“I’m not sure I’m the good girl I once thought I was. I’ve lost her along the way.”

Sixteen-year-old Pippa cannot forget the murder case of Andie Bell. Five years ago, Andie Bell was murdered by her high school boyfriend, Sal Singh, who killed himself days later. Everyone in the town of Fairview has moved on, even the police—everyone except for Pip. Pip has not forgotten about the murder, and she has a nagging feeling that Sal was never the killer that everyone made him out to be. She thinks Sal is innocent. As she dives deeper into the town's secrets, she finds information that may end up hurting everyone she loves.

Throughout the book the reader can feel connected to the main character, Pip, and all the emotions that this case causes her. Even though this case rips her apart and makes her lose things, she still has a hunger to show everyone that Sal Singh is guilty. This is effective because the reader is left wondering what Pip is going to do next. This adds a level of suspense.

In A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson creates a realistic high school student who wants to stand up for what she thinks is true, even if nobody is willing to help her or believe her. This book is fast-paced and suspenseful, and I found myself on the edge of my seat as Pip uncovered more information.

This is a thrilling murder mystery filled with interview transcripts, pictures, texts, and maps that give insight into the investigation. I found Jackson’s use of of epistolary structure very helpful. It was interesting to see the sources that police in the story get their clues from in an investigation.

This book helped me learn about the problems of wrongful conviction and about the process of solving an investigation. I didn’t realize that sometimes the police will convict the wrong person, and then they have to live with the shame. Jackson took a story about wrongful conviction and told it from the point of view of a young, ordinary high school girl who tries to solve the case in a small town.

I would rate this book a ten out of ten. There are also two more books in this trilogy: Good Girl, Bad Blood and As Good as Dead. I have read the second book, and I look forward to reading the third soon. If you are looking for a book full of suspense and mystery, crack open A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and start reading.

Lily

Electric Monkey, 433 pages (paperback)

How many pigeons would it take to lift a person? What would happen if the Solar System was filled with soup to Jupiter? These are just two of the hundreds of questions you can find in the book What If? 2 by Randall Munroe, which is a collection of many absurd questions that Munroe answers with serious, scientific answers. Monroe responds to each question with accurate solutions, humor, and information that helps the reader learn new concepts.

One of the main reasons I enjoyed this book is that Monroe answers questions that his fans submit. As a result, the questions will appeal to many different readers with many different interests. The questions range from theoretical physics to astronomy, engineering, chemistry, and biology.  The book is a compilation of many  hypothetical problems and their solutions, put together so readers can explore one question that interests them or twenty questions that cover numerous different topics.

Monroe also illustrates each of the questions with humorous cartoons that I think are a really nice touch. The illustrations are in a black and white stick figure style, and they have funny lines of dialogue that help create a world of characters throughout the book and tie all the answers together.

Monroe includes footnotes that either provide additional scientific information or share relevant, funny jokes. These footnotes are a nice feature—after you read a page, you can look at the bottom of the page to deepen your understanding or enjoy funny jokes about the page you’ve just read.

People can go to Comet Ice (xkcd.com) to find 162 of the stories for free from both the first and the second What If? books if they do not want to buy the book, but the book has more to offer than the website.

I would rate this book a ten out of ten for its hilarious drawings, scientific information, and creative approach to finding answers to what if? questions. I would recommend this book for anyone who would like to transition to more realistic scientific books but also wants a book that is entertaining, creative, and humorous.

Sawyer

Meet Stephanie (Stevie) Bell. She is obsessed with true crime and loves to solve mysteries. She is ecstatic when her application to Ellingham Academy, a very fancy high-end boarding school founded by world-famous billionaire, Albert Ellingham, gets accepted. The only thing that isn’t so great about Ellingham Academy is the murders, the mysteries, and the lies. In 1936, tragedy struck Ellingham's family, and his daughter disappeared, never to be seen again. Stevie comes to Ellingham on a mission: to solve one of the greatest mysteries of the past century. Along the way she makes new friends and new enemies. When she begins experiencing strange occurrences, Stevie realizes Ellingham Academy is not as great as it seems.

At Ellingham, Stevie meets many interesting people: a very chaotic artist who supposedly has nothing to lose, an actor who pays other people to do his school work, a game developer with a mysterious past, and a teen author who hates writing, just to name a few. When one of Stevie's housemates dies, Stevie takes matters into her own hands and begins to solve the new mystery, all while trying not to fail school.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson is a great book. Although the perspective is third person, the reader is able to follow along with Stevie’s thoughts and feelings. When Stevie is in action, the reader gets to read the book almost like they are right alongside Stevie, seeing everything through her eyes.

