Stage Set for Villains

The gods are dead. All that s left are the Players

The performers of the Playhouse are as worshipped as they are feared, their enchanting shows bending hearts, minds, and even reality itself. Vicious, godlike, lethal.

Eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper knows the dangers better than anyone, after her own encounter with a Player resulted in a curse that is slowly killing her.

When the Playhouse announces the spectacle of a lifetime?a chance for one mortal to steal a Player s immortality?Riven sees her last chance to live. Desperate for answers, she infiltrates the competition. There, she finds Jude, the Playhouse s brilliant, merciless Lead Player, whose charm is as dangerous as his Craft, and strikes a deadly bargain to save her life.

But with time running out and the Playhouse s secrets unraveling into a disturbing picture, Riven faces a grim possibility: she might not be the hero of her story after all.

In fact, she may be the villain.

Because the Playhouse doesn t just tell stories. It rewrites them.

And Riven s might end in blood.

Caraval meets One Dark Window in this lush and dark fantasy.