Fated To Die

Every Summer Solstice, the Washer Woman enslaves a seventeen-year-old maiden as her Messenger — a bearer of death to those who are Fated to Die — and no maiden has ever survived the ordeal.

Preya, long outcast for her appearance and resigned to a life without balls or romance, must submit to the Keeper's rules if she hopes to be the first to break the pattern.

Her training falls to a mysterious boy kept cloaked from her sight, whose domineering methods and unexpectedly gentle touch leave Preya unsure whether he's human, monster, ally, or enemy — even as trusting him becomes her only path to freedom.

Tara Gallina delivers a YA dark retelling of the Scottish folktale of the Washer Woman with a Beauty and the Beast twist.