Teenagers who can grow forests overnight—and the power that grows them back.
Who drives the story
A Dorset farm girl who can grow forests with a touch—and who pays for every leaf with her own life. She goes from hiding her gift to leading the Affinity's boldest missions, and finally has to learn that saving the world can't mean erasing herself.
The son of an oil executive, sent to spy on the activists and converted by what he witnesses. He betrays his father's world to help Hester, then spends the rest of the book trying to keep her alive.
Theo's father, a wealthy oil executive lobbying against green policies, who threatens to expose the Affinity. Confronted with what his legacy is burying, he turns to funding research into the power's deadly cost.
The charismatic leader of the Affinity, who plans a global coordinated action to force governments to act—and who has been hiding the truth that the power kills its users. She calls it a trade: their lives for the planet's.
How they are connected
He betrays his father's world to help Hester, then spends the rest of the book trying to keep her alive.
Theo's father, a wealthy oil executive lobbying against green policies, who threatens to expose the Affinity.
Go deeper
The cost of power · Inheritance and betrayal · Youth activism and its limits · The planet fights back
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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