In Media, magic is a death sentence. Can love help their escape?
A dystopian fantasy romance perfect for fans of Shatter Me, Red Queen, and The Hunger Games.
In the city of Media, magic is outlawed and enforced with deadly precision. The walls are high, the rules are absolute, and freedom is just a distant dream whispered in back alleys. But not everyone is willing to obey.
When Will Hawkson, a rogue smuggler haunted by loss, sees eleven-year-old Ellie Neldoreth using magic, he knows that if she is found, she could die, just like his sister. When he meets her mother, Malin, a doctor, who did not realize her daughter's gifts and whom Will helps to unlock her own, he knows he must help them escape the city before they are both found. Malin must give up everything to help her daughter have the life she deserves. With twists and turns, time running out, and chased by enforcers who will stop at nothing to destroy what they fear, they must make their escape.
Their paths collide in a journey that tests their loyalty, strength, and the limits of love.
With vivid world-building, emotionally rich characters, and a slow-burn romance woven through edge-of-your-seat action, Escape to Media blends the dystopian danger of An Ember in the Ashes with the raw vulnerability of found family and forbidden powers.
This is Book One in the Aloria/Media series.
ï½ï½ï½ï½ Bonus content available: Liberators of Media (free prequel) + exclusive maps and character extras for newsletter subscribers.
ï½ï½ï½ï½ Learn more at www.brandystoker.com
This series is perfect for readers who enjoy:
- Dystopian fantasy with romance and rebellion
- Complex characters, moral ambiguity, and emotional stakes
- Found family and protector dynamics
- Magical systems suppressed by authoritarian rule
- Enemies-to-allies relationships and slow-burn tension
- Series like Legend, Divergent, and Throne of Glass
- Spicy Romance
Content Warning:
This story contains themes of violence, war, emotional trauma, child endangerment, authoritarian control, and romantic intimacy. Scenes may include battle sequences, injuries, references to loss and grief, and sensual content between consenting adults.
Reader discretion is advised. Recommended for readers 18 and over.
Book Two, Journey to Aloria, will be released in November 2025.
Audiobooks narrated by Laura Horowitz begin in December 2025.
Includes themes of:
Industry Reviews
As someone who isn't a fan of dystopian fantasy, I was surprisingly quickly drawn into this story. Brandy Stoker brilliantly builds tension and paints both the world and the characters with words in such a way that you feel like you're there, experiencing their lives. The romance? Unobtrusive, positive, soothingly woven into the action and pace of events. I always value in books primarily how and how deeply I can get to know the characters. In this book, I was able to empathize with their emotions, feel their fears and delights.
This book took me by surprise in the best possible way. Escape to Media is everything I didn't know I needed in a dystopian fantasy-emotional, gripping, and quietly powerful. It's not just another rebellion story. It's about love in impossible places, the weight of survival, and what happens when people refuse to be broken.
We follow Ellie, a young girl whose magic sparks a series of events that forces her and her mother Malin into hiding. Malin was probably my favorite character-complex, strong, but deeply human. And then there's Will, a smuggler with a painful past, who becomes entangled in their lives in a way that feels natural and earned. The romance is slow, tender, and subtle-never forced or overdone, which I really appreciated.
The world-building is vivid and harsh-Media is a place where rules crush magic and freedom, and yet the story still manages to hold onto hope. What I loved most were the emotional beats: the quiet moments between characters, the way trauma and love are both handled with care, and the deep theme of found family.
There are elements here fans of Red Queen or An Ember in the Ashes will recognize, but Brandy Stoker adds her own voice and style that makes this story stand out. It's layered, character-driven, and honestly pretty addictive.
Can't wait for Journey to Aloria-I'm so invested in these characters now. Highly recommend to anyone who loves strong female leads, survival stories, slow-burn romance, and fantasy with heart.
