Twisted. Hannah Jayne. 2016. 320 pages. Sourcebooks Fire. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Life’s a bit challenging when you’re the daughter of an alleged serial killer. Bex Andrews, neé Beth Anne Reimer, knows this all to well. When she was 7, her father was dubbed the “the Wife Collector,” after a series of mysterious kidnappings and murders in North Carolina. Now 17, Bex has an opportunity to escape her traumatizing past, with a fresh start 200 miles away. She’s made new friends, has doting foster parents, and even has a caring boyfriend. The best part is that none of them know her troubled lineage. So why does it feel like she’s still in her father’s shadow? Twisted pulled me in from the start, so much so that I neglected all of my responsibilities to finish it.

The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever. Jeff Strand. 2016. 272 pages.  Sourcebooks Fire. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Aspiring filmmakers Justin, Bobby, and Gabe have three failed movies under their belts.  But that doesn’t stop them from committing themselves to creating an unforgettable cinematic masterpiece … about zombies … filmed with next-to-no budget … over the next month. Lesser directors might balk at the task, but these three 15 year olds jump right into it, with minimal regrets. The comedy follows the team’s antics as they try to convince their community — and themselves — that “The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever” (that’s the working title …) will be made and it will be epic. There are quite a few bumps along the way, between a hysterically crying starlet, a destroyed camera, a car crash for the director, and a burned down house with all their zombie costumes inside. These kids alternate between the best luck ever and Murphy’s Law, which is entertaining without being completely hokey.

Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose. Gillian McCain & Legs McNeil. 2014. 339 pages. Sourcebooks Fire. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Haunting. That’s the only word that could describe how I felt after finishing this diary. It’s billed a real diary, and that makes it that much harder to digest. I enjoyed reading Go Ask Alice as a teen. I figured this book would be in the same vein, but it’s so much more. It really is a window into the mind of a young girl — Mary — whose live is ravaged by pain. Her home life is unstable and abusive, her body is being destroyed by cystic fibrosis, and she is severely addicted to drugs and alcohol. She’s only 15.

This Is Where It Ends. Marieke Nijkamp. 2016. 288 pages. Sourcebooks Fire. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Reading this book will leave you shell-shocked. It is haunting. It is emotionally draining. It is real. This Is Where It Ends is told over the course of 54 minutes. But in those 54 minutes, you experience an entire lifetime. The day starts as quietly as any other in sleepy Opportunity, Alabama, with the local high school welcoming students back to a new semester with a school-wide assembly meant to motivate and encourage the student body. Things quickly turn when students and faculty find themselves trapped inside with a lone gunman, intent on leaving his tragic mark on their community. The story is told from first-person accounts of several students. There’s Autumn, the junior whose brother Tyler is the gunman. There is also Sylv, Autumn’s girlfriend. Tomas is Sylv’s twin brother, who finds himself and his friend Fareed as one of few students in a position to save everyone trapped in the auditorium. Claire, whose brother Matt is trapped inside, is Tyler’s ex-girlfriend. Interspersed within are accounts of the shooting found on various social media platforms from people connected to those inside.

Awake. Natasha Preston. 2015. 336 pages. Sourcebooks Fire.  [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] This was a tough book to read, but it was just as tough to put it down. Awake follows Scarlet, a teenager who has led a mostly normal life, except for the fact that she can’t remember anything before she was 4 years old. With the introduction of an attractive, attentive new boy in school, Scarlet’s world changes quickly and she starts questioning her past and the people in her life. The story is filled with the angst you’d expect from teens – juggling friendships and jealousy, trying to make “mature” choices based on inexperience and new love. But the underlying question of Scarlet’s past and how it may force its way into her present is inescapable. She’s constantly questioning the motives of those around her and ask she begins to question her family more directly, she starts to unravel some of her truth.