Unlock the Dark

November 18, 2024
A teenage key conjurista scrambles to save her family in this imaginative romantasy debut. Elia Tallis, whose power is capable of unlocking almost anything, is determined to keep her gravely ill father alive using magic until she turns 19 and can legally take over guardianship of her younger siblings. Then Morthanos, the god of death, claims her youngest brother as an acolyte as punishment for delaying her father’s death. Hoping to find a way to release her brother from Morthanos’s clutches, Elia reluctantly makes a bargain with Prince Trystoferian Lightdragon, ninth in line for the throne. In exchange for the prince’s resources and protection for her remaining siblings, Elia must accompany him to a land that’s closed to outsiders in search of the Scroll of Peace, which is said to have the power to end the relentless war ravaging their kingdom. The duo successfully obtain the scroll, but its effects are not what the prince imagines and Elia, narrowly escaping with her life, must now find a way to rescue him. Lengthy buildup and expository worldbuilding make the high-adrenaline plot points of this complex and exciting adventure feel rushed, occasionally stunting the narrative’s emotional impact. The protagonists cue as white. Ages 13–up. Agent: Amy Giufridda, Belcastro Literary.

January 1, 2025
A teenager fights for love and her family using all the power she has. Eighteen-year-old Elia is a Conjurista in Isalindra with the ability to magically open any lock. Limited by her age--at 19, she'll legally be an adult--Elia has, at her ill papa's request, been using an elixir to keep him alive, siphoning off his magic to create doors to other places for customers of her family's travel shop. In this way, she's managed to support her four younger siblings. When her 8-year-old brother, Myron, is touched by god of death Morthanos and turned into a Deathfate, Elia decides to return to Serratura at the behest of handsome scholar Prince Trystoferian, who agrees to support her family in return for her taking this risk--years earlier she was banished from the kingdom under pain of death. Trys is desperate to find the Scroll of Peace in the Serraturan Great Library, and Elia believes the library contains a scroll that will save Myron from the misery of being a Deathfate. But when things don't go as planned, Elia must try to save both Myron and Trys, whom she's grown to feel more for than she expected. Unfortunately, their romance comes across as forced, and serious moments are interrupted with awkward exchanges that don't quite land. The worldbuilding is immensely creative, however, and the community supporting Elia and her siblings is appealing. Main characters are cued white. An enjoyable debut set in an originally wrought world.(Fantasy. 14-18)

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January 16, 2025
Grades 9-12 The Tallis family are all talented magic workers, from eldest Elia, who conjures keys and doorways, down to Saya, a gifted healer. Their father has been tethered by Elia to the world of the living until she comes of age and can care for all of her siblings. After youngest Myron is revealed as a Deathfate, a seer in service to the god of death, Morthanos, Myron is taken by Morthanos because Elia has withheld her father from being claimed by death. When Elia is offered a contract from one of the royal princes, she's forced to accept, even though the location he wishes to visit is forbidden to Elia. Prince Trys' promise will pay money and his hand in marriage, and the fact that he's handsome doesn't hurt. Their adventure into the world that could save them both is rife with danger and attraction on both sides of the magic door. This is Hawk's first novel, and her fully realized world, matched with a complex and complete magic system, will appeal to any and all fantasy fans.

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