Fireblooms

Available wherever books are sold or online on September 30, 2025:
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An absorbing speculative Queer YA romance set in a town that uses technology to prevent hate speech and bullying. From the LAMBDA Award-winning author of The Grief Keeper.

When seventeen-year-old Sebastian agrees to come to New Gault to care for his absent and abusive mother after her cancer diagnosis, he is not prepared for the strange new community that awaits him or the distressing state he finds his mother in. He tries to help, but despite being ill, her tongue is as sharp as ever, finding all Sebas’s tender places. But he promised his Abuela he’d try to make this work.

Unfortunately trying also means attending TECH, New Gault’s high school. His first day, he’s assigned to enthusiastic TECH student ambassador, Lu, who introduces him to all TECH can offer—a safe space, free from bullying. But all this safety and technology comes with a catch—not only do you have to watch what you say, but you have to stay within a strict word limit. Sebas declines. To him New Gault feels more like the Stepford Wives than freedom.

For Lu, who suffers from anxiety and has a history of being bullied, TECH is a lifeline somewhere they can be safe. They can’t understand why Sebas would refuse. When Sebas rejects TECH, it feels as if he’s rejecting Lu.

But when Sebas learns if he doesn’t accept the TECH phone and abide by the rules, his mother will be denied cancer treatment, he changes his tune. Slowly, Lu and Sebas form a friendship that morphs into something more, but the closer they get, the more Sebas challenges Lu’s beliefs about TECH and what it means to be safe. Meanwhile, Sebas contemplates how to forgive his dying mother for being no mother at all.

This thought-provoking, tender love story examines what we’re willing to give up to feel safe as two broken teens navigate emotional trauma and discover what blooms may come from the ashes.

Trigger/Content Warning:
Racism, bullying, mental health issues, death, homophobia

Praise for Fireblooms

“Villasante (The Grief Keeper) presents a raw meditation on grief and personal growth in this emotionally resonant speculative read. Leaving Papá and Abuela in San Marcos, 17-year-old Sebas boards a Greyhound bus to New Gault, where he will care for his estranged mother, recently diagnosed with cancer. New Gault is a city run by TECH, a privately owned technological corporation that also funds the local high school. Student ambassador Lu—a nonbinary poet with anxiety, whose unwavering faith in TECH stems from their past trauma—informs Sebas that the only way to succeed academically is to opt into TECH’s network, which grants societal privileges in exchange for constant surveillance and monitoring. Sebas’s refusal rattles Lu and simultaneously sets the stage for the novel’s central, slow-burning romance. Across their alternating first-person perspectives, the teens support each other through family discord, mental health obstacles, and resurfacing ghosts from the past, which Villasante renders using gritty, slang-rich prose. Compelling secondary characters and TECH’s utopian foundational principles highlight the juxtaposition between New Gault society’s glorified ideals and human imperfection in a gracefully crafted tale that portrays Lu and Sebas with authentic vulnerability as they navigate bullying and loss. The cast is intersectionally diverse.” - Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Fireblooms is a big-hearted book that hums with curiosity, tenderness, and forgiveness. Through her signature lush prose, Villasante holds a mirror to a technology-drenched community where words have a price—yet Sebas and Lu blossom without them. Their love story triumphs in not only the moments of bold declarations but in the achingly quiet pauses, too."—Jas Hammonds, award-winning author We Deserve Monuments

"Villasante’s sophomore novel, Fireblooms, delves into the intricate relationship between words and trauma, examining their power to both harm and heal. Exemplified through Lu and Sebas’s journeys, Fireblooms is a thought-provoking exploration of language, trust, forgiveness, loss, and love." —Mia García, author of The Resolutions

“After being floored by Villasante's debut, The Grief Keeper, I expected nothing less than a riveting novel brimming with powerful social commentary, poignant, heart-rending, and multi-layered mental health rep, endearing friendships, and a sweet and slow-burning romance—and Villasante delivers on all counts in her sophomore novel Fireblooms. Be prepared to be swept up in family drama, burgeoning love, impossible choices, and a social experiment that puts a lens on the power of language to hurt and heal.”—NoNieqa Ramos, USA Today Bestselling author of Your Mama and Beauty Wake