“A folktale you’d find in the library of a gloomy seaside manor—haunting, ethereal, and lace-delicate.” –Hannah Whitten, NYT bestselling author
Adelaide, South Australia– Renowned YA author of “flower-threaded horror”, Lyndall Clipstone returns in a moody, monstrously Gothic romantic horror. “Tenderly, I Am Devoured” (Henry Holt/Macmillan, July 1, 2025) follows a young woman who must bind herself to a dangerous chthonic god with the help of the son of a rival family to save her family’s legacy—and herself—from ruin.
Expelled from her prestigious boarding school following a violent incident, eighteen-year-old Lacrimosa “Lark” Arriscane returns home in disgrace to discover her family on the point of financial ruin. Desperate to save them, she accepts a marriage of convenience…to Therion, the chthonic god worshiped by Lark’s isolated coastal hometown.
But when her betrothal goes horribly wrong, Lark begins to vanish from the mortal realm. Her only hope is to seek help from Alastair Felimath: the brilliant, arrogant boy who was her first heartbreak, and his alluring older sister, Camille. As the trio delves into the folklore of gods, Lark falls under the spell of the Felimath siblings.
Ensnared by a fervent romance, they perform a bacchanalia with hopes the hedonistic ritual will repair the connection between Lark and her bridegroom. Instead, they draw the ire of something much darker, which seeks to destroy Therion—and Lark as well.
“Tenderly, I Am Devoured”
Lyndall Clipstone | July 1st, 2025
Henry Holt/Macmillan (US), Hot Key (UK), Penguin Random House (AUS/NZ)
Print | 9781250348906 | $19.99
Ebook | 9781250348913 | $11.99
LYNDALL CLIPSTONE writes dark tales of flower-threaded horror. A former youth librarian who grew up running wild in the Barossa Ranges of South Australia, she currently lives in Adelaide, in a hundred-year-old cottage with her partner, two children, and a shy black cat. Her debut novel, “Lakesedge,” was a Dymocks, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble bestseller, nominated for the 2021 Book Shimmy Awards, and selected as one of Better Reading’s 2022 top 50 kids’ books. “Unholy Terrors” was featured in Teen Vogue, and chosen as a Kids’ Indie Next Pick for Nov/Dec 2023. Her works have been published in over four territories, including multiple translations. Learn more about Lyndall and her writing at her website.
Follow Lyndall Clipstone on social media:
In an interview, Lyndall Clipstone can discuss:
- Her departure from writing ‘romantasy’ to exploring ‘horrormance’ and why horror and romance make for the perfect genre-blending story
- The importance of female-centric horror written by women with a thematic focus on empowerment for teen readers, especially young girls
- The necessity of LGBTQ+ stories in horror and how her own queer identity has influenced her creation of a “soft-girl, flower-threaded romantic horror” story
- The process of creating a fictional literary and artistic canon, and dead language, for “Tenderly, I Am Devoured,” loosely based on Pre-Raphaelite art, Classical Greek Literature, and Latin texts
- How “Tenderly, I Am Devoured” was written after an intense creative burnout when Lyndall thought she might not return to writing
- How Lyndall’s background as an artist and illustrator informed her writing and the creation of her own interior art for her book
Advanced Praise for “Tenderly, I Am Devoured”
“A folktale you’d find in the library of a gloomy seaside manor—haunting, ethereal, and lace-delicate.”
–Hannah Whitten, NYT bestselling author of For The Wolf and The Hemlock Queen
“Equal parts romantic and horrifying, Tenderly, I Am Devoured, shimmers with aching loveliness and the deepest yearnings. Clipstone’s world-building is so sumptuous, I’m ready to pack my bags for Verse!”
–Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Roots and Ruin
“This is a shimmering fever dream of a story, replete with lyrical prose and all the haunting, passionate trappings of the feminine Gothic novel. Decadent and transfixing.”
–Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn
“Tenderly, I Am Devoured transported me to a gothic, dreamy, and sea-swept world that I didn’t want to leave. I was wholly enraptured by this story and the fascinating characters that populate it. This book is a dark delight and I can’t recommend it enough.”
–Alexis Henderson, author of The Year of the Witching and An Academy for Liars
Praise for “Unholy Terrors”
Kids’ Indie Next Pick for Nov/Dec 2023
“Lyndall Clipstone has woven a dark dream that ensnares all five senses. Fanged yet delicate, with its windswept moors, blood moons, and aching romance, Unholy Terrors is utterly spellbinding.”
—Rachel Gillig, New York TimesYT bestselling author of The Shepherd King duology
“As romantic as it is gruesome, this heart-stopping gothic fantasy explores what it truly means to be a monster.”
