Exquisite Decay
Exquisite Decay is a queer young adult cyberpunk retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray, that explores class, honor, obsession, and betrayal.
Rian Gray wasn’t born in the slums of Axis City.
They were left there to rot.
When their estranged grandmother dies, Rian is plucked from the gutter and thrust into the upper echelons of society and the hallowed halls of Curzon Academy. The opportunity of a lifetime to some, for Rian, this will be a tactical infiltration. Their mission: dismantle the corporatocracy that destroyed their family. But to burn it all down, they need access, and their inheritance comes with strings. Rian will have to excel at both the rigorous academics and the complex social politics of the elite school.
Enter Baz Hallward, a reclusive yet brilliant scholarship student, who is instantly enthralled by the new transfer, and who agrees to tutor Rian if they’ll submit to uploading their memories through an AI cyborg as part of Baz’s final science project; a project which will guarantee him success and acceptance from the uppercrust.
As Rian navigates this treacherous yet seductive world, their thirst for vengeance is threatened by the mind-altering allure of the privilege they swore to destroy. And with Baz’s experiments chipping away at Rian’s mind, their humanity is at risk of decay.
In a city where identity is a commodity and wealth is the measure of human worth, can Rian tear down a corrupt system before the world they despise consumes them entirely?
Dark academia meets cyberpunk, in this visceral and immersive, queer retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray from the visionary author of My Name Is Magic and Waypoint Seven.
CW: death, self-harm, violence, police brutality, suicide
