Electric Monkey, Farshore’s award-winning YA imprint, are delighted to announce the acquisition of YA standalone Every Exquisite Thing by TikTok sensation Laura Steven. Asmaa Isse, Fiction Editor, bought UK Commonwealth rights, including eBook rights, from Chloe Seager.
Publishing in September 2023, Every Exquisite Thing is a feminist YA horror-thriller retelling of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray by the bestselling author of the TikTok hit The Society for Soulless Girls. Laura Steven’s novel is a searing exploration of beauty, identity, and what the pursuit of perfection costs young women. Compellingly seductive, with a sapphic love triangle at its heart, this break-out novel is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Holly Jackson.
Penny Paxton is the daughter of an icon. Her supermodel mother has legions of adoring fans around the world, and Penny is ready to begin her journey to international adoration, starting with joining the elite Dorian Drama School. But this is no ordinary school and when someone starts to kill its uncannily beautiful students one by one, Penny knows that a sinister bargain she has made could mean that she is next…
Laura Steven is an author, journalist and screenwriter from the northernmost town in England. Her YA debut, The Exact Opposite of Okay won the inaugural Comedy Women in Print Prize. The Society for Soulless Girls was published in 2022 and the book’s hashtag has received 2 million views on TikTok since publication.
Lindsey Heaven, Fiction Publishing Director at Electric Monkey said, “Laura is a master in crafting pitch-perfect feminist novels that tap into everything young adult and new adult readers are looking for, in the most authentic way. The dark, enticing and intense prose of Every Exquisite Thing is chilling brilliance and I can’t wait for readers to discover it this autumn.”
Laura Steven added, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to work with the incredible team at Electric Monkey on my fifth angry feminist novel. Every Exquisite Thing combines everything I love as a writer and as a reader—spiky girls, fast-paced plot, atmospheric setting, complex character dynamics, angsty slow-burn love and some pitch-black horror. Beauty standards and body image are subjects very close to my heart, and it’s been incredibly cathartic to explore them through the lens of my favourite classic novel. I can’t wait to share this story with the world.”
Every Exquisite Thing will be published under the Electric Monkey imprint on 14th September 2023, for readers aged 12 plus. You can buy your copy here.
Congratulations Laura!
