Category: Grace Pearce

Xantera by Mariah Montoya and Grace Pearce

Releases 13th October 2025

Xantera follows 23-year-old Saskia, who lives in a utopian society ruled by 12 guardians. Saskia has always been taught to never question the rules and to fear the monster who prowls outside the wall, which is there to protect them. She eats what she is told, she works where she is told, and she is even in a relationship with whom she is told. They control every aspect of the citizens’ lives. Saskia is a healer, and when one of her patients is acting shifty and then disappears, Saskia does what no one in Xantera should do: she starts thinking and asking questions. When she sees her patient again, he is being escorted by the sentries, but she notices as he throws a necklace to the side of the road. Saskia is curious and picks this up; she doesn’t know what it is and is utterly shocked when a voice speaks to her in her head. The voice is that of the monster outside the wall, the one she should fear, and he wants her to let him in.