14 new YA books to read during sweater season this October

Into the Crooked Place – Alexandra Christo

The new novel from the author of To Kill a Kingdom is the first in a gritty new fantasy duology. Into the Crooked Place is a gangster-heist story in the vein of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows series. But, naturally the story – as well as the world these characters inhabit – is quite different.

There are four major characters: Tavia, Wesley, Karam and Saxony – a black market trader, a gangster, a warrior, and a resistance fighter – who each have their own agendas, though some of their goals align in various ways. None of these characters are particularly good or admirable people, and this isn’t a particularly light and happy story.

In the world of Into the Crooked Place light and dark magic are outlawed commodities sold on the black market and the most powerful magic users must live in hiding. But when Tavia accidentally causes a national incident by giving someone dark magic she shouldn’t, our four main characters must work together to save the world. So, you know, no pressure.

The synopsis promises a dark, twisty tale along the way.

"The streets of Creije are for the deadly and the dreamers, and four crooks in particular know just how much magic they need up their sleeve to survive. Tavia, a busker ready to pack up her dark-magic wares and turn her back on Creije for good. She’ll do anything to put her crimes behind her. Wesley, the closest thing Creije has to a gangster. After growing up on streets hungry enough to swallow the weak whole, he won’t stop until he has brought the entire realm to kneel before him. Karam, a warrior who spends her days watching over the city’s worst criminals and her nights in the fighting rings, making a deadly name for herself. And Saxony, a resistance fighter hiding from the very people who destroyed her family, and willing to do whatever it takes to get her revenge. Everything in their lives is going to plan, until Tavia makes a crucial mistake: she delivers a vial of dark magic—a weapon she didn’t know she had—to someone she cares about, sparking the greatest conflict in decades. Now these four magical outsiders must come together to save their home and the world, before it’s too late. But with enemies at all sides, they can trust nobody. Least of all each other."

Into the Crooked Place is available on October 8.