The Darkening

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 4 JUL 2022

When Vesper Vale's revolutionary parents failed to overthrow their city's corrupt ruler, her mother was captured and forced to enter the unending Storm that surrounds their city and is said to curse anyone it touches. Twelve years later, Vesper, now 17, and her father, Pa, live on the run, evading the city's guardians, called Wardana. As a learned ikonomancer, Pa uses symbols to activate powerful spells, which the duo use to survive. Eventually, however, their luck runs out and Pa is captured by the ruler's heir, Prince Dalca. Fearing that her father will share the same fate as her mother, Vesper embarks on a treacherous rescue mission. Aided by Izmal, a Wardana guard and secret revolutionary, Vesper—disguised and armed with her father's ikonomancy texts—insinuates herself into Dalca's inner circle. There, she discovers that her mother's death may not be as straightforward as it seemed and realizes she'll need the help of unlikely allies to save her father—and the city—from the Storm. Though vague, undescriptive prose occasionally makes the fantasy world difficult to visualize, high-stakes action and a delicate enemies-to-lovers romance propels Mara's duology-opening debut to its climactic end. Ages 12–up.