First published 2020
Alice Proserpine thought escaping the Hinterland meant freedom from her grandmother's dark fairy tale legacy. Now she lives in New York City, trying to build an ordinary life far from magic and menace. But other survivors from the collapsing fairy tale realm have also fled to the city, and something is hunting them down one by one. Alice suspects these deaths serve a sinister purpose she doesn't yet understand. Meanwhile, Ellery Finch remains trapped in the dying Hinterland, searching for his own path forward and hoping to find a route back to the world he left behind. Alice must confront the reality that her escape was only the beginning. The destruction of the Hinterland doesn't end with quiet fading but explosive consequences that follow her into the real world. As the threat closes in, Alice faces a choice between the unmagical life she craves and the dangerous truth about what it means to be a refugee from a world of stories.
Genres: fantasy, contemporary, young-adult, urban-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Hinterland, New York City
331 pages · Hardcover · Flatiron Books