QUEEN OF FACES is the first in a YA fantasy trilogy, perfect for fans of Marie Lu and Leigh Bardugo, and the animanga Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Ghost in the Shell.

QUEEN OF FACES
by Petra Lord
TBD
(via Park & Fine Literary and Media)

Anabelle Gage is trapped in a boy’s body, and it’s rotting from the inside out.

In the nation of Caimor, the wealthy buy and swap fabricated bodies like clothes. But Ana, a mere scullery maid, can only afford a grey, withering form for herself, and by her seventeenth birthday, it’s already falling apart. Attending Paragon Academy, Caimor’s elite magic school, is her last shot at a new body—but when Ana fails the entrance exam for the third time, she puts her illusion magic to the task of stealing one instead.

Except Ana is caught, and by no less than the Paragon headmaster. He offers her a choice: die for her crime, or become a mercenary under his command, working secretly against those who would see the nation’s magical elite toppled. Desperate, Ana accepts. No matter how dangerous or illegal the job is, if she earns enough money, she just might be able to escape her body before it kills her.

But revolt brews in Caimor’s smog-choked underworld, and at its helm is Khaoivhe, the most infamous outlaw mage in history. As Ana steals, fights, and kills for the school of her dreams, she is drawn into the dark, tangled web of Khaoivhe’s machinations…and she discovers secrets that will upend her idea of who the heroes of her story are—and that threaten to leave her world in ruins.

Petra Lord is a biracial trans author. She has a BFA in TV Writing from New York University, which she uses to recommend Netflix shows to her parents and predict the endings of Marvel movies. She’s currently based in Los Angeles, where she feeds her dual addiction to Sweetgreen and Korean barbecue and sustains herself off videos of her cat. QUEEN OF FACES is her debut novel.