13 Scariest YA Books to Read Now
There’s no better way to end the day than by crawling into bed with a good book. Sometimes the solution to achieving a good night’s rest is to read a sappy romance to soak up all the feels, and other nights the mood calls for curling up with a sci-fi novel and thinking outside earthly limitations. Of course, there are instances when the need to experience the heart-racing, adrenaline-inducing feeling that comes from reading thrillers is overwhelming. Whether the terror they induce comes from psychological mind games or the novel relies on physically jarring situations to make us cringe under our covers, there’s something about tearing through a good thriller that can’t be beat. There are tons of worthy books out there, but we’ve rounded up 13 truly terrifying picks that will have even the bravest of bookworms shivering under their sheets. Read on, if you dare…
1/15Read on, if you dare…
2/15The Crocodile Bird by Ruth Rendell
16-year-old Liza has rarely left the grounds of Shrove House, the rural estate her mother cares for. Liza’s mother doesn’t believe the outside world has anything to offer her or her daughter. When her mother is suddenly and shockingly arrested for murder, Liza must recount their strange past together in order to make sense of what has happened – and when she does, she might just discover that she’s more like her mother than she thought.
3/15Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
For the reader who enjoys a few good twists and turns, the breakout 2011 novel Before I Go to Sleep should not be missed. Christine wakes up every day with no idea who she is. Her journal enables her to piece together that she suffers from anterograde amnesia, the result of a horrifying accident. With the help of her husband and therapist, she embarks on the daily task of making sense of her life. However, Christine’s accident isn’t what it seems, to Christine or anyone else.
4/15The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
Lane Roanoke is at the center of a miserable existence in New York. That is, until her mother kills herself. The suicide sparks Lane’s return to a mysterious estate in rural Kansas where she meets her grandparents and tenacious cousin, Allegra, for the first time. Life in Kansas is thrilling, and she can’t understand why her mother cut off all ties to their family. As Lane becomes closer with her cousin and begins to unlock the secrets of the Roanoke clan, things become darker than she could have imagined. Perhaps her mother’s resistance to their roots wasn’t unfounded after all.
5/15See Jane Run by Joy Fielding
What if you regained consciousness inside a grocery store with no idea who you were or what you were doing there? What if you came to while standing in a blood-soaked dress? Jane Whittaker experiences just this, and immediately rushes to the local police station. There, she is greeted by her handsome and charming doctor husband who assures her that everything is under control. But when the two get home together, Jane begins to doubt her husband’s intentions.
6/15Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
If you feel yourself jumping to read titles that claim to be “the next Gone Girl,” look no further than another chilling novel by Gillian Flynn, Dark Places. Having witnessed the murder of her two sisters and mother, Libby Day escapes her childhood home and testifies in court against her teenage brother. 20 years later, Libby is hard on her luck and eventually agrees to meet up with a fan club who believe her brother, Ben, is actually innocent. She reunites with her brother for the first time since the trial in exchange for money from the fan club, but she doesn’t expect to actually start believing that Ben didn’t commit the crime. When the past begins looking murky, she starts to question her childhood intuition and must seek the truth – at the risk of her life.
7/15The Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell series by Chelsea Cain
There are six novels in the Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell series and they are all quite graphic. Prepare for brutal descriptions of violence but read on for a thrilling game of cat and mouse set in Portland, Oregon. The novels follow a detective, Archie Sheridan, as he tracks down the deadly yet charming serial killer, Gretchen Lowell. The two have a dark and complicated past. It’s safe to say that Gretchen has destroyed Archie’s life, but that doesn’t stop him from obsessing over her – both professionally and romantically. Will Archie’s personal feelings ruin his chance at catching one of America’s most dangerous criminals?
8/15We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
The story is told from the point of view of Eva Khatchadourian’s letters as she writes to her estranged husband. She and her husband were married, until Kevin, her son, killed 11 people at his high school. Through her writing, Eva tries to make sense of the violence by reflecting on her life and her relationship with her son. Through several gut-wrenching twists and turns, We Need to Talk About Kevin will probably make you cry and definitely inspire you to text your parents that you love them.
9/15We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
We Were Liars is a moving young adult novel with a twist so intese, you won’t see it coming. Cadence Sinclair has been vacationing on the same island since she was a baby. In the summer of her 15th year, something terrible happens, but she can’t remember what. She knows her parents want to keep her away from the island and her boyfriend, Gat. She also knows she gets bone-chilling migraines and can’t stop thinking about water. When she finally returns to her summer home on the island, will she be able to put together the pieces and figure out what happened that fateful summer?
10/15An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
If you’re not already obsessing over Roxane Gay’s writing, get thee to Google! The feminist icon has had her writing published all over the internet, and her books don't disappoint. In her debut novel, An Untamed State, Gay takes on the thriller genre with divine expertise. Mireille Jameson, the story’s protagonist, was raised in a life of privilege in Haiti. When she’s abducted and her wealthy father is asked to pay her ransom, she feels her nightmare will come to an end quickly. However, her father ignores the kidnapper’s demands, and Mireille is left to fend for herself in this heart-wrenching novel.
11/15In the Woods by Tana French
Twenty-two years before our story begins, three children were abducted in the woods, and only one came home. Adam is still haunted by the occurrence but has no memory of the night, or what happened to his friends who didn’t make it back. Now working as a detective and going by a different name, he’s tasked with investigating the murder of a 12-year-old girl who was killed in the same place where Adam was abducted. Will this new case jog his memory and help lay the pat to rest? In the Woods is the first story in the six-part Dublin Murder Squad series, so if you love the creepy tale set in Ireland, you can read the rest of the series for more thrills.
12/15The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Every family has secrets, and in Sycamore Glen, every family goes to the community pool during the summer. Told through alternating points of view, The Things We Wish Were True centers on a small community in North Carolina and the tragedy that shakes its residents to the core. Those who appear perfect on the surface will reveal their flaws, and damaged characters will redeem themselves in this suburban-based thriller.
13/15The Special Power of Restoring Lost Things by Courtney Elizabeth Mauk
Jennifer is missing and her mother, father, and brother don’t know how to process her loss. When a body turns up that looks remarkably similar to hers, her family will falter under their grief and act out in different ways. Will their beloved sister and daughter ever be recovered, and if so, can their family ever be the same once she’s returned?
14/15The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
It’s been over a decade since one small town dealt with six kindergarteners tragically disappearing. Although the town has never healed, they’ve processed the loss. One day, five of the six children return – 11 years after their disappearance. Their families are overjoyed and expect answers, but none of them can remember where they were – and they don’t have any idea as to where the last missing boy could be.
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