Brought to you by Penguin.

WELCOME TO UNIVERSITÉ MEURDRAC.

HOME TO BRILLIANT ALCHEMISTS.
THE HEART OF AN IMPOSSIBLE CRIME.

When Larkspur Lee arrived in Paris, it was with nothing more than the ambition in her veins and the magic under her skin.

As a student of Meurdrac, one of the few remaining alchemical universities, she burns to prove herself, but lacking the wealth, privilege and connections of the other students, she has to fight twice as hard - and be twice as cunning - if she wants to be considered worthy of immortality.

So when Petronelle Flamel, the Grand Magistra of Meurdrac and Third amongst the Deathless, begins searching for an apprentice, Lark decides she'll do whatever it takes to be selected. Failure is not, and never has been, an option.

But after a shocking death, she instead finds herself at the heart of an impossible crime - one where the only evidence whispers of Lark's past. And matters are further complicated when the mentor she crossed an ocean and a continent to escape re-enters her life, enticing her to his side once again while secretly wielding an agenda of his own.

As the investigation begins and the mysterious Knight assigned to the case, Violaine, becomes convinced that more sinister works are responsible for the murder, Lark must wrestle with both the university's dark secrets and her own as the life she's meticulously built for herself begins to unravel.

And as everything around her delves into chaos, Lark has no choice but to decide if the power she desires is truly worth the price.
'A triumph of a debut.' CHLOE GONG, NO. 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF IMMORTAL LONGINGS


'An absolutely captivating and lusciously vicious tale, Jung's debut is a must-read for lovers of complex protagonists and dark academia fantasy.' KIERSTEN WHITE, NO. 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LUCY UNDYING

'With prose so beautiful I wanted to underline every single line, Lynn D. Jung crafts a world that feels vividly, tangibly real and characters that feel even realer: flawed, full of longing, and wonderfully complex. MOTHSBLOOD is a gorgeous, haunting debut'
BAR FRIDMAN-TELL, AUTHOR OF HONEYSUCKLE

'This is dark academia examined through its most illuminating and necessary lens. Jung is carving out a league of her own.'
K. M. FAJARDO, AUTHOR OF LOCAL HEAVENS

© Lynn D. Jung 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026