The Ending You Deserve

Do Revenge meets Where Sleeping Girls Lie in this dark-academia-stripped-bare novel about a student who uncovers a predator operating in plain sight at her new prestigious private arts high school.

Ava Quirk thought getting into Faraday, the fine arts private school of her dreams, could be a fresh start. Instead, her grades have tanked and her scholarship hangs by a thread.

Near failing out, Ava is presented with a deal. Her student advisor, local legend Peter Barden, agrees to pass her if she befriends Love Solt, a brilliant but guarded classmate. Barden says Love is troubled and could use some guidance. In turn, Ava can soak up Love's academic prowess. If Ava does this--and gets him a copy of the top-secret novel Love's writing--he'll pass Ava. It's an odd ask, but Ava's desperate.

At first, friendship comes easy, trust is built, and she's right where she needs to be to deliver on Barden's ask. But as time goes by, she realizes she's falling for Love, and the idea of betraying her is killing Ava. Then she reads Love's novel...

If the devastating truth Love has penned gets out, many lives will be ruined. But if the secret stays hidden, many lives will be at risk. Ava faces an impossible choice: turn her back on what she's found, or close the book on a sinister villain who has gone unchecked for far too long.

Rebecca Stafford is a Pushcart Prize award-winning poet, writer, critic, and editor whose work has been published in the New Yorker and reviewed in the New York Times. Her debut novel, Rabbit & Juliet, was named a best book of the year by Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal. The Ending You Deserve is her second novel. To learn more about Rebecca's distinguished body of work, visit her online at rebeccastaffordauthor.com.