'A more-than-magical start to a series that readers are sure to devour!' Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom
'A sparkling cocktail . . . Hamilton is back and better than ever.' Samantha Shannon, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree
'A treat . . . had me in a chokehold.' Bea Fitzgerald, author of Girl, Goddess, Queen
'Irresistible . . . I devoured every single page!' Catherine Doyle, author of instant #1 bestseller The Dagger and the Flame
'An absolute triumph.' Roshani Chokshi, NYT bestselling author of The Gilded Wolves

The bestselling Rebel of the Sands author is back with a glittering fantasy thriller, featuring a family obsessed with money, power, fame - and magic.

At sixteen, Honora 'Nora' Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in Gammamix; her family controls all the money - and all the magic - in the entire country. But when her mother is found murdered in an alley, the family throne and fortune are up for grabs, which means Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the deadly Veritaz trials to determine the rightful inheritor.

But there's a surprise rival in the form of Ottoline, aka Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora's aunt, who was left with nuns as a baby. Thrown into the Veritaz, she is suddenly surrounded by a hostile family she never knew she had.

But as the Holtzfalls wage their battles of privilege, something bigger and more sinister bubbles beneath the surface, and revolution is in the air.

Incredible tests, impossible choices, and deadly odds await both girls. But there can only be one winner.