Queen of Teeth
“ Piper’s evocative novel is an intoxicating mix of graphic body horror and lesbian romance. Painful questions regarding corporate accountability, personal redemption and forgiveness, mental health, and the nature of love revolve around the novel’s three fascinating main characters, Yaya, Doc, and Magenta.
The elusive worldbuilding—When is the story set exactly? Is it on an alternate Earth in an alternate timeline?—serves the story well, heightening its menacing tone.
A powerful, beautiful horror story.”— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Queen of Teeth promises teeth and tentacles, yet delivers so much more. The complexity of the world Piper crafts is believable and expertly done. The book defies strict genre definition as it dabbles in horror, science fiction, and romance to create a truly toothsome experience. Fans of Piper will adore this book and new readers will be quick to pick up her previous titles after this delightful initiation.”— Tracy Robinson, Rue Morgue
" Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper is so fucking good, and so fucking gay, that I am absolutely in awe. Like a city-destroying monstrosity secreted within a human form, this dystopian body horror story conceals layers upon layers of romance, tragedy, guilt, and what it means to be human. I would happily be devoured by it again and again."—Lindsay King-Miller, author of Ask a Queer Chick
Published by Strangehouse Books
an imprint of Rooster Republic Press LLC
www.rooosterrepublicpress.com
Copyright © by Hailey Piper 2021
Cover Design by Don Noble
Edited by Nicholas Day
Interior Design – Don Noble
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written consent of the publisher, except where permitted by law.
Printed in the USA.
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www.roosterrepublicpress.com
Dedicated to
Janelle Monae
and
Mel Blanc
for the voices and the tunes.
She should never have come.
White debris breathes through cracks in crumbling walls, and black smoke climbs toward the moon. The high school lies a broken eggshell, and beyond its lot, she finds the reason she has been called here. A new creation cries forlorn in the night, baptized in the blood of teachers, peers, and family. Once a teenage student weighed by purse and books and expectations, now turned a pale dragon, countless limbs thrashing as boneless ropes, eager to burn the world.
There is monstrous beauty in the blood-spotted skin, and beneath, an intense desire to live. A desire unfulfilled.
She should never have come because, deep down, she can never leave, even when the dragon lets her. Guilt will follow her beyond these soot-coated ruins, through fires and chemicals and once-human screams. Wherever she goes, this night will haunt her for the rest of her life.