Fallon Bane was born with a devastating curse: a single touch from another person will cause her excruciating pain. Thus, she has accepted that she will die without ever being kissed, without even hugging her own father, though it breaks her heart every day. But when her beloved father falls ill, she breaks into the magical Gilded City to find a healer fae that can save him. When handsome healer Ariyon Madden agrees to help, everything she knows about herself and her curse changes. Because during her father's healing, Ariyon reaches out and touches her bare skin. She waits for the agony... but it never comes. For the first time in her life, she imagines a new future for herself. However, that fantasy is quickly destroyed, because not only does Ariyon flee from her in disgust when he learns of her curse; he also reveals her existence to powerful fae who want to hurt her. Fallon is then swept away to a magical academy, where she learns the terrifying truth about her family history and her dark magic. Her life and the future of fae everywhere hang in the balance, and all the while Fallon can't help but wonder if she will get to touch Ariyon Madden one more time before she dies...
Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude ready to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, should Oak attempt to regain the trust of the girl he's always loved, or remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign-even if it means ending Wren, too. With war looming and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak's guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. He will have some terrible choices to make.
Beneath the New Year's Eve fireworks, shy science-nerd Mel and slacker songwriter Sid get pregnant on their first date. Any sixteen-year-olds would expect trouble - but this is Northern Ireland 2018, where abortion is still illegal. Mel's religious parents insist she must keep the baby, whilst Sid's feminist mum pushes for a termination. Mel and Sid are determined to do this together, but they soon discover that pregnancy is totally different for boys and girls. When their relationship starts to fall apart under all the pressure, Mel finds herself feeling alone with the impossible dilemma of the Little Bang growing inside her.
Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course, she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings, but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work. All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. "You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain... I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft..." Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them... that is, until they're accidentally sent out. Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare, now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie, Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate.
18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mum's mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness. Rachel is gone, presumed dead. The case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can't wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. But then Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again...
Sixteen-year-old Kat's con-artist mom takes on one last heist before going straight for good, but the job takes a deadly turn.
Everyone in fifteen-year-old Bella's life needs something from her. Her mom needs her to help around the house, her dad needs her to not make waves, her ex needs her to not be so much. The only person who never needed anything from her was her grandmother -- and now she's dead. There's only one thing that dulls the pressure: alcohol. Vodka, beer, peppermint schnapps -- alcohol smooths the sharp edges of Bella's life. And what's the big deal? Everyone drinks. Besides, Bella can stop whenever she wants. But after she gets blackout drunk at a Thanksgiving party and wakes up in the hospital, it's time to face reality. And for Bella, reality means rehab.
Seven tickets. An island of dreams. The chance of a lifetime. Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited. Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year's game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win. Some of the players are in it for the money. Some for power. Some for reasons all their own. Every single one of them has secrets. Amidst it all is Grayson Hawthorne, tasked with a vital role in this year's game. But as tensions rise and the mind-bending challenges push the players to their limits-physically, mentally, and emotionally-it soon becomes clear that not everyone is playing by the rules. Do you have what it takes to play?
Seventeen-year-old bisexual Jade Nguyen is spending the summer in Vietnam at the French colonial house her estranged father is fixing up as a vacation rental, but unbeknownst to her family, the house and its ghosts have other plans.
From V.E. Schwab, the critically acclaimed author of Vicious, comes a new universe of daring adventure, thrilling power, and parallel Londons, beginning with A Darker Shade of Magic. Kell is one of the last Travelers--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel universes--as such, he can choose where he lands. There's Grey London, dirty and boring, without any magic, ruled by a mad King George. Then there's Red London, where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London, ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne--a place where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. And once upon a time, there was Black London...but no one speaks of that now. Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see--a dangerous hobby, and one that has set him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations, first robs him, then saves him from a dangerous enemy, and then forces him to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive--and that is proving trickier than they hoped.