Catching up on some reviews before the wrap up and May hopefuls posts!
Thanks to Penguin Teen for the gifted copy
YOU BELONG TO ME – Hayley Krischer (Released April 15th, 2025)
Book Description:
Full to the brim with romance, class exploration, and friendship clashes comes a new YA psychological thriller exploring the dark secrets of the wellness and beauty world.
Perfect for fans of Nine Perfect Strangers and Jessica Goodman novels.
What if living your most authentic life leaves you dead?
Frances Bean was always content living life on the perimeter. Until she is paired up for a class project with rich and popular Julia, daughter of famous wellness guru Deena Patterson. The “magic” skincare products, healing sound baths, and extravagant parties of Deena’s company DEEP never really interested Frances before, who wears the badge of goth outcast and bookworm proudly. But face time with the girl she has been crushing on for years is starting to give her a new outlook.
When Frances gets an exclusive invite to Femme, the young ambassadors of DEEP program, she is blown away by the beauty and luxury of Julia’s world and Femme’s focus on empowering girls to be their most true selves surprisingly strikes a chord. Before long Frances finds herself invested in Femme, a whirlwind romance with Julia, and a future that feels hopeful.
But when an infamous DEEP party takes a dark turn, Frances wonders if the allure of being a part of Julia’s life was actually just a deadly distraction…
My Thoughts: 3.5/5 stars
Now I know that the health and wellness industry is something that has been covered in books and the subsequent cults that seem to follow some of the big personalities, but I was curious to see this from a YA perspective. While this isn’t anything wildly new, this was still a fun read. Suspenseful, excitement, culty, high school crushes, finding yourself, and all the sinister things that happen behind the curtain of beauty influencers.
I did love Frances and Julia. While it was the more “insta love” plot, it worked for their age and the storyline. The dark side of DEEP was wild to dive into! You Belong to Me by Hayley Krischer (out now!)
Jessicamap Reviews 