Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

In the world of Theatron—the setting of this dark, propulsive fantasy homage to theater—citizens living to the south are loyal to the Playhouse, whose immortal performers, or Players, use magic and theatricality to strike fear and awe into their audience. Those to the north, wary of the Playhouse’s power, protect themselves via a treaty that decrees Players stay in the south. When the treaty expires, however, 18-year-old Riven—cursed in childhood by a Player to die a slow death—enters the Playhouse seeking a cure to her enchantment. After she’s captured by Lead Player Jude, Riven agrees to a deal: Jude will heal her if she wins an upcoming event during which mortals have the chance to kill a Player and take their place in the Playhouse. Privately, Riven resolves to use the opportunity to destroy the organization from within. But she soon realizes that the Playhouse is a mercurial place, and as she learns more about the Players and their craft through Jude’s charming tutelage, her convictions waver. Debut author Spann skillfully leverages scriptlike dialogue and punctuated drama structures to flesh out the Playhouse’s vivid world, which is rife with political intrigue and power imbalances. Riven and Jude’s sharp banter and slow-burning enemies-to-lovers romance dials up the novel’s showmanship. Riven cues as white. Ages 16–up. Agent: Ellen Goff, HG Literary. (Feb.)

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In order to save her own life, an 18-year-old must strike a bargain with a notoriously violent leader in Spann’s YA fantasy novel. The land of Theatron is divided in half. People living north of the Cut live in complete truth: no fictional stories, no music, no lying, and certainly no theater. All are measures to help protect them from the Players in the southern region and their worshippers, called Revelers. The Players are immortal performers with fearsome, godlike powers whose narcissism often leads to gruesome violence. Northerners are advised to never look a Player in the eye and to pay them three compliments to appease their vanity and enable escape. The Northerners are also marked with Eleutheraen gold—the one material that can harm and kill a Player—to ensure immunity to the Players’ allure. Thanks to a 500-year treaty, the Players stay south of the Cut, but that treaty is reaching its expiration date. Ten years ago, Riven Hesper had a run-in with a rogue Player and escaped by stabbing her with an Eleutheraen gold knife; the Player’s blood infected the child with a curse that, in the present, still causes her body to deteriorate. Now, 18-year-old Riven doesn’t have much time left. The Playhouse announces it will have a casting call for a grueling competition which will end with a mortal taking the place of an immortal Player—or dying themselves. Riven, desperate for a cure, goes to the Playhouse where she’s forced to strike a deal with the enigmatic Lead Player Jude Stepharros, who’s determined to make Riven the winner. Spann’s debut novel is a dark and dizzying fantasy that will keep readers enthralled to the end. Protagonist narrator Riven is resilient, flawed, and engaging throughout, and the supporting characters are equally intriguing. Most noteworthy is the complex and well-developed worldbuilding and the storytelling style, which often combines prose with scriptlike dialogue. While this novel will appeal to many fantasy-genre fans, readers with a theater background will especially appreciate the inclusion of universal stagecraft rules, such as “do not touch other’s props” and “never anger the stage manager.” A richly detailed dark fantasy with an engaging lead player. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.