All the Stars and Teeth

All the Stars and Teeth is a fantasy novel set in the island kingdom of Visidia, where each of seven islands represents a different type of magic, and the ruling Montara family alone wields soul magic, a power they believe was bound to their bloodline centuries ago by the kingdom's founder, King Cato, after he defeated a dangerous beast.

Eighteen-year-old Amora Montara, Princess of Visidia, must publicly demonstrate mastery of her soul magic to claim her title as heir to the throne. Soul magic works in two ways: reading souls and ending them through death. To physically harm or kill, the wielder burns teeth or bones bound with a target's hair and blood, a system based on equivalent exchange. The Montaras must regularly use this magic to keep the beast within their bloodline at bay, or it will grow strong enough to consume them. Amora has trained for this moment all her life but dreads her arranged engagement to Ferrick, a healer from Suntosu, the island of restoration magic, whom she does not love. She longs to finally travel the kingdom her overprotective father, King Audric, has never permitted her to see.

Before the performance, Amora's Aunt Kalea secretly reveals that her eyes flash pink, proof she has accidentally learned enchantment magic. Since practicing two magics is considered lethal, Kalea can never safely wield soul magic, disqualifying her as a backup heir. Amora is the only option; failure means Visidia has no viable successor. During the demonstration, Amora successfully identifies the correct prisoner by reading souls. However, when she begins the execution and sees horror on the faces of her people, she loses focus. The beast seizes control, and she tortures the prisoner in a prolonged, gruesome death. Her father intervenes, and Amora is arrested.

In prison, Bastian, a young sailor from Zudoh, the island of curse magic that was banished from the kingdom when Amora was a child, arrives with stolen keys. He warns that a man named Kaven is building a rebellion from Zudoh to end the Montara monarchy and allow unrestricted magic practice. He offers Amora passage on his ship, Keel Haul, a white brigantine that sails without a crew through unknown magic tied to Bastian himself. Amora performs a quick soul-reading that confirms he is not a threat, and she flees with him. Ferrick, who stowed away aboard Keel Haul, joins their crew after Bastian defeats him in a duel, severing his hand, which Ferrick's restoration magic painlessly regenerates. Amora agrees to help Bastian stop Kaven before summer's end, when Aunt Kalea is expected to move to Arida, the royal island, to begin training as the replacement heir.

The crew sails to Ikae, a lavish port town on the coast of Mornute, the island of enchantment magic. Amora touches a necklace imbued with Zudian curse magic and experiences a terrifying hallucination. She secretly keeps the necklace as a weapon. Through a hidden club called the Barracuda Lounge, run by a face-shifting enchantress named Shanty, the crew learns that reaching Zudoh requires a mermaid who can navigate the curse barrier surrounding the island. A mermaid is rumored to be on Kerost, the island of time magic. Shanty disguises Amora and Ferrick to help them slip past Visidian soldiers searching for the princess.

On Kerost, the crew finds the island devastated by storms and neglect. The Kers, Kerost's inhabitants, use exhausting time magic to speed their rebuilding, and Amora is furious at her father for failing to send aid. They discover that Blarthe, a criminal opportunist who exploited the island's crisis to seize control of the town, has imprisoned a mermaid named Vataea for two years. After a confrontation in which Amora uses her soul magic to threaten Blarthe, the crew frees Vataea. During their escape, Vataea uses her siren song to entrance pursuing enemies. Amora breaks the trance by kissing Ferrick and Bastian, a method Vataea reveals works only if the enchanted person has romantic feelings for the kisser.

At sea, the Lusca, a legendary sea monster with poisonous hooked tentacles, attacks Keel Haul. Amora leaps onto the creature's back, uses the cursed necklace to freeze it, and severs a tentacle before falling poisoned into the sea. Bastian rescues her, and Ferrick heals her over two days. During her recovery, Bastian confesses the full truth: Kaven developed a twisted combination of curse and soul magic that allows him to curse half a person's soul into an object using their blood. He cursed Bastian to Keel Haul at age 10 after killing Bastian's parents. Kaven keeps leather bracelets smeared with his victims' blood; destroying them breaks the curses. Amora crafts a poisoned weapon from the Lusca's severed hook, naming it Rukan.

Vataea guides the crew beneath Zudoh's barrier. On the island, they find a hidden resistance camp led by Zale, a woman sheltering Zudians who oppose Kaven. Amora is shocked to see inhabitants openly practicing multiple magics without harm. Zale explains that multiple magics are not inherently dangerous; only Kaven's corrupted version of soul magic injures people. She reveals that King Audric burned Zudoh's ships and severed trade, effectively imprisoning the population with Kaven. Bastian privately confesses that Kaven is his brother and his true surname is Altair. He admits he initially used Amora for her magic but grew to genuinely care for her.

Inside a cave, Amora touches Cato's ancient skinning knife and is plunged into a vision of the kingdom's true history. A woman named Sira originally discovered soul magic and taught it to Cato, her partner. Jealous of Sira's abilities, Cato secretly perverted soul magic to murder people who practiced multiple magics, then blamed the deaths on magic itself. He forced Sira to strip everyone of all but one magic and divided the population across the islands, declaring himself king. When he demanded Sira surrender her own magic, she cursed soul magic into his bloodline, making it the "beast" that would fight to consume its wielder. She erased everyone's memories and died from the effort. The entire founding legend of Visidia is a lie.

Kaven reveals his plan to break the Montara curse by spreading it through more blood, positioning himself as Visidia's new ruler. He has assembled an army that includes traitorous Aridian soldiers. In the ensuing battle, Amora stabs Kaven and burns several of his blood bracelets, breaking Bastian's curse. However, Kaven uses Amora's spilled blood to bind away half her soul and all her magic. Casem, Amora's guard who was among the traitorous soldiers but never intended to betray her, turns on the enemy to help the crew escape. Vataea parts the cursed waters at enormous cost, and they flee on Keel Haul.

Amora spends days devastated by her lost magic. Ferrick and Bastian rally her, insisting the Zudians and all of Visidia are counting on her. She deduces that Kaven cursed her magic into Bastian himself, explaining why she feels whole only when touching him. She resolves to keep fighting.

Keel Haul reaches Arida to find Kaven's fleet already attacking. The crew fights through the invasion. Aunt Kalea binds herself to soul magic in combat, sacrificing the life Amora hoped to spare her. Inside the palace, Father uses soul magic to pull Amora into his deteriorating soul. He confesses he knew the truth about Cato for years and kept Amora on Arida to hide his failures. He kills himself to sever his cursed connection to Kaven, which had been shielding Kaven from harm. Freed from the protective link, Amora buries Rukan in Kaven's chest. Ferrick severs Kaven's sword hand, and Kaven dies from the combined wounds and poison.

In the epilogue, Amora is crowned Queen and High Animancer, the monarch's soul-magic title. She wears her father's crown and sits on the charred throne she keeps as a reminder. Her first act is to reinstate the right to practice multiple magics. She conceals the truth about the Montara curse, her lost magic, and Cato's deception, planning to reveal everything only after breaking Sira's curse. Ferrick becomes her top adviser rather than her fiancé, and Zudoh begins reintegration under Zale's leadership. Amora resolves to break the curse binding her soul to Bastian so that any connection between them is a matter of choice, not compulsion.