There’s a particular kind of romance that doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t arrive with grand gestures or declarations; it builds in the small moments of unexpected tenderness, in the way two people who have every reason to keep their walls up choose, slowly and against all odds, to let them down.
That’s the kind of love story at the heart of Shadows in Dream Stone.
If you’re looking for dystopian romance books with a slow burn, here’s why you might enjoy Shadows in Dream Stone.
What is Shadows in Dream Stone About?
What if the laws of nature resulted in imprisonment at the hands of political tyrants?
Abaddon Ordell is a teacher, fighter, sister, and wife turned prisoner. In the wake of a devastating miscarriage-a crime in this era-Abaddon is cruelly handed over to the law and condemned to nine years in the brutal Dream Stone prison.
Hemmed in by aggressive inmates, guards steeped in misogyny, and a warden whose sympathy is nothing but a sham, she grapples with her consuming grief and a deep rage over the oppressive forces that placed her in prison to begin with.
Just when all seems lost, an unexpected female ally offers her the strength and love she needs to endure this darkness, but trusting her could be the best thing for her heart, or the deadliest.
As the dangers of Dream Stone escalate, Abaddon plots to assassinate those at the heart of the oppressive regime. If Abaddon survives Dream Stone, she becomes proof the system can be broken. But if she fails, she’ll never have the chance to dismantle the regime that put her there.
If you enjoy feminine rage books, sapphic dystopian books, and LGBTQ+ science fiction books, Shadows in Dream Stone is the book for you. The story encourages not only enjoyment but a thought-provoking discussion about current issues revolving around women’s reproductive rights and human rights.
What to Expect from Shadows in Dream Stone
- Sapphic dystopian romance with a slow burn that earns every moment. This is love that grows in the dark, between two people who have real reasons to keep their walls up.
- Byronic heroine who is difficult, fierce, and deeply human. Abaddon isn’t easy to love, and that’s the point.
- A world that doesn’t look away. The near-future prison system in this book is brutal and intentional and a warning dressed up as fiction.
- Feminist fury with heart. This is a story about rage and resistance, but also about the stubborn presence of hope even when it feels impossible to find.
The Main Characters
The story is powered by two strong women with two other supporting female characters (who you will get to know in book two, because yes, there will definitely be a book two).
Meet Abaddon and Kila.
Abaddon Ordell (FMC)
3D Character Art Created by Magicaanavi
Abby is the pulse of the story—furious, grieving, and unrelentingly principled. She’s a woman born of warmth and idealism, transformed by a world that failed to protect her. Once a nurturer, now a fighter, Abby’s journey is one of reclamation, agency, justice, and self-worth. Her bisexuality is woven into her emotional complexity as an integral part of how she experiences love, intimacy, and betrayal. She doesn’t love lightly, but when she does, it’s absolute.
- Human / Fighter / Former Teacher
- Bisexual
- Wildcard, imaginative, and intellectual
Kila Verlice (FSC)
3D Character Art Created by Magicaanavi
Kila is a living contradiction: an alien warrior sculpted for violence, yet brimming with gentleness. Her body is built for combat, but her heart is carved from empathy. As a member of the rare Āzë species and a lesbian, Kila lives between worlds—on Earth and in exile, in discipline and desire. Her identity is expressed in quiet moments of intimacy, fierce loyalty, and a deep yearning to create something tender in a life once ruled by control and violence.
- Äzé / Assassin / Former Florist
- Lesbian
- Intuitive, sensitive, and empathetic
If You Loved These, You’ll Love Shadows in Dream Stone
Shadows in Dream Stone sits at the intersection of some of the most powerful dystopian and sapphic fiction out there. This book is not trying to be like the classics, but rather draws on a new perspective similar to issues existing within other texts.
If any of these dystopian romances have a place on your shelf, this book belongs there too.
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood: A near-future America where women’s bodies are controlled by the state. Shadows in Dream Stone carries the same fury and the same refusal to look away, with a sapphic love story at its center.
- We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia: A slow-burn f/f romance set inside an oppressive system, where love becomes its own form of rebellion.
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler: A collapsed America, a determined heroine, and the quiet insistence that community and connection are worth fighting for even when everything is burning.
- The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson: A sharp, class-conscious dystopia with a sapphic romance at its core and a protagonist who doesn’t believe she deserves to be loved.
What Readers and Critics Are Saying
“This feminist story delivers an indelible hero and a powerful, timely message.”
— Kirkus Reviews
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“Dystopia with a heart. I loved it.”
— Stephanie Butland, bestselling author of “The Lost For Words Bookshop”
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“A deep story… feels closer to where we are headed now.”
— Goodreads reader
Find Shadows in Dream Stone Where Books Are Sold
If you’re drawn to dystopian romance with a slow burn that also takes its world seriously, that earns its romance rather than using it as decoration, and that gives you a heroine who is complex and dark and worth rooting for, Shadows in Dream Stone belongs on your shelf.
Available for purchase anywhere books are sold, but here are some quick links:
- Amazon
- Bookshop.org
- Barnes & Noble
- Strand (NY)
- Kepler’s (CA)
- Boulder Bookstore (CO)
- Little District Books (DC)
- Old Firehouse Books (CO)
- Magers & Quinn (MN)
- And so many more!
