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Quillan is a book dealer with an edge that sees her dominating the market in her city. She can open books that have been deemed illegal by the crown. The tomes secretive and elusive--they won't open for just anyone. Not after the High King ransacked the cities for any books he could get his hands on, enclosing their kin in colossal pits, known historically as the Burials.
When a new bookseller makes a complaint to the Council of the Sun Chamber, she is arrested by the kingdom's notorious wardens. The Sorrows are bound to a curse that has taken their memories, used by the crown to bring in some of the worst criminals in Trethias, and they are tasked with bringing her to the capital city to be put on trial.
But with the High King absent from the palace these last years, the Council are vying for power, and they want Quillan to use her skills to undo the lapis that keeps the king from aging.
With a promise of freeing them from their bond to the Kingdom, the Council are pushing the Sorrows in their pursuit for power, but some of the Sorrows don't want their fate in the hands of another power broker, instead they ask Quillan for help. If she can open books, she might be able to find where their true heritage lies.
Quillan will have to navigate conspiracies and accusations from all sides to save herself from a fate worse than death. The High King could return at any moment, putting a halt to everyone's plans and subjecting the book dealer to the bond of the Sorrows herself.
Cover
I am actually kind of torn about your cover. Why?
Because it looks amazing. I adore the text, even if it is pretty simple even in its fanciness. I love that shade of blue going on there, so yeah. That is instantly drawing my eye.
But I am staring at your cover. And have been staring at your cover for a good piece of time. Still no idea what in the world I am supposed to be getting about your story from it.
It looks like someone went "let's see how many ways I can finagle with this blue substance until it looks cool" then threw text over it. There is some snow-like effects going on? Is a blue ball of gas experiencing snow?
So overall, it looks nice, but I have no idea what I'm looking at.
I also do not really love the subtitle. It just feels so... Duh? Like, yes, selling illegal stuff is dangerous. That's why it's illegal. It's like the line was trying to be dramatic just to end up funny?
I won't lie. It could be me and my kinda fuzzy brain (I am writing this section of the review past midnight while sleepy). But yes. It just reads silly, and I keep reading it in an epic movie voice to make myself chuckle. And then making up other silly ones in my head... Seriously. Say these lines in your head with an overly energetic, summer blockbuster kid's movie epic voice:
