Mixing a fresh take on high-fantasy tropes with a realistic version of young love, Moss creates a tale that will appeal to both lovers of epic struggles against evil, and those seeking a more personal narrative.

Since the goddess abandoned her people, the islands have been plagued by the evils of magic. Only the tyrannical Acolytes, servants of the dread Kraken, prevent witches from enslaving or killing everyone. Or at least that is what Marizza has been taught since birth. But when the unwanted advances of the town bully trigger her own magic, she discovers it might not be that simple.

Set on a chain of island kingdoms, the premise of a brutal sect achieving great power through the propitiation of an immense sea monster is immediately plausible. And the early example of random destruction caused by an untrained witch panicking makes the hatred of magic all the more realistic.