Queen of Faces

Gr 7 Up–Anabelle Gage is dying, trapped in the wrong body—a generic chassis model called an Edgar, with a defect that is slowly killing her. Desperate, she risks everything to steal a new star-woven body and save herself. She fails. Fortunately, she’s caught by the headmaster of Paragon Academy, the best and only magic school in the country, and he sees potential in her—as an assassin. Still, the pay from covertly helping him is the only option she has to get a new body before it’s too late. As she delves into the clandestine organization and tangled conspiracies surrounding a presumed-dead sorceress, Ana and her group of underground contacts unearth an even deeper secret, one that creates more questions than it answers. The worldbuilding in Lord’s debut novel is phenomenal, with ever-rising seas, ongoing war, secrets, and people who are never quite what they appear. With appropriate pacing, the action scenes are fast and punchy, while the quiet moments give enough space to expand on characters without dragging. Ana’s struggle with her gender in a world where changing bodies is easy but expensive is an interesting and refreshing trans narrative that will resonate with gender nonconforming readers.