by Alex Aster (Author)
Step out of the box and into the unexpected with Barbie--like you've never seen her before!--in an immersive, pink-tastic tale from the premier voice in teen fiction.
Out of the box. Into the unexpected. Barbie's life is perfect. She lives in a pink-hued paradise called Heartland where everything is in order and everyone has a role to play, thanks to the mysterious and all-powerful beings who will soon assign her a Fate at graduation from the enchanted Swancrest Academy. She's worked hard to earn a good one. Her years of endless studying and acing every challenge are about to pay off. But when the unthinkable happens and Barbie is left Fateless--the first in Heartland's history--her carefully ordered world shatters. Shaken and uncertain, Barbie must confront a future she never imagined: one with no clear path forward at all. Yet when a mysterious necklace begins to pulse with hidden power, she is drawn beyond Heartland's protective mists into a daring journey across extraordinary lands. From sun-drenched shores to treacherous, ever-shifting landscapes, to shadowed forests steeped in secrets and magic, each realm will test Barbie's courage, sharpen her wits, and awaken strengths she never knew she possessed--all while drawing her ever closer to a buried truth that could change her world forever. A richly imagined coming-of-age tale from the premier voice in teen fiction, this is a story about defying expectations, rewriting the rules, and discovering that the greatest possibilities lie in stepping out of the box...and into the unexpected.Author Biography
Alex Aster is one of the most-followed authors in the world, with over 2 million followers, and over half a billion views on her videos. Aster is the #1 New York Times bestselling, #1 Publishers Weekly bestselling, #1 Indie bestselling, and USA Today bestselling author of the wildly popular LIGHTLARK series. LIGHTLARK has been sold in 30+ countries worldwide and Aster inked a major movie deal with Universal Pictures to adapt LIGHTLARK into a film before the book was even published via Abrams.
Since its release in August of 2022, Aster has sold over 4 million copies of LIGHTLARK in the US alone and has spent over 140 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list for the series. Aster was celebrated in the annual 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 list following the meteoric success of the series. The second and third books in the LIGHTLARK series, NIGHTBANE and SKYSHADE, were published in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Aster recently released two brand-new novellas as a companion book to the series last September, GRIM AND ORO, as well as the highly anticipated fourth book in the series, CROWNTIDE, in December. In Spring 2025, Aster published her debut adult novel SUMMER IN THE CITY, a romantic comedy that instantly became a New York Times bestseller. The project rights were immediately snapped up and is now set to become a feature film via New Line Cinema. Aster also announced she will be making her debut in the adult romantasy space with her upcoming STARSIDE, which will hit shelves on March 31, 2026. In 2020, Aster published her first novel, the first book in the young adult Emblem Island series, CURSE OF THE NIGHT WITCH. The second book of the series was released shortly after in 2021. Aster graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied creative writing.
Number of Pages: 336
Dimensions: 1.3 x 9.1 x 6 IN
Publication Date: August 18, 2026
