You Pierce My Soul

“Snappy banter and heartfelt sapphic romance, wrapped in the sleek mystery of a Black Mirror episode.”—Natalie Naudus, award-winning audiobook narrator and author of Gay the Pray Away

In the utopian city of New Ionia, everyone gets a soulmate and Zada can’t wait for hers. Now that she’s eighteen, it’s her turn to meet her destiny with the help of Heartsong, an algorithm that chooses your perfect match for you. 

Then Zada crashes into her soulmate, setting off their shared Heartsong, and the unthinkable happens: She feels nothing for him. But the program doesn’t make mistakes, and by the end of the night, Zada is engaged to a man she doesn’t love. 

Desperate, Zada turns to a surprising ally: her daringly beautiful former best friend, Daphne. Despite their estrangement, Daphne may be the only person who can help Zada uncover the truth about Heartsong. But can she trust her after all this time? And if what they find upends everything, can Zada find the courage to choose what she believes—and who she loves?

Packed with shocking plot twists, You Pierce My Soul is a romantic and thrilling queer dystopian YA novel from a writer to watch.“Snappy banter and heartfelt romance, wrapped in the sleek mystery of a Black Mirror episode. Absolutely delicious!”—Natalie Naudus, award-winning audiobook narrator and author of Gay the Pray Away

“This multifaceted love story is full to the brim with sapphic yearning, clever banter, and inventive world-building. Jessica Mary Best seamlessly blends dystopian elements with the courtly manners of an Austen novel. You Pierce My Soul is a must-read for fans of Catherine Bakewell and Malinda Lo.”—Rosiee Thor, author of Tarnished Are the Stars

“You Pierce My Soul offers a too-real glimpse at what our world could become, wrapped in a beautiful love story that defies all attempts to squash it. By exposing the fragility of fascism, Best brilliantly presents the power that comes from standing up and speaking out.”—Jenna Miller, author of We Got the Beat

“You Pierce My Soul is a pitch-perfect addition to the Jessica Mary Best oeuvre, artfully composed with her trademark humor and incisive questions about algorithms, information access, and who gets to rebel.”—Miel Moreland, author of It Goes Like This and Something Like Possible

“A dystopian romance that reminds us that love shouldn’t be reduced to data points and algorithms.”—Alice Lin, author of Love Points to YouJessica Mary Best is a multi-award-winning freelance writer and editor and an amateur singer-songwriter. Her work includes the audio drama The Strange Case of Starship Iris and the YA novel Stars, Hide Your Fires (Quirk Books, 2023). She is based out of the Midwest.She ducked her head, preparing for the big finish, the one last intricate layer to her song for Flora—and a dull thud echoed through the room.
Zada’s bow slipped, screeching painfully against the strings. She looked up from her triple cello to find a small cluster of people already gathering around the limp form of Flora’s grandmother. Concerned murmurs arose from the rows of seats. Buford strode briskly back to the podium.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he told the crowd. “The grandmother of the bride has fainted from all the excitement. But we have a doctor tending to her, and he informs us she’ll be perfectly fine.” Buford smiled sheepishly. “It seems like we’re all doing our part to make this day memorable.”
He stepped away from the podium, and with his face turned away from the crowd, Zada caught a flicker of tension.
“What’s wrong?” Zada mouthed.
“It’s disappeared,” Buford mouthed back.
Zada’s mind raced. It could only mean one thing in this
context.
Sure enough, the high, querulous voice of Aiden’s young nephew sliced through the din of the crowd. “Mom, what do you mean the Applicator’s missing? We can’t have a wedding without it!”
As comprehension rippled outward, the room descended into chaos.
Bow still clutched in her hand, Zada looked around and realized with a start what else was missing: Daphne Fallow was nowhere to be seen.