A dark and captivating new take on the beloved Nutcracker story, Z. R. Ellor's YA fantasy debut, No Better Than Beasts, is a perfect standalone novel for fans of folklore, cursed kingdoms, fraught romance, and fairy tales with sharp teeth.

Nabik Zolkedan, a soldier, owes his allegiance to the Empire and his elder brother Fydir, who lifted their small family from poverty. As he follows Fydir’s orders to quell the unrest in an unruly city, the magic he has long since buried begins to stir. A wintery voice urges Nabik to desert his post—and his brother’s watchful eye—to journey north into Kolznechia, a frozen, enchanted kingdom ruled by the mercurial Rat King. His power may hold the key to breaking the curse that poisons the kingdom and ending the Rat King’s reign.

Drakne Zolkedna will do whatever it takes to safeguard her own freedom. Betrayed by Fydir and dismissed by Nabik, her best hope at escaping her brothers is to seek the protection of the Rat King. Luckily, the tyrant king has been looking for someone like her. Drakne has a gift that can help him find and kill the missing Nutcracker Prince, rightful heir to his stolen throne.

When the Nutcracker Prince is found, Nabik and Drakne take opposite sides of a centuries-old conflict—him to save a kingdom, her to save herself. As the threat of war looms closer, their brother Fydir casts a foreboding shadow, hungry to claim power of his own. If Nabik and Drakne can’t mend their fraying relationship, they might just tear apart Kolznechia by tooth and claw. . .