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Cover of Queen of Faces

Queen of Faces

by Petra Lord

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️steamy·spoiler·Queen of Faces #1

Why Read This?

You'll be gripped by a unique, unputdownable story that expands empathy through its raw exploration of identity and survival in a brutal world.

Synopsis

A desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it’s rotting from the inside out. In Caimor, where the magical elite buy and swap designer bodies like clothes, Ana can’t afford to escape her tattered form. When she fails the entrance exam to the prestigious Paragon Academy, her last hope of earning a new body implodes. As the clock ticks down to her last breath, she’s forced to use her illusion magic to steal a healthy chassis—before her own kills her. But Ana is caught by none other than the headmaster of Paragon Academy, who poses a brutal ultimatum: face execution for her crime or become a mercenary at his command. Revolt brews in Caimor's smog-choked underworld, and the wealthy and powerful will stop at nothing to take down the rebels and the infamous dark witch at their helm, the Black Wraith. With no choice but to accept, Ana will steal, fight, and kill her way to salvation. But her survival depends on a dangerous band of an impulsive assassin, a brooding bombmaker, and an alluring exile who might just spell her ruin. As Ana is drawn into a tangled web of secrets, the line between villain and hero shatters—and Ana must decide which side is worth dying for.

At a Glance

4.04 ★ Goodreads
Spice Level🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️steamy
Endingspoiler
PairingM/F
Romance Pacingmedium burn
Energymedium

Top Tropes

assassin romancesurvival romancevillain gets the girl

Mood

darkintensesuspensefulatmosphericbrooding

Book Details

Goodreads Rating

4.04 ★

Page Count

432 pages

Published

2026

Primary Genre

New Adult

Pairing

M/F

POV

First Person

Romance Pacing

Medium Burn

Audiobook

Available

Yes

Format

Standard

Narrator

Nicky Endres|Dylan Reilly

Narrator Count

Dual

Tropes

RomanceMagicActionAngstWorld
Theme Constellation

Mood & Vibe

Mood

Writing Style

cinematicimmersivesharpdark

Story Pacing

fast

Emotional Weight

heavy

Energy Required

medium

Vibes

Grimdark fantasy with relentless tension and moral ambiguity that feels like navigating a smoke-filled battlefield at midnight.

Characters

FMC Archetype

trans mcmercenarysurvivor

MMC Archetype

villain/anti-hero

Spice Details 🌶️

🌶️
🌶️
🌶️
🌶️
🌶️
🌶️
🌶️
🌶️
🌶️
Spice Level 4

Spice Style

intense / passionateemotional / loving

Getting Steamy

None

Bringing the Heat

rough/aggressive intimacychoking/breath playgagging / throat usecreampie themesdubious consent elements
deathemotional abusemurdertraumaviolencecaptivitygaslightinggriefracism/bigotrywar

World & Setting

World Type

grimdark / dark fantasy

Primary Setting

big city / metropolis

Fantasy Creatures

Representation

bipoc mcbiracial mcqueertrans MC

Reading Context

Emotional Payoff

addictive readthought-provokingexpanded empathy

Best Time of Year

winter

When & Where to Read

at nightrainy weekendcozy evening

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