'Deftly confident, effortlessly poetic, MERCUTIO feels like a beloved and universal myth known for millennia, retold for modern readers. There are truths in this world; there are secrets; there are horrors; no one will teach us what is right to fear, and only stories can show us why love and loyalty still give us hope. Mercutio Guertio is an unforgettable hero – a young man both discovering and inventing himself, journeying fearlessly under all the wrong stars' Premee Mohamed, author of The Butcher of the Forest'But soft, what light through yonder oh my god, what did Kate Heartfield do to Shakespeare? This book is amazing. Justice at last for Romeo and Juliet's best character. For those who like their fae dark, wild, and heartless – a glitteringly crafted adventure where every word is faceted, the finest and sharpest of winter jewels' C.J. Lavigne, author of The Drowned Man's Daughter'Poignant, clever and playfully strange in a very medieval way' Jelena Dunato, author of Dark Woods, Deep Water'When Heartfield pulls back the curtain separating our world from Faerie, the results are beautiful, visceral, and terrifying. Inventive, brilliant, unsettling, and enchanting' Kate Story, author and playwrightPraise for Kate Heartfield‘Spellbinding’ JJA Harwood'This richly detailed, character-driven story renders epic mythological battles on a human scale' Publishers Weekly‘An entertaining and dark read’ Stylist‘An absorbing novel’ Guardian‘Beautifully written’ Elizabeth Chadwick