Emily Cooper

Featured Book

18-year-old Ilse Odenwald dreams of being afraid.

In her village, fearfulness is next to godliness. The women of the village feed their terror to an ancient Saint. In return, it protects them from the monsters of the Hexenwald—the horror-filled forest on their doorstep. Born unfearing, Ilse has felt an outsider all her life. When the Saint discovers Ilse’s divergence, it levels a threat. She must find her fear, or it will devour her sister.

Unwilling to lose the one person who understands her, Ilse enters the Hexenwald. She hopes that the monsters it harbours will finally make her fearful. When the creatures of the forest fail to frighten her, they tell her a secret. The creature ruling her village is not a Saint, but a parasitic impostor.

With this discovery, Ilse’s goal changes. She does not need to sate the false Saint; she needs to slay it. To do so, Ilse must find out what happened to the real Saint of Fear. If she fails, she will lose her sister forever—but to succeed, she must sever her hopes of becoming normal once and for all.