The Broken Tower
1 primary work • 2 total works
Book 1
The heir to an arcane bloodline must outwit their ambitious rival to stop a ruthless magical adversary in a YA fantasy debut perfect for fans of A Lesson in Vengeance and Hell Followed With Us
Rat Evans, nonbinary heir to one of the oldest magical bloodlines in New York, doesn’t cast spells anymore. For as long as Rat can remember, they’ve been surrounded by doorways no one else sees and corridors that aren’t on any map. Then one day, they opened a passage and found a broken tower in a field of weeds—and something followed them back.
When Rat is accepted into Bellamy Arts, all they want is a place to hide and to make sure they never open another passageway again. But when the only other person who knows what really happened last year—Harker Blakely, the dangerously gifted trans boy who used to be Rat’s closest friend—turns up on campus, Rat begins to realize that Bellamy Arts might not be as safe as they’d thought. And the tower might not be through with them yet.
Soon, Rat finds themself caught in a web of secrets and long-buried magic, with their friend-turned-enemy at their throat. But the closer they come to uncovering the truth about the tower, the further they’re drawn toward the unsettling powers that threaten to swallow them whole.
Rat Evans knows that they shouldn’t have made a deal with Isola, a shadowy raven knight older than the stars and more powerful than the strongest arcanists. They know Isola can’t be trusted, know that promising to go with her once all of this is over was a mistake. But they’d needed to make sure their friends were safe—that Harker was safe, even though they’re still not sure if he’s a friend or a rival or something more complicated. Rat hadn’t been expecting Harker to go willingly with Isola, to be trapped in the tower for months.
They need to search Bellamy Arts for answers on how to get Isola’s heart out of the Ingrid Collection. Even though Rat’s magic usually allows them to see hidden passages and open any lock, when they tried to get into the Collection last time, the doors wouldn’t open. With the help of Jinx, Agatha, and Will, Rat searches for answers, but Evening and his new apprentice are fast on their heels.
As Rat tries to use their powers to unravel the secrets of Isola’s heart and the Collection, the more they realize how intertwined they may be in all of this—and that their role may be a dangerous and deadly one. Will Rat find a way to escape their deal and save the boy they care about most? And what are they willing to risk in order to make sure that the tower and Isola are razed to the ground, for good this time? Enthralling and filled with twists, the second book in The Broken Tower saga combines the dark academia aesthetic of A Lesson in Vengeance with the queer rage of Hell Followed With Us, and will have readers tearing through the pages to see how this duology ends.