Is she or isn’t she a “Bad Seed?”

When she was 9 years old, Mary killed a baby. Allegedly. Now, six years later, she’s beginning to remember pieces of that night and what the truth may be. Why now? For one thing, it’s the fact she’s pregnant and wants to keep her baby, and being in custody of the state, even in a group home, means she might not be able to choose the future for her child. 

This is a fast paced psychological thriller that doesn’t shy away from exploring race, justice (criminal and social), mental health, and gender. A powerful, compelling, twisty read with an excellent voice. For a debut novel, the skillful crafting, plotting, and character development are beyond outstanding. 

Jackson is a YA staple, and any of her titles could’ve made this list. Monday’s Not Coming is on our Best of the Century So Far: Mysteries/Thrillers edition.

The first in a trilogy, The Battle of Jericho follows 16-year-old Jericho who is invited to take part in the Warriors of Distinction. It’s the school’s most exclusive club, and those who pledge are promised girls and parties–initiates also keep stellar grades. For Jericho, it’s especially appealing when just after the invitations are handed out, he’s getting attention from Arielle.

But when pledging begins, Jericho finds himself being asked to do things he’s not comfortable doing. He’s also watching as the only female pledge endures a particularly rough series of rituals. Jericho now struggles between continuing and solidifying his place among the Elite in his school or speaking up and out about what’s happening and how he’s feeling.

Draper has been writing YA for a long time, and this series is an easy recommendation for so many readers. We will likely see Draper show up on another list, though!

All Access Members can read about eight additional titles below.

If you’re only going to read one, you should probably start with the one that takes place in Texas. Mr. Black Dallas, Titan Stone, always gets his way. So when his planning for the Dallas Juneteenth celebration gets disrupted by a beautiful photographer who refuses to toe the line, his entire world gets shaken up. But he’s never backed down from a fight, and he doesn’t intend to now. 

If you want to start from the beginning, this is the one that was released first (the eleven volumes were first released in a countdown to Juneteenth in 2023). We’re introduced to the history of Juneteenth and the Mr. Black organization via Mr. Black Chicago, Porter Crowne, who is determined to put on a larger-than-ever Juneteenth celebration, and the body positivity influencer driving him crazy, Alanna. The two share a desire to serve Black Chicago and a less-than-sparkling past, and their history is bound to make both of their lives and any potential romance a lot more complicated.  

Having been born and raised there, I love a good DC story that talks about the real people who live there instead of pretending everybody works on The Hill and lives in the suburbs. In this one, Nathaniel needs a replacement when he loses a big vendor for the upcoming Juneteenth celebration. His best option is his one-night-stand turned FWB Stephanie, who runs a holistic skincare company and doesn’t believe in commitment. But Nathaniel is determined to spend the four straight days he has with her to convince her that they both deserve to turn their Not Relationship into something real and permanent. 

There’s nothing Eve Evergreen wants more than to be a Novice Witch, but she doesn’t have enough magic to pass the tests. But that doesn’t stop Eva from trying, flying around her town, moving to a small town, and using what magic she does have to do good deeds and help her neighbors. This is perfect for fans of Kiki’s Delivery Service!

Maya’s grandmother, Halmunee, is an amazing cook and likes to share stories of her childhood while they enjoy her delicious meals. But lately, Halmunee’s memory is not what it used to be. Then one day, Maya and her grandmother are transported back in time by Halmunee’s delicious food, and Maya gets to see her grandmother’s stories for herself.

Ostensibly about Roy’s complicated relationship with her mother, this memoir is also about her own writing journey. Shaken by her mother Mary’s death in 2022, this book chronicles how their bond and her complex grief led to the creation of her novels.

Gisèle Pelicot’s name has become a global symbol of strength and grace through fire. In this book, she recounts the trials, both literal and metaphorical, that she underwent since the horrifying discovery of her husband’s well-known abuse.

When a 2022 fall led to a devastating diagnosis, Kureishi was forced to face a new life where paralysis was his new normal. What followed was a series of reflections and musings dictated from his various hospital beds, a collection of thoughts that have become this memoir.

