WHAT MONSTROUS GODS

Five hundred years ago, the heretic Ruven imprisoned Runakhia’s royal family inside magical briar, silencing the gods they serve; in breaking the spell, a 17-year-old learns a fateful lesson: Be careful what you wish for.

After she lost her family to the plague, Lia Kurinava was raised by nuns who worship Nin-Anna, one of eight deities who formerly blessed Runakhia. A rare commoner born with the Royal Gift that permits the royal family to enter the gods’ realm, Lia uses her gift to breach the briar and kill Ruven. She awakens the royal family from their enchanted sleep to seek the gods’ help in defeating the plague and Runakhia’s enemies. The chillingly indifferent deities whom Runakhians worship work their magic through human saints whose miracles eventually cause the saints’ horrific deaths. They’re more demonic than saintly, according to Ruven, who’s now a tormenting but charismatic ghost upon whom Lia increasingly depends as she’s ordered to help the royals re-enter modern life, restore the gods to Runakhia, and marry Prince Araunn. Ruven may be her worst enemy—or her only hope—in her quest to ensure the gods are worthy of their powers. Sedate pacing and high-fantasy psychic distance lend heft to an original tale unfolding from an unsettling premise. Beyond the charmingly disembodied love story, the question of whether humans might outgrow their gods offers intriguing food for thought. Major characters are cued white.

A sharply original blend of romance and dark fantasy.