Briar Girls

October 4, 2021
Wells (the Shatter the Sky duology) reinterprets “Sleeping Beauty,” centering light brown–skinned Lena, 17 and cursed since birth with the power to kill through a single touch. Ten years after her mother abandoned their family, Lena and her father must flee their home for the town of Onwey; they’re charged with keeping villagers from entering an ominous, bewitching forest called the Silence. Having spent her life running from the witch who cursed her, as well as the memories of her own unintended victims, Lena is lonely and sheltered until a mysterious woman stumbles out of the Silence. Though the forest is known to be deadly, Lena accompanies her to the Gather, a city of magic within it that may hold the secret to both lifting Lena’s deadly curse and finding the key to her heart. A first-person, RPG-style narrative results in thin characterizations and subsequently weak relationships, but Wells’s straightforward handling of bisexual Lena’s sex-positive attitude is a breath of fresh air. Wells swings for the fences, ambitiously conceiving a take on fairy tale magic that leans into fast-paced adventure. Ages 14–up. Agent: Rebecca Podos, Rees Literary.

October 1, 2021
Born with a terrible curse, Lena travels through a treacherous, magical forest in search of freedom. A witch's curse has left 17-year-old Lena with the ability to kill with a simple touch of her skin. Now, she and her father are on the run after she caused a tragic accident. They end up in a small town bordering the Silence, a dark and foreboding forest from which no one who enters ever returns. Lena feels a growing need to escape her overprotective father and lonely life, and an opportunity arises when a mysterious girl named Miranda emerges from the Silence and reveals that a magical society exists within it. Captivated by Miranda and the chance to escape her curse, Lena makes a deal: She will help Miranda find a sleeping princess who is said to have the power to overthrow a tyrant in exchange for being guided to mages who might be able to help her. The farther Lena travels, however, the more secrets she uncovers, and she must learn how to trust herself if she is to have any chance of surviving. This novel offers a darker twist on "Sleeping Beauty," one centered around curses, blood magic, and the shifting forest. Told from Lena's first-person point of view, it is an atmospheric coming-of-age fantasy about finding independence. Lena has light brown skin and is attracted to both men and women; pale-skinned Miranda has red hair. An intense, sinister take on a classic fairy tale. (Fantasy. 14-18)

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November 24, 2021
Grades 9-12 Wells' stand-alone dark fantasy reimagines ""Sleeping Beauty"" against the backdrop of a 100-year battle for control between a magical forest and the blood mages who bound it, and centers around Lena, 17, cursed to kill with a touch. After a tragic accident with her power, Lena and her father flee to a town bordering the Silence, a vast, malevolent forest. When they take in Miranda, an injured woman who emerged from the woods, Lena learns about the city within called the Gather, where magic is commonplace. Despite her father's protests, she agrees to help Miranda find a legendary sleeping princess with the power to overthrow the Gather's tyrannical rulers in exchange for help breaking her curse. This fast-paced coming-of-age adventure has several thrilling, dangerous sequences; secrets and dramatic betrayals; a sex-positive romance between bisexual Lena and Miranda; and a host of morally gray characters, including Lena, who do questionable things to survive, win their freedom, or protect another. Readers of twisty fairy-tale retellings will be enchanted.

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