—Kelly Andrew, New York Times bestselling author of The Whispering Dark and Your Blood, My Bones
“A whirlwind journey, filled with heart-wrenching tension and sinister twists. This is the kind of dark romance you thirst for!” —Alexandra Christo, internationally bestselling author of To Kill A Kingdom
Praise for “Lakesedge”
“Brooding and atmospheric.” —Kirkus
“A linguistically lush fantasy.” —Publishers Weekly
“Bloody, sumptuous, and as timeless as a fairy tale.”
—April Genevieve Tucholke, author of The Boneless Mercies
“Lakesedge is an intense tale of mystery and magic that will have lovers of gothic romance eager for the next installment.”
—Juliet Marillier, author of the Blackthorn & Grim and Warrior Bards series
“Reminiscent of the romantically gothic atmosphere of the Phantom of the Opera.” —Dawn Kurtagich, author of And the Trees Crept In and The Dead House
An Interview with Lyndall Clipstone
1. Tell us about ‘horrormance’ and why you felt compelled to write a novel that departs from the popular genre, ‘romantasy.’
I think of horrormance as the goth sibling to romantasy; a genre-blend of horror and romance resulting in a wonderfully spooky, swoony read. I’ve always enjoyed writing character-driven stories, and after three fantasy books, I found myself wanting to lean even more inward with my storytelling. I wanted to intensely focus on the minutiae of character experience, with the interiority of the main character taking a central role in the plot. Horror is a perfect space for this, as the visceral nature of fear–for both the characters in-text and the readers of the story–creates a close-up, microcosmic atmosphere. With the addition of romance, everything is further intensified: much like horror, romance elicits a psychological reaction (desire rather than terror!) and there’s a similar loss of control, of being dragged out of comfortable familiarity. By interweaving a heavy romantic subplot through the main story, the characters’ emotional arcs gain an added layer of tension and depth. It’s absolutely my favorite genre as an author and as a reader, too.
2. How have queer people historically impacted the horror genre? Why did you feel compelled to include queer storylines in “Tenderly, I Am Devoured”?
I can only speak from personal experience, but for me, queerness has an inherent feeling of being remade, of exploring the liminal space of identity and forging your own place within the borders of an established world. Growing up in rural Australia during the 1990s, I didn’t have a strong frame of reference to understand my bisexuality. It was through books such as Poppy Z. Brite’s Lost Souls, one of my first encounters with romantic horror, that I began to make sense of my own emotions. Because of this, I have always strived to include queer storylines as an organic part of my work, for the readers who may see themselves in the experiences of my characters.
3. What was the process behind creating a literary canon and dead language based on Classic Greek Literature and Latin? How were those aspects necessary for the themes and storylines of “Tenderly, I Am Devoured”?
One of my major inspirations for “Tenderly, I Am Devoured” was Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History”. I love how she wove the mythos of Classical Greek Literature through the lives of her protagonists, and how their use of ancient language became emblematic of their insular world. I wanted to create something similar in my own work, but felt having real-world languages and literary themes in my second-world setting would be confusing. Hence: my invented canon. Tharnish, the fictional dead language I created, is formed of a mix of Latin and Cornish, as the setting for “Tenderly, I Am Devoured” is loosely based on the area of Cornwall where my ancestors are from. Alastair’s favorite book, the epic poem The Neriad, is inspired by Virgil’s The Aeneid, particularly Aeneas’s journey to the underworld.
4. What about the horror genre feels so empowering to you as a writer? How does this story aim to inspire and uplift young, female readers?
As a writer, horror is a space where I can explore themes of darkness in ways that are necessary–yet not always palatable. Horror is a genre where I can be truly weird as a creator, and delve into strange and subversive concepts which often provide a new angle to examine a character’s arc. As someone drawn to experimental, fever-dream storylines and prose, I love the freedom I feel when writing horror: particularly when it’s blended with romance. I am also very passionate about writing flawed, “unlikeable” female protagonists. It is my intention, in all my work, to explore the messiness of girlhood, to celebrate girls who are selfish and foolish, who make bad choices yet come out thriving. And I’ve found horror is the perfect genre for this. If readers take anything away from my stories, I hope it is that you have permission to be imperfect.
5. What is next for you as a writer?
I am working on what I hope will become my adult debut: a sapphic horror which I like to pitch as Sierra Simone’s Thornchapel series by way of Mona Awad. I can’t reveal too much yet, but I’m deeply enthralled by this story and these characters, and can’t wait to share it with readers one day.
Download press kit and photos
A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.
Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.
