lynn d. jung

Hello, everyone! Not too long ago I shared this video in which I read the ‘successful’ synopsis for an older project out loud. I figured that some folks might want to see it written in print as well to get the gist of it, so here is that synopsis!

A bit of a caveat: This synopsis was part of the query package that got me an agent back in 2018 (along with ~14 full requests). ARI’S GUIDE is a young adult contemporary fantasy that I’d still consider the book of my heart to this day. However, although the book made it through the query trenches, it died on sub after over 2 years, and the version that died on sub was dramatically different from the version that I queried. Make of that what you will!

Synopsis:

“Plucky Korean-American teen ARIEL ‘ARI’ KIM is a waitress working at her family restaurant in the small town of Sunset Sands. She and her childhood friend, FINN OLSEN, are closing up one night when someone breaks in and attacks them. Their assailant is a sword-wielding boy
named ALEC who can disappear in the blink of an eye and summon wolves of ice, and he’s been hired to kidnap Ari. His presence awakens an ancient, dormant magic within her, and when Alec threatens Finn, Ari unleashes a wave of fire to save her friend. She obliterates the restaurant in the process and Finn dies in the blaze, leaving her grief-stricken and alone.

At Finn’s funeral, Ari meets RYAN, Finn’s estranged uncle and a deadbeat sorcerer who quickly realizes Ari is responsible for the fire. Ryan informs Ari that she is an Elemental, a human with rare magic running through her veins. After the funeral, Finn’s grieving mother begs them to
track down the three magical items she needs in order to make a deal with the mysterious DEMON KING and raise her son from the dead: a revenant flower, phoenix bones, and a hellfire blade.

Ari, guilt-ridden, takes on the task, and she and a reluctant Ryan set off across the desert in his run-down Winnebago. In the Mojave, a pair of fortune-telling demons trade some of Ari’s magic for the revenant flower. A friendly bartender also points Ari in the direction of a nearby ghost
town, where she’ll be able to find a hellfire blade, although not without an ominous warning. Before she and Ryan can leave, Alec attacks again, revealing during the fight that he intends to exchange Ari for his sister. The newfound travel companions manage to defeat Alec and carry
on.

They reach the ghost town, which is overrun by hungry spirits and talking crows. Matters are further complicated when Alec tracks them down once again, only to be just as overwhelmed by the town as they are. Ari, Ryan, and Alec are confronted by their respective pasts and are almost
trapped in the ghost town for good, but with a little bit of teamwork, they’re able to escape with the hellfire blade. However, Alec is still untrustworthy, so Ari and Ryan take him hostage and stop at a motel to rest and question their captive.

Before Ari can get anything substantial out of Alec, another threat arrives in the form of a hunter, someone who specializes in tracking down powerful magical beings. He, too, has been hired to catch Ari, but she and Alec manage to fight him off. Alec escapes in the process, but not before
he gives Ari the location of the final item she seeks. Ari also discovers that the Demon King was the one who hired Alec and the hunter to come after her—but what she doesn’t know is why.

The phoenix bones are in the possession of an eccentric, Arizona-based sorcerer. As it turns out, Ryan and the sorcerer are old frenemies, but the sorcerer takes a shine to Ari and agrees to give her the phoenix bones in exchange for a favor. Ari helps her catch a giant, fire-breathing lizard
and gets the bones, but before she and Ryan can leave, a desperate and furious Alec turns up.

In the ensuing scuffle, Alec kills Ryan’s sorcerer friend. Ari cracks and loses control of her magic in her rage, nearly being consumed by the flames before Ryan risks his life to sedate her. While unconscious, Ari has visions of a fire goddess who gives her glimpses of Alec’s past. She
learns that Ryan raised, and then subsequently betrayed, Alec when he was a child. In her dreams, she is also visited by the Demon King, who claims to have been keeping an eye on her, although his motivations are still annoyingly opaque.

Ari, upset, sends Ryan away and delivers the three magical items to Farah on her own. Farah summons the Demon King, but he refuses to cooperate, insisting on making a deal with Ari instead. He demands a lifetime of servitude in exchange for Finn. As a twisted gesture of goodwill, he offers up a battered Alec, giving Ari an opportunity to extract revenge. She can’t
bring herself to hurt him, but she agrees to work for the Demon King in order to bring Finn back and right her wrongs. Ryan turns up and attempts to stop the Demon King before the deal can be made, but he fails. The Demon King kills him for his troubles, and Ari realizes she would have to become a killer under his service—something Finn would never want for her.

Ari calls upon her magic one last time, resolving to burn herself along with the Demon King in order to prevent further suffering. However, Alec manages to fatally wound the demon before it’s too late for her. Farah and the Demon King disappear, and Ryan wakes up, miraculously
uninjured. Ari lets Alec go, and she and Ryan are left to pick up the pieces of their lives and figure out what to do next. After reuniting with her family, Ari and Ryan visit Finn’s grave and begin the long process of moving on.”

End of Synopsis.