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The Labyrinth of Waking Dreams
Not yet published
Expected 21 Apr 26In this adventure-packed portal fantasy, three teens discover a gateway to a mythical Labyrinth in the Appalachian Mountains
Barren’s Peak, West Virginia, is not a place anyone would call magical, but Thea
LaGuerre calls it home. A high school drop-out whose mother died in an accident, Thea is stuck working part-time jobs just to make ends meet. The most she has to look forward to are barn parties where she can make out with Callum, the one interesting boy who moved to town six months ago.
Thea doesn’t know it yet, but Callum was sent to Barren’s Peak to watch her. He was raised within the magicians’ order, a shadowy organization meant to keep humanity safe from an underworld of monsters. Callum would sacrifice anyone, including himself, to help their cause, but he still can’t help falling into Thea’s orbit. She’s the first person he’s felt seen by since his childhood sweetheart, Oliver—who he hasn’t seen since Oliver’s banishment from the order.
But Oliver hasn’t given up on Callum or on magic. Following a magical creature’s trail to Barren’s Peak, Oliver happens upon Callum and Thea at a barn party that turns into a monster-overrun massacre. To save Callum and the girl he’s protecting from a wave of deadly fairies, Oliver opens a portal for the three of them to flee into the Labyrinth.
To get home again, Thea, Oliver, and Callum will have to work together to survive the Labyrinth’s trials and discover the threads that brought them there.
Barren’s Peak, West Virginia, is not a place anyone would call magical, but Thea
LaGuerre calls it home. A high school drop-out whose mother died in an accident, Thea is stuck working part-time jobs just to make ends meet. The most she has to look forward to are barn parties where she can make out with Callum, the one interesting boy who moved to town six months ago.
Thea doesn’t know it yet, but Callum was sent to Barren’s Peak to watch her. He was raised within the magicians’ order, a shadowy organization meant to keep humanity safe from an underworld of monsters. Callum would sacrifice anyone, including himself, to help their cause, but he still can’t help falling into Thea’s orbit. She’s the first person he’s felt seen by since his childhood sweetheart, Oliver—who he hasn’t seen since Oliver’s banishment from the order.
But Oliver hasn’t given up on Callum or on magic. Following a magical creature’s trail to Barren’s Peak, Oliver happens upon Callum and Thea at a barn party that turns into a monster-overrun massacre. To save Callum and the girl he’s protecting from a wave of deadly fairies, Oliver opens a portal for the three of them to flee into the Labyrinth.
To get home again, Thea, Oliver, and Callum will have to work together to survive the Labyrinth’s trials and discover the threads that brought them there.
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
384 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication April 21, 2026
4302 people want to read
About the author
Michelle Kulwicki
5 books85 followersMichelle Kulwicki grew up in the Pacific Northwest overturning every rock and stick in an unending quest to find portals to worlds far more exciting than her own. After moving to the mountainless Midwest, she earned her bachelors and master’s degrees in music performance, and spent years in the symphony and musical theater pit circuit. She’s now a mom by day, musician by night, and writer in all the spaces in between—a life that is somewhat lacking in portals, but is still full of magic.
Her short fiction has been both Locus Recommended and Hugo nominated, and her first full length novel, At the End of the River Styx, will be debuting in Spring of 2024 from Page Street Kids.
Her short fiction has been both Locus Recommended and Hugo nominated, and her first full length novel, At the End of the River Styx, will be debuting in Spring of 2024 from Page Street Kids.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 13, 2025
This is a dark fantasy aimed towards Young Adult readers!
This is not your typical fantasy story where a group of teens who can use magic fight together searching for a way out. The Labyrinth is a melancholic and a lethal place where all of the magical creatures from our childhood stories are trying to eat you, literally! And, the magicians who fight to protect the Labyrinth are not the heroes they appear to be.
The three protagonists are interconnected and display hostility towards each other. They're better off trying to escape the Labyrinth separately instead of together.
The pacing drags on at times, but it's an interesting dark fantasy story.
This is not your typical fantasy story where a group of teens who can use magic fight together searching for a way out. The Labyrinth is a melancholic and a lethal place where all of the magical creatures from our childhood stories are trying to eat you, literally! And, the magicians who fight to protect the Labyrinth are not the heroes they appear to be.
The three protagonists are interconnected and display hostility towards each other. They're better off trying to escape the Labyrinth separately instead of together.
The pacing drags on at times, but it's an interesting dark fantasy story.
Displaying 1 of 1 review