Homeschooling had just become legal in Texas when Merrill Block’s mother pulled him out of school to keep his teachers from “stifling his creativity.” Left largely to his own devices, he was then confronted by his mother’s abusive attempts to stunt his growth. Upon going to school again, Merrill Block found a reality very different from the one he had known.

In this memoir, the woman known as Evie Rich chronicles her extraordinary life, scholarship, and activism. The latter, which started when Dr. Rich was a student at Bryn Mawr College, went on to span decades, the present included. A must-read.

Who among us hasn’t hit rock bottom? West captures that feeling as she takes us along on a cross-country road trip, the method she chose to find herself and her purpose again, and which she inspires other women to do the same (cross-country road trip optional).

As an outstanding antiracism educator, Channing Brown has always enjoyed her work. But the time came when she found herself exhausted from having the weight of the world on her shoulders. This memoir shares her attempts to break free of the boxes trapping her, and explores how Black women are limited in who they can be.

Christina Applegate always seemed to be on top of the world. But in this book, she peels back the shiny gauze that covered up the dark spots throughout her decades-long career, and afterward, when a multiple sclerosis diagnosis changed everything.

From the author of My Government Means To Kill Me comes a thrilling new historical mystery about the dark history of Hollywood. A backlot fixer once tasked with keeping a studio’s biggest star in the closet is finally ready to come out with the truth. It’s been years since Aaron ensured that no one would ever know about Xavier C. Barlow’s romantic inclinations, years since Xavier became a star, but now the promising actor has died at the height of his career—and the circumstances are very suspicious. Aaron is pretty sure he knows the powerful players behind Xavier’s death, but exposing the dark underbelly of the movie industry could also prove his undoing.

A zookeeper in 1960s Cuba risks everything for a love affair in a country where same sex relationships are branded as “counterrevolutionary.” Told from the eyes of those around him to fit together the puzzle pieces of his life, from Cuba to exile in London and Miami, the complicated life of Felix and his family begins to come together. How do we hurt the ones we love? And how do we make sense of the people who shape us, even long after they’re gone?

Vanessa Riley’s newest novel is perfect for fans of Pirates of the Caribbean and Our Flag Means Death, and is based on real-life seventeenth-century pirate Jacquotte Delehaye, the mixed-race daughter of a wealthy Tortuga tavern owner who dreams of a life at sea. In Haiti, she disguises herself as a man and goes by Jacques. She soon finds she’s not the only one living under a different identity at sea, as she grows close with other women in disguise and falls in love with a beautiful courtesan. But as more and more pirates turn toward the slave trade to amass riches, Jaquotte turns away from her former life to fight for everyone to find the same liberation she has.

In this reimagining of The Great Gatsby, a teenager trying to make a new start at a prestigious boys’ school in Harlem finds out that the supposedly integrated school has all the same problems he was hoping to leave behind in Oklahoma. Nick’s writing begins to expose dangerous secrets behind the school, and his growing feelings for the founder’s charismatic son, Jay, only complicate matters further. Together, they’ll have to decide whether to stay in this fight even if it means they might be running from the consequences forever.

In the wake of his wife’s death, Ignacio drowns in memories of the past, leaving his daughter to fend for herself. He spends his days watching telenovelas, smoking cigarettes, wearing blonde wigs, and remembering the man he once loved. But out from Ignacio’s tortured past steps Mamadora Eléctric,a who takes up the role of a maternal figure for Valentina, even while worrying that Ignacio’s dark thoughts have unleashed a curse on them all. It’s a story of coming of age and coming undone from the author of Fiebre Tropical.

Release date: June 23, 2026

In 1937 Suffolk, a young woman returns home for one last visit before she leaves to attend Oxford for university. Only her closest friend, Joanie, knows this isn’t actually the plan. Instead, the two intend to elope to London and live as lovers, escaping the claustrophobic society they’ve known. But when their plans are discovered, Margaret’s estranged father whisks her away to the woods. There, a strange power begins awakening in Margaret. She wakes covered in dirt and scratches. Is this the same curse that took her mother from her, or is it possible this could be the thing that finally allows Margaret to find some approximation of the love she’s always wanted?

