Natasha Reynolds

For fans of The Hunger Games, Tomorrow When the War Began, Children of Blood and Bone, and The Poppy War, comes a debut novel about reclaiming identity, surviving against all odds, and discovering true power.

For centuries, the Satarian refugees have lived on the periphery of life, confined to the Al’Mazraea refugee camp and shunned by the Amanese across the border. Mila has grown up in the camp, dreaming of the day her life could be different... But over time, conditions have only been deteriorating for the Satarians. Their freedoms are gradually, insidiously, being plucked away like wings from an insect.

One thing has always been outlawed, however; creomancy, the ancient Satarian art of tapping into the Earth’s power. Guided by her older brother, Nasir, Mila learns this dying magic in secret, knowing discovery could cost them everything.

When a rising political group comes to power and stirs hate in the hearts and minds of the Amanese people, a disaster strikes that will leave Mila’s magical abilities exposed, with consequences too horrific to imagine. With violence and murder as their tools, the IronHand group seizes control over Al’Mazraea and the people within, and Mila’s dreams of a bright future wither away.

Now, in the face of overwhelming guilt, hatred and hopelessness, Mila must choose: should she stay small and tow the line, or fight and risk it all? And it’s not just her life hanging in the balance--Satarian culture itself is on the edge of extinction. When Mila is approached by the leader of a small band of rebels, she slowly comes to realise that even she deserves a chance at truly living--everyone does. But if the rebels don’t succeed, all will be lost to IronHand’s regime of torture, starvation, and murder.

☠️

To the border walls,

To the prejudices and misconceptions,

To the laws that will destroy them,

To each other,

They are BOUND.