Clara & the Devil, Volume 1 - by Olivie Blake (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The devil has come to town. And he wants a library card. Star author Olivie Blake and artist Little Chmura kick off a deliciously dark graphic novel romance series with Clara & the Devil, Volume 1.

Clara has the rest of her life figured out. She'll graduate college with the support of her best friend, Jonah; marry her adoring boyfriend; take a full-time job at her local library; and settle down in her small seaside hometown. But when an unusual tourist--tall, dark, and infernal--comes to town, Clara's careful plans quickly start to unravel.

And even while the stranger, who openly calls himself the devil, strikes up a situationship with Jonah, he continues to tempt Clara with reckless talk of power, ambition, and lust. Over the course of one sultry summer, tensions between Clara, Jonah, and the devil mount to an intolerable degree, and Clara is forced to confront the desires she's kept secret her whole life, even from herself.

This deliciously dark tale of Faustian bargains and seduction from New York Times-bestselling author Olivie Blake and fan-favorite artist Little Chmura kicks off a series that explores artistry and power through the temptation of the seven deadly sins.

Review Quotes

"Dark, dreamy art and a conflicted main character make this devil-meets-girl graphic novel a standout. Sleek, tense, and seductive." --Shelf Awareness, starred review

"Lyrical, steamy, and compulsively readable. An ethereal and perfectly-told comics story, one that tows the edge of erotic, but does so with purpose." --The Beat

"Blake and Chmura offer a compelling meditation on power and temptation that is sure to hold strong appeal for fans of dark romance and supernatural fiction." --Library Journal

"Moody, swirling, can't-turn-away watercolor-like illustrations . . . Where [Clara's] headed will leave readers desperately impatient for volume two." --Booklist

"[Little Chmura's] art heightens the seductive qualities of Olivie Blake's story, which taps into the classic idea of the bad boy showing a good girl how to access the power that is capped by her propriety." --The A.V. Club

"Visually stunning, darkly sexy, and just the perfect dose of weird. Clara & the Devil is a masterpiece of mystery, sensuality, and anticipation, with the kind of atmospheric, haunting artwork that simply won't allow you to look away. If you like to watch people give in to temptation and embrace their deepest desires, this is the story for you." --Ali Hazelwood, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bride and The Love Hypothesis

"Separately, Olivie Blake and Little Chmura are incredible; together, they're irresistible. Clara & the Devil is an artistic seduction of the highest order, an invitation to sin itself. I can't recommend it highly enough." --Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House

"A striking, sensual beauty, Clara & the Devil turns sin to dreamy splendor. Both story and art claw bone-deep and fever-hot." --Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Immortal Longings

"Sumptuously illustrated and sinfully tempting, Clara & the Devil is a bittersweet fairy tale that bites like the darkest chocolate. Only Olivie Blake and Little Chmura could make the devil so delicious." --M.L. Rio, USA Today bestselling author of If We Were Villains

"A gorgeous and entrancing story of darkness, desire, self-knowledge, and hunger for what might be beyond simply settling for a good-enough life. The alchemy between Blake's words and Chmura's illustrations is sizzling." --Ananda Lima, award-winning author of Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil

"Clara & the Devil is brilliant, sensual, and arrestingly beautiful. This is the kind of story that seems to defy time and space, devilishly transportive in a way that only a masterpiece of fantasy could accomplish. What Olivie Blake and Little Chmura have created here is truly breathtaking." --Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Camp Damascus

About the Author

Olivie Blake is a New York Times bestselling author of speculative fiction for adults, including the Atlas Six trilogy, Alone with You in the Ether, Masters of Death, the short story collection Januaries, and her novel, Girl Dinner. With Little Chmura, she is the cocreator of the graphic series Clara & the Devil. As Alexene Farol Follmuth, she is also the author of the young adult novels My Mechanical Romance and Twelfth Knight. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

Little Chmura is an artist whose illustration practice is focused on portraits, with an emphasis on intense, dramatic looks. Clara & the Devil is a graphic novel she cocreates with New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author Olivie Blake. She cocreated Ropuka's Idle Island with game developer Moczan. Though Chmura uses "Little" in her pseudonym, she is actually a full-scale human. She lives in Wroclaw with her husband and one-eyed cat, Piratka.