The Stricken

A 2025 Reading the West Book Award Nominee

What if our spirits walk to another life while our bodies sleep?

Every day in Clara's world, a dark cloud descends upon her town. The storm comes like clockwork, erasing everyone’s memories. Everyone except Clara. But after Clara’s father mysteriously disappears, things change. The Diviners, captive souls who feed off memories, come for her. With the help of a mysterious figure, Clara escapes the Diviners and flees to Khalom, a city in a parallel world, where she hopes to find refuge. There, Clara discovers that she is a Noble—one of the few people to have knowledge of both worlds, along with the ability to venture between the two.

Forced to live the Noble life, Clara goes to school with peers who want her dead. Meanwhile, a rare and dangerous power begins to stir inside of her. The power of Death. And it grows until she’s not sure if she can control it. When the Diviners break through the city’s defense and students begin to turn up brain dead, Clara must find a way to harness her newfound power in order to stop the attacks before the city—and her mind—is wiped clean.

For readers who enjoy A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab, Crave by Tracy Wolff, House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik.