Mortal Queens (The Fae Dynasty #1)

McCombs (the Royal Rose Chronicles series) cultivates an air of intrigue with a dark undertow in this beguiling fantasy, in which a human teen is chosen to be the mortal queen of the Fae realm. During the annual Queen’s Day Choosing Ceremony, teen Thea is selected to ascend to the throne and rule over the Fae as their mortal queen. Though being chosen is an honor that most girls only dream of, once coronated, Thea learns that the Fae realm is nothing like she’s been taught, and the only way to gain—and keep—real power is to form alliances and rely on trickery and lies. She aligns with the House of Delvers, led by affluent thief Talen, who attempts to guide Thea through her reign. When he reveals that the Mortal Queen always mysteriously dies two years after her coronation, Thea plots her escape and determines to break the curse of the mortal queens. McCombs devises an ethereal adventure teeming with romance and danger via a convoluted plot and straightforward worldbuilding, and Thea’s stubborn yet levelheaded temperament paired with the author’s calculated prose seeds tension and surprises throughout. Protagonists default to white. Ages 13–up. (Feb.)