Inspired by an ominous Prague legend, “What Wakes the Bells” is a lavish gothic fantasy by debut author Elle Tesch that is perfect for fans of Adalyn Grace, Margaret Rogerson, and V. E. Schwab.
Built by long-gone Saints, the city of Vaiwyn lives and breathes and bleeds. As a Keeper, Mina knows better than most what her care of Vaiwyn’s bells means for the sentient city. It’s the Strauss family’s thousand-year legacy―prevent the Vespers from ringing, or they will awake a slumbering evil.
One afternoon, to Mina's horror, her bell peals thirteen times, shattering the city’s tenuous peace. With so much of the city's history and lore lost in a long-ago disaster, no one knows the danger that has been unleashed―until the city begins to fight back. As the sun sets, stone gargoyles and bronze statues tear away from their buildings and plinths to hunt people through the streets. Trapped in Mina’s bell, the soul of a twisted and power-hungry Saint festered. Now free of his prison, he hides behind the face of one of Vaiwyn’s citizens, corrupting the city and turning it on itself.
As the death toll rises, the only chance Mina has to stop the destruction and horrific killings is finding and destroying the Saint’s host. Everyone is a suspect, including Mina's closest loved ones. She will have to decide how far she’ll go to save her city―and who she’s willing to kill to do it.
"Set in a sentient city built upon the bones of a dead god, What Wakes the Bells is a wonderful exploration of complex family dynamics, self-determination, and first love, all set against the backdrop of an ancient battle generations in the making."
Kalyn Josephson, New York Times-bestselling author of This Dark Descent and The Storm Crow
"An action-packed debut about duty and divinity, with layered family dynamics, a lovers-to-enemies romance to sink your teeth into, and a setting so vivid, you can feel the cold"
