To Our Untamed Core

The Hunger Games meets The Sunbearer Trials in bestselling and award-winning author Sonido Reyes’s YA dystopia about a boy who survives by hiding his truth until his boyfriend is sentenced to El Torneo — a brutal, fight-to-the-death game — where he must risk everything to save him.

Centuries after the conquistadors claimed the Afueras for their own, Temo spends his life obeying the Holy Order’s decree, undergoing their sacraments to tame his supposedly violent nature.

The only rule he breaks: hiding that he’s trans. If that fact is discovered, Temo will face El Torneo, a brutal, fight-to-the-death game pitting the untamed against one another. No Afuereño who enters El Torneo ever escapes with their life.

But when Temo’s boyfriend is unexpectedly arrested and thrown into the deadly tournament, he’ll do anything to rescue Ollin from his gruesome fate, even if it means entering El Torneo himself.

Only there's far more to this tournament than meets the eye—survival is just the beginning. When the cost of saving the one he loves the most might be higher than he ever imagined, is Temo willing to pay it?

Sonido Reyes is the award-winning and bestselling author of The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, The Luis Ortega Survival Club, The Broposal, and The Golden Boy's Guide to Bipolar. They also have contributed short stories to the anthologies Transmogrify! and For the Rest of Us. Sonido writes fiction celebrating queer and Mexican stories in a variety of genres and age catefories. He serves as the vice-president of My Galvanized Friend, a nonprofit focused on providing access to and amplifying LGBTQ+ writing, art, and creators. Sonido also co-hosts the podcast Bidi Bidi Book Pod, which celebrates queer and trans BIPOC authors and stories.