#ya thriller

[gabibookworm]

Hope everyone had a good Pride Month! Here’s some upcoming queer books you may want to preorder or request at your local library! 📚

[xxlapiscore]

This might be too niche for even tumblr, but is there really a fandom for YA thrillers other than AGGGTM? I know AGGGTM and one of us is lying have fandoms but not sure if some other thrillers do. Anyways I’m going to tag some of the thrillers I’m talking about and if you’ve read them, please do comment or reach out! I’m so desperate to yap

[bones-clouds]

books i read in 2026:

"ace of spades"

faridah àbíké-íyímídé

"they say life is full of surprises. that our dreams really can come true. then again, so can our nightmares ..."

[ireadyabooks]

Riveting Horror Thrillers from Ryan La Sala 😱

Read excerpts from these viscerally haunting horror thrillers from bestselling and award-winning author Ryan La Sala!

THE DEAD OF SUMMER 🪸🫧

Two Days Before

Ollie Veltman is finally coming home to the quaint island of Anchor’s Mercy after a year away while his mom battled cancer. It should be a celebration -- his mom is cancer free, and she’s determined to have the best summer ever -- but Ollie’s (now ex) best friends think he abandoned them, and he’s returning with a lot of questions. Because for a place that’s perfect on the surface, a secret rots below the waves. A secret that could explain his mom’s illness, and the illness of so many other locals.

Ollie’s desperate search for the truth turns life-or-death when a storm descends upon the island. In its wake, a long-sunken horror rises . . .

Three Weeks After

Ollie is being held in isolation aboard a military hospital ship in the harbor. They say he’s a survivor, but they only know half the story. The truth is more monstrous than Ollie ever believed, and he suspects his saviors aren’t here to save anyone. Only Ollie can stop what's coming, but that means getting back to Anchor’s Mercy before it vanishes, taking with it everyone he has ever loved.

Start reading The Dead of Summer now!

BEHOLDER 🕷️🪞

No one survived the party at the penthouse. Except Athan.

Athanasios “Athan” Bakirtzis has made it far in life relying on his charm and good looks, even securing an invitation to a mysterious penthouse soiree for New York City’s artsy elite. But when he sneaks off to the bathroom, he hears a slam, followed by a scream. Athan peers outside, only to be pushed back in by a boy his age. The boy gravely tells him not to open the door, then closes Athan in.

Outside the door, the party descends into chaos. Through hours of howls, laughter, and sobs, Athan stays hidden. When he finally emerges, he discovers a massacre where the corpses appear to have arranged themselves into a disturbingly elegant sculpture—and Athan’s mysterious savior is nowhere to be found. Athan—the only known survivor—is now the primary suspect.

In a race to prove his innocence, Athan is swept up in a supernatural mystery, one of secret occult societies and deadly eldritch horrors with rather distinctive taste. Something evil is waking up in the walls of New York City, and it’s compelling victims toward violence, chaos, and self-destruction. Bound to him by a mysterious hereditary power, Athan has felt this evil hiding behind his reflection his entire life, watching him. Waiting. Now, it’s taking over.

Start reading Beholder now!

THE HONEYS 🍯🐝

Mars has always been the lesser twin, the shadow to his sister Caroline's radiance. But when Caroline dies under horrific circumstances, Mars is propelled to learn all he can about his once-inseparable sister who'd grown tragically distant.

Mars's genderfluidity means he's often excluded from the traditions -- and expectations -- of his politically-connected family. This includes attendance at the prestigious Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy where his sister poured so much of her time. But with his grief still fresh, he insists on attending in her place.

What Mars finds is a bucolic fairytale not meant for him. Folksy charm and sun-drenched festivities camouflage old-fashioned gender roles and a toxic preparatory rigor. Mars seeks out his sister's old friends: a group of girls dubbed the Honeys, named for the beehives they maintain behind their cabin. They are beautiful and terrifying -- and Mars is certain they're connected to Caroline's death.

But the longer he stays at Aspen, the more the sweet mountain breezes give way to hints of decay. Mars’s memories begin to falter, bleached beneath the relentless summer sun. Something is hunting him in broad daylight, toying with his mind. If Mars can't find it soon, it will eat him alive.

Start reading The Honeys now!

