Bree Buonomo

ALT TITLE: The Shrike and the Starling (ending letters trail down) Vibe check with arrow 83000 word YA Dark Fantasy BACKGROUND: beach scene with young girls running in background overlayed with woman with blood dripping down her face.

ALT BACKGROUND: Woman with red light tinge with blood dripping down face. TITLE THE SHRIKE AND THE STARLING Tropes: Half-Mad, Cannibal TEXT: Blood oozes out of the wound, plopping gently in the darkness onto the cave floor. Flashes of memories invade her mind, no matter how hard she tries to keep them out. Gleam of brown hair. Crimson of fresh blood. Ashen brown of a still face. She’s never sure if they’re hers or another’s. It’s the problem with her Gift. It’s not quite right. That was what they’d said about her? Yes. A Starling, but… not quite right. Not right. Not right. Not right. “Not right!”

ALT IMAGE: Beach at sunset, two girls are backlit playing near waves TITLE: The Shrike and the Starling TROPES: Complicated Grief, Sister Bonds TEXT: Mama was gone. I couldn’t change that. Grief wouldn’t help me. Anger was a better friend. I wouldn’t be selfish like her. I wouldn’t follow my whims or emotions. Whatever had to be done to ensure the twins’ well-being, to ensure I found a place here, I would do it. And if I did that, maybe the twins would forget the hardship. Forget the hunger. The death. The stench of poverty and blood. And remember nothing but warmth and light and salt-kissed air.

ALT Dark blue background with black thorns and birds. TEXT: THE SHRIKE (Sister Bonds | Inherited Magic | Kiss, Marry, Kill) AND THE STARLING (Mind-control parasites | Half-mad | Cannibal YA Dark Fantasy 83,000 words Dual POV