First published 2009
Hariba faces a bleak future in the Nekropolis. At twenty-one, she chooses to undergo jessing, a technobiological transformation that makes her completely obedient to whoever buys her contract. A wealthy merchant purchases her service, and she enters his household as an indentured servant. The merchant owns many remarkable things, but none captivate Hariba like Akhmim, a harni bred from machines. This artificial being looks perfectly human and possesses intelligence that unnerves her. Akhmim shows her inappropriate tenderness and asks probing questions like "Why are you sad?" His beauty disturbs her, yet slowly her initial revulsion shifts to acceptance, then to something deeper. These forbidden emotions violate both religious law and social order. No master permits such feelings in the jessed. Hariba knows that defying her owner's will brings terrible consequences: illness, agony, captivity, even death. She must choose between suppressing her growing attachment to Akhmim or risking everything for love that society forbids.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, romance, lgbt
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-romance
Setting: Nekropolis
272 pages · Kindle Edition · HarperCollins
Content warnings: emotional-abuse, slavery