Beneath These Cursed Stars (Beneath These Cursed Stars #1)

Teens seeking vengeance find star-crossed love in this tempestuous duology opener from Ryan, set in the world of her These Hollow Vows duology. Jas may now be a pampered Unseelie princess, but she remains traumatized by her time as false king Mordeus’s prisoner. Though Jas’s sister Brie killed Mordeus when she rescued Jas and claimed the Unseelie throne, Jas also wants the guards who tortured her dead; she slips out nightly to covertly murder them using an enchanted ring for which she traded her immortality. When rumors surface regarding Mordeus’s resurrection, a hyper-protective Brie sends Jas to stay with Wild Fae king Misha, unknowingly thwarting Jas’s revenge plot. Then shape-shifter Felicity offers an out: she’ll pose as Jas, provided that Jas helps a fellow former Mordeus captive liberate the human realm of Elora by slaying the diabolical patriarch of a powerful magical society—who is also Felicity’s birth father. Following a convoluted setup that relies upon knowledge of the preceding novels, Ryan delivers an emotionally complex dual-narrative tale that sensitively explores issues of agency and mental health while illustrating retaliation’s myopic nature. Sizzling romance and cascading complications maintain tension, and an artfully shaded, intersectionally diverse cast confers resonance. Ages 14–up. Agent: Dan Mandel, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (July)