Fable For the End of the World
Ava Reid
- **FROM
- THE
- SUNDAY
- TIMES
- BESTSELLING
- AUTHOR
- OF
- LADY
- MACBETH
- AND
- A
- STUDY
- IN
- DROWNING'There's
- one
- thing
- about
- Ava
- Reid;
- she
- doesn't
- miss.'**
- Sasha
- Peyton
- Smith
'You'll
- start
- saving
- space
- on
- your
- shelf
- for
- Ava
- Reid.'
- Kendare
- Blake---------The
- Last
- of
- Us
- meets
- The
- Ballad
- of
- Songbirds
- &
- Snakes
- in
- this
- stand-alone
- dystopian
- romance
- about
- survival,
- sacrifice,
- and
- love
- that
- risks
- everything.By
- encouraging
- massive
- accumulations
- of
- debt
- from
- its
- underclass,
- a
- single
- corporation,
- Caerus,
- controls
- all
- aspects
- of
- society.Inesa
- lives
- with
- her
- brother
- in
- a
- half-sunken
- town
- where
- they
- scrape
- by
- running
- a
- taxidermy
- shop.
- Unbeknownst
- to
- Inesa,
- their
- cruel
- and
- indolent
- mother
- has
- accrued
- an
- enormous
- debt—enough
- to
- qualify
- one
- of
- her
- children
- for
- Caerus’s
- livestreamed
- assassination
- spectacle:
- the
- Lamb’s
- Gauntlet.Melinoë
- is
- a
- Caerus
- assassin,
- trained
- to
- track
- and
- kill
- the
- sacrificial
- Lambs.
- The
- product
- of
- neural
- reconditioning
- and
- physiological
- alteration,
- she
- is
- a
- living
- weapon,
- known
- for
- her
- cold
- brutality
- and
- deadly
- beauty.
- She
- has
- never
- failed
- to
- assassinate
- one
- of
- her
- marks.When
- Inesa
- learns
- that
- her
- mother
- has
- offered
- her
- as
- a
- sacrifice,
- at
- first
- she
- despairs—the
- Gauntlet
- is
- always
- a
- bloodbath
- for
- the
- impoverished
- debtors.
- But
- she’s
- had
- years
- of
- practice
- surviving
- in
- the
- apocalyptic
- wastes,
- and
- with
- the
- help
- of
- her
- hunter
- brother,
- she
- might
- stand
- a
- chance
- of
- staying
- alive.For
- Melinoë,
- this
- is
- a
- game
- she
- can’t
- afford
- to
- lose.
- Despite
- her
- reputation
- for
- mercilessness,
- she
- is
- haunted
- by
- painful
- flashbacks.
- After
- her
- last
- Gauntlet,
- where
- she
- broke
- down
- on
- livestream,
- she
- desperately
- needs
- redemption.As
- Mel
- pursues
- Inesa
- across
- the
- wasteland,
- both
- girls
- begin
- to
- question
- everything:
- Inesa
- wonders
- if
- there’s
- more
- to
- life
- than
- survival,
- while
- Mel
- wonders
- if
- she’s
- capable
- of
- more
- than
- killing.And
- both
- wonder
- if,
- against
- all
- odds,
- they
- might
- be
- falling
- in love.
