The Coven Tendency
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Zoe Hana Mikuta delivers a bloody and unrelenting fantasy about young witches dangling on the edge of love and obsession, of magic and madness, of life and death (and death and death and death). . .Just like her mother and her mother's mother, 18-year-old Vanity Adams is destined to lead a lavish life under the patronship of the Museum, someday taking her place as its premiere necromantic Spectacle and the centerpiece of their weekly soirees thrown for the City's elite.But until that day, Vanity (and the other young witches of the Museum) is isolated from the outside world and purged of her magic—magic being particularly unstable for teenagers and often leading to antisocial conduct, mood swings, bloodlust, delusions, and, most concerning, a habitual, violent obsession with one another.To all of this, Vanity thinks: Well, whatever. Better than being confined to the Sanatorium with the less fortunate witches, imprisoned in a chemically induced coma as her blood is harvested to make World, the City's favorite designer drug. At least she'll be dead someday, there's always that. And at least the Museum has Arrogance, Vanity's twin sister, who just might remember how to do magic, and who just might be where our story begins. . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eighteen-year-old Vanity Adams lives in the Museum, a curated attraction meant to showcase the power of witches to the public. It also functions as her prison. Vanity will one day become the necromantic Spectacle, one of the adult performers who spend their time resurrecting the dead for paying customers. Until then, she and all the other witches are kept separate and sedated, and their magic is locked away, as witches who connect with each other often react violently, something that Museum curator Monroe Athalia refuses to risk. Soon, however, Vanity's preoccupation with two other Museum inhabitants—witches Clover Rao and Ellis Kim—comes to a head, resulting in the death and subsequent resurrection of Ellis. Suddenly capable of accessing her magic and having gained mental clarity for what seems like the first time, Vanity becomes entangled with the duo, and her tenuous grip on her powers—and reality—grows increasingly unstable. Using surreal prose, Mikuta (Off with Their Heads) effectively captures Vanity's often alien-feeling perception of reality and intense longing for connection. This is a stunningly original tale, and a mind-bending escapist read that's not to be missed. Ages 12–up.
