Isle of Teeth

“A captivating, immersive dark fantasy that sinks its fangs in and doesn’t let go. Barbosa has weaved a lush and layered tale of science and magic, with unflinching commentary on the devastation of war, colonialism, and the power of resistance. Matiu and Calyx’s bond is both tender and fierce and I loved following their journey toward discovering what it means to be human when the world has deemed you a monster.”
— LINDA CHENG, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Gorgeous Gruesome Faces

Matiu had no intention of ever setting foot back on the Isle of Teeth, the place of his birth—not
after the rebel attack that killed his mother and left him for dead when he was a child. But fate, or
perhaps Lady Death herself, seems to have other plans. Now a cadet in the imperial army,
Matiu—born to a Lyssian father and Songi mother—is pulled into a power struggle between his
father’s empire and his mother’s oppressed people. When he crosses paths with Calyx, one of
the revenants created—and then abandoned—by his cold, callous father, their destinies become
intertwined, forcing both to confront the monstrous systems that shaped them. Drawing on
Philippine colonial history, Barbosa’s dark, Frankenstein-inspired fantasy stitches together antiimperial
resistance, ancestral magic, and body horror into a grimly compassionate story about
identity, survival, and just who gets to be seen as human. The result is a thoughtful, melancholic
fantasy that will appeal to readers interested in stories of rebellion, divided loyalties, and
monsters who are more than the sum of their parts.”
— Booklist

Tessa Barbosa is a Filipina Canadian author who writes fantasy novels by night and software help by day. The Moonlight Blade was her debut novel, and Isle of Teeth is her second work for young adults. Tessa lives in Vancouver, Canada, with her children, an anxious cat, and a growing plant collection.

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