Cruel Is the Light

November 12, 2024
In a world both familiar to and hauntingly different from our own, the Vatican Empire has waged a centuries-long war with demons across Europe. After a series of unprecedented attacks in Italy and France, two unlikely allies must unravel a conspiracy that forces them to question everything they’ve ever known. Selene Alleva, a captain of the Vatican’s demon-hunting division and an Exorcist of the Second Class, has spent her life trying to escape her family’s dark past and prove she’s more than ‘the Butcher of Rome’. Jules Lacroix, a soldier in the Vatican military, has lost everyone he’s ever cared for and knows only isolation. Distrustful and wary of each other’s secrets when they first meet, they soon realise that with the world on the brink of destruction, they must rely on one another. In doing so, they discover that sometimes, the most unexpected of people become the greatest of allies. Sophie Clark’s debut is a fast-paced, alluring fantasy with immersive world-building, political intrigue and a sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance worthy of travelling to the depths of hell to save. Despite the chaos of the war, Clark takes her time introducing the protagonists, enriching their histories and building from the rocky foundations of their alliance to their epic love story. Although their slow-burn romance is, at times, unbearable (because you simply need them to kiss immediately), the end result is worth the wait. Recommended for readers aged 15+, Cruel Is the Light is perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Cassandra Clare, and Laini Taylor.

May 1, 2025
In the long-standing war between humans and demons, a soldier and an exorcist come together--with unexpected consequences. Seventeen-year-old Selene Alleva, a captain and Exorcist Second Class known as "the Butcher of Rome," is a powerful destroyer of demons. Cesare Alleva, Selene's exorcist uncle and the Imperium Bellum commanding the Vatican's military, sends her on a mission to investigate the destruction of a village near Nice, believed to be the work of a high-level demon. Selene is horrified to discover that the responsible party is Baliel, the "first and greatest" among the demons of his level. Nineteen-year-old French soldier Jules Lacroix has been battling demons in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, for four years. A formidable foe, Jules tracks his kills by cutting his forearms, leaving rows of scars. But following an attack by a demon horde, Jules has an unsettling encounter with their leader, half-demon Anastasia Alexandrova Romanov, tsarina of the Caspian Federation; he flees, becoming a deserter. Selene and Jules cross paths, initially clashing with and irritating one another but eventually agreeing to work together to achieve their personal goals. Clark's gritty, intricately developed world may seem bleak yet love and determination shine through. The evolving relationship between Selene and Jules is enticing, combining barbed exchanges with angst, before their emotional and physical surrender. The somewhat open-ended conclusion sets up for the next entry in this duology. Most characters are cued white. Surreal and beautiful. (content note, map, hierarchy of the Holy Vatican Empire, Vatican Academy handbook excerpt, dramatis personae)(Fantasy. 14-18)

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