Devlin and Lochlan are both spies working under the Whisperer of Aris. Their job is to infiltrate camps of rival countries, stealing plans that reveal upcoming attacks and uses of a magic called filigree. Complicating the job is the fact that the Whisperer is also Devlin's mother. Their relationship, never the best, now leaves Devlin feeling more like an employee than a daughter. Nonbinary Lochlan, a former caster who can no longer perform magic, learned spy tricks from Devlin, and the two became friends. On their latest mission to Cerena, they escaped through the strange pale land of the Mists, haunted by terrifying phantoms made of lightning. As both the Mists and Cerena creep closer to Aris, Devlin is sent on a very public mission: to infiltrate the court of Cerena and steal filigree magic. This is Victoria's (The Golden Flame, 2021) sophomore outing, and her well-wrought world of spies and suspicion will intrigue fantasy readers.

Feuding kingdoms Aris and Cerena must unite to defeat a common evil in this ethereal fantasy by Victoria (This Golden Flame). Aris is partially swallowed by the Mists, a corrupted enchantment inhabited by terrifying creatures, which separates the two countries and has been eroding Aris residents’ innate magic, leaving them weakened and fearing impending attacks from both the creatures and Cerena. Spy Devlin, 16, is sent by Aris’s spymaster—her emotionally distant mother, the Whisperer—to Cerena to kidnap the kingdom’s strongest magic user, Alyse, planning to use her power to build up Aris’s defenses. Undercover, Devlin inserts herself into Alyse’s inner circle, and the two develop an earnest friendship. As Devlin assists Alyse’s research into the Mists, they slowly reveal startling truths, including that Cerena is not as safe from the Mists as it seems. While there is minimal physical character description, Victoria’s worldbuilding is broadly queer inclusive—Devlin’s best friend is nonbinary, gay marriage is normalized, and Devlin reads as asexual. Low-stakes subterfuge leads to a slow-paced plot, but the central friendship—in which timid Alyse and reserved Devlin help each other grow beyond external expectations—makes for an emotionally layered read. Ages 13–up. Agent: Rebecca Strauss, DeFiore & Co. (Nov.)