Hearts Still Beating

Gripping, romantic, and impossible to put down, this dark and immersive post-apocalyptic debut novel is about two teen girls who loved each other before the end of the world - and before one of them became infected with the virus that turned her into a monster. Perfect for fans of Krystal Sutherland, Adam Silvera, and the darkly human side of the HBOMax horror-drama, The Last of Us. Seventeen-year-old Mara is dead-mostly. Infected with a virus that brought the dead back to life and the world to its knees, she wakes up in a facility to learn a treatment for the disease has been found. No longer a Tick, Mara is placed in an experimental resettlement program. But her recovery is complicated by her destination: she´s sent to live with the best friend she hasn´t seen since the world ended-and since their first and only kiss. Seventeen-year-old Rory is alive-barely. With impaired mobility from an injury and a dead sister, Rory´s nightmares are just as monstrous as the Ticks that turned her former best friend. Even after the Island-one of a handful of surviving communities-rebuilds itself, Rory is prepared for the Ticks to return at any time. She never expected them to come in the form of the only girl she´s ever loved. As the girls struggle with their pasts and the people they´ve become, and with the Island´s fragile peace in the balance, Rory and Mara must lean on each other to survive-or risk losing the girl they love all over again.