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From the acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves, Robin Talley, comes a Shakespeare-inspired story of revenge and redemption, where fair is foul, and foul is fair.
Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school's ultimate power couple - but one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey. Golden child Delilah is a legend at exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. But Delilah doesn't know that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything - absolutely anything - to unseat Delilah for the scholarship. After all, it would lock in Maria's attendance at Stanford - and assure her and Lily four more years in a shared dorm room.
Together, Maria and Lily harness the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school. But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what's real and what's imagined, the girls must attempt to put a stop to the chilling series of events they've accidentally set in motion.
"Starred Review. This adaptation's bewitching intrigues and enthralling deceptions will whet the daggers of any reader's mind." - Kirkus
"Talley creates a dark and twisted gothic boarding school setting replete with vengeful spirits, drugs, and suicide in this Shakespeare-inspired tragedy… that lulls readers into a false sense of security while setting them up for the next chilling event." - Publishers Weekly
"An intriguing, appropriately atmospheric take on one of Shakespeare's most spine-tingling plays." - Booklist
"Those familiar with the source material will not be surprised at how the story plays out, but knowing the eventual outcomes does not diminish Talley's dark tale about fate and ambition… Highly recommended." - School Library Journal
This information about As I Descended was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Robin Talley studied literature and communications at American University. She lives in Washington, DC, with her wife, but visits both Boston and New York regularly despite her moral opposition to Massachusetts winters and Times Square. Her first book was 2014's "Lies We Tell Ourselves". Visit her online at robintalley.com
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