Tweet Cute by Emma Lordĭelightfully “cheesy,” with a pinch of teenage snark. I have already started promoting this novel at high school book talks, and the response has been incredible! More than any other book I talked about, this premise sparked enthusiastic discussion – especially among reluctant readers. Overall I really enjoyed it, and was highly motivated to get to the end quickly. I will say as a trigger warning: in one of the flashbacks there is a detailed scene depicting teen suicide. At points it was emotional, at points fun, but the whole time it was exciting. There’s romance, accurate representation of teenage friendship, and over-the-top drama. The whole time I was wondering: who put them in the room? What are their “twisted secrets?” And who are they going to chose to kill? There’s a syringe with lethal poison, a bomb counting down the minutes, and instructions to pick one person to kill or else they all die. A legitimately good YA thriller/mystery.įive senior students find themselves tricked into psychotic real life escape room. It’s instantly gripping, easy to read, and brimming with twists. The perfect readalike for fans of One of Us is Lying. Ashley’s character develops immensely over the course of the story, and you can’t help but feel a little changed as the reader too.

It’s a quick read, under 250 pages, but the journey feels so much longer. We are with her as she tends to her wounds, tries to feed herself, and reflects on her life. The vast majority of the story is focused on Ashley alone in the forest, near death almost the whole time. When she wakes up she’s all alone, the bones of her foot are exposed, and she doesn’t know which way the campsite is. When a camping trip with her boyfriend and friends goes terribly wrong, Ashley runs drunkenly into the dark woods and falls over. Raised by a single father in poverty, she grew up spending a lot of time playing outside. I was at once racing to finish, savoring every word, and scared to turn the page! Ashley is our teenage main character. For me, this was a passionate one day read.

Twisted Secrets by Gerald Haley