[juniperhillpatient]

Now Available on Amazon

There are places where the veil between our world and the spirit world is thinner than usual. This creates a rift – an opening for forces outside human understanding to influence our actions and thoughts. In these liminal spaces, there is the opportunity to harness forces beyond human comprehension. Such power, however, always comes with a price. When their parents are killed in a tragic and mysterious accident, Nick Carver finds himself with sole custody of his teenage sister, Chris. Struggling to stay afloat in a studio apartment and make ends meet, the siblings cling to their only lifeline: an inherited estate in a remote small town. Elderwood Manor is supposed to be a fresh start. But Barren Lake has a dark past filled with murky secrets and rumors of occult rituals that might just involve the Carver family. In nineteen ninety-six, the “Butcher of Barren Lake” ravaged the town with a series of murders and was never caught. In the present, speculations run wild when a teenage girl is slaughtered in her home. Nick and Chris decide to delve deeper into the history of Elderwood Manor when strange noises and alarming visions plague their nights. That's when they learn that their new home is the scene of an old crime. Can the ghosts of the past help unravel the mysteries of the present? Or should certain forces never be tampered with? Forbidden romance, twisted relationships, and dark family secrets complicate the lives of the residents of Barren Lake. Nick and Chris must learn everything they can to catch a killer and save themselves and their friends. With an assortment of allies and suspects that range from quirky to terrifying, the Carver siblings must decide who to trust while navigating through the grief and trauma of losing their parents and grappling with the changed dynamic now that Nick is Chris’ guardian. Digging into the blood-soaked history of Barren Lake is a dangerous game, filled with twists and turns at every corner. This is a story of trauma, grief, family, and the choice to move forward or stay stuck forever when tragedy strikes.

I am thrilled to anounce that my debut original novel is now available for purchase. You can buy it as an EBOOK, PAPERBACK, or HARDCOVER. Thank you SO MUCH @soft-puppy-boyfriend for the absolutely stunning cover art!

[mehamang]

i love teen thrillers with romance, i'm reading the naturals rn (just started killer instinct) and i think to complete the love square lia and cassie should make out too

[brightbeautifulthings]

The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss

"'I swear I am not a psychopath. My brain is ninety-five percent empathy and five percent confetti.'"

Year Read: 2026

Rating: 4/5

Thoughts: I had a lot of fun with this book. I went in it for the escape room puzzles but ended up staying for the characters, though both are quite good. I would be useless in an escape room, so I can't speak to the authenticity of those, but I thought they were creative and well thought-out. The book also doesn't linger so long on any one room that I started to get bored. I was having some cute flashbacks to Legends of the Hidden Temple with all the cute puzzle-solving and dexterity challenges.

It helps that there's a lot more to this plot than game show puzzles, though. We're trying to help Sierra solve the mystery of her sister's murder, and the further we get into the book, the twistier it gets. Everyone has a motive. Everyone has hidden connections to each other. It kept me guessing, and I rarely saw the twists coming.

However, the characters were the real draw of the novel for me. Sierra is the grumpy outsider with a marshmallow center, Beck the cheerful optimist who creates escape rooms, Carter the anxious influencer who's more comfortable hiding behind her avatar, and Adi the poor pretty rich boy with a brain. Their developing friendships almost have a found family element to them, and I enjoyed seeing them come together as a team. While the current plot wraps up to satisfaction in this book, there's an obvious lead-in to a sequel, and I'll be looking forward to it! I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Penguin.

[shaylalaloohoo]

You're Dead To Me by Amy Christine Parker

An analysis of chapters one through three.

Ruby is the Reputation Killer, a local anonymous blogger who exposes the shallowness and corruption of the local elite.

(Compare this with the Mannequin Man, a serial killer who's racked up five kills, two of whom knew Ruby. She wonders if they're in the same circles.)

Ruby's at the school library with her friend Anton, spying on Magnus Bennett, head of the school's "honor society," informally known as The Bling Brigade. Magnus's girlfriend Violette is a wealthy influencer who shoplifts drugstore makeup. Alexander...well, he's kind of just there, being cute and being hounded by his ex-girlfriend, Daphne. The teachers are powerless against these kids: Magnus's friend Eddison dresses up as the Mannequin Man and chases people throughout the library, but once he calls his dad, he gets off scott-free.

Which is where Ruby comes in. She's got a strong sense of justice, and she's been planning a takedown (or a "kill," as she calls it) on Magnus for ages. He's been hooking up with a supermodel, one of his divorce-attorney father's clients, and therefore cheating on Violette. However, Ruby's also reckless; she doesn't leave the library before posting her exposé, despite Anton's warnings. She downplays the potential consequences; after all, it's only a week until prom, and graduation comes right after that. High school is almost over.

Ruby needs to see everyone's reactions to her exposé. Unfortunately, Magnus sees her watching from the second floor.

This opening is excellent at establishing Ruby and the world she lives in. She's the real standout here, so I'll start with the worldbuilding.

Since the story revolves around the upcoming prom, it's important to establish what kind of school Ruby goes to. The first scene is set in Bennett Library, funded by and named after Magnus's ancestors. Oleander Bay Academy accepts students from prestiguous North Oleander and rundown South Oleander, so there's a mix of both wealthy and poor students. Hence, it's extremely cliquey. The hierarchy isn't decided by position or education, but by wealth and beauty. It's a microcosm of the larger issues plaguing modern capitalist societies.

Compare this to Ruby. Her parents own a third-rate tourist attraction on the verge of bankruptcy, and she lives near a small Cuban bakery (whose owner was murdered by the Mannequin Man.) She had significantly less social power than the Bling Brigade, but when she became Reputation Killer, she reclaimed some degree of control.

Her run as the Reputation Killer began after her grandmother died during surgery, since the surgeon had been high during the operation. He'd gotten away with it since he was rich, but when she anonymously shared a picture of one of her teachers selling drugs to the surgeon, both were ruined. Ever since, Ruby's dedicated herself to her borderline-vigilante activities, going to extreme lengths (including stalking) to "kill" the reputations of the town's elite. She has solid, reliable motivations, though some of this is personal: Magnus's dad, the wealthy divorce attorney, represented Ruby's biological father in court, leaving her mother with nothing of her own while she was young and pregnant. (Edit: Ruby is the result of a hookup. The divorce was a result of her mother cheating.) Ruby is relatable, even if people don't agree with her methods.

Her strong sense of justice and her recklessness make her a compelling character; these traits coexist and clash in turn. She wants to do the right thing, but gets carried away. In most stories, the inciting incident is caused by the antagonist's actions forcing the hero to react. In You're Dead to Me, the protagonist is directly responsible for the inciting incident, and some might not consider her a hero! She's a self-made tabloid writer, investigating her own impending death.

The most interesting part to me is that she is a foil to the Mannequin Man, who will likely serve as the book's primary antagonist. (I keep trying to call them the Mannequin Killer. If they turn out to be a woman, does this count as a prediction?) We don't know much about the Mannequin Man yet, but we've got some groundwork laid via their murder methods and their potential parallels to Ruby. They kill their victims with two gunshots—one to the head, and one to the heart— so does this method have symbolic meaning? Are they targeting people who "deserve" to die, the way Ruby targets the elite?

I also have to address Alexander, since he'll probably be important later. Ruby's got a little crush on him, which she hates: after all, he hangs out with the Bling Brigade and dated Daphne (who we haven't learned much about, besides the fact that she's still really into Alexander, she's close with Violette, and Ruby calls her a blonde princess.) She has no reason to trust him. However, he reads books, he doesn't laugh at Eddison's "prank," and he remains level-headed when the exposé goes live. He's a flaming red herring, but I hope the author does more with him than making him the secretly-reliable love interest.)

Overall, the opening scene of this book is great, with one exception—it's spread out over the course of three brief chapters. This might've been because of publication demands, but it would've been better if Parker had kept the opening scene restrained to one chapter. In Flight 171, I think the plane was already taking off by chapter three.

It's too early to predict who the Mannequin Man might be, but I can rule out a few people. Magnus and Eddison probably aren't the killer, because they're too prominent and established to be "bad." It could make for a Scream-style twist if they're in it together, though. I also doubt that Anton and his boyfriend (who got mentioned briefly) could be the killer for Flight 171-related reasons. Alexander will probably be the designated love interest, and while I think it'd be cool if there were some kind of twist to his character, I don't think this is the direction Parker will take. The "best friend" and the "love interest" are both archetypes that get abused for twists like this. (This is an ongoing issue with mystery subplots; some characters come off as "too obvious" on a Watsonian level, so we disregard them on a Doylist level.)

Which kind of leaves...all of the female characters we met in this scene: Violette, Daphne, Daphne's mom Lizzie, and the librarian. There are also male characters we haven't met yet (like the principal and Magnus's father.) I'm kind of expecting the Mannequin Man to be a woman, despite how little we know.

However, I think this will be a fun, past-paced read. Hopefully I finish it quickly, because I have to return it Monday and it's already three in the morning. I may or may not write a follow-up review.

Chapter four kicks off with the B-plot—Ruby encountering her own ghost—which really interests me. The description of her ghost is grotesque, and her impending death must be brutal: so brutal, in fact, that I doubt that the Mannequin Man is responsible. Her body has been thoroughly brutalized, but there's no description of a gunshot wound to the heart: just a bullet in her forehead. It's a marked divergence from his usual methods.

The combination of high school social thriller and supernatural horror is carried over from Flight 171, a combo I've loved ever since I read Between by Jessica Warman.