[QCrit] EVERGREEN - Adult Romantic Fantasy, 90k [First Attempt]
Curious what people think, thanks!
Dear [Name],
EVERGREEN is an adult romantic fantasy complete at 90,000 words. It is an indictment of the death penalty and harsh punishments endemic to many justice systems told through a fantasy lens. It combines the action and politics of We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark with the fantasy worldbuilding and romance of The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni.
When Lilah awakens on a boat with no memory of the last two years, she’s told that she has committed a horrible crime. The Crown has sentenced her to death, but a new program has been introduced to give her a second chance. All criminals sentenced to death have been sent to Evergreen Island, and if she can kill every criminal there, she will earn her freedom.
Every criminal on the island, however, has been offered the same deal. At first, Lilah isn’t sure if she wants to participate. She doesn’t have the nerve to kill anyone, and she can’t imagine what she could’ve done to be sentenced to death. She was told that she agreed to this, that her memories were taken to ensure that no convict is treated differently because of their crime, and that no one on the island remembers why they are there. After a few days, Lilah can be sure this is true, because she has a Talent, a magical ability, and hers tells her when people are lying to her.
Then she meets Soren. His Talent is that the herbs that took their memories don’t work on him. He remembers everything — and he remembers that he has never committed a crime. He was kidnapped and brought to the island, and he wants to find out why. Lilah knows he’s telling the truth, and agrees to help him break into a bunker run by the Crown.
The island is treacherous, and full of killers who want to win their freedom by killing everyone they meet. Lilah and Soren grow closer as they fight off threats, killing when they must, falling in love. When they reach the bunker, though, they find out that their fight is just beginning.
Nearly half of the people on the island did not commit any crime, and were sentenced to death for being threats to the Crown. When Lilah manages to retrieve her own memories, she finds out that she isn’t who she remembers herself as before her memories were taken, and there is something deeply wrong with the entire system. It needs to be torn down, and Lilah and Soren are determined to do just that — even if they have to leave a trail of bodies behind them.
[Personalization]
[Bio]
Thank you for your time and consideration,
[Name]