Shades of Rust and Ruin

by A. G. Howard

Overview

New York Times bestselling author A.G. Howard launches a dark and compelling new YA fantasy series about a girl whose family is cursed by Halloween.

"Packed with action scenes, detailed world-building, and allusions to other popular media, this will be a crowd-pleaser with avid fantasy readers, likely to appeal to fans of Melissa Marr and Holly Black." -BCCB

Phoenix “Nix” Loring knows her family is under a Halloween curse. When she was three, her parents tragically died on October 31st. Eleven years later, her twin sister Lark suffered a similar fate.

Ever since, Nix has battled survivor guilt. She can't even find comfort in Clarey, Lark's boyfriend and the one person who understands her pain, because Nix's hidden feelings for him go far beyond friendship. All that remains are her sketches, where she finds solace among the goblins and faeries in her imaginary world of Mystiquel. When her depression starts affecting her ability to see color, Nix all but gives up on her art, until her uncle goes missing on Halloween day. Hot on his trail, Nix and Clarey step through a portal, becoming trapped inside a decaying version of their town filled with Nix's own sketches come to life.

As Nix and Clarey search for her uncle within the sinister and dangerous world of Mystiquel, Nix discovers there's more to her family curse and otherworldly artwork than she ever imagined-and unless she can solve the Goblin King's maze before the clock strikes midnight, her life won't be the only one the curse claims next.

Set in a gritty, atmospheric world filled with magical creatures, New York Times bestselling author A.G. Howard launches a thrilling new fantasy full of romance, twists, and betrayals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547608102
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/06/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	858,439
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

A. G. Howard is the #1 New York Times and international bestselling author of young adult retellings and adult gothic paranormal romances. Her dark Alice in Wonderland series, Splintered, has been published in over a dozen languages and hit the New York Times series list and her Phantom of the Opera retelling Roseblood was a #1 New York Times bestseller.

Editorial Reviews

10/10/2022

Draping fae mythology in steampunk trappings, Howard (the Splintered series) launches a moody dark fantasy series opener that recalls Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market. On Halloween night three years ago, then-14-year-old Nix Loring, who is white with partial albinism, discovered her twin sister, Lark, dead in their shared bunk bed. Out of grief and guilt, she abandoned the imaginary steampunk fae world, Mystiquel, that the twins created together, which Nix developed through her art. Now 17, Nix’s life is thrown into further turmoil when her legal guardian, Uncle Thatch, goes missing. Joined by Lark’s brown-skinned ex-boyfriend Clarey Darden, a talented special effects makeup artist who has Waardenburg syndrome and experiences panic attacks, Nix manages guilt over her growing feelings for Clarey while following clues that transport the duo to Mystiquel. There she meets Perish, the goblin king, who offers her a deal: heal the realm, which has decayed since she abandoned it, and he’ll set her, Clarey, and Thatch free. Employing deliberate plotting, intricate worldbuilding, and a plethora of mystical creatures, such as cyborg faeries, Howard keenly examines themes of grief and guilt against an eerie backdrop. Ages 13–up. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Employing deliberate plotting, intricate worldbuilding, and a plethora of mystical creatures, such as cyborg faeries, Howard keenly examines themes of grief and guilt against an eerie backdrop.” —Publishers Weekly

“A horror-tinged quest in a crumbling world, filled with evocative, poetic descriptions. . . . This fantasy-horror-steampunk quest will please readers who love complex language, lush descriptions, and plots as twisty and deceptive as Celtic knots.” —SLJ

“This modern fairy tale straddles a line somewhere between Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market and Jim Henson's Labyrinth.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Packed with action scenes, detailed world-building, and allusions to other popular media, this will be a crowd-pleaser with avid fantasy readers, likely to appeal to fans of Melissa Marr and Holly Black.” —BCCB

From the Publisher

08/01/2022

Gr 8 Up—Seventeen-year-old Nix, a "partial albino," dreads Halloween. Her parents died on a long-ago Halloween, and more recently, her identical twin died on that day. To keep Lark's memory alive and cope with her overwhelming guilt, Nix threw herself into creating a steampunk world called Mystiquiel. It combined her artistry, Lark's mechanical skills, and backstory from an old picture book: The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti. But this October 31st, Nix discovers that Mystiquiel and its inhabitants have taken on a life of their own. To lure Nix in—along with her best friend and crush Clarey (Lark's ex)—the king of Mystiquiel kidnaps Nix's one remaining relative. Trying to rescue Uncle Thatch turns into a nightmare game for Nix, scrambling to survive in an incomprehensibly complex world, where nothing is as it seems—not even Nix herself. Readers who persist through a slow and somewhat confusing start will be rewarded by a horror-tinged quest in a crumbling world, filled with evocative, poetic descriptions and complex vocabulary ("phantosmia," "calcimining," "voltaic"). Nix is a sympathetic, layered character, as is Clarey, who has "deep brown" skin and Waardburg Syndrome, causing deafness and partial albinism. Their slow-burn romance never goes beyond a single kiss. VERDICT This fantasy-horror-steampunk quest will please readers who love complex language, lush descriptions, and plots as twisty and deceptive as Celtic knots. Hand it to fans of the movie Labyrinth who are ready for a grittier, but equally labyrinthine matching of wits with the devious fae.—Rebecca Moore

School Library Journal

2022-07-13
Steampunk goblins, family secrets, and the lure of forbidden fruit.

This modern (think: a vinyl dress, facial piercings, and Astoria, Oregon, of The Goonies fame) fairy tale straddles a line somewhere between Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market (which is cited throughout) and Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (never explicitly mentioned but visual and linguistic homages abound). Seventeen-year-old Phoenix “Nix” Loring, a White girl with partial albinism, has tortured herself ever since Lark, her identical twin, died three years ago. She’s been filled with guilt at having been a bad sister—and now feels even more guilt due to her growing feelings for Clarey, Lark’s brown-skinned boyfriend who has Waardenburg syndrome and suffers from panic attacks. This is enough material for a book all by itself but is mostly background for a Halloween adventure into Mystiquiel, a magical world Nix has drawn since Lark’s death, where cyborg faeries and goblins are ruled by the Goblin King, who is locked in a power struggle with an entity known as the Motherboard. The drawn-out adventure takes only a day in the protagonist’s world, with plenty of lush description and endless overthinking surrounding some whimsical set pieces as Nix navigates riddles and mind games. Nix holds her grief and guilt tightly until her magical adventure gives her perspective; a final twist changes the stakes and sets up at least one sequel.

Fairy fruit this ain’t. (Fantasy. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews