THE HALF-CLASS

A young undercover rebel gets too close to the enemy in debut author Lewis’ first YA fantasy novel in a series.

The city of Bexbury has a rigid hierarchy, based on skin color, in which the “light class” has the most power and the “dark class,” the least. But there’s a group of people who are ostracized for their very existence: the “half-classes,” whose parentage is a mix of people from the dark and light classes. They include Evie, who lives with her brothel-owning aunt. In a couple of months she’ll be 18, and she’s expected to follow her cousin Kat into the family sex-work business—one of the few career paths open to half-classes. At night, however, she participates in an underground resistance movement that does such things as destroy government documents to chip away at the oppressive social order. Their rebellious acts capture the attention of leader King Dreux, who travels from the nation’s capital to Bexbury to quash the unrest. He brings along his son, Prince Cassian, whom Evie befriends one night at the brothel before she realizes who he is. Her connection provides a perfect way for the rebels to get close to the king, but as she develops real feelings for the prince, things become unexpectedly complicated. Lewis’ prose is rich and urgent, as when Evie comes across a victim of some of her fellow rebels in a public fountain: “Layers of red pooled down from the top tier into the second, then into the large pool below. Something hung limply over the cornice. Something big and lumpy. Something dark green. A body.” Readers will note many clear connections to real-world racism, particularly toward the beginning of the novel. However, Lewis has built a complex world in these pages, and as the plot unfolds, the novel feels less explicitly allegorical, with nuances and particularities all its own. Although much of the story is set in a brothel, it mostly keeps sex at a distance. However, the author does delve into the difficult relationships that can exist in a racially stratified society and how societal lines can become blurred.

An ambitious and immersive fantasy tale.