Roses Are Dead

After a fire kills them all, sixteen-year-old Alexandra, her siblings, and the girl she loves are given a choice: stay in the afterlife forever or compete against each other in a redemption competition set in the real world a month before the fire. But choosing to compete comes with a price—only one of them can return from their grave, and the rest will be erased from existence forever.

The rules of the Rebirth Trials seem simple: figure out which of their worst mistakes led to the tragedy and fix them to prove they’ve changed. If they correct the right ones, they’ll earn points in the competition and get closer to uncovering the truth behind their murder. The teen with the highest score earns a second chance at life. But repeating their old habits means elimination.

And elimination is permanent death.

When they return to the past, some events don’t match Alexandra’s memories, and history isn’t being rewritten in her favor. If the culprit succeeds, she’ll stay dead forever.

After discovering the rules, Alexandra is sure there’s already a grave with her name on it. Her temper has already cost her a basketball scholarship, ruined friendships, and convinced her father she’s a destructive mess. But dying again means losing the chance to redeem herself. The problem? Her hope is as dead as she is, and winning also means losing her siblings and the love of her life.

To win her life back, Alexandra must keep the fires inside her from burning, while fixing history and stopping the person responsible for changing it. And she can’t do it alone. But trusting the others could send her back to the afterlife, and one of them may be altering the past to rig the competition.

One month. One mystery. One survivor.