ATHENA

About the Book What if your mind betrayed you, and your worst nightmare was the only reality left? Monica's schizophrenia has always distorted her perception of the world, but now, nothing is what it seems. After a terrifying dream that feels too real to ignore, she finds herself spiraling deeper into a world where hallucinations blend with reality. Her parents appear to be eating her body. Strange voices whisper, her name. And a mysterious figure named Adonis haunts her every thought. As the boundaries between waking life and nightmare shatter, Monica must confront a chilling truth: the forces haunting her mind may not be just illusions. As the terrifying visions grow more vivid, she begins to question everything she knows about herself and whether she can trust anyone, even her own mind. Trapped in a mental maze, Monica is running out of time. Will she unravel the truth before her mind consumes her completely? Prepare for a heart-pounding journey into the depths of the mind, where the battle for sanity is as dangerous as the forces that seek to tear it apart. What is real when your mind is the most dangerous place of all? About the Author My name is Leah Thomas and I'm from Chicago. Athena started back in the winter of 2019, around the time COVID began. I was curious about Black history; not just the part that begins with slavery, but who we were before all that. As I learned more, I found out that Black people were kings and queens, warriors and even billionaires. Then the summer of 2020 came and the world changed. I watched people stand up for justice and I felt that same anger and pain. What really broke me was seeing a photo of a Black mother crying while holding her baby boy. I decided not to protest in the streets but to write instead. Athena became my way of showing that we are somebody, we come from greatness and our story deserves to be told.