Skin Books

There are no secrets in Saintstone. From the second you're born, every achievement, every failing, every significant moment are all immortalized on your skin. There are honorable marks that let people know you're trustworthy. And shameful tattoos that announce you as a traitor. After her father dies, Leora finds solace in the fact that his skin tells a wonderful story. That is, until she glimpses a mark on the back of his neck... the symbol of the worst crime a person can commit in Saintstone. Leora knows it has to be a mistake, but before she can do anything about it, the horrifying secret gets out, jeopardizing her father's legacy... and Leora's life. In her startlingly prescient debut, Alice Broadway shines a light on the dangerous lengths we go to make our world feel orderly-even when the truth refuses to stay within the lines. This rich, lyrical fantasy with echoes of Orwell is unlike anything you've ever read, a tale guaranteed to get under your skin...

After her reckless actions at the naming ceremony, Leora is branded a traitor and sent to the blank settlement, Featherstone, as a spy disguised as a refugee. But Leora is no longer sure where her loyalty lies. The blanks are just people trying to survive, not the monsters she was trained to see them as. After all these years of deception, Leora is finally learning the truth -about being marked, about her mother, and about her own destiny. But if Leora stops spying, the people she left behind in Saintstone will pay the price. No matter what she does, someone she loves is going to get hurt. As the marked and the blanks inch closer to the brink of war, Leora must choose which half of herself to be true to ... and which half to betray.