“Action, adventure, betrayal, and poison add up to a winner." —Booklist

New York Times–bestselling
author Rae Carson makes a triumphant return to the world of her award-winning
Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy in this extraordinary stand-alone novel. Fans of
Leigh Bardugo, Kendare Blake, and Tomi Adeyemi won’t want to put this book
down.

Red Sparkle
Stone is a foundling orphan with an odd name, a veiled past, and a mark of
magic in her hair. But finally—after years and years of running, of
fighting—she is about to be adopted into the royal family by Empress Elisa
herself. She’ll have a home, a family. Sixteen-year-old Red can hardly believe
her luck. Then, in a stunning political masterstroke, the empress’s greatest
rival blocks the adoption, and everything Red has worked for crumbles before
her eyes.

But Red
is not about to let herself or the empress become a target again. Determined to
prove her worth and protect her chosen family, she joins the Royal Guard, the
world’s most elite fighting force. It’s no coincidence that someone wanted her
to fail as a princess, though. Someone whose shadowy agenda puts everything—and
everyone—she loves at risk. As danger
closes in, it will be up to Red to save the empire. If she can survive
recruitment year—something no woman has ever done before.

New
York Times–bestselling author Rae Carson
returns to the world of The Girl of Fire and Thorns in this
action-packed fantasy-adventure starring an iconic heroine who fights for her
family and her friends, and for a place where she will belong.