A girl with brown skin not quite as dark as Iris’s and a damaged right eye. Olarinde. The frills of her yellow dress billowed behind