A Curse Carved in Ink

About this book

Order the DELUXE LIMITED EDITION of A Curse Carved in Ink now--only available on the first printing while supplies last! This stunning, collectible hardcover edition features stenciled edges, a hardcover jacket with foil effects, custom-illustrated endpapers, and a foil-stamped case. "With hauntingly rich prose, Koay lures you into the underworld and doesn't let you go." --Tigest Girma, #1 New York Times bestselling author A dazzling stand-alone romantasy debut steeped in Chinese vampire folklore and a delicious queer love triangle, for fans of She Who Became the Sun and Daughter of the Moon Goddess. All Zhenya has ever wanted is to escape the monotony of her tiny village with her best friend Shuhua. But Zhenya must care for her grandmother, whose madness haunts their crumbling family bookstore--and she won't abandon her, madness and all. It is only when her grandmother dies that Zhenya discovers it was never madness, but a curse. And with her death, the curse has passed on to her one remaining descendent: Zhenya. It screams to be fed, but no matter how hard Zhenya tries, she is powerless to stop it. Even when it demands that she kill Shuhua with her bare hands, trapping her soul in an eternity of torment. As Zhenya grapples with Shuhua's death, she's confronted by two immortals of ancient legend: Kaijun, the broody judge of hell, and Yaori, the flirtatious goddess of death. Together, they drag Zhenya to Diyu--hell itself. To free Shuhua's soul, Zhenya must journey through the ten layers of Diyu, undertaking trials that will test her in unimaginable ways. And to complicate things further, Zhenya finds herself torn between Kaijun and Yaori, grappling with feelings she doesn't fully understand. But she can't afford to be distracted, not when the only way to break the curse is to destroy it herself. "Full of heart--and full of heat--this lush, dark fantasy is a debut to remember" (Amie Kaufman, New York Times bestselling author).