Set against a backwoods backdrop of motorcycles, methadone, and myth, this lush and edgy YA folk horror is perfect for fans of Andrew Joseph White.

Growing up on a farm in the foothills, Sierra Maddox has spent her life resisting the call of her granny’s folk magic and dreaming of a future as a pre-med student in the city. But when her dad, a recovering addict, misses her graduation ceremony, she’s sure there’s something more sinister than a relapse to blame.


Tracking her dad’s last-known location to a methadone clinic, Sierra meets Blight, a nonbinary caseworker in the clinic’s harm reduction program. Sierra is looking for answers, but connecting with Blight only raises more questions about her dad’s whereabouts . . . and about her sexuality.


As Sierra and Blight explore their growing attraction and navigate the opioid-riddled underworld of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they discover a disease creeping through users’ veins like kudzu—and it looks a whole lot more like Granny’s magic than any ordinary sickness. Will Sierra embrace the dark inheritance of her family’s white trash witchcraft to save the ones she calls her own?


A twisted love letter to harm reduction, Southern queers, and the haunted beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.