Some obsessions can be conjugated. Others can only destroy.
Some lessons change more than the way you speak.
Bianca never expected a brief encounter in George, South Africa, to shift the course of her life. But Ramón—a magnetic Spanish teacher whose intensity is as compelling as it is unreadable—invites her to continue her studies at Instituto Guerrera in Málaga. A new language, a new routine, a new beginning. It feels harmless. It feels right.
Only, the institute is not what it appears.
Beneath its polished reputation lies a quiet circuitry of control, silence, and strategic persuasion. Students evolve too quickly. Conversations feel rehearsed. Staff seem to follow rules Bianca can’t see. And Ramón, once warm and open, now watches her with an attention she can’t fully decipher.
As her grasp of Spanish deepens, her grip on herself begins to slip.
What exactly is she learning—and what is being done to her in the process?
Subjunctive Mood launches the False Friends Series, where each book is structured around a different Spanish grammatical theme—a lens through which communication becomes both a weapon and a warning. Inspired by real people and a real school, the series explores the subtle violence hidden inside language: how easily meaning can twist, and how dangerous it is when you don’t know who is twisting it.
