Faetality: Book One of The Bayton Fae

by Ysadora Sonderling

Jessie is a streetwise faery, trapped in the urban sprawl of Bayton. Forced into a life of gig and sex work after being a ward of the state, her only saving grace is an expensive education paid for by the guilt of her paternal grandmother. When people start going missing after taking a new street drug, her dealer Stevie asks her for help. In exchange she gets her own room for the first time in her life and some of Stevie's best offerings.

Now she must liaise between three local gang lords who are highly belligerent toward each other, suspicious fellow addicts and the other ladies of the streets. When she meets the stunning sister of one of the victims, Jessie finds herself driven to distraction. Meanwhile Damien, the gang leader of Central Bayton has taken to giving her gifts and showing up in her path regularly. Can Jessie manage her own addiction, burgeoning love and the steadily rising body count before she becomes a target?

Ysadora Sonderling is a disabled, Indigenous and queer author currently based in Perth, Western Australia. They reside there with two cats and a man who seems content to hang around in this chaos. They are also studying and working on top of writing, as well as running Sonderling Publishing House and Three Morrigna.

172 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 14, 2026

Reviews

[Jaz Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was surprisingly a really good little read. It’s fast paced but no spice. There’s definitely hints at little crush’s and off scene suggestive happenings lol 😂. It’s heavily focused on drug addiction and sex workers and strange happenings with men going missing and the FMC is a drug addicted sex worker who her dealer hired to find out what’s going on. It’s an odd book for sure. The FMC is basically the only literate character in the book who talks normal enough to make sense. It is mentioned right away that most people don’t have an education where she is living but she did get one. So the way everyone talks is lowkey annoying because it drives you crazy with the nonsense and unfinished sentences or half words or accented babbling. Otherwise it’s actually a decent little book quick to read and definitely keeps you interested because come on who doesn’t a little true crime story lol. It has a cute little ending and it’s not too dark sure there’s enslavement and torture and beatings and death mentioned but it’s all off scene or just spoke of. Nothing too crazy to worry about as far as TW go. It’s not too crazy on world building either it’s pretty quick to the point. I will say the description tho for her drug addiction and how she feels and sees and emotions and physical reactions are very detailed and in depth so it’s a new thing for me to read about. I’ve never read a book where the MC is a drug addict and you get their full detailed POV of the effects of everything she takes or the withdrawals or whatever she goes thru.