Translated by Hildegarde Serle
Beneath the paint, the plaster and the cement, inside the walls, in the depths of the invisible, I make out something that I still can’t name. Something ferocious as hell that occupies the entire building and that gets into my bones. Something that will soon be part of me.
After sales of 1.5 million copies of the Mirror Visitor series, Christelle Dabos reveals a new facet of her talent in this powerful choral novel.
Welcome to the School of Here, an unsettling and peculiar place that is nonetheless familiar to us all. A place full of codes and weird, unspoken rules that are passed down from year to year. This new term begins as any other would at Here: footprints on the ceiling, mysterious charts that rank the students into ‘High’ or ‘Low’, the Ultra Secret Club, and trouble in store for the students who end up an ‘odd number’. Even if the players change, the parts stay the same, all ruled over by a bully called the prince. For Iris, Madeleine, Pierre and Guy, it’s an endless and cruel cycle that will reach breaking point this year.
Here and Only Here is an enthralling and thought-provoking novel that shines a light on the complications of being a teenager and just how difficult school can be.
INTERVIEWS and REVIEWS
Good Reading
RNZ: Nine to Noon
StoryLinks
andHere, and Only Here
‘This fabulous newcomer to YA fantasy will appeal to all ages…an action-packed and often surprising story.’
‘A Winter’s Promise is the kind of book that you simply can’t put down once you pick it up. Dabos has crafted something truly exquisite here – a story so rich and intricate, so full of magic and wonder that it draws you in and spellbinds you immediately.’
‘Imagine the poisonous politics of Versailles in a glittering, steampunk world of quill pens, airships, masks, illusions and murderous courtiers.’
‘Spectacular settings, exquisitely rendered characters.’
‘A compelling and dark story…Riveting.’
‘Disappearance, murder, revolution and birth…This book is dark and and disturbing…An attempt to capture and convey the claustrophobia, fear and anxiety school attendance can generate—and how escape from the world created within its walls can seem impossible.’
‘I thought I’d never read a book that could show exactly what goes on inside the minds of teens. One that could describe the unspoken rules and hierarchy that suffocates secondary schools. Until I read Here and Only Here…These characters are as real as it gets. With the expert words of this writer, I was unable to put the book away. Lyrical sentences and entire chapters are wrapped up in the ever-changing minds of the characters. Small twists and enthralling plot points leave you waiting for more.’
