Book picks similar to
Halloweentown High by Frederic P. Miller
children
dark-academia
horror
post-modern
Mary Reilly
Valerie Martin - 1990
Jekyll's dutiful and intelligent housemaid.Faithfully weaving in details from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, Martin introduces an original and captivating character: Mary is a survivor-scarred but still strong-familiar with evil, yet brimming with devotion and love. As a bond grows between Mary and her tortured employer, she is sent on errands to unsavory districts of London and entrusted with secrets she would rather not know. Unable to confront her hideous suspicions about Dr. Jekyll, Mary ultimately proves the lengths to which she'll go to protect him. Through her astute reflections, we hear the rest of the classic Jekyll and Hyde story, and this familiar tale is made more terrifying than we remember it, more complex than we imagined possible.
Palace of Tears
Anna King - 1998
If finding her mother Nellie in hospital after a savage beating from her husband wasn’t enough, Emily’s plight deepens when she yields to the advances of Tommy, a young soldier, and becomes pregnant with his child.Not for nothing is Victoria station nicknamed the ‘palace of tears’. As trainloads of men leave for the Western Front, and Emily says goodbye to Tommy, she is left contemplating the life of a single mother. Yet amidst the devastation, happiness still lies within her grasp…
A classic saga of World War One, Palace of Tears is a perfect read for fans of Carol Rivers, Sally Warboyes, and Annie Murray.
Road To Somewhere: Book Two in the Clearwater Series
Julie Mayerson Brown - 2019
The day her kitchen ceiling collapses on top of her, Patty’s life unravels. Whether a sign from above or plain bad luck, she has no idea. But her brush with death shakes her to her core. With no boyfriend, no plans, and no where to stay, she leaves her condemned home and heads to California wine country to be near Cece, her best friend, confidant, and quintessential voice of reason. A few days in the quiet small town of Clearwater will give her the comfort she needs to contemplate one of life’s most enduring questions: "What now?” But instead of quiet and comfort, Patty is met with even more troubles—Cece suffers a crisis of her own, a new friend ropes her into a demanding situation, and an enticing yet complicated man has her spinning toward romantic disaster. However, it’s the mysterious arrival of her younger sister that pushes Patty to the brink and forces her to question everything she thought she knew about her siblings and about the family that rejected her. Now, faced with a monumental decision, Patty has no choice but to gamble on the one person she trusts the least —herself.
Thirteen Days to Midnight
Patrick Carman - 2010
Three whispered words transfer an astonishing power to Jacob Fielding that changes everything. At first, Jacob is hesitant to use the power, unsure of its implications. But there's something addictive about testing the limits of fear.Then Ophelia James, the beautiful and daring new girl in town, suggests that they use the power to do good, to save others. But with every heroic act, the power grows into the specter of a curse. How to decide who lives and who dies?
In this nail-biting novel of mystery and dark intrigue, Jacob must walk the razor thin line between right and wrong, good and evil, and life and death. And time is running out. Because the Grim Reaper doesn't disappear. . . . He catches up.
The Alchemist's Apprentice
Jeremy Dronfield - 2001
And yet you've never heard of him. Or his book. The whole thing is a little hard to explain. To unravel the tangled threads of reality you have to go back to the beginning. To a New Year's Eve party in Cambridgeshire in 1996. Or earlier, when an unsuccessful novelist called Roderick Bent embarked on a train journey that turned into a nightmare. Actually, it doesn't matter where you start from. The point is that you'll soon understand why there's never been another book like it. And, more importantly, why you can't remember that you've already read it.
Lavender, Loss & Love at the Villa des Violettes (Villa des Violettes #3)
Patricia Sands - 2020
Ancestry, intrigue, and lessons in friendship are part of the narrative. As summer draws to a close, an urgent call sends Kat and Philippe back to Sainte-Mathilde where the family gathers to support each other in an emergency situation. From the splendor of the lavender season through to the changing landscape of autumn and the festivities of the grape harvest, the Love in Provence characters face challenges, make memories and attempt to maintain their usual joie de vivre!
About a Boy
Nick Hornby - 1998
He's single, child-free, goes to the right clubs and knows which trainers to wear. He's also found a great way to score with women: attend single parents' groups full of available (and grateful) mothers, all hoping to meet a Nice Guy.Which is how Will meets Marcus, the oldest twelve-year-old on the planet. Marcus is a bit strange: he listens to Joni Mitchell and Mozart, looks after his mum and has never owned a pair of trainers. But Marcus latches on to Will - and won't let go. Can Will teach Marcus how to grow up cool? And can Marcus help Will just to grow up?
A Severed Wasp
Madeleine L'Engle - 1982
Now in her seventies, she encounters an old friend from her Greenwich Village days who, it turns out, is the former Bishop of New York. He asks Katherine to give a benefit concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. This leads to new demands on her resources--human, artistic, psychological, and spiritual--that are entirely unexpected.
