Part of October Daye
First published 2023
October Torquill lives contentedly as a changeling handmaid in her family's tower, devoted to serving her pureblood sister August. She believes herself the second daughter of Amandine and Simon Torquill, waiting patiently for August to establish her own household. Her faerie existence feels complete and orderly. Then strangers arrive claiming to know her from another reality. They insist her entire world is false, constructed by Titania's magic to trap her in a distorted version of Faerie. The Summer Queen has pulled October from her true life and imprisoned her in this upside-down realm where everything supports Titania's vision of perfection. As cracks appear in this manufactured paradise, October must choose between the security of her known world and the dangerous possibility that these strangers speak truth. She faces Titania's wrath as the banished queen reveals why her exile was necessary. October's survival depends on distinguishing reality from illusion while much more than her own life hangs in the balance.
Genres: science-fiction-fantasy, fantasy, young-adult, dark-fantasy, young-adult-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, disorienting, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: chosen-one, fish-out-of-water, gaslighting, unreliable-reality
Setting: Faerie, tower
432 pages · Paperback · DAW
Content warnings: gaslighting