Innamorata

By Ava Reid

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A decadently dark gothic fantasy for readers who love "haunting atmospheres, morally tangled characters, and stories where love becomes doom" (Booklist, starred review), the first in a duology from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and Lady Macbeth

This first edition hardcover features designed sprayed edges and full-color illustrated endpapers--while supplies last

"Gorgeously gruesome . . . reads like the gory bones of a forgotten folktale."--Jacqueline Carey, New York Times bestselling author of the Kushiel's Legacy series

Once there was an island where the dead walked the earth, and seven noble houses ruled by the arcane secrets of necromancy.

A conqueror's blade brought them low, burning their libraries, killing their lords, and extinguishing their eldritch magic.

But defiant against the new order stands the House of Teeth and its last living members: beautiful Marozia, the heiress to the House, and her cousin, the uncanny Lady Agnes.

Though she has not spoken a word in seven years, Agnes is the true carrier of the House's legacy. And she has her orders. She must recapture the secrets of death magic and avenge her family's fallen honor. She must arrange the betrothal of her beloved cousin Marozia to Liuprand, heir to the conqueror's throne, for access to the forbidden library in his grotesquely grand castle.

Revenge burns in Agnes's heart but so do stranger passions--and it is Liuprand, the golden prince, who speaks to her soul. This passion is as treasonous as it is powerful, poisoning the kingdom's roots and threatening to tear the already shattered realm in two.

For Agnes's final order is the gravest: She must not fall in love.

Book One of The House of Teeth Duology

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593722590
• ISBN13: 9780593722596
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 1.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful Writing but Extremely Dark and Graphic

As always, Ava Reid's prose shines, even when the subject matter is so dark and disturbing. I very nearly put this book down and DNF'd more than once. I think if you are a horror fan there is a lot here for you to love. I tend to be a bit squeamish with the type of body horror, gore, and difficult subject matter covered in a book like this, especially when, in my opinion, it seems gratuitous in many places. But the writing never stopped being beautiful, even when painting a very ugly picture. I also am now planning on reading Orlando innamorato, because the metafictional elements Reid included were really compelling. I know this book has been getting a lot of discourse on social media about the need for content warnings. I am glad that Ava Reid warned readers in advance that this was not a romantasy and first and foremost a grimdark gothic horror. It is definitely all of those things. And a lot of people are saying to check the content warning list on Storygraph, but I will say that list is only as accurate as what the readers and reviewers decide to add. I will definitely be adding some content warnings that I think are major and everyone should know about that are not already on the list. And I think for a book like this, I certainly would have appreciated them. However, I am still glad I read it. I don't know that I will read the concluding book in the duology. As of now, I do not plan to do so, but maybe after a while when the subject is not so fresh, I may change my mind. **be advised that this book contains graphic depictions of forced necrophilia**