Some of the chapters alternate between different timelines, so instead of all chapters taking place in the present day, some chapters take place in the years the Ellingham mystery takes place. In one timeline, the reader gets to see what people were doing back in 1936 when Alice went missing, and then the present timeline shows how Stevie is trying to solve that mystery.

This book is part of a five-book series: Truly Devious, The Vanishing Stair, The Hand on the Wall, The Box in the Woods, and, most recently, Nine Liars. Each book picks up right where the previous one ended—with Stevie either still trying to figure out Ellingham and all of its secrets or with Stevie attempting to solve a new mystery on her own.

Honestly, mystery readers can’t miss this book. Truly Devious has crime solving, romance, betrayal, and relatable characters. Readers will certainly want to keep reading to find out more.

Vivian

HarperCollins, 416 pages

In Mateo’s and Rufus’s world, a company called Death-Cast is able to warn people when it is their last day to live. Mateo and Rufus are able to meet on Last Friend, an app that matches people with a friend to spend their last day with. This story follows Mateo and Rufus as they move through their last twenty-four hours. Will they both die at the end? Or will one have to watch the other die first?

In They Both Die at the End, Adam Silvera did a phenomenal job creating the characters, and not just the two main characters. The reader can really relate to each character and see their unique personalities by reading how characters react to certain situations. Mateo is very kind and cares about animals and humans, but he’s not very outgoing. Rufus has a side to him that isn’t so sweet, and he regrets the way he has acted in certain situations.

This story is unique and has a truly original premise. The idea for this story immediately intrigued me. And the pace, in my opinion, is perfect. The fact that this novel takes place in one day helps readers understand how important this day is for both of the main characters.

In each chapter, the narrative point of view changes. In addition to Mateo’s and Rufus’s chapters, some chapters are also told by friends of the main characters, others are told by complete strangers. At the end of the book, there is a web chart that shows how all the characters are connected. I would advise readers not to look at this chart until reaching the end of the book—there are some spoilers in the chart that most readers would probably prefer to avoid.

This book filled me with excitement, sadness, and concern for the characters. There were so many wonderful moments! In other words, this book sent me on a rollercoaster ride of emotion, and I’m not usually emotional when it comes to books. Clearly, Silvera crafted the book extremely well.

I read this book quickly. In fact, I could not stop reading it when I was supposed to be doing other homework! I rated it a 9.5/10. If you enjoy books that evoke a range of intense emotions, this is the book to choose.

Victoria

Harper Teen, 368 pages

The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman takes place in a universe quite different from ours, where witches fly in the sky, and all human souls exist outside of their bodies in the form of shapeshifting animals called dæmons. Once characters become teeneagers, their dæmons take the form of one animal and never change again. Dæmons share their characters’ thoughts and emotions and serve as a friend.

Lyra Belacqua, is a mischievous child. She ignores rules and terrorizes the Jordan College community with pranks and tricks.  Lyra’s dæmon is Pantalaimon, or Pan, for short. One day, while sneaking into the meeting room of the lords and professors of Jordan College, Lyra witnesses something that will change her life forever. The House master pours some poison into her uncle Lord Astral’s wine in order to stop his plan to  her uncle Lord Astral, so that he cannot continue his research on the illusive “dust” that is spotted falling out of the sky in the north.

This book is suspenseful and powerful. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I couldn't wait to keep reading. There were unexpected turns and discoveries around each page, which kept the story from feeling slow. The characters in The Golden Compass were relatable, reasonable, and well-placed. Each side character had their own role that helped with the world building that had to be done to make anything make sense. I found myself rooting for Lyra and, later, for her companion, Will. I felt their emotions and understood their thoughts as if they were real people despite the fact that the book was written in third person.

If there's one thing I learned from The Golden Compass and the His Dark Materials trilogy, it's that Pulman is a master world builder. If the series lacked its artfully created universe of memorable places and characters, it would be a confusing mess.

Ben

Knopf Books, 399 pages

Dr. Ryland Grace wakes up in a room he doesn’t recognize, and IV tubes are all over his body. At the moment, he can’t even remember his name or how he got into this situation. All he knows is that he has been asleep for a very long time and he is currently millions of miles away from Earth with two corpses lying beside him.

