DAUGHTER OF THE BONE FOREST

In the Cursed Kingdom, witches and familiars—humans who can shapeshift into animals—create powerful bonds through elaborate courtship rituals that give them power—and perhaps even bring them love.

A chance encounter with Princess Shaw, a powerful witch known as Death’s Heir for her prophesied leadership in an imminent war, sends Rosamund Holt to the prestigious and elitist school Witch Hall. Rosamund doesn’t want to leave her Gran, who was exiled after she went feral during a wolf shift. She’s also afraid that her robust shifting abilities will mean being drafted by a kingdom she has no interest in going to war for, given how it’s treated her family. Once entrenched in the magical school, Rosamund realizes she’s a powerful familiar and enjoys her studies. She balks when Shaw chooses to court her, however. Rosamund tries to deny her connection with Shaw, and she can’t help wondering what the princess really wants from her. Peopled with queer characters representing the breadth of the gender spectrum, this epic hero’s journey is at turns touchingly romantic and graphically violent. The action unfolds in a vivid and original world that leaves readers with a cliffhanger ending that promises more adventures with the compelling protagonists. Rosamund is light-skinned with “hay-colored hair”; Shaw has “pale sepia skin,” and there’s racial diversity in the supporting cast.

A robustly imagined, intrinsically queer, and romantic high-fantasy epic.