Fourth Wing

Fourth Wing flew to victory in this category as the first hardback winner of the Pageturner award. Rebecca Yarros’ enthralling blend of dragons, academia, magic and a potent enemies-to­ lovers plot converted judges and readers alike to the fantasy genre. A "ground-breaking" book, remarked one judge, with another adding: ’The industry and reader impact has been astonishing."

Already a prolific romance writer, Piatkus took the opportunity to launch Yarros in a new direction with an "impressive" marketing campaign that covered both digital and traditional routes, establishing an in-store presence with Waterstones, managing an author tour, which considered Yarros’ chronic illness, and producing multiple special editions to drive buzz. With a shade under 200,000 copies sold in hard­ back, Fourth Wing was the bestselling SFF book in the UK last year.