My Dearest Darkest
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4.8 • 11 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
*Bustle Best Book of March 2022
*Buzzfeed Highly Anticipated YA Novel
*Lambda Literary Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+
*BookRiot Best New Dark Academia YA Book
Wilder Girls meets The Craft in this Sapphic horror debut that asks: what price would you be willing to pay to achieve your deepest desires?
Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy... but she's also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of the river. But something monstrous, and ancient, and terrifying, wouldn't let her drown. Finch doesn't know why she woke up after her heart stopped, but since dying she's felt a constant pull from the school and the surrounding town of Rainwater, like something on the island is calling to her.
Selena St. Clair sees right through Finch, and she knows something is seriously wrong with her. But despite Selena's suspicion, she feels drawn to Finch and has a sinking feeling that from now on the two will be inexplicably linked to one another.
One night Finch, Selena, and her friends accidentally summon a carnivorous creature of immense power in the depths of the school. It promises to grant every desire the girls have kept locked away in their insecure hearts—beauty, power, adoration—in exchange for a price: human body parts. But as the cost of their wanting becomes more deadly, Finch and Selena must learn to work together to stop the horror they unleashed, before it consumes the entire island.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Evil lurks in the tunnels beneath a small-town Maine prep school in Cottingham's haunting sapphic horror debut. When white Finch Chamberlin, along with her parents, dies after their car mysteriously plunges off a bridge while departing prestigious Ulalume Academy, the monster lurking there brings Finch alone back from the dead. Three months later, Finch attends the academy and lives with London-born Arab roommate Sumera Nazir. Eager to make friends, Finch attends a party in the haunted tunnels, where the image of an eight-eyed stag leads her and an eclectic group of girls, including beautiful, popular Selena St. Clair, to a creature, Nerosi. When the teens accidentally summon Nerosi into their reality from a void-like dimension, the entity offers to grant their deepest desires—for a price. Cottingham's narrative fluidly blends Finch's struggle navigating her own sexuality and her intensifying feelings for Selena, the girls' grandiose wants and wishes, and the creature's sinister hold on their town into a spine-tingling thrill ride that calls on classic prep school dynamics and eerie gothic imagery. Ages 14–up. Agent Erica Bauman, Aevitas Creative Management.
Customer Reviews
Loved it
Queer, dark, and the perfect amount of teenage drama- where was this book when I was in high school!! Can’t wait for what the author comes up with next!
My Dearest Darkest
At first I was recommended this book by a Barnes & Noble employee and bought it only because they took time out of their day to talk about it with me. I sat it on my shelf and let it sit for awhile. A last minute trip to the beach was made and I grabbed any book I could find and it happened to be My Dearest Darkest. I didn’t think I would actually start reading it though. I opened it up on the way and was hooked immediately. The characters, the representation, the thrills, and most importantly the plot. My Dearest Darkest was the only book I had read and actually finished in a very long time. So underrated, And so amazing. I will continue to recommend and fight for this book forever. Cannot wait to see what’s in the future for author, Kayla Cottingham.
5 stars
This book was absolutely and terrifyingly thrilling. I loved every second of it. This being a debut novel, I seriously hope to see more from the author in the future. 🤍