Perhaps, if you were around the internet for a few glorious hours on August 19th, you saw the publisher's next marketing image for this book, which surrounded the cover with a bunch of cutesy chalkboard 'tags' - elements of the book's plot and main tropes pulled out to showcase its content, a device used extensively in fanfiction - and maybe, from that, you started to get a bit confused. There's some pretty dark stuff in the rest of the blurb - abuse and cult thinking - but on the whole, the book seems to promise something gentle and healing. The tagline promises a book that 'blends pain and pleasure and will make readers question what is real, and what is magical.' If you frequent Edelweiss, you may also have checked out the author letter, saying that 'during a time when we are all struggling with isolation, Ashes asks what it means to support those we love when it's hardest.' It's a lovely sentiment, one that pushes a lot of the right emotional buttons. It's a new standalone, by an author with one previously published novel, and it looks gorgeous! Pastel blue cover, vibrant yellow birds, bold white font, all pointing to something romantic but maybe sad and thoughtful, a bit like All The Birds in the Sky or This Is How You Lose the Time War. Imagine: you're on the internet one day, and you hear about a book.

Tor publishing books