“An intensely readable YA debut with undertones of Atwood and a vivid, immersive setting.” The Guardian

“An utterly compelling dystopia…A simply stunning debut.” – Kat Ellis, author of Harrow Lake

“The must-have book of the season for those who enjoy their dystopia wrapped in romance.” – Bex Hogan, author of Viper

“Immersive, beautifully written and achingly romantic, I state my preference for this gorgeous dystopian debut.” – Sue Cunningham, author of Totally Deceased

The world didn’t end all at once but drip by drip…

Manon Pawlak has just turned eighteen, a debutant at the start of the Virtue Season: a process that will result in a match with a suitable genetic mate. Her best friend, Agatha, has been decommissioned, forbidden to partake in the season and unite with the boy who has had her heart since they were children.

When Manon’s mother wades out into the waters of Penn Vale with stones sewn into the lining of her coat, Manon’s genetic purity is called into question and she’s forced to rely on the fisherman’s son, Wick, to keep her secret. But as they dance, the truth about their world starts to unravel, and Manon finds herself at the centre of it all. And the council is watching.

• Bridgerton meets The Hunger Games with shades of The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984
• As romantic as it is sinister and completely unputdownable
• This is L.M. Nathan’s debut YA, almost 10 years in the making and inspired by the countryside of rural Lancashire
• Featuring the ever-popular BookTok tropes of #forbiddenromance, #friendstolovers and #forcedproximity and themes of a woman’s right to choose, a woman’s right to her own body, totalitarianism and how true love endures in even the darkest of places