Part of Series
The first book in a gripping duology from acclaimed author S.K. Ali introduces a fractured world on the brink of either enlightenment or war. Would you trade love for peace? Raisa of Upper Earth has only lived a life of privilege and acquiescence. Ever dutiful, she accepts her father’s arrangement of her marriage to Lein, Crown Prince of the corrupt, volatile lands of Lower Earth. Though Lein is a stranger, Raisa knows the wedding will unite their vastly different worlds in a pact of peace: an infusion of Upper Earth technology into Lower Earth will usher in the final age of enlightenment, ending war between humans forever. Or is justice more urgent? Newly released from imprisonment, Nada of Lower Earth has found her own calling: disrupting the royal wedding. Convinced her cousin Lein’s alliance with Upper Earth will launch an invasive, terrifying form of tyranny, Nada sets out undercover to light the spark of revolution. When Raisa goes missing a week before the wedding, all eyes turn to the rebels, including Nayf, Nada’s twin brother—a fugitive on the run. And when Nayf and Raisa meet, the long-simmering animosity they feel toward each other's worlds slowly burns away into something unexpected. But the Crown Prince wants his bride—and future—back. And he will go to the ends of the Earths to reclaim them.
Author
About-the-author, bare bones: S. K. Ali writes the Muslim characters in stories she never saw growing up. The official version: S. K. Ali is the NYT bestselling and award-winning author of several books. Her debut novel, Saints and Misfits was the winner of the 2018 APALA Honor award, the 2017 Middle East Book Honor Award, and a 2018 William C. Morris Award finalist. Her widely acclaimed second novel, LOVE FROM A TO Z, a story about finding love in the time of Islamophobia, was an Entertainment Weekly Top Ten Young Adult Book of 2019 and a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist . It was also the first teen novel chosen for NBC Today Show's Read with Jenna Book Club. The sequel to Saints and Misfits, Misfit in Love, was a People magazine best book of summer 2021. Her newest YA novel, LOVE FROM MECCA TO MEDINA, released in fall 2022. She is currently working on more YA, as well as an adult romance. Sajidah also has a picture book series co-authored with Team USA Olympic Medalist, Ibtihaj Muhammad, which starts with the New York Times bestselling THE PROUDEST BLUE, followed by THE KINDEST RED. Her Middle Grade novels include the critically acclaimed anthology ONCE UPON AN EID co-edited with Aisha Saeed, and the multi-perspective GROUNDED, co-authored with Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Huda Al-Marashi and Aisha Saeed. She lives in Toronto with her family, which includes a very vocal cat named Yeti. Find her on twitter at https://twitter.com/SajidahWrites, on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/skalibooks/, on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@skalibooks, and on her website at https://skalibooks.com/.
