Saft interweaves intrigue, romance, and magic to fashion a slow-burning and atmospheric fantasy debut. After combat medic Wren Southerland defies orders surrounding the use of her healing magic, her aunt, Queen Isabel of Danu, removes her from duty, causing a rift between Wren and her commanding officer, whom she loves despite circumstances forbidding their relationship. But Wren is soon contacted by a disgraced noble, who, in exchange for her healing his dying servant, offers a way to help her broker peace between Danu and neighboring Vesria. Much to her surprise, Wren's new patient is Hal Cavendish, a sworn enemy from Vesria. Trapped in Lowry's manor as the weather grows worse, Wren and Hal find unexpected common ground in their mutual desire for peace and growing attraction to one another. When they realize their host has a sinister ulterior motive, they must work together to save both their homelands. If Saft's novel follows predictable plot points, it still finds ways to surprise and enchant, including a brief look at magic-infused medical techniques and an elaborately gothic feel, en route to an open ending that leaves plenty of room for further exploration. Ages 13--up. Agents: Claire Friedman and Jessica Mileo, InkWell Management. (Mar.)

Wren is the best healer in the Queen's Guard, but her tendency to go easy on prisoners has her reputation hanging by a thread. Banished from the guard and separated from her best friend and one-time lover, Una, she's lost and purposeless. Desperate for an escape, Wren leaps when summoned by a noble of nearby Cernos, one place not touched by their land's bloody civil war. Once she arrives, she finds that she's been played for a fool--the man she's been asked to heal is the Reaper, one of the greatest killers of her people. While she struggles to find the cause of the Reaper's mysterious and surely magical illness, she has to get close to him--maybe close enough to love. Debut author Saft has crafted an intricate world that's figured out down to the details of each character. A choice addition to any collection where Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo rule.

Gr 9 Up--Wren Southerland's healing abilities make her one of the best surgeons in the country of Danu, but being able to feel another's pain gives her a compassionate nature at odds with her place in the military. With soldiers going missing along the border and Wren's compassion bungling a mission (again), she ends up suspended. A letter from Colwick Hall contains a chance to prove herself and earn back her post. Arriving at the snowy, crumbling castle, Wren finds her patient is not a servant, but her country's worst enemy, Hal Cavendish. A romantic high fantasy at turns lush and ominous, the detailed setting is at turns comforting and eerie as Wren struggles for acceptance and love, while the personal and political plots happening within the walls of Colwick will keep readers on pins and needles. Saft's narrative voice makes reading effortless with the perfect blend of pacing and poetry. Wren has auburn hair and a white relative; her skin color is not explicitly mentioned the way diversity in the supporting cast is. Wren is bisexual, with f/f and m/f romantic plotlines on the page. Fans of Leigh Bardugo's "Grisha Trilogy" and Marie Rutkoski's "Winner's Trilogy" have been waiting for this Darkling-esque romance. VERDICT Those who pick up Saft's debut will be richly rewarded on all counts--intricately woven characters, beautiful prose, and darkness around every corner make this fantasy a first purchase.--Emmy Neal, Lake Forest Lib., IL

A healer who wields powerful magic hopes to solve a terrible mystery and save her country. Magic is a recessive trait passed down through families, and Wren Southerland's magic can knit together sinew and bone and return life to the mortally wounded, a vital talent as a lieutenant in the Queen's Guard. After an impulsive action lands Wren in hot water, she answers a summons to Lord Alistair Lowry's vast estate in the snowy mountains of Cernos. If Wren heals Henry, his favorite servant, of a mystery illness that has ravaged his staff, Lowry will attempt to broker an alliance between neutral Cernos and hostile Vesria and Danu, restoring Wren's standing with her aunt, Danu's Queen Isabel, and Una, Wren's commanding officer and the woman she loves. But something is definitely off about Lowry; Wren keeps hearing strange noises; and she and her (dangerous) new patient share a searing attraction. Wren's magic relies largely on her deep scientific knowledge of human anatomy, and she discovers that, despite what she's been told, her empathy and compassion are not weaknesses. In an alternate world seemingly set in the late 1800s, electric lights are new and people travel by horse and carriage. The Gothic atmosphere includes echoing, candlelit halls; a secret passage; and explosive secrets. Things get off to a slow start, but patient readers who love slow-burn romances will find much to enjoy. Wren is White; Una and Henry are brown-skinned. A promising debut. (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.