First published 2024
Liska believes magic turns people into monsters. She has spent years suppressing her own powers, but the effort has brought only disaster. Now she flees her village and enters the spirit-wood, where demons lurk among the trees. She seeks the mythical fern flower, which grants one wish to whoever plucks it. Liska plans to use that wish to banish her magic forever. The Leszy, demon warden of the wood, catches her before she can reach the flower. He offers a deal: serve him for one year in his crumbling manor, and he will give her the fern flower and its wish. Liska accepts, but she soon discovers she is not his first servant. All the others have vanished without explanation. As she uncovers the secrets of The Leszy's past, something ancient stirs in the forest. This new threat terrifies even The Leszy himself. To survive and save others, Liska must embrace the very thing she fears most: the monster within herself.
Genres: fantasy, horror, supernatural, dark-fantasy
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, monster-within
Setting: Spirit-Wood
368 pages · ebook · Margaret K. McElderry Books
Content warnings: body-horror, death, violence