Release date: September 15, 2026

What’s this? Another Great Gatsby retelling? Honestly, those could be a whole post in and of themselves—and maybe they will be…But for now, enjoy Stoker Award winner Gwendolyn Kriste’s dark take on the classic, where Daisy Buchanan’s daughter Mel encounters the ghost of her mother in the 1950s and must dig into the family’s past to discover whether her mother’s death was just a terrible tragedy or actual murder.

Release date: September 29, 2026

In early 2000s San Francisco (yep, the 2000s were more than 25 years ago so we’re counting it as historical fiction now), a professional ballerina flounders in both his professional and personal life as his boyfriend struggles leave him a perpetual third wheel. But maybe that’s the way he likes it, or at least that’s what he’s beginning to suspect, with the help of two suitors and a cadre of supportive lesbians surrounding him. Described as equal parts poetic and pornographic, this is a book about life and art in all its wonderful, imperfect strangeness.

Release date: September 29, 2026

A calling card featuring just five words—”For Oscar Wilde, posing sodomite.”—became Wilde’s downfall in 1895 when he sued for libel, faced criminal prosecution, and, ultimately, imprisonment. But what if he’d simply…ignored the callout? Boyne imagines the second part of life that Oscar Wilde might have lived if only things had happened slightly differently. What if Wilde was able to live out the celebrated existence he was expected to have?

Release date: October 13, 2026

Following the success of Hungerstone, Kat Dunn is back with a dark, sapphic Hamlet-inspired tale. Left to wander between their estates in Hampstead, Odette and Cecilia are allowed to grow and learn and love together. But when Odette’s mother Lydia dies and her aunt comes to stay, soon usurping her late mother’s place, Odette begins to sense a dark presence surrounding her once happy home. Her mother may be gone, but her spirit remains—and she’s dead set on revenge.

*Chandler Bing voice* Could the title be more perfect?!

In the tiers of crimes you can be convicted of, we’re more in the shallow end of the pool with petty crimes with this one. There’s an evil twin impersonating her sister for revenge, an adult who fraudulently enters contests for children, a lesbian couple who find an abandoned baby and adopt it, skipping the actual legal process of adoption, and more tales that range in mood from mischief with laughs to somber and literary.

There are few authors I love more than Jamaica Kincaid. There’s always been something truly magnificent about her work. While she’s most known for her short novels, like Lucy and Annie John, Kincaid can also write a mean essay. So, of course, her new anthology jumped to the top of my TBR. This collection of essays includes pieces from Kincaid’s early career that were published in places like The New Yorker, The Village Voice, and Ms. This book is perfect for commuters or sneaking in a few minutes of reading time between activities at the pool or beach.

Edwidge Danticat is truly a treasure of Haitian Literature, and this is her story. When she was just a girl, her parents left her in the care of her uncle, Joseph. When her parents finally sent for her, she struggled to remember them and grieved for the parental figure she had left behind. Later in 2004, when the political situation in Haiti began to deteriorate, Uncle Joseph was forced to flee to Miami in search of safety. In a whirlwind story of family connection and the tender ties that bind one person to another, Danticat illustrates the strength of familial love, even from across the ocean.

This one’s for the history lovers who adore diving into a tome of a book. In The First and Last King of Haiti, Yale scholar Marlene L. Daut explores the life of Henry Christophe, a complex figure in Haitian history. Born to an enslaved mother in Grenada, Christophe would go on to be a key leader in Haiti’s revolution for independence. Eventually, he would go on to declare himself King of Haiti, but died by suicide nine years later.

Kit Davenport is a young nobleman who wants to be anything but. He’s always disappointed his father, and now, with an arranged marriage and a restrictive noble life on the horizon, Kit needs to do something.

