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WE SHALL BE MONSTERS
by Alyssa Wees

WE SHALL BE MONSTERS by Alyssa Wees

A dark, lyrical fantasy blending the world of the Fae with the stories mothers tell to keep their daughters safe. Like her previous novel, NOCTURNE, Wees weaves a tale that is for readers of whimsical fantasy and fairy tales such as Naomi Novik's UPROOTED and WINTERWOOD by Shae Ernshaw and fans of tales of the Fae, such as Holly Black's THE FOLK OF THE AIR series, and C.N. Crawford's CITY OF THORNS.

Gemma Cassata and her mother Virginia live in an isolated antique shop in Michigan, near a small patch of woods that Gemma is fully aware she is not meant to go, but her curiosity gets the best of her and she goes anyway. Virginia has warned her multiple times about the monsters that lurk there and Virginia knows the lure of the woods all too well. Her own mother warned her about the monsters that resided there, and she also did not listen. Until a witch cursed her true love, Ash—Gemma's father—into the form of a beast just before Gemma's birth. And if Virginia cannot break the curse before her daughter turns fifteen, Ash will eat Virginia's heart and Gemma will belong to the witch.

When Gemma inadvertently gets too close to the truth, the witch steals Virginia away instead and suddenly it is up to Gemma to go into the enchanted forest, into Fae lands to try to rescue her mother and break the curse.

Told in alternating viewpoints between Gemma and Virginia, this is not only a tale of a girl's fantastical quest through a darkly magical fairyland, but also an examination of the complex bonds of love and resentment that lie between parents and their children as they push and pull for discipline and independence.

This is the second in a two-book contract following NOCTURNE, her adult debut we published last year.

We have licensed both NOCTURNE and WE SHALL BE MONSTERS to Del Rey/Cornerstone/PRH UK and Urano licensed Spanish rights to NOCTURNE.

Selected quotes for NOCTURNE:

"Haunted and mythical.” --Booklist

"Enthralling…lush." --Publishers Weekly

"Lyrical...Perfect for fans of Erin Morgenstern and fairy tale retellings." --Library Journal

“Enchanting...bursting with dazzling prose and dark romance.” --Erin A. Craig

"Richly imagined and heartbreakingly told.” --Hannah Whitten

"A powerful, haunting read.” --Joan He

“A beautiful nightmare and a fairy tale all at once.” --Evelyn Skye

“A fever dream of a novel, surreal and intricate, and enchanting in every way.” --Ava Reid

“Haunting and immersive—like a dream poured onto a page.” --Heather Walter

Alyssa Wees is the acclaimed author of THE WAKING FOREST (Delacorte Childrens) and NOCTURNE. She earned a BA in English from Creighton University and an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia College Chicago. Currently she works as an assistant librarian in youth services where she lives near Chicago, IL.