Midnight Strikes

I


Chapter One


One night. You just have to survive here one more night.

Unfortunately, for a Proensan nobody in the royal court of Ivarea, that s easier said than done.

Tonight is the crown jewel of the social season, the most important party the provinces of Ivarea have ever seen: the celebration of four centuries of the Cardona dynasty s reign. The Anniversary Ball is the opportunity my family has been waiting for ever since our people were first conquered by the Ivareans--the reason my parents dragged me seven hundred miles across the sea and over land to the capital. If they can defy the odds and arrange my marriage into a prominent courtly house, our family will be launched to the highest tier of Ivarean elite society. To a position of respect and power that our people, the Proensans, have not had since the Cardona conquest. This is a prize more than worth the cost of my future.

Or so I m told.

Eight weeks ago, when I was first shoved through the grand double doors of the palace for my debut, I thought that the rigors of this historically grueling season would get easier to endure with time. I used to hope that each dazzling ball, each refined tea party, each perfunctory dance, would feel a little less like a living nightmare, because each one meant that the season was coming that much closer to an end. I hoped that each moment was bringing me that much closer to home.

But it never got easier. It never will get easier in a royal court that looks down on Proensans just because we re Proensans, regardless of our titles or lands or wealth. And now that I ve finally made it to the Anniversary Ball, I m not at all sure I ll make it out intact.

Tonight, I throw myself into the centers of gravity within the grand ballroom of the Alcazar Real de Marenca as earnestly as any of the hundreds of grandes from every corner of the kingdom also in attendance. Beneath shimmering chandeliers that float across the elaborately painted ceiling,

Zeba Shahnaz

Midnight Strikes is pure, high-octane fun. With whip-smart worldbuilding, spectacular twists, and the angsty romance of my dreams, Shahnaz s debut is guaranteed to keep you up reading until midnight. A masterclass in YA fantasy. Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of Down Comes the Night and A Far Wilder Magic

"Intricate and swoony, Midnight Strikes is the time-loop fantasy you never knew you needed, where the fairytale ball is bloody and Cinderella is the Final Girl. I'd gladly follow Anaïs until the end of time." Gina Chen, New York Times bestselling author of Violet Made of Thorns

"A twisty, glittering and breathtaking fantasy romance that will ensnare you and refuse to let you go." Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne

"Shahnaz s gripping debut is a twisty story...slowly unveiling a plot full of courtly intrigue with a determined lead character whose personal agency is the focus. Riveting, time-looping fun." Kirkus Reviews

"Anaïs s profound feelings of isolation and loneliness, and her repeated deaths, including her subsequent grief and trauma following each, are handled with complexity and gravitas alongside discussions of intersectionality in this elaborate debut." Publishers Weekly

Anaïs is a heroine well worth rooting for: resourceful, clever, and rarely one to indulge in self-pity, she enters each night with a gritty determination to stop the violence and put things right.   The Bulletin

"Shahnaz has created an entire world of rich cultures and history....A perfect choice for fans of second chances, also third, fourth, etc." School Library Journal