These Stolen Lives

A powerful dystopian thriller from a stunning new voice in YA, set in a world divided by race where life itself must be paid for if you want to survive...

Six years ago, seventeen-year-old Mora survived the terrifying Skol invasion. They stole her land. They took her family. And now not even her life is her own. Skol culture revolves around one motto: Life is Golden. You must pay the government for the right to survive. If you can't, you're cast out... or culled.

Records of every citizen are held at the highly-secured Life Registry, which tracks who lives and who dies, who pays and who fails. Colonised survivors face endless servitude, repaying the 'debt' of their years lived before the invasion. Mora is resigned to her fate, finding glimmers of joy in her tentative friendship with another repayer, the handsome, elusive Kit. But then she finds out that twelve-year-old Zako is to be put to death by the dangerous new Skol Governor.

Finding the courage to fight back, Mora and Kit conspire to smuggle Zako to safety. But their plan draws them into a dark mystery... and a heart-pounding mission at the Life Registry itself. They must ask themselves: what are we worth to each other?

These Stolen Lives challenges readers to consider the value of life and the power of resilience in the face of tyranny.