Mirage

"Somaiya Daud's debut novel is 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

Princess. Rebel. Spy.

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 can't help but enjoy the palace's beauty--and her time with the princess' fianc , 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.

"A beautiful and necessary meditation on finding strength in one's culture." --Entertainment Weekly, Top Pick of the Month

Author: Somaiya Daud
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Published: 07/07/2020
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.90d
ISBN13: 9781250126436
ISBN10: 1250126436
BISAC Categories:
- Young Adult Fiction | Fantasy | Epic
- Young Adult Fiction | Romance | General
- Young Adult Fiction | Social Themes | Prejudice & Racism

About the Author
Somaiya Daud is a twenty-something writer and PhD candidate at the University of Washington. A former bookseller in the children's department at Politics and Prose in Washington, DC, Somaiya is passionate about Arabic poetry, the stars, and the Gothic novel. Mirage is her debut novel.