This is an absolutely promising and thought-provoking thriller debut that questions numerous sensitive issues, including racism, underage sex, teenage pregnancy, corruption, white privilege, and child abuse.
The Black Queen by Jumata Emill, (List Price: $12.99, Ember, 9780593568576, December 2023)
Reviewed by Michelle Weiler, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
A fun treasure hunt! It reads like an adventure movie – Knives Out with the gang from Scooby Doo. Lily, soon to be 18, literally falls into the birthday cake for her Gram, leaves embarrassed, and finds the next morning that her Gram is dead. She teams up with three others to follow the clues all over town in search of Gram’s fortune. The adults – except Gram – are the “bad guys” in close pursuit as Lily’s gang, chasing them all over Rosetown as they piece together clues Gram left in invisible ink. I love happily-ever-after suspense novels and this didn’t let me down. I hope Reed writes more!
The Rosewood Hunt by Mackenzie Reed, (List Price: $19.99, HarperTeen, 9780063287600, October 2023)
Reviewed by Ashby Rushing, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee
I read and write young adult fiction for the same reason people go to high school reunions — there’s something about figuring out how to be a person that begs us to return. Fiction is a natural place to explore those beautiful themes.
The first time we loved, lost, were heartbroken, broke hearts, made mistakes, had success, won trophies, came in last, found freedom, felt contained by adults, broke rules, were punished, got away with something, cared about people, cared about the world, etc. The first time. That’s the key. You don’t have to read young adult to know that formative experiences are vital understanding humanity on the whole and self-identity. We don’t ask people about the third or fourth time they fell in love. We ask them about the first time so we’ll understand their starting point. If every person is a road map with a marked journey; we want to put a pin in the place they began. Young adult fiction is that pin.
― Court Stevens, Interview, Musings, Parnassus Books
What booksellers are saying about Last Girl Breathing
About Court Stevens
Court Stevens grew up among rivers, cornfields, churches, and gossip in the small-town South. She is a former adjunct professor, youth minister, and Olympic torchbearer. These days she writes coming-of-truth fiction and is the director of Warren County Public Library in Kentucky. She has a pet whale named Herman, a bandsaw named Rex, and several novels with her name on the spine: The June Boys, Faking Normal, The Lies About Truth, the e-novella The Blue-Haired Boy, Dress Codes for Small Towns, and Four Three Two One. Find Court online at CourtneyCStevens.com; Instagram: @quartland; Facebook: @CourtneyCStevens; Twitter: @quartland.
Just in time for Spooky Season. Preston’s latest pays homage to the Scream franchise in this deliciously thrilling tale. Penny and her friends are still recovering from the serial murders that hit their town last Halloween, and when a copycat killer seems to get going on the anniversary of last year’s tragedies they are determined to stop them. Penny’s ex Nash is the son of the man in jail and she’s not going to stop until she proves Nash’s innocence in the copycat spree. The twists abound until the final haunting night of their search for justice.
The Haunting by Natasha Preston, (List Price: 12.99, Delacorte Press, 9780593481516, September 2023)
Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
Monday’s Not Coming is a heartbreaking story of a missing teenager, a community that seems not to notice, and a best friend who will go to whatever lengths it takes to find her missing friend. Tiffany D. Jackson weaves the reader through multiple timelines with increasing tension and emotion until you reach an ending that will haunt you long after you finished the book. This is a difficult but important and timely story highly recommended for teen and adult readers.
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson, (List Price: $12.99, Katherine Tegen Books, 9780062422682, April 2019)
Reviewed by Beth Seufer Buss, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
A June 2023 Read This Next! Title
I automatically love a creepy-camp scenario and Bayron’s first horror novel knocks it out of the park! Charity and her friends run the immersive horror game at Camp Mirror Lake, the site where a slasher movie was filmed years ago. The scares become all too real as her team starts to disappear without a trace and odd strangers show up at the camp. The disinterested owner is no help so Charity and her gang are left to find out what is going on – and to try to escape with their lives. Can this Final Girl save the day? This tense, scary book keeps you riveted until the last page!
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron, (List Price: 19.99, Bloomsbury YA, 9781547611546, June 2023)
Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
This book was full of twist and turns and had a bit of a science-fiction vibe, which is a refreshing take on a thriller. It reminded me of Catriona Ward’s Sundial and Delilah S. Dawson’s The Violence where you have children being brainwashed in the literal sense where they no longer remember their past and are raised to be completely different people and when those repressed memories eventually start to come through, violence happens.
When I started this audiobook, I was immediately hooked when Gabby flipped out and smashed a faculty member’s head in at school. I also loved that all of the kids were able to grow as characters because they were able to confront their past lives and accept that they are who they were and are now.
I also enjoyed the mystery. I was guessing and guessing who the person was that was sending the threatening emails. I can typically guess correctly, but this book threw me for a loop!
Someone Is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong, (List Price: 18.99, Tundra Books, 9780735270923, April 2023)
Reviewed by Kait Layton, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama
This novel truly has everything: a little romance, a self-discovery journey, and a dash of murder. It’s all delightfully narrated by Bianca, whose voice is funny, endearing, and authentic. I enjoyed every page and missed the characters when I finished.
Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans, (List Price: 19.99, Clarion Books, 9780358721642, April 2023)
Reviewed by Chelsea Stringfield, Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee
Liselle Sambury’s Delicious Monsters is a truly harrowing work of horror and suspense. Told in alternating points-of-view set ten years apart, Delicious Monsters follows Daisy, who can see the dead, and Brittney, who runs a successful paranormal investigation series online. In the past, Daisy and her mother inherit a family mansion that is riddled with tragedy and hides a mysterious past. In the present, Brittney’s own experiences with the mansion haunt her and compel her to investigate Daisy’s story. As each girl races to find answers to the mysteries plaguing them, both will be forced to reckon with their own traumas and discover there are things far scarier than ghosts lurking in the halls– and it might just be the person right beside you. Riveting, compulsively readable, and downright terrifying, Delicious Monsters will linger with readers long past the final page. Perfect for fans of Vincent Tirado’s Burn Down, Rise Up and Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House. Prepare to stay up all night reading!
Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury, (List Price: $21.99, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 9781665903493, February 2023)
Reviewed by Charlie Williams, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi
A February 2023 Read This Next! Title
A gothic ghost story set in Vietnam. A modern family who have been torn apart by time and a house possessed by its former occupants. Haunting is the perfect word for this story. I was engrossed from the very beginning and now that I have finished it I can’t stop thinking about it.
She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran (List Price: $18.99, Bloomsbury YA, 9781547610815, February 2023)
Reviewed by Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
What an incredible book! Giles rachets up the tension immediately in this story of paradise gone wrong. The staff and families living at Karloff County’s most famous resort are living happily in harmony until people start to vanish without a trace. As the world outside starts to crumble, young Jay and his friends try to find a way to get themselves and their loved ones to safety – whatever that may mean.
The Getaway by Lamar Giles, (List Price: $19.99, Scholastic Press, 9781338752014, September 2022)
Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
Tiffany Jackson’s newest novel, The Weight of Blood, is a retelling of the King novel, Carrie. I have not read Carrie, but I have seen the movies, so I had that as a base to go off of when I was reading ‘The Weight of Blood’. I really enjoyed the modern take on how race is still an issue in our communities and schools. I was interested to see how Jackson tied in dumping a bucket of something on Maddy’s head, and I was not disappointed to find out what it was and what it symbolized. The whole scene where Kenny is trying to get the police officers involved and how they react….it was beautifully written and heartbreaking. I also enjoyed the writing style where it would break away from the telling of Maddy’s story and show pieces of interviews from different witnesses of Maddy’s destruction. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I read the entire book in about 3 days. It isn’t necessarily an original story (being that it is a retelling), but the references to race and police brutality are incredible. It is also just a dang good horror! There are grisly parts that make you want to keep turning the pages and you are drawn in to Maddy’s character.
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson, (List Price: $18.99, Katherine Tegen Books, 9780063029149, September 2022)
Reviewed by Kait Layton, The Haunted Book Shop in Mobile, Alabama
A modern retelling of Lord of the Flies, set in a trash fire of a hipster festival? YES PLEASE. Rafi is a true-crime podcaster on the trail of a hot story who finagles tickets to the exclusive Fly Fest. The headliner is an adored indie musician who may have had something to do with the mysterious disappearance of his first girlfriend and Rafi is determined to get to the bottom of the case. Arriving on the island, hordes of spoiled influencers realize they’ve been set up – there is no food, no shelter, and (gasp!) no wifi! Can they all get out safely? Can Rafi uncover River Stone’s secrets? Can they survive without the constant reassurance of IG likes? Moldavsky has crafted an ingenious update on a classic mini-society gone wrong and I loved every second of it.
Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky, (List Price: 18.99, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 9781250230126, August 2022)
Reviewed by Andrea Richardson, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
A standalone epic mystical murder mystery fantasy novel. Blood and Moonlight kept me on my toes the entire time, all the way to the bittersweet ending. Catrin, our protagonist, has a very unique gift: a type of sight where she can spot flaws in architecture. Perfect for someone who is tasked with watching over this spired city. This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read and it was fantastic. It can be gruesome at times, so fantasy fans and true crime fans find a perfect blend here, but be a little wary if you’re sensitive to gore.
Blood and Moonlight by Erin Beaty, (List Price: $19.99, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 9781250755810, June 2022)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Hall, M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
Ahmed masterfully weaves together so many difficult topics that it’s hard to say what this book is about in any concise way. It’s painful, it’s beautiful, it’s haunting. It shines a light on horrific topics with sensitivity and grace and does so through the lens of two characters that are some of the most realistic I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Safiya didn’t really know Jawad, and she still felt the pain of his loss deeply. Upon finishing this book, I too feel his loss as if I knew him. I cannot remember ever reading a book so impactful, so relevant, and so emotionally gripping. If I had my way, everyone would read this book
Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed, (List Price: $18.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316282642, May 2022)
Reviewed by tee arnold, Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina
