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Here is an excerpt from The Wrath of Monsters
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Remote school is deadly…for my mental health. So is being locked up in my room. Of course, I choose to be locked up in my bedroom, but still. I never chose to have security agents, some of them actual magicians, stalking me through the house twenty-four by seven. I never asked for any of it, but here I am, staring at my laptop’s screen, trying to do pre-calculus homework. The problem is I can’t make heads or tails out of linear equations and logarithmic functions.
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My hand strays from my wireless mouse to my camera on the study table beside the laptop. My fingers brush against the device’s cool metallic and rubberized body. I’d love to go outside to take pictures, but I need permission to leave the house from Agent-in-charge Leroy McAllister. Sometimes I wish that man had his neck twisted like fusilli, I really do, but then I remember Agent Deveraux’s neck misshapen like that, and acid rises up my throat. My hand goes to my chest. My throat and back of my mouth burn.
I stand and reach for the laptop to close it but stop myself. Dalia promised to help me with my math homework. She might video call or message me any time now. Instead, I wrap my fingers around the camera’s grip and enjoy the tactile nature of the rubber. My go-to photographic subject is a precarious stack of dirty dishes on the tabletop behind the computer. The acid on my tongue turns me off from photographing anything remotely related to food.
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I try to take all my meals in my room; it’s the only place I won’t have an agent watching my every move. I glance around the bedroom, eyeballing every corner. Presumably, they don’t watch me while I’m here. I wouldn’t believe them, except I’ve scoured every nook and cranny of the room with my prosthetic eyes, zooming in and out, and searching for heat signatures or the lack thereof in IR mode. Never found anything. I wouldn’t put it past the magicians from the UN Draconic Task Force to surreptitiously observe me by magical means, but my father, who is the last remaining archmagus, ensures me they aren’t watching. If I can believe him after sixteen-plus years of lies.
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"Libraries seeking fantasy series recommendations for young adult patrons who are especially interested in stand-alone stories will find The Wrath of Monsters a winner for its fine combination of clashing personalities and purposes, and strong fantasy elements that bleed into and influence Allison’s life." - Midwest Book Review
