When the Labyrinth Sleeps

Into the Labyrinth #3

by Victoria McCombs

For the first time, a mortal will disappear with the labyrinth.

Tove chose her cage. For four years, she will be bound to the Stone Gods’ apothecary in exchange for one save the new King of the Labyrinth before his heart turns to stone.

But the realm she enters is not suitable for mortals. The gods are restless, indulgent, and dangerously bored as they play elaborate games to decide who will shape the next labyrinth. These games would be the perfect time to bring Tove closer to the new king, but the boy she sacrificed everything for is no longer the same. And after the last labyrinth, Tove is not the same either.

Pulled between him and the apothecary’s demands, Tove is drawn deeper into a web of lost stories, cruel games, and something broken that even she may not be able to mend.

If she can master the gods’ game, she might save the king.
If she fails, she won’t just lose him.

She’ll become stone.

When the Labyrinth Sleeps is a companion novel to the Quarter Labyrinth duology, continuing the story for side characters with more bargains with the stone gods, more romance, and a girl with hands of death trying to save the boy whose heart is stone. No spice, language, or gore. Suitable for teens.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy

Kindle Edition

Expected publication November 24, 2026

About the author

Victoria McCombs is the author of many YA novels, with hopefully many more to come. All her stories are no spice with no language or gore. She’s drawn to stories of stubborn courage, dangerous romance, and atmospheres thick with fairytale intrigue. When she isn’t drafting, she can be found raising four wildlings with her husband in Omaha, Nebraska, fueled by hazelnut coffee and an unwavering respect for her deadlines.

Reviews

[Lily ✝️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️4

🎶 Now playing- Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift (from the Hunger Games) 🎶

"𝐼 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒"

♡{Thoughts}♡
Victoria McCombs did not disappoint! She is definitely one of my favorite authors...... I just love the way she tells her stories! When the Labyrinth Sleeps was an amazing book. It felt very different from the previous books in Ren's perspective, and took me a minute to get into, but once things picked up I was hooked. Some parts were a little confusing, but overall the story flowed very nicely.

"𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉"

♡{Content}♡
Romance/spice · 1/5 · there's 1-2 kisses
Language · 0/5
Violence · 2/5 · Mentions of blood and burns (semi detail); someone is killed; a few mentions of death and torture; people are cut and stabbed.
Other · Some people can turn into wolves

"𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝓃𝑜 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒽𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓃𝑜𝓌"

♡{Final thoughts}♡
Age · 13+
Cover · 5/5
Plot · 4/5
Tropes · Fantasy, romance, gods and mortals, magical bargains
In a series? · Yes, this is a companion novel to the Into the Labyrinth series.

"𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓇 𝑜𝓊𝓉𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒹𝑜𝑜𝓇 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅𝓈 𝓇𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓃"

Thank you to the author for giving me this ARC! All opinions are mine. Thanks for reading! ♡Lily

"𝒞𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼'𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝒻𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹"

[Brooke J Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was good to be back in the labyrinth but from a different perspective. The mystery deepens I feel like the stakes get higher and you never know who you can trust! So so good! I love this series.

[⁕*⁎ katherine ⁎*⁕ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.
AMAZING. review to come.

[Mandee (mandee.reads.cleanbooks) · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

When the Labyrinth Sleeps is perfect for fans of OUABH and Hunger Games, and it had me hooked from the very beginning. I had loved Quarter Labyrinth and Labyrinth Wolves, so I was eagerly awaiting my arc of this book. While you can technically read it as a standalone, I would recommend reading the other books from this world first. I think it helps to give some context and to understand the world better. The dedication of this book felt like it was just for me, and I loved that. I could see that theme throughout, and Victoria did an amazing job of highlighting it. One of my favorite aspects of this book(and the other two) was the world building and overall setting of the story. I almost always end up feeling sorry for the Stone gods, and it happened yet again in this book. I did not see the plot twist coming, in fact I suspected the opposite. Like why would you do that to me Victoria😭 that happened to me in A Bride of Fallen Stars too😓 Anyways... I loved the romance! it was genuinely so sweet and the devotion Tove has is so so so sweet! Overall I would definitely recommend!

Spice🌶️:0/10
Profanity🤬:0/10
Violence🗡️:3/10

[Tisha Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world building, the Stone Gods, the romance, the TWISTS!! Ugh, I loved it all!!

I absolutely loved Tove and how much she was willing to sacrifice for someone she loved. And the romance?! My heart!! It was so sweet and I was rooting for them the entire time!

The whole labyrinth and the games the gods play had me hooked! And just when I thought I knew where things were going, NOPE!! I love when a book can surprise me like that!

Victoria has such a way of making you fall in love with her characters and the worlds she creates. This story had everything I love in a good fantasy. Magic, danger, secrets, romance, and plenty of moments that had me stressing over fictional characters!!

Such a good read!! And I absolutely love that it’s a clean fantasy romance too!