The Summer List
Amy Mason Doan - 2018
Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart…“This is a lovely debut by Doan, exploring themes of motherhood, daughterhood, and first love with tenderness and humor. The writing is fresh and charming, a perfect read for anyone who spent her teenage years reading the racy bits of cheap paperbacks out loud to their best friends.”-Booklist, STARRED* review“Doan’s characters leap off the page…[An] accomplished debut novel…Will please readers who grew up with the novels of Judy Blume.”-Publishers Weekly“With a vivid sense of place and characters as real as your high school besties, this debut novel is sure to please fans of Kristin Hannah and Elin Hilderbrand.”-Library Journal“A poignant tale of mothers and daughters finding their ways home to each other.”-Kirkus Reviews“Summer Reads: Coolest Books of the Season”-Globe and Mail“Best New Books to Put in Your Beach Bag”-PopSugar “Best Books of Summer 2018”-Family Circle“Best New Books for Summer 2018”-Coastal Living“A trip down memory lane becomes a hunt for long-buried secrets in Amy Mason Doan’s gripping and poignant debut. An evocative tale of family, first love, and the unique and lasting gift of a friendship formed in girlhood.”-Meg Donohue, USA Today bestselling author“There is not a word or a plot line out of place in The Summer List, Amy Mason Doan’s fabulous debut. These characters and their stories are going to stick with you for a long, long time.”-Meg Mitchell Moore, author of The Admissions and The Captain’s Daughter“An ideal summer read…a compelling blend of love, betrayal, secrets and reconciliation…”-The Oregonian“An amazing debut.”-Authorlink“Read this one on the beach with your BFF.”-HelloGiggles"The perfect summer read. Beautifully drawn characters creating a page-turning mystery. I stayed up way too late to find out what happened! Impossible to put down!”-Bestselling author M. O’Keefe“In her mesmerizing debut, Amy Mason Doan challenges everything we think we know about family and forgiveness. Readers will be swept up in this haunting story of buried secrets and lost love.”-Lynda Cohen Loigman, author of The Two-Family House“With its exquisite detail, The Summer List wouldn’t let me go, and the unexpected ending gave me chills…Irresistible.”-Jennifer S. Brown, author of Modern Girls“A tender novel about friendship lost and rekindled, and uncovering the truth of the past.”-Polly Dugan, author of So Much a Part of You and The Sweetheart Deal“Moving…compelling…beautifully written characters.”-The Girly Book Club
Call of the Cherokee
F. Gardner - 2020
After receiving an invitation, three friends decide to check out the theater, curious as to what all the hype's been about.Part of a series of interconnected horror novels that can be read in any order. Each book serves as a stand alone story, yet builds a greater picture behind a sinister mystery in Chicago.
Forever (Angels and Gargoyles #4)
Brenda L. Harper - 2014
A group of gargoyles who wanted to turn her into a weapon against Luc and Lily, the leaders of a war raging against humans. A group of angels who also wanted to use her gifts as a weapon to save not just the humans, but all the supernatural beings caught up in the war. She even survived a battle waged on her own home turf. Now, two years later, Dylan will have to face her darkest nightmare: the loss of her soulmate. Wyatt and Dylan have a difficult history. She was never sure if she could trust him and he was never sure of her abilities. But they fought side by side and drew strength from one another. With Wyatt at her side, Dylan was able to defeat Luc and Lily. But she failed to make the choice she was told was hers, and hers alone. Dylan was supposed to make a choice between allowing the humans to survive, or to allow for the annihilation of the human race in favor of her own race of human/angel hybrids. Stiles returns to tell Dylan that the time has come for her to make that choice. The place to start, is by solving the riddle of why Wyatt’s aunt, Rachel, appeared in their time as a five year old girl when she died thirty years before at the age of eleven. But on the journey to find answers from Rachel, Wyatt is murdered by Dylan’s former foe, Luc, in revenge for Lily’s death on the battlefield. Wyatt was a source of strength to Dylan. Will she be able to continue without him? Will she be able to see the truth, to make a choice, without Wyatt’s support? Will she even want to?
Promise Not to Tell
Jennifer McMahon - 2007
On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered—a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del—shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl"—was brutally slain. Del's killer was never found, while the victim has since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost stories. Now, as this new murder investigation draws Kate irresistibly in, her past and present collide in terrifying, unexpected ways. Because nothing is quite what it seems . . . and the grim specters of her youth are far from forgotten.More than just a murder mystery, Jennifer McMahon's extraordinary debut novel, Promise Not to Tell, is a story of friendship and family, devotion and betrayal—tautly written, deeply insightful, beautifully evocative, and utterly unforgettable.
Lola The Mermaid and The Splish Splash Olympics
Lily Lexington - 2012
Gather the Daughters
Jennie Melamed - 2017
They built a radical society of ancestor worship, controlled breeding, and the strict rationing of knowledge and history. Only the Wanderers--chosen male descendants of the original ten--are allowed to cross to the wastelands, where they scavenge for detritus among the still-smoldering fires.The daughters of these men are wives-in-training. At the first sign of puberty, they face their Summer of Fruition, a ritualistic season that drags them from adolescence to matrimony. They have children, who have children, and when they are no longer useful, they take their final draught and die. But in the summer, the younger children reign supreme. With the adults indoors and the pubescent in Fruition, the children live wildly--they fight over food and shelter, free of their fathers' hands and their mothers' despair. And it is at the end of one summer that little Caitlin Jacob sees something so horrifying, so contradictory to the laws of the island, that she must share it with the others.Born leader Janey Solomon steps up to seek the truth. At seventeen years old, Janey is so unwilling to become a woman, she is slowly starving herself to death. Trying urgently now to unravel the mysteries of the island and what lies beyond, before her own demise, she attempts to lead an uprising of the girls that may be their undoing.Gather The Daughters is a smoldering debut; dark and energetic, compulsively readable, Melamed's novel announces her as an unforgettable new voice in fiction.
The Alchemy of Stone
Ekaterina Sedia - 2008
With the old order quickly giving way to the new, Mattie discovers powerful and dangerous secrets -- secrets that can completely alter the balance of power in the city of Ayona. However, this doesn't sit well with Loharri, the Mechanic who created Mattie and still has the key to her heart -- literally! A steampunk novel of romance, political intrigue, and alchemy, The Alchemy of Stone represents a new and intriguing direction by the author of the critically-acclaimed The Secret History of Moscow: