Description

“An intensely readable YA debut with undertones of
Atwood and a vivid, immersive setting.” The Guardian

“A
dystopia unlike any other I’ve seen, combining
debutante courting etiquette with realistic climate change
warnings.” – Lauren James, author of The Quiet at the
End of the World

“Compelling as
it is searingly romantic.” – Elizabeth Lee, author of
The Cunning Women

“An utterly compelling dystopia…A simply stunning
debut.” – Kat Ellis, author of Harrow Lake

“The must-have book of the season for those who enjoy
their dystopia wrapped in romance.” – Bex Hogan, author
of Viper

“Immersive, beautifully written and achingly romantic,
I state my preference for this gorgeous dystopian debut.” –
Sue Cunningham, author of Totally Deceased

The world didn’t end all at once but drip by drip…

Manon Pawlak has just turned eighteen, a debutant at the start
of the Virtue Season: a process that will result in a match with
a suitable genetic mate. Her best friend, Agatha, has been decommissioned,
forbidden to partake in the season and unite with the
boy who has had her heart since they were children.

When Manon’s mother wades out into the waters of Penn Vale with
stones sewn into the lining of her coat, Manon’s genetic purity
is called into question and she’s forced to rely on the fisherman’s
son, Wick, to keep her secret. But as they dance, the truth about
their world starts to unravel, and Manon finds herself at the
centre of it all. And the council is watching.

Bridgerton meets The Hunger Games with shades
of The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984

As romantic as it is sinister and completely unputdownable

This is L.M. Nathan’s debut YA, almost 10 years in the making
and inspired by the countryside of rural Lancashire

Featuring the ever-popular BookTok tropes of #forbiddenromance,
#friendstolovers and #forcedproximity and themes of a woman’s
right to choose, a woman’s right to her own body, totalitarianism
and how true love endures in even the darkest of places