Holly Greenberg

In the forgotten mountain village of Enbrae, every person is born with a set number of syllables they're allowed to speak in their lifetime. No one knows how or why but when your syllables run out, your voice is stolen forever, and with it, your soul. The village is peaceful, measured, and eerily quiet. That is, until an outsider arrives Kira Salome, a linguist fleeing grief who discovers the truth behind the ancient curse: the syllables are not just counted.
they are harvested.