Mirage, Daud, Somaiya

A refreshing and unique coming-of-age story...a beautiful and necessary meditation on finding strength in ones culture. -Entertainment Weekly, Top Pick of the Month

A YA marvel that will shock breath into your lungs. If you loved The Wrath and the Dawn and Children of Blood and Bone, Mirage will captivate you. -The Christian Science Monitor

This debut fantasy has what it takes to be the next big thing in sci-fi/fantasy. -SLJ, starred review

Immersive, captivating. -ALA Booklist, starred review

In a world dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated home.

But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram.

The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place.

As Amani is forced into her new role, she cant help but enjoy the palaces beauty-and her time with the princess fiance, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection...because one wrong move could lead to her death.