A political assassin sent to save her kind must discover who her true enemies are. A so-called peace between humans and Witchik is maintained through a treaty--a one-sided treaty that's slowly threatening the witches' existence. When the treaty demands that Ranka serve as the Bloodwinn, or prince's bride, she refuses--only to have close friend Yeva mistakenly abducted in her place. Ongrum, Ranka's coven leader, sends her to the capital city of Seaswept to rescue Yeva and assassinate the prince, but he and his twin sister aren't what she expects. Sheltered Prince Galen's kindhearted; icy, calculating Princess Aramis matches her brilliance with her goodness. Aramis and her best friend, a mysterious ambassador, have been desperately trying to cure a new plague that's claiming witches--turning them into warped versions of the special kind of witch Ranka is, a blood-witch or nigh-uncontrollable killing machine. Working with the twins, Ranka learns dark secrets about the disease and who the villains really are in the twisty plot (which becomes a marathon of action and betrayal in the final act). Ranka and Aramis' slow-burn romance is rewarding. Some worldbuilding questions are left unanswered, as the story's more concerned with narratives about betrayal of trust and untangling abuse and manipulation from love. Large, muscular Ranka is White; the twins are Black. There's racial diversity that holds no in-world significance among humans of all classes and witches (who can be of any gender). A relationship-driven fantasy with much to offer. (Fantasy. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Bloodshed follows closely behind 17-year-old Ranka, a rare and powerful blood-witch whose magic demands death. When her friend Yeva goes missing, and a gruesome plague starts killing witches throughout Witchik, Ranka's coven sends her south under the guise of naming her Bloodwinn--bride to a human prince--so she can find her friend and destroy the Bloodwinn treaty by killing her groom. But kindhearted Prince Galen Sunra is shamefully sheltered, while his beautiful, dogged twin sister, Aramis, has far superior political acumen. As more witches turn up deformed and dead, Ranka and Aramis make a pact to find a cure--and maybe even save Ranka from her own blood-magic. From start to finish, this action-packed debut pulls no punches. Characters are given racial markers and socioeconomic distinctions (Ranka is white, the Sunra twins Black), though this is not, nor is it intended to be, a story about race. Instead, readers are given a continuous unfurling of information strengthened by a queer romance and accompanied by the kind of high stakes that fantasy-lovers will reach for.

Teenage blood-witch Ranka has been chosen to marry the human prince of Isodal in accordance with a treaty meant to protect witch lands throughout the kingdom. Despite the treaty, however, humans have been ravaging the witches' homes. But when Ranka's coven, driven by vengeance, encourages her to go through with the marriage and kill the prince, she refuses. After Isodal's rulers begin abducting witches, and a sudden mysterious illness fells many of her fellow magical kin, Ranka decides to keep up her end of the treaty to save her people. At the palace, she meets the royal Sunra twins--her soft-spoken and fearful betrothed, Prince Galen, and his calculating, beautiful sister, Princess Aramis. As the twins teach Ranka how to control her blood-magic and help her investigate the mysterious disease, she must reckon with her mission to betray the prince she's befriended and the princess she's fallen for. A fully fleshed, nuanced cast driven by the need for acceptance, a desire for justice, and a thirst for power propel this adrenaline-fueled debut. Mix's striking prose skillfully layers the characters' emotional vulnerabilities without reading as saccharine or sacrificing momentum. Ranka is white; the twins are Black. Ages 14--up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Nov.)