The Third Daughter

By: Adrienne Tooley

Narrated by: Rebecca Lee

A sweeping YA fantasy about legacy, betrayal, sisterhood, and politicizing emotion in the quest for power—all balanced by a slow-burn LGBTQ romance.

For centuries, the citizens of Velle have waited for their New Maiden to return. The prophecy states she will appear as the third daughter of a third daughter. When the fabled child is finally born to Velle’s reigning queen all rejoice except for Elodie, the queen’s eldest child, who has lost her claim to the crown. The only way for Elodie to protect Velle is to retake the throne. To do so, she must debilitate the Third Daughter—her youngest sister, Brianne.

Desperate, Elodie purchases a sleeping potion from Sabine, who sells sadness. But the apothecary mistakenly sends the princess away with a vial of tears instead of a harmless sleeping brew. Sabine’s sadness is dangerously powerful, and Brianne slips into a slumber from which she will not wake. With the fates of their families and country hanging in the balance, Sabine and Elodie hurry to revive the Third Daughter while a slow-burning attraction between the two girls erupts in full force.

A must-read for fans of the BookTok sensations ​Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson, and These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong.

Critic reviews

“The Third Daughter is subtly vicious and achingly tender, with a charming cast and delightful twists to boot. In the queendom of Velle, divinity and royalty clash, romance and intrigue simmer, and betrayals abound—but at the novel’s gentle heart is a story about the healing magic of being known. This is Adrienne Tooley at her most powerful.”—Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic

"Spectacularly emotional and majestically dark, The Third Daughter is a glittering jewel of a novel certain to win over even the most hard-hearted readers."—Morgan Rhodes, New York Times bestselling author of the Falling Kingdoms series

"Political intrigue and emotional intimacy balance on a knife's edge, teetering constantly, precariously between the two in this story of sisterhood, love, and duty. Elodie's journey held me captive in this stunning series starter and I cannot wait to see where she takes me next."—Courtney Gould, author of The Dead and the Dark

"Emotionally gripping and devastating—I held my breath the whole way. Adrienne Tooley deftly weaves prophecy, mystery and intrigue into a deeply intimate story. I ached with Elodie and Sabine, and I utterly fell in love with this exquisite sapphic fantasy. I’m already yearning for the sequel!"—Leslie Vedder, author of The Bone Spindle

It's an Adrienne Tooley book, of course it's good

it feels a little weird to be saying this about an author only 3 books into her career (none of which are connected), but I felt like I knew exactly what I was getting when I picked up this book. I knew I was in for a very well written sapphic fantasy with a splash of magic and a strongly beating emotional heart at its center. The Third Daughter certainly delivers exactly as Tooley's previous 2 books have. While I would happily read more of these books until the end of time, I hope Tooley's next work swings for the fences instead of being content with cruising into second base with a stand-up double.