The Notorious Virtues

By: Alwyn Hamilton

Length: 14 hrs

Publisher's summary

Bestselling Rebel of the Sands author Alwyn Hamilton is back with a glittering fantasy thriller about a glamorous media darling, a surprise heiress, and the magical competition of a lifetime.

At sixteen, Honora "Nora" Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money—and all the magic—in the entire country. But despite being the center of attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz, the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one family heir.

But there's a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora's aunt. When Lotte's absent mother retrieves her from the rural convent she'd abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her dead.

And soon, Nora discovers that her mother's death wasn't random—it was murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her family stand for.

While the dangers of the Veritaz competition threaten each of the Holtzfall girls, and the stark class differences turns political outrage to terrifing violence—the new cousins must fight to stay alive, no matter what.

Incredible tests, impossible choices, and deadly odds await both girls. But there can only be one winner.

©2020 Alwyn Hamilton (P)2020 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"The Notorious Virtues is a sparkling cocktail of fairy tales, family conflicts, mysteries and magic, bubbling with rebellion and vibrant characters. Beneath the intoxicating glamour of Walstad, you’ll soon find a dark fable about power, the importance of storytelling, and our primal fear of what lies in the woods. Alwyn Hamilton is back and better than ever."—Samantha Shannon, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree