by Kim Liggett
First published 2015
Ash Larkin receives a cryptic warning about love and sacrifice before her mother disappears back to Quivira, the spiritual commune she once fled. Ash travels to this isolated Kansas village, where corn rustles around buildings frozen in time. Strange memories of her ancestor Katia flood her mind, revealing centuries of forbidden romance and brutal deaths. The commune's charming rituals mask something far more sinister brewing beneath the surface. Bodies begin falling as the community prepares for an ancient ceremony. Ash finds herself drawn to Dane, a local boy harboring dangerous secrets of his own. With each passing day, she uncovers more about Quivira's dark history of alchemy and immortality. The ceremony approaches, five hundred years in the making, and Ash realizes both her mother and herself are in mortal danger. She must decode the truth behind Katia's memories and the commune's twisted traditions before she becomes the next sacrifice in their bloody ritual.
Genres: romance, mystery, fantasy, horror
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-romance, sacrifice
Setting: Kansas, Quivira
Period: 500 Years
341 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: death, violence