Title:
The Age of Larkspur
Author:
Aleighsha Parke
Genre:
Young adult fantasy
Book Blurb:
Flora has spent her entire life hiding in the trees and ignoring the cursed, poisonous larkspur growing from her ankle and eating away at her life. She lets her anxiety and fear control her, but fate forces her hand when her adopted mother is kidnapped by a cruel witch. The only way to save her is to find the magic shards of her family’s amulet scattered throughout her land. With no time to waste, Flora sets out with her best friend, and along the way they meet a darkly intriguing stranger. But Flora is running out of time and can’t succumb to distractions. If she trusts the wrong person or lets her anxiety win, Flora risks losing more than just her mother …
Excerpt:
Chapter One
A sage leaf flourished from the stem sprouting out of her ankle. She sighed, glaring daggers as the leaf bloomed into a perfect, purple-stained bulb.
Flora let out a huff, her birch-shaded bangs jumping from the release of air as she sank onto the damp, mossy log. Her fingers curled into the squishy texture, calming her for a second. Meanwhile, the flower bloomed and flourished, straining to catch the rays of sunlight streaming through the thick tree branches.
“Stop that, you,” she said, flicking it with her finger. It shrank in response before ignoring her and growing bigger. Soon enough, a spike full of purple buttercup-shaped flowers bloomed and swayed to the side at the weight.
With another sigh, this one far sharper than the first, she snapped the stem from the base and dusted off the remaining stalk. It crumbled down into the forest floor, mixing with the twigs and dirt. Her ankle was now bare, save for the deep indigo birthmark of a larkspur. The stem thrummed in her fingertips, pulsing to a beat of the words: look at me. She refused to look at the enticing purple and instead focused on her ankle. Her marred, beastly ankle.
Flora’s jaw clenched in the waning sunlight. Her birthmark served as an ugly reminder—a warning. Stay good and stay hidden. The words she lived by for the last seventeen years of her life. The constant reminder grated on her nerves, but she knew they were necessary. Besides, Flora did enjoy rules—they kept the chaos in order, and let life be fair. It was just, in some moments, some snapshots in time, she wished she could be free. Although, her personality wouldn’t necessarily lend to that desire either way. But, at the core of it all, she longed for more.
A snap of a twig carried by the wind hit her ears, and her spine stiffened into a board as her heart beat a breath faster. The birds’ lilting chirps silenced, casting the forest in an unnatural, eerie quiet. She yanked her skirt down, shielding the birthmark from the lurking forest eyes. She let the larkspur slip from her fingers, the humming in her veins immediately ceasing. Flora yanked on her supple leather boot she had discarded when she felt the niggling stem poke through her skin and bone. With the heel, she crushed the larkspur into the dirt, then scattered leaves and twigs and moss overtop, burying the vibrant evidence. Her gaze lingered on the space, chewing on her lip as she worried it looked too obvious. Except, she had done the best she could, and it was highly unlikely someone was in the forest with her. Even if her rapidly beating heart and other half of her brain did not get that memo of logic.
Flora’s gaze darted around the forest, greens and browns creating a kaleidoscope of color, making it impossible to find the source of the noise. She laced her boot, drawing the strings tight enough to cut into her circulation before she rose, low-hanging branches grazing her head tenderly. A cold finger ran down her spine as she scanned the trees. Uneasiness blossomed in her middle, lingering even when she couldn’t observe anything out of the ordinary.
The woods were largely unused as everyone was terrified of them. The very sight of a tree, growing high and mighty into the sky, struck deep, bottomless fear into the hearts of those who lived in Woodvale. Because they knew—everyone knew—the trees were where the witches lived.
Step one foot, even a toe, into the treeline and you would be devoured whole or cursed into oblivion. Except those who didn’t blindly follow fallacy, like Flora, knew that you had to cross the right treeline. But the superstition about the woods lived on, despite the misconceptions littering history, fables, folktales, anecdotes, and gossip.
No one went into the woods. Not on a sunny day, and certainly not when the moon was high and the shadows thrived as the monsters awoke in the breathing blackness.
It amused Flora how much the woods evoked such unease in others. They weren’t all scary. Many copses of trees grew in Woodvale—those were all safe. It was the woods surrounding Woodvale where you had to be careful. Woodvale was a rectangular country encased by a writhing sea, ginormous mountains, a green forest, and a black forest. There was no escape. Even when the land died and dried out, the only option was to stay and starve or risk the certain death of travel. It was an impossible choice, with a solution most folk in Woodvale feared too greatly to even entertain the idea of seeking help in that realm of life.
Magic.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
What’s your favorite thing about autumn:
My favourite thing about autumn is the cool air, the leaves, wearing cozy sweaters, reading spooky books, and watching horror movies.
What inspired you to write this story:
I’ve always been a huge fan of fantasy and fairytales and when researching my Icelandic heritage, I discovered these amazing folklore stories. I got the idea to create a quest inspired by some of these stories as they’re so magical and dark. Additionally, my main character, Flora, is socially anxious and has to break out of her shell to save herself and her world, and I hope she will be relatable to others who also experience anxiety.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs September 1 – 30, 2024
Drawing will be held on October 1, 2024.
Author Biography:
Aleighsha Parke is an avid reader who first fell in love with storytelling as a young child. Young Adult Fantasy and Sci-Fi are her first loves and the two genres she enjoys reading and writing in the most, however, she is interested in dabbling in other genres. When she's not writing, reading, or crocheting/knitting, she is working in a library, so she’s always surrounded by books. She lives in British Columbia with her adorable cat and family.
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