That something is somehow getting aboard the Deliverance, a boat helmed by the very dashing Reggie Sharpe. Sharpe is hard to resist, even if his crew is a band if pirates. It’s the exact opposite culture and community than where Kit came from, but he doesn’t have time to step off the ship. Even if he wanted to, it’s hard to leave when there’s so much excitement and such a crush-worthy captain.

But Kit’s past can’t stay hidden, and pretty soon, he’ll have to decide: the life of a nobleman or the life of a pirate?

Bella ditched her best friend Kerry three years ago in order to become an influencer. She’s successful, too–she’s known and followed for her ability to manifest luck in her life. Bella’s getting everything she could have ever wished for, even if it meant leaving Kerry alone.

When Kerry discovers an old self-help book, she’s finding herself fascinated with the rituals within it. What if she tried some of them? What if she tried some of them on Bella?

Little do either of the girls know that there’s something sinister within the pages of that book, and neither one of them can prepare for what’s about to happen to their relationship and themselves.

What if you don’t actually know what you want your future to look like? That’s the story for Ezzie Ramosis. Her mami and abuelita think she’s got everything ready to roll for after high school but Ezzie is keeping a big secret: she’s not filled out any college applications or followed the paths that have been presented to her. Instead, she’s going to be interning at an urban garden that her father founded right before his death–something she recent discovered and realized would help her learn about the dad she never got to know.

Ezzie’s dad was a well-known scientific researcher but that’s about all she knows. This is the summer she’ll do anything to learn more–even if it means keeping secrets from her family and fighting with the garden’s beloved (and very cute) volunteer, Gabe. But just how long can secrets, whether her own or those of her father, stay buried?

Kess Turner’s mother has moved them everywhere, so she’s never been in one place very long. The latest stop is by far the weirdest, though. They’re living in a psychic shop, and they got there because Kess’s mom was summoned when Madame Amalia was in an accident and fell into a coma. Kess has been discovering secret messages and cash all around and knows there is a lot more going on than anyone is letting on.

Kess does what seems natural: pretend to be a psychic and press Madame Amalia’s clients for information. But Kess is now experiencing weird visions herself, and the more she learns from clients and from what’s happening to her, the more she’s beginning to suspect that her mother and Madame Amalia may have been involved in a murder. As her visions get worse and she’s fearing for her own death, Kess knows she needs to begin asking some tough questions.

Inspired by the real issues of missing and murdered Indigenous people, whose stories too often go unreported, Tison’s latest novel is told through multiple points of view. Ulá Dominguez is a Bribri-American teenager is determined to find out what happened to her father, a land activist. He was murdered in their native territory in Costa Rica, and Ulá and her brother, Kabék, want to find out what happened. It wouldn’t be easy in any case for two young people to solve a murder, but it’s made even more challenging because they’re facing off against loggers, kidnappers, and the Costa Rican government in their efforts.

The siblings have a couple of trusted family friends still living in Bribri who are able to help them. They’ve also got the help of journalist who may be struggling with some issues himself. What unravels is a sinister story of murder and the reality that no one–not Ulá, not Kabék, not their friends and family, and not their journalist partner–is safe.

Angélique is 18, and her lifelong dream has been to make gowns for the most elite in society. Unfortunately, things haven’t gone that way for her. She’s dyeing silk in a sweatshop, and her lot only gets harder when she’s left orphaned and in charge of her younger sister. Things were already financially tight. This makes that reality even harder.

She’s not going to give up though. Angélique takes a job designing for one of Paris’s top modistes. Her peers make fun of her for being poor, and though this job gets her one step closer to her dream, it isn’t covering the bills, either.

So when a contest is announced for a coveted protégée role, Angélique knows she’ll win. She’ll do whatever she possibly can to make it happen. And she’s doing it. But as she gets closer and closer to her dream, that ambition of hers is being weaponized and tearing open the wounds related to the destruction of her own family.

Angélique finds herself in a tough position: fight like hell for her dream or step back and save herself and her sister in a safer way?

