In the Venice-inspired city of Dantessa, society is built on games. Win them and add to one’s total score, and you can gain prestige; but lose, and you can be sentenced to servitude, like Pia’s grandfather. In order to earn the money to save him, Pia joins a group of other desperate players to try and win the most difficult game of all, Noctis. Pia and her new friends (one of whom has two dads and another who is a trans boy) work to become a team and battle a succession of perilous challenges, facing opponents that include Death herself. Along the way, however, Pia finds herself questioning her long-held belief in Dantessa’s ways. Can she beat the system or will she have to change it?
Author Deva Fagan has blended incidental queer inclusion into an exciting and original setting. The book balances the characters’ personal growth and interpersonal relationships with a look at systemic injustice with to create a highly recommended tale.
Pia reads as White, but other characters reflect a diversity of skin tones.
