Böcker av Sarah Beth Durst

"Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant Caz--a magically sentient spider plant--have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire's most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city's elite. Then a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames. She and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she'd see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy--and very handsome--neighbor who can't take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she's fed and help fix up her new home. In need of income and reluctantly inspired by the beauty and people of the island who have welcomed her into their hearts, Kiela discovers something that even the bakery in town doesn't have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries that become the town's, and her handsome neighbor's, new favorite confection. But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela decides to open the island's first-ever and much-needed secret spellshop. Her plan comes with risks--the empire condemns the use of unsanctioned magic, and the consequence of sharing spells with commoners is death. But Kiela has only just found a place that feels like home and people who feel like family, and she'll risk anything for a chance at happiness."--

From the bestselling author of The Spellshop comes the award-winning first book in an adult epic fantasy series of malevolent nature spirits, a young woman's uncertain destiny, a deadly competition, and family found along the way-available in trade paperback for the first time. Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow . . . Only those spirits want to kill you. It's the first lesson that every Renthian learns. What is a queen?In Renthia, the queen is the one human with enough magical power to prevent the spirits from destroying every man, woman, and child. For the very spirits the humans rely on to live-wood, earth, water, air, fire, and ice-at the same time possess an instinctual drive to exterminate them. The queen is chosen for her ability to control the spirits, but she is also mortal, so to ensure the humans' survival, potential heirs to the queen's role are rigorously trained to take her place. And there is concern that Fara, the current queen, is weakening. What is a champion?With the stakes literally life and death, competition at the academy is fierce and demanding. Years ago, spirits slaughtered almost everyone in her village until young Daleina was able to drive them off with power she didn't know she possessed. Now struggling to equal the magical strength of her fellow trainees at the academy, she comes under the tutelage of a disgraced champion, Ven, who has spent his exile secretly fighting against the growing number of spirit attacks, and the mysterious healer Hamon. What is a family?Joining forces, they embark on a treacherous quest to find the source of the spirits' restlessness-a journey that will test their courage and trust, and force them to stand together against both enemies and friends to save their land...before it's bathed in blood.

From the bestselling author of The Spellshop comes the mesmerizing second book in the Queens of Renthia epic fantasy trilogy of malevolent nature spirits, a young queen learning as she goes, a mother with unwanted powers, an unsettled kingdom, and family found along the way-available in trade paperback for the first time. Not long ago, Daleina used her strength and skill to prevent the elemental spirits of wood, earth, water, air, fire, and ice from exterminating the human race and assumed the responsibility as Queen of keeping the peace and protected the humans of her land. But now for all her power, if she leaves the world before a new heir is ready, the spirits that inhabit her beloved realm will run wild, destroying her cities and slaughtering her people. Naelin is one such potential heir, but she couldn't be further removed from the Queen-and she wouldn't have it any other way. Her world is her two children, her husband, and the remote village tucked deep in the forest that is her home, and that's all she needs. But when Ven, the Queen's champion, passes through the village, Naelin's ambitious husband proudly tells him of his wife's ability to control spirits-magic that Naelin fervently denies. She knows that if the truth of her abilities is known, it will bring only death and separation from those she loves. But Ven has a single task: to find the best possible candidate to protect the people of Aratay. He did it once when he discovered Daleina, and he's certain he's done it again. Yet for all his appeals to duty, Naelin is a mother, and she knows her duty is to her children first and foremost. Only as the spirits become emboldened-even as ominous rumors trickle down from the north-does she realize that the best way to keep her son and daughter safe is to risk everything. Sarah Beth Durst established a place of dark wonder in The Queen of Blood, and now the stakes are even higher as the threat to the Queen and her people grows both from within and beyond the borders of Aratay in this riveting second novel of the Queens of Renthia series.

From the author of The Lies Among Us comes a magical tale about mothers and daughters, choices and consequences, and the real meaning of home when every place feels like a cage.Ten months. That's the longest Elisa has stayed anyplace, constantly propelled by her fear that if she puts down roots, a family curse will turn her into a tree.But she's grown tired of flitting from town to town and in and out of relationships. When she discovers a small town in Massachusetts where mysterious forces make it impossible for the residents to leave, she hopes she can change her fate.As Elisa learns about the town's history, she understands more about the women in her family, who seem doomed to never get what they want. Now she believes she's stuck, too--is that a patch of bark on her arm? But her neighbor's collection of pet birds sings secrets that Elisa can almost understand--secrets she must unravel in order to be truly alive.

From the award-winning author of The Bone Maker and The Lake House comes a haunting novel about sisterhood and grief, where difficult truths must contend with the corrosive power of unchecked lies.After her mother dies, Hannah doesn't know how to exist without her. Literally. In fact, Hannah's not even certain that she does exist. No one seems to see or hear her, and she finds herself utterly alone. Grief-stricken and confused, her sense of self slowly slipping away, Hannah sets out to find new purpose in life--and answers about who (and what) she really is.Hannah's only remaining family is her older sister, Leah. Yet even Leah doesn't seem to notice her. And while Hannah can see and hear her sister, she also sees beautiful and terrible things that don't--or shouldn't--exist. She learns there's much more to this world than meets the eye and struggles to make sense of it all.When Hannah sees Leah taking the same dangerous path that consumed their own mother--where lies supplant reality--she's desperate to get through to her. But facing difficult truths is harder than it looks...