Innamorata
A visionary and atmospheric gothic fantasy about necromancy, vengeance, and soul-consuming love, the first in a duology from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Lady Macbeth
“Gorgeously gruesome . . . reads like the gory bones of a forgotten folktale.”—Jacqueline Carey, New York Times bestselling author of the Kushiel’s Legacy series
Once there was an island where the dead walked the earth, and seven noble houses ruled by the arcane secrets of necromancy.
A conqueror’s blade brought them low, burning their libraries, killing their lords, and extinguishing their eldritch magic.
But defiant against the new order stands the House of Teeth and its last living members: beautiful Marozia, the heiress to the House, and her cousin, the uncanny Lady Agnes.
Though she has not spoken a word in seven years, Agnes is the true carrier of the House’s legacy. And she has her orders. She must recapture the secrets of death magic and avenge her family’s fallen honor. She must arrange the betrothal of her beloved cousin Marozia to Liuprand, heir to the conqueror’s throne, for access to the forbidden library in his grotesquely grand castle.
Revenge burns in Agnes’s heart but so do stranger passions—and it is Liuprand, the golden prince, who speaks to her soul. This passion is as treasonous as it is powerful, poisoning the kingdom’s roots and threatening to tear the already shattered realm in two.
For Agnes’s final order is the gravest: She must not fall in love.
Book One of The House of Teeth Duology
Readers also enjoyed
Ava Reid
Ava Reid writes the kind of fantasy that feels like folklore rediscovered, as if her stories have been whispered through centuries before finding their way to the page. Her novels, steeped in myth, faith, and the weight of identity, blur the line between the magical and the political, the personal and the historical. With her blend of dark beauty and emotional precision, she has become one of the most distinctive contemporary voices in literary fantasy.
Born in Manhattan and raised across the river in Hoboken, Reid studied political science at Barnard College, focusing on religion and ethnonationalism. That academic path shaped the moral and cultural tensions running through her fiction. Her debut, The Wolf and the Woodsman, draws on Hungarian history and Jewish folklore, exploring nationalism, belonging, and faith through the lens of myth. It established her as a writer unafraid to confront brutality or tenderness, often in the same breath.
The House Of Teeth Duology
In The House of Teeth Duology, Ava Reid carves a world where beauty and decay intertwine, and love becomes as dangerous as death itself. Set in a conquered land stripped of its necromantic heritage, this haunting saga follows the remnants of a once-mighty noble house as they navigate vengeance, forbidden magic, and the terrible cost of desire.
The House Of Teeth Duology consists of one book and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
