Monochrome (Paperback) - Jamie Costello

Monochrome is a gripping and prescient debut YA thriller set in a world drained of its colour, in which a group of young people must fight against the forces that threaten the natural world, and their very lives.

'A compelling dystopian tale set in a chillingly realistic future' Katherine Webber, YA Prize-shortlisted author of Wing Jones and Only Love Can Break Your Heart

'A captivating, complex plot, a fascinating teen protagonist and a way to see the world through different eyes... literally!' Mark Ballabon, environmentalist and author of Home


In a world drained of colour, nothing is black and white . . .

Early one morning, Grace wakes to find herself staring at an ashen sunrise in ominous grey skies. It's like watching a disaster movie, though her family don't seem to think anything is wrong. Grace is one of a handful of people in the country who are seeing the world in shades of grey. But this is only the beginning of the 'greyout', or Monochrome Effect, that is rapidly sweeping the world.

Loss of colour vision is traced to polluted water systems; microplastics covered in harmful bacteria have been poured into the ocean for years. With failing harvests and stay-at-home orders in a world on the brink of a major ecological disaster, there appears to be no cure - until one day Grace sees a single flash of red.

She agrees to join a government-run study with other teenagers who experience intermittent 'colour episodes'. They are promised that they are the key to reversing the damage, but Grace soon realises that the reality is much more complicated, shocking, and dangerous than she could have ever imagined . . .

About the Author

Jamie Costello lives in London. Under her own name, Laura Wilson, she is the author of six educational books on historical subjects for eight-to-twelve-year-olds, and thirteen critically acclaimed psychological thrillers, including the DI Stratton series. Her books have been shortlisted for many awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger, and she has won both the CWA Historical Mystery Award and the French Prix du Polar Europeen. She was the Programming Chair for the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in 2009, and co-programmes the Killer Women Crime Writing Festival. She is also the Guardian's crime fiction reviewer.