They say we’re dangerous. But we’re not that different.

Jude is running out of time. Once a year, lucky young men in the House of Boys are auctioned to the female elite. But if Jude fails to be selected before he turns seventeen, a future deep underground in the mines awaits.

Yet ever since the death of his best friend at the hands of the all-powerful Chancellor, Jude has been desperate to escape the path set out for him. Finding himself entangled in a plot to assassinate the Chancellor, he finally has a chance to avenge his friend and win his freedom. But at what price?

A speculative YA thriller, tackling themes of traditional gender roles and power dynamics, for fans of Malorie Blackman, Louise O’Neill and THE POWER.




"Brutal, uncompromising and edge-of-your-seat action all the way through" – Alex Bell, author of FROZEN CHARLOTTE
"The best kind of up-all-night dystopian YA, thought-provoking, different and above all, an extraordinarily exciting story, whose main character, Jude, will stay with me for a very long time" Lucy Coats
"It's a gutsy, intelligent, tension-building tale. A bit Handmaid's Tale, a bit Mad Max, and a creature all its own." Sinead O'Hart, author of THE EYE OF THE NORTH
"Mind blowingly good. Love it. It’s going to get readers thinking." Dr Vanessa Harbour
"A dark, thought-provoking dystopian that is gorgeously written too" Amy McCaw, author of MINA AND THE UNDEAD
"It’s so gripping and tense and thought-provoking" Ben Oliver, author of THE LOOP