Happy Thursday, friend! Today I am chatting with author Grace Leeds about her debut novel, Oath Breakers. Check out this queer fantasy. Let’s learn more.
Get to know the authors: Grace Leeds
Hi Grace! Welcome to Armed with A Book. Tell me and my readers a bit about yourself!
With a Master’s and Library and Information Science and a BA in Classics and Creative Writing, I have been writing for as long as I can remember. And yes, that includes truly horrible stories from elementary school. I mainly read Adult fantasy, LGBTQ+, and Romance books. When I’m not reading, I’m snuggling with my cat and rock climbing.
What inspired you to write this book?
This story initially came from a random writing prompt. It was barely two thousand words and basically unrecognizable to the finished product. However, I loved the themes of found family and magic that had emerged. I wanted to write something extremely character-focused, playing on unreliable narrators and the desire to protect the people you love.
What makes your story unique?
One thing that makes this story unique is that it’s so focused on the characters. While the book is set in a dystopian society that is corrupt and problematic, this society is not the focus of the story. The characters aren’t able to change things; they are stuck fighting for a world that doesn’t appreciate them. Instead, the book focuses on the characters and relationships that develop throughout the book.
Who would enjoy reading your book?
Readers of adult fantasy books would enjoy reading this book. I say that if you enjoyed reading Malice by Heather Walter or Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May, you might enjoy this book.
What’s something you hope readers would take away from it?
Throughout the book, there’s this idea of inevitability contrasting with these self-fulfilling prophecies that Ayden (the MC) creates. She often decides that the worst-case scenario will occur and while she’s often right, it’s meant to make the reader think about whether what she predicts is really, truly inevitable or a self-fulfilling prophecy. So much of what happens is inevitable; however, how much of what happens could have been avoided if the characters had been willing to see a different way forward?
Do you have a favorite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?
My favorite scene is very close to the end of the book. It’s between Ayden (the MC) and Neave (the love interest). Ayden is close to giving up, and Neave tells her she isn’t allowed to give up when Neave needs her.
Alternatively, my favorite quote is:
Tears pricked in her eyes. It felt right. This moment with them together. This was how it was supposed to be, even with the Nightmares and the blood and the fighting, this was where she was supposed to be.
Pg 128
Where can readers find you on the Internet?
TikTok, Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon.
Oath Breakers
Genre: Dark Fantasy; LGBTQ
Publication Year: 2024
Ayden Quinn only volunteered because she had nothing left. Set in a walled city where no one knows what the outside world contains, the people of the city are under attack by mysterious monsters causing unprecedented destruction.
After becoming part of an experimental ritual designed to help save the city from these monsters, Ayden becomes part of a group of four other people who now possess powers no one fully understands. They are faster, stronger, and able to heal from almost any wound. With little time to understand these new powers, the group is sent to fight the monsters.
Ayden never expected that she would grow to love the other four people. She never expected to fall in love, and she has no idea how she’s supposed to juggle having a family for the very first time when she’s supposed to be saving the world.
Trigger Warnings: graphic violence, implied/reference suicide, suicidal ideation, body horror, implied/reference child abuse, experimentation on humans, no HEA
Content Notes: Most of the body horror and experimentation has it do with the ritual that is performed on the characters at the beginning of the book. The characters agree to the ritual without knowing the full extent of what will happen to them.
Book Excerpt from
Oath Breakers
Context: Five people (Ayden, Oliver, Ethan, Rory, Neave) have gone through a ritual that has given them advanced strength and speed. They are also able to read each other’s thoughts and feel each other’s pain. Due to the experimental nature of the ritual, they are training their powers.
“What happened?” Doyle yelled, already running over with a first-aid kit. Neave swallowed across from Ayden, dropping her defensive position to run a hand down her own thigh.
The air was thick, and pungent as Ayden forced herself to move to Ethan’s side. She knelt across from Doyle, ignoring the sharp blast of pain. Ethan’s fingers wrapped around his thigh, his leg bent at an odd angle as something white and red stuck between his fingers.
“Your leg’s broken,” Doyle said, voice steady. “Just stay calm. You’ll be alright.”
Ethan’s eyes scrunched as he pressed the back of his head into the ground, his bright blond hair forming a halo in the dirt around him. He let out a low whine that buzzed around in Ayden’s skull like a fly that had gotten too close to her ear. She dug her fingers into the dirt, the bitter taste of bile acrid on her tongue.
“What is that?” Doyle said, his calm demeanor cracking. His eyes were focused on Ethan’s leg, wide with something close to horror.
His leg made a sick snapping sound, followed by a dull scrape of something grinding together, and the bone sticking between Ethan’s fingers retracted between the skin, setting itself back into place with a sharp snap. Ethan cried out again, and Ayden winced, laying her hand on his shoulder. He immediately reached up, grasping her hand so hard her bones pressed together. The skin that had broken on his thigh was already closing over, his leg straight again.
“No way,” someone said over her shoulder.
The dull buzzing in her ears made the voice impossible to identify. Oliver, Neave, and Rory were looking over. Shock, awe, horror plastered across their minds, and suddenly, a surge of anger flashed through Ayden.
Why did they have to be side-show freaks? What had she done to deserve everything that had happened to her? What had any of them done? Why hadn’t the Witch told them this would happen? Why couldn’t the others seehow unfair this all was? No. Instead, they stood there and gawked while Ethan was in pain, and she hated them for it.
“Back the fuck up,” she snapped.
They flinched, either at her thoughts or her words, she didn’t know. Didn’t particularly care. Ethan panted, still laid out on the ground, his hand locked around hers, his eyes fixed up at the sky. She slid her arms under his thighs and shoulders, careful of his leg, and lifted him, not even able to be surprised at how easy it was.
Ayden, Neave said, her voice soft and repentant in her mind as Ayden carried Ethan away.
Let her go, Rory answered.
Ayden laid Ethan in his bed, tucking his tattered blue blanket up around him.
When she’d arrived at the training grounds so long ago, he’d already been here, sarcastic and unruly and determined to drive Doyle and Byrne crazy every time he’d opened his mouth. He was wicked with his sword and dagger, and his hand-to-hand was so similar to what she’d seen growing up—dirty and vicious that she’d known exactly where he came from. It had been as easy for him to see the streets in her as it had been for her to see it in him, and he’d seemed to take it as an invitation to harass her.
“Want to see me pick-pocket Doyle?” he had asked on her second day, sliding into the seat next to Ayden in the dining hall.
She’d bitten her lip, stirring her soup around and trying to check her smile.
“Only if you get me something good,” Ayden had answered.
He’d smiled wide and wicked before sauntering over to Doyle. He’d brought her back a paperclip and two coins.
Interested?
Find Oath Breakers on Goodreads, Storygraph, IndieStoryGeek, Amazon.
Thanks for joining me for the interview! I hope you enjoyed the excerpt.
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