Dr. Grace was an 8th grade science teacher before he was called to be the science expert for the Hail Mary crew. Their mission? They are trying to save the whole planet from an extraterrestrial species that is rapidly consuming the Sun’s light. As the time ticks by, Dr. Grace slowly regains memories from his life on Earth, including how he ended up millions of miles away from the place he calls home. Meanwhile, the whole world is relying on him to save them all.

In Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir effortlessly incorporates humor throughout almost 500 pages, even in the most stressful and dark situations. This gives the book a perfect mix of suspenseful and comedic moments. I never felt bored while reading Project Hail Mary because Weir is always adding little twists and turns to keep readers on their feet.

The story is told in first person with almost every chapter alternating between Grace’s current life in space and past life on earth. This ensures the reader never feels lost or confused about what is happening. Each chapter, told from alternating timelines, ends on a cliffhanger, so readers will want to keep reading to find out what happens next.

Project Hail Mary explores the question, “Are there other species outside of Earth?” The story gives readers insight into what can go wrong when humans travel alone in space, the place that is still unknown to us. Readers will find themselves questioning how much we actually know about space, and they will be left to think about how fascinating the universe is outside the planet we call home.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading science fiction, but I would also recommend it for people who have never tried reading from the genre. I was never interested in reading science fiction, and I hadn’t ever enjoyed a book from that genre, but Project Hail Mary was a wonderful read for me because it is a mix of mystery, science fiction, and comedy. The way Weir pulls from different genres gives the book a more realistic feel, which sets it apart from books with more typical science fiction tropes. Project Hail Mary has the power to capture readers’ attention and send them into a different reality, where the future and the safety of our planet are all in the hands of one man.

Allison

Ballantine Books, 496 pages

When sixteen-year-old Dean ran out the door to catch the bus this morning, he never thought about stopping to say goodbye. Now, he wishes he had more than ever. On Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, the day begins with a hailstorm. Huge ice chunks send two school buses swerving into the parking lot of their local Greenway Superstore. The fourteen surviving students—the Monument 14—take shelter inside the store until further notice. In the days to follow, a volcanic eruption, a mega-tsunami, an earthquake, and a chemical spill are just a few of the disasters that plague the country. All the Monument 14 can do is sit and watch from the safety of the store. Will the Monument 14 make it out alive?

Monument 14 is a young adult novel by Emmy Laybourne that follows Dean Grieber, a High School Junior in Monument, Colorado, as he documents his experiences being trapped in a superstore with five other high schoolers, two eighth graders, and six elementary school students. This book will interest science fiction and romance fans alike with its thrilling, realistic storyline taking place in the near future. The fast-paced nature of this book will bring readers in and keep them locked in to the action. The end is enough to make anyone run to the shelves to continue the adventure—the sequels to this book, Sky on Fire and Savage Drift, both carry just as much action and suspense as the start of the trilogy.

I was immediately hooked on this story from the first page. As a lover of epistolary and log entry-style novels, this was an excellent book for me. The immersiveness of these types of books makes me feel like I’m a part of the action. I was drawn into the story by the suspenseful start and was kept in by the sudden surprises in every chapter. The point of view alternates from one character to the next, which also helped make the story interesting throughout. Each older student is based on a highschool archetype: the jock, the pretty girl, the outcast, the nerd, the popular class president. This gives the reader the illusion of realistic people having genuine interactions. It also gives the story a realistic feeling, even though it is an apocalyptic and, at times, improbable story setting.

I rated this book 9/10 and would recommend it to anyone ages 12-19 who is a lover of science fiction, dystopian fiction, realistic fiction, or romance. Readers will never forget this thrilling, immersive narrative and all the excitement it entails. Monument 14 is so much more than a book about some kids in a store. It is a dramatic survival story about love and friendship, even when the world as we know it is gone forever.

Josephine

Feiwel and Friends, 352 pages

“There's no such thing as bad people. We’re all just people who do bad things.”

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover is a romance novel that follows Lily throughout her life. But when her past begins intersecting with her life now, she must decide which life to live: her past or present.

Lily had the dream life when she was younger. Her dad was the town mayor and her family lived in a big house in a fancy neighborhood. It seemed perfect to most people, but Lily hated it. She felt trapped, mostly because of her dad; he could never control his anger and usually took it out on her mom. The only time she felt happy at home was when she was with her next door neighbor, Atlas. When an older Lily finds her journals from when she was younger, she starts question everything she thought she knew about her family and her old friend Atlas. She also starts to question her current life choices, including her choice to date Dr. Ryle Kincaid.