If you’re like me and love the beautiful coastal backdrop of the Studio Ghibli film Ponyo, as well as themes of family, first loves, and mermaids, I think you’ll fall in love with this delightful graphic novel by Lee Knox Ostertag. While a teen named Morgan wants to escape her stifling life on the island where she lives, things take a turn when she gets rescued from drowning by a girl named Keltie. As the two discover budding feelings for each other, both will have to come to terms with their own buried secrets.

The magic of My Neighbor Totoro lies in the dreamy yet melancholic tone of the film, as well as the mysterious and cute creature named Totoro, who brings joy back into the characters’ lives. Just as siblings Satsuki and Mei navigate their feelings of grief and worry over their mother’s health, the characters in this story collection by Little Thunder also grapple with feelings of sadness and a search for belonging. The collection contains three stories, following different characters who make connections with a curious creature named Kylooe. While a lonely girl makes a friend in a surreal dream world in one story, another story chronicles the bumpy relationship between a popular teen and a troubled loner, and the third takes place in a dystopian world where emotions must be suppressed.

Hayao Miyazaki’s son, Goro Miyazaki, made his feature directorial debut with Tales from Earthsea. As the film has reached its 20th anniversary this year, it has also been selected for Ghibli Fest for the first time. For those watching Tales From Earthsea, this graphic novel adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin’s classic fantasy by Fred Fordham makes for the perfect pairing. After a smith’s son named Ged discovers he can work magic, he heads off to wizard school. While there, he’ll find himself summoning a shadow creature he can’t seem to get rid of.

Isao Takahata, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, directed the poignant film Only Yesterday, which reached its 35th anniversary this year. This moving manhwa by Hyeon A. Cho promises a similar feel to Only Yesterday. Just as Taeko reflects on many memories from when she was a young student, this story involves a middle school girl named Sori who also tries to remember people she’s interacted with from her past as she follows clues left behind by a mysterious letter writer and befriends a boy from her school along the way. The story also touches upon the beauty of nature as Sori treks through the woods surrounding her school campus, looking for letters and helping with the school greenhouse. Like Only Yesterday, this touching tale will take root in your heart and stick there.

Castle in the Sky, Hayao Miyazaki’s first film created with Studio Ghibli, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Like the mysterious robots of Castle in the Sky, this classic manga series by Hiromu Arakawa features a similar character in the form of a soul residing within a suit of armor. After something goes wrong in an alchemical ritual, Edward Elric loses two limbs while his brother Alphonse becomes the soul in the armor. The story also blurs the lines between magic and science and features a hunt-style quest for a lost artifact reminiscent of the various characters seeking out the fabled city of Laputa in Castle in the Sky.

Demons play a major role in the Studio Ghibli film Princess Mononoke as well as in this historical fantasy manga by Koyoharu Gotouge. In Mononoke, Prince Ashitaka slays a demon attacking his village and becomes infected by it. Just as Tanjiro’s sister gets transformed into a demon in this manga series, so too will Asitaka if he doesn’t find a cure for his wound. San, the girl raised by the wolf gods in Mononoke, must also face demons as the boar god Nago becomes corrupted by one and begins wreaking havoc in her sacred forest. In the manga, Tanjiro hunts for a way to return his sister back to her former self and slay the demon that killed the rest of his family.

The Academy Award-winning film Spirited Away celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and it makes for the perfect finale for Studio Ghibli Fest. One of my favorite aspects of the masterpiece that is Spirited Away is Chihiro’s seamless merging from the human world into the spirit world. The scene where she follows her parents through the empty train station to the eerily abandoned park always gives me chills. This manga by Mai Mochizuki offers a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, which shares many themes with Spirited Away as Alice falls into a fantastical world full of wondrous, strange, and at times, dangerous characters. In this manga, an orphan named Alice escapes her difficult life with her abusive uncle and heads to Kyoto. However, she finds herself arriving in quite a different version of Kyoto than she remembers from long ago.

Retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.

I have recommended this book over and over again, both here at Book Riot and at Wild Geese Bookshop, where I work. It is a perfect, eerie, unsettling, bite-sized horror story to wade into. This is great for seasoned horror fans and those who are testing the horror waters.

