[QCrit] YA Romantic Fantasy - Nine of Spades - Third Attempt

Hi all!

Thanks for the feedback on the previous version. Hope this one is better.

Dear [Agent Name],

NINE OF SPADES is a YA romantic fantasy at 80k words with series potential, set in a Victorian-inspired world. It will appeal to fans of Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven and Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross.

Seventeen-year-old Ysolde Daeters read Nine of Spades for the first time when her parents died, and three times since then. When the theater adaptation of the novel is announced, she should be overjoyed, but the coin her magic tricks make is too meager to pay for a theater ticket. All she can do is muse over which actors might play her favorite characters, until a letter appears in her doorway claiming she has been mysteriously chosen as lead actress.

She arrives at the rehearsals with light in her eyes and hope in her heart—quickly extinguished when the play starts coming to life. Murderous characters are appearing seemingly from nowhere, and props act as dangerously as their book counterparts. To investigate, Ysolde teams up with her co-star Mardin—arrogant, charming, just wild enough to want to help her.

Matters tumble in worse directions when the ghost of the author appears in the cast’s dreams, bargaining with them to help her bring the book to life, in exchange for something precious to them. Ysolde refuses, but soon learns that Mardin has sold his allegiance in return for one thing: to bring his brother back from the dead. Ysolde is left alone in a theater stained with mistrust, and a story threatening to trap everyone between its pages.

Best regards,

[My Name]