A stunning and lushly imagined young adult debut about a girl who is kidnapped and forced to become the body double for the princess of a ruthless empire.

The crown of Dihya had been stripped from me, my face changed, my body broken.


But I was not a slave and I was not a spare.


I was my mother's daughter, and I would survive and endure. I would find my way back home.


Eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer, sure that one day, she, too, will have adventures, and travel beyond her isolated moon. But when adventure comes for her, it is not what she expects. She is kidnapped and taken in secret to the royal palace where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel Princess Maram, who is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double to appear in public, ready to die in her place.


As Amani is forced into her new role, she can't help but enjoy the palace's beauty - and her time with the princess' fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear, and she soon realises that one wrong move could lead to her death...


'Prepare yourself for a story that's enriching, thrilling, and captivating' - BuzzFeed


'By turns thrilling and ruminative, sexy and heartbreaking' - Sabaa Tahir, author of An Ember in the Ashes