Guest post written by author Adrienne Tooley
Adrienne Tooley is the author of Sweet & Bitter Magic as well as the Indie Next List selection Sofi and the Bone Song. The Third Daughter is, fittingly, her third novel. In addition to writing books, she is a singer-songwriter and has released several EPs which are available on Spotify & other streaming sites. Adrienne, her wife, and their dog live in Brooklyn. She invites you to visit her online at adriennetooley.com, on Twitter @adriennetooley, and on Instagram @adriennetooley.
The Third Daughter begins, as fantasy novels are wont do, with a prophecy.
Before the New Maiden ushered in the light, She promised her Favoreds She would return. “You will know me,” She said, “as a third daughter’s third daughter. My spirit will live on in the body of another.”
The story opens with the coronation of that third daughter: now both queen and deity at the impressionable age of thirteen. The New Maiden’s return is embraced by the Church, but it less welcomed by her older sister, Elodie. The oldest daughter—once raised to rule, then later trained to guide as regent—is deeply concerned by the political ramifications of a unified church and state. And so, she enacts a rash plan with lingering consequences: to remove the New Maiden from the throne.
While the third daughter is not the main character, her presence drips from every page, her reincarnation framing the larger themes of the book. What happens when a deity returns to a world that has corrupted her words? Where does that leave the balance of power between savior and preacher? What does she do to right the terrible wrongs have been done in her name?
And, most important to our story: what happens when an all-powerful deity is young enough to be controlled?
Young people are all too often ignored by those meant to protect them. Parents and authority figures dismiss them as trivial, silly, or frivolous. Politicians and leaders use them as pawns to wage proxy wars, caring little how they harm the very people they claim to stand for. Young people, by virtue of their dependency, can hold so little power over their lives, their circumstances, even themselves. But their youth does not dimmish their ability to speak, to assemble, to plan, and to dream.
What better way to explore the chasm between expectations and abilities, to break free from the restrictions of adolescence, than by offering impossible power and potential to a teenager? What happens when that child, only just learning who they are, must also grapple with the legacy of what came before? And who emerges triumphant, when less-than-nobly minded adults seek to use legacy to control that deity for their own gain?
The Third Daughter is not the only 2023 release to contend with these questions. Here’s a list of recently (and soon to be!) released YA novels that attempt to answer through the lens of teenaged reincarnated deities:
Ravensong by Cayla Fay
Neve has spent lifetimes defending the mortal world against the legions of hell with her two sisters.
Unfortunately for Neve, in this lifetime, she is the only one of the Morrigan—a triad of Irish war gods—still stuck in high school and still without her full power. She’s been counting down the days until her eighteenth birthday, when she finally gets to shed the pretenses of humanity and grow into her divine power.
But then she meets Alexandria. And Alexandria is as determined to force Neve into some semblance of teenage normalcy as she is haunted by her own demons—both figurative and literal.
As they grow closer, Neve decides that humanity—and, perhaps, love—isn’t so detestable after all. Which makes it all the more dangerous when she realizes that something in Hell wants Alexandria, and it’s up to Neve and her sisters to save her before Alexandria’s past catches up to all of them.
A Song of Salvation by Alechia Dow
Zaira Citlali is supposed to die. After all, she’s the god Indigo reborn. Indigo, whose song created the universe and unified people across galaxies to banish Ozvios, the god of destruction. Although Zaira has never been able to harness Indigo’s powers, the Ilori Emperor wants to sacrifice her in Ozvios’s honor. Unless she escapes and finds Wesley, the boy prophesized to help her defeat Ozvios and the Ilori, once and for all.
Wesley Daniels didn’t ask for this. He just wants to work as a smuggler so he can save enough money to explore the stars. Once he completes his biggest job yet—bringing wanted celebrity Rubin Rima to a strange planet called Earth—he’ll be set for life. But when his path crosses with Zaira, he soon finds himself in the middle of an intergalactic war with more responsibility than he bargained for.
Together, Zaira, Wesley, and Rubin must find their way to Earth and unlock Zaira’s powers if they’re going to have any hope of saving the universe from total destruction.
Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon
Gem Echols is a nonbinary Seminole teen living in the tiny town of Gracie, Georgia. Known for being their peers’ queer awakening, Gem leans hard on charm to disguise the anxious mess they are beneath. The only person privy to their authentic self is another trans kid, Enzo, who’s a thousand long, painful miles away in Brooklyn.
But even Enzo doesn’t know about Gem’s dreams, haunting visions of magic and violence that have always felt too real. So how the hell does Willa Mae Hardy? The strange new girl in town acts like she and Gem are old companions, and seems to know things about them they’ve never told anyone else.
When Gem is attacked by a stranger claiming to be the Goddess of Death, Willa Mae saves their life and finally offers some answers. She and Gem are reincarnated gods who’ve known and loved each other across lifetimes. But Gem – or at least who Gem used to be – hasn’t always been the most benevolent deity. They’ve made a lot of enemies in the pantheon—enemies who, like the Goddess of Death, will keep coming.
It’s a good thing they’ve still got Enzo. But as worlds collide and the past catches up with the present, Gem will discover that everyone has something to hide.
