DEBUT Törzs's debut novel features a wonderfully realized and atmospheric world and a plot filled with unexpected twists. It takes place in modern-day Vermont, where a family plagued by tragedy, including two half-sisters, guards a collection of books that contain, and are themselves, spells. Esther, the eldest sister, is immune to magic, and her presence counteracts the protection wards over the collection. To save her sister, the books, and likely herself, she has fled and changes locations every year (living most recently in Antarctica). Meanwhile, in London, lives Nicholas, a scribe who inherited his family's legacy of writing the spell books, as well as the burden of protecting them. But from what, or whom? Over time he learns the perceived danger might not be as he thought. VERDICT Törzs does a fantastic job creating a gripping and suspenseful story that keeps readers on their toes and wanting more. Fans of The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern will love this magic- and suspense-filled novel.--Leigh Verburg

Törzs's spellbinding fantasy debut imagines a parallel Earth where gruesome magical spell books are written with the blood and bodies of people known as Scribes. Nicholas is tired of living in the gilded cage that is the Library, home to the world's largest collection of spellbooks, where he is routinely bled by his overbearing uncle, Richard Maxwell, to fulfill magical commissions. Elsewhere, Joanna Kalotay steadfastly guards a small collection of spellbooks of her own, barely leaving home and nightly setting protection charms to prevent detection. Meanwhile, her estranged sister, Esther, is constantly on the move, acting on a warning from their late father. She must relocate every year on November 2 "or the people who killed your mother will come for you, too. And not only you, Esther. They'll come for your sister." But when a mysterious note tells Esther it's time to finally return home to Joanna, she risks everything to reunite with her sister. Unraveling the twisty mysteries that connect Nicholas to the Kalotay sisters and dismantling the dark constraints on their lives keep both characters and readers guessing throughout. Meanwhile, threads of hope and love keep the grimly gorgeous worldbuilding from growing too dark. Törzs's lyrical, idiosyncratic prose (at one point, the sky is described as "so pale it seemed infected") elevates proceedings. This is a must-read. Agent: Claudia Ballard, WME. (June)

Long-kept family secrets and tested loyalties complicate the lives of the characters of this exceptional debut novel from an award-winning short-story author. Esther and Joanna are estranged sisters driven apart by secrets surrounding the magical books their late father collected and that Joanna now safeguards in their magically hidden family home in Vermont. Nicholas, the heir to a magical library patronized by the rich and powerful, is the only known scribe in the world, with the ability to write new spells using ink created from his blood. When Esther and Nicholas discover that they are the intended victims of a deadly plot originating at the library, Nicholas and his brooding bodyguard, Collins, must team up with Esther and Joanna and unearth secrets long held by their families to prevent a malevolent spell from claiming their lives. But can they truly trust one another? All four must set aside old hurts and decide where their loyalties lie before it is too late. This suspenseful dark fantasy, full of family drama, is perfect for readers of Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House (2019), Holly Black's Book of Night (2022), and Peng Shepherd's The Cartographers (2022).

Two half sisters work to protect their dead father's collection of magical books in Törzs' bewitching debut. Esther and Joanna Kalotay are keepers of an impossible secret: that magic exists, and it's channeled through certain enchanted books. Esther and Joanna's father, Abe, is fanatical about his collection of these books, but despite having devoted his life to magic, he's never been able to figure out how they were written. One terrible day, he tries to enact a spell from a mysterious book and is killed. This tragedy leaves Joanna, who shares her father's ability to sense magic humming in a book, to tend to the library. Before he died, Abe had warned Esther, who is mysteriously immune to all magic, that she must take care never to stay anywhere for longer than a year, always leaving on Nov. 2, or she will risk being hunted down and killed by the same people who murdered her mother. Only once did Esther test this rule, and after barely escaping a strange man bent on killing her in her bedroom, she's careful not to put down roots. But when Esther's travels take her to a science station on Antarctica, she discovers that someone who knows about magic has finally found her, and her only chance to save herself is to trust a stranger who sent her a note and a plane ticket through an enchanted mirror. When Esther uses that ticket, she soon meets more people who know about magic and is forced to decide whom she can trust as she tries to discover why someone wants her dead. Törzs' simple magic system of books is straightforward, with clear rules set out for readers early on, leaving her plenty of space to explore how an obsession with power can twist people so deeply that they betray the ones they love. Esther and Joanna's complicated but loving relationship is wonderfully rendered, and Törzs pulls off such an expert series of twists that readers would be advised to cancel their plans until they get to the end. A fantastic magical adventure, not to be missed. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.