The book is told from two perspectives: one from Lily’s old diary pages, the other from Lily’s older, present point of view. This structure was effective because the major problem in the book is that Lily can’t move on from her past. Seeing these two storylines alternate helps the reader understand Lily and her past more deeply.

I rated It Ends With Us a 10/10, and I recommend it to anyone who likes romance. Hoover is one of my all-time favorite authors, and I think all of her books are worth checking out.

Morganne

Atria Books, 384 pages

How could two grown adults open the door to a seemingly-psychotic stranger without any second thought? In Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters, Gail Giles attempts to answer this intriguing question.

The story takes place in a modern town called Angleton. Angelton has the same problems that many other towns have: kids skipping school, manipulative sisters, broken families, and deaths in the family. But in Angleton, some citizens find themselves asking if their dead relatives are really dead—especially after Sunny’s older sister, Jazz, arrives at her front door. Jazz seems perfectly fine until Sunny starts to see changes in her personality.

Giles develops a mystery that is full of red herrings. The characters find themselves immersed in a devastatingly elegant facade of lies, manipulation, mystery, and possible hysteria. The plot of this thoroughly crafted novella moves at breakneck speed, which leaves no time for readers to pause for a break and collect their thoughts. Unbelievably nerve-wracking suspense pulls the reader through each razor-edged chapter, right up to the very last sentence: “What have I done?”

All these components are supported by a combination of cut-to-the-bone prose, short chapters, and effective cliffhangers at the end of each chapter.

This book is perfect for anyone who prefers a short, suspenseful horror or mystery novella. Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters never ceases to make readers question reality.

Gigi

Simon Pulse, 128 pages

“They said I must die. They said I stole the breath from men, and now they must steal mine.”

It’s 1829 in northern Iceland, and Agnes Magnúsdóttir has been held in a dark and dank prison cell since she was accused of the murder of two men, Pétur Jónsson and Natan Ketilsson, the year before. With her execution date looming, she will be held at an isolated farm until her death. The District Commissioner and his family, who own and live on the farm, are enraged and terrified to be forced to hold this murderess at their home.

Agnes’s silence and robotic way of going about her chores on the farm are disturbing. The threat of Agnes murdering the family while they sleep fills the once peaceful farm with tension. All they can do is avoid Agnes and try their best to keep to themselves and their normal way of life. But it's not so easy to stay indifferent to Agnes, especially with all of the rumors about her floating around. Over the course of that life-changing year, the farmer’s wife and daughters, along with Totí, the priest Agnes mysteriously requested to be her spiritual guardian, learn that the story they were told about Agnes’s past and what really happened that fateful night might not be the truth.

Burial Rites is an incredible book. It shines a new light on true events leading up to, during, and a little after the last public execution of a woman in Iceland. It gives you a whole new perspective on the lives of people in Iceland in the 1800’s. Hannah Kent writes with precision, never leaving an unnecessary word, yet still writes with such descriptive language that it sounds like poetry.  Though some of Agnes’s and the other characters' backstories are fictional, everything is, in some way, backed up by historical records. In fact, Kent included some authentic historical documents throughout the novel, including a priest’s account of how Agnes acted in church as a child, as well as letters exchanged between Icelandic leaders at the time. Everything was heavily researched; Kent strived to make the story factual and historically correct, but also managed to make the parts that were fictional sound like they were really part of the story; it all blends together so well, which can be very hard to do.

I loved how the reader’s perceptions are frequently challenged; one could go from absolutely despising a character to then finding out about that character’s past and immediately agreeing with everything they do. The author accomplished this by switching between Agnes’s, Totí’s, and sometimes other characters’ points of view.

This novel is incredibly well crafted. Each character’s backstory is slowly revealed throughout the book. This keeps the reader always wanting more, and makes the story feel fast-paced. I also think that the setting adds more intrigue because there are not many books set in Iceland, so readers not only learn about the historical events at the center of this story, they also learn about the country of Iceland as a whole.

Burial Rites is historical fiction, but it also addresses timeless issues such as identity—who you believe you are or strive to be versus how you are seen by others. This makes the characters much more real and relatable. I rated this book a 10/10, and I think anyone who likes historical fiction, mystery, retellings, or even just books with incredible twists will love it. Hannah Kent really went above and beyond for her debut novel. Burial Rites is an enthralling book and should be on everybody’s to-be-read list.

Rita

Little, Brown and Co., 314 pages