When retired soldier Alex Easton (my beloved horror protagonist who deserves a nap) hears that their childhood friend, Madeline Usher, is dying, they race to her home. What they discover is sporror—think spore and horror— at its most shocking. There is a wild fungus, eerie lights in the lake, and Madeline is sleepwalking at night. There is a scene in this book where Alex and other characters were freaking out over a discovery that had me legit freaking out with them. Did I throw the book? Yes, yes I did.

Retelling of H.P. Lovecraft’s notoriously racist story “The Horror at Red Hook.”

Victor LaValle is one of the best writers of the century, hands down. His works have been adapted to the screen. His novel, The Devil in Silver, will be airing as a miniseries on AMC later this year.

This year marks the ten-year anniversary of the novella, The Ballad of Black Tom, a retelling of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Horror at Red Hook.” Lovecraft’s tales were often racist, reflecting Lovecraft’s own prejudices, but LaValle takes Lovecraft’s story and molds into this stunning, dark, magical tale. It follows Charles Thomas Tester, a hustler who tries to keep a roof over his father’s head and food on the table. Charles knows how powerful magic can be, and when he’s sent to deliver a magical tome to a sorceress, a journey full of sorcery and things better left buried begins.

This novella has sorcery and LaValle’s signature wit and commentary. You don’t want to miss this.

Retelling of the fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” by Charles Perrault.

Pelayo is a masterful storyteller, and Forgotten Sisters is no exception. It follows two sisters who live in a historic Chicago house on the Chicago River. Ignoring the house’s haunting sounds, courtesy of a historic, tragic past, one of the sisters, Anna, runs a podcast of ghostly tales surrounding Chicago’s history. After she captures the attention of a male listener, and a relationship develops, her sister Jennie becomes more fearful. More people are going missing, bodies float by on the river, and then detectives are on their doorstep. Who is responsible for the missing people? What of the sisters’ past has come back to haunt them? 

As someone who grew up in a northwest suburb of Chicago and then lived in Lakeview for six years, Pelayo’s roots, extensive research, and exploration of Chicago history are exquisite.

Retelling of the fairy tale “Bluebeard” by Charles Perrault. 

I love a good Bluebeard retelling. No matter how many iterations I read, I always come back for more. Maybe it’s because I want to see the story retold with the women in power, or at least taking power back after a tragic beginning. Hache Pueyo’s But Not Too Bold is a wholly original retelling of this age-old bloody classic.

This story follows Anatema, an enormous humanoid spider, and the Lady of the Capricious House. She has a taste for laudanum and human brides. Anatema also ate her old keeper of the keys, and now the keeper’s protégée has come to take her place. Dália must find a way to survive in this new position, but she didn’t count on one important thing: Anatema cannot resist a new human bride.

Retelling of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.

Aiden Thomas’s young adult books are full of mystery and magic. Lost in the Never Woods is a dark fantasy tale, which makes for a great step into horror for those looking to explore the genre.

Five years prior, Wendy and her brothers were lost in the woods, and the circumstances of their disappearance still haunt her. Now that children are starting to go missing again, people look to Wendy for answers. Peter, a boy she thought lived only in stories, says that she must act, or the children will meet the same fate as her brothers.

Retelling of The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

I never saw this retelling coming, but wow, am I interested. This one is for fans of slashers, such as Clown in a Cornfield and Slasher Summer. Sharpen your knives, and dive into this deliriously entertaining slasher tale.

It’s 1994, and Dorothy Noroît’s life is perfect. She’s pregnant, she has a devoted boyfriend, a home, and a steady job. Then on October 2nd, everything changes.

Twenty-four years later, the city of Montreal is now being terrorized by an extremist group called The Winged Monkeys. Men are being brutally murdered, and the detectives on the case are racing to find the killer as the body count rises. This is a brutal and disturbing novel, and if you’re a Wizard of Oz fan, there will be plenty of easter eggs to satisfy your Oz appetite.