In the Vanishers' Palace
Readers rate it 3.9 (29 on Hardcover)
170 pages · Released Oct 16, 2018 · JABberwocky Literary Agency, Incorporated
Content report card
In the Vanishers' Palace parent’s guide: what’s inside
Substance use
What it offers
A note for parents
This is a literary dark fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast with LGBTQ+ romance at its core, set in a post-apocalyptic Vietnamese-inspired world. The novella features complex emotional relationships and morally grey characters rather than straightforward heroes, with themes of trauma, captivity, and survival. While not graphically violent, it deals with mature emotional content and contains some sexual tension between adult characters; it's best suited for older teens comfortable with darker, emotionally complex storytelling.
Analyzed by AI · 1 month ago
Read it with your kids?
Rate it and suggest an age to help other parents.
From the publisher
From the award-winning author of the Dominion of the Fallen series comes a dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast. In a ruined, devastated world, where the earth is poisoned and beings of nightmares roam the land... A woman, betrayed, terrified, sold into indenture to pay her village's debts and struggling to survive i... From the award-winning author of the Dominion of the Fallen series comes a dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast. In a ruined, devastated world, where the earth is poisoned and beings of nightmares roam the land... A woman, betrayed, terrified, sold into indenture to pay her village's debts and struggling to survive in a spirit world. A dragon, among the last of her kind, cold and aloof but desperately trying to make a difference. When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn's amusement. But Vu Côn, it turns out, has a use for Yên: she needs a scholar to tutor her two unruly children. She takes Yên back to her home, a vast, vertiginous palace-prison where every door can lead to death. Vu Côn seems stern and unbending, but as the days pass Yên comes to see her kinder and caring side. She finds herself dangerously attracted to the dragon who is her master and jailer. In the end, Yên will have to decide where her own happiness lies—and whether it will survive the revelation of Vu Côn's dark, unspeakable secrets... Advance praise for In the Vanishers' Palace "Another stellar offering by Bodard. Her signature intensity is on display in this tale of people (and dragons) struggling to survive in the ruins of an alien conquest. Emotionally complex relationships interweave with richly drawn and deftly nuanced world-building." —Kate Elliott, author of the Court of Fives series "A transformative experience. With dragons." —Fran Wilde, Hugo and Nebula nominated author of The Bone Universe and The Gemworld series Finalist for Lammy Award 2018, "LGBTQ SF/F/Horror"
Shelved under
- Fiction
- A mix driven
- Diverse Characters
- Weak Character Development
- Unloveable Characters
- Fantasy
- Science Fiction
- LGBTQ
- Dystopian
- Young Adult
Share this guide
ISBN 9781625673749 · JABberwocky Literary Agency, Incorporated