Moth Dark

When Sascia was 12, a rift between Earth and a realm called the Darkworld appeared, spilling monsters and mayhem into Shanghai, and later, her hometown, New York City. Now 18, Sascia is enchanted by the Dark and its creatures, which leads her to study Darkmoths at the prestigious Umbra Program for Young Researchers. Despite her fascination with the subject, she’s disillusioned by the red tape and hurdles she must navigate in her studies. Needing funds to retain her spot at Umbra, she moonlights as a guide for thrill-seeking tourists scavenging artifacts from the Dark. But when one of these illegal excursions leads her to gender-fluid Nugau—a volatile elf princet from the Dark, who greets her with lethal intent—time and the universe as Sascia knows them begin to unravel. Nugau claims they’ve met her before—or will. As Sascia contends with the Dark’s constantly shifting reality, she and Nugau realize their fates, and that of their worlds, are inextricably entwined. Hatzopoulou (Hearts That Cut) juxtaposes the Darkworld’s court politics against human society’s corporate corruption, resulting in a dimension-crossing, time-twisting romantasy. Intriguing descriptions of the Dark’s enigmatic creatures inject atmospheric otherworldliness. Sascia has Greek ancestry. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michaela Whatnall, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Oct.)