Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Embrace the Serpent | 2025 | Buy |
The Darkening Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Darkening | 2022 | Buy |
| The Lightstruck | 2023 | Buy |
Sunya Mara grew up in six different cities across five states before settling in Los Angeles. She studied film and business at the University of Southern California and worked as a writer and illustrator at Kobe Bryant’s Granity Studios before publishing her debut novel.
The Darkening (2022) is a YA fantasy set in a city surrounded by a cursed storm that destroys anyone it touches. Vesper Vale, the daughter of revolutionaries, must infiltrate the prince’s elite soldier-sorcerers to rescue her captured father, armed only with his book of dangerous experimental magic. The story combines political rebellion with an enemies-to-lovers romance and a magic system rooted in sacrifice. The sequel, The Lightstruck (2023), concludes the duology.
Mara’s standalone novel Embrace the Serpent is set for 2025, moving into new territory while keeping the high-stakes fantasy and character-driven storytelling of her earlier work.