YA F Oli

Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Gilmore Girls meets Pretty Little Liars in this scandal-filled mystery.

Sawyer and her (single) mom live "on the other side of the tracks" and have ever since Sawyer's mom was pregnant 18 years ago. Sawyer's world does a complete 180, though, when her grandmother shows up and offers Sawyer $500,000 in exchange for coming to live with her for nine months... and participate in the debutante season. Sawyer only agrees to the deal when Lillian promises to tell Sawyer who her father is, a secret that Sawyer's mom refuses to discuss. So, Sawyer packs her bag and heads to the Taft mansion. There, she meets her cousin Lily; Lily's best friend Sadie Grace; their archenemy Campbell; an ex-boyfriend; a charming possible-half-brother; a down-on-his-luck, country club valet; and other Southern schemers. Through some blackmail, the girls get involved in a heist, a kidnapping, an alibi-creation, and other trouble, all in the name of framing a Bad Guy and learning who Sawyer's dad is.

This mystery might be considered a bit dark, but the Southern belle comedic timing definitely puts it more in the CW tone: campy, just-enough of a threat, and cute boys.

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

Ellery and her twin brother Ezra have been shipping from Hollywood, CA to their grandmother's in Vermont when their mother is forced into court-ordered rehab. They've never visited their grandma because Sadie's (their mom) twin sister Sarah disappeared during their senior year's homecoming festivities. In fact, Sadie had only been back twice: one for her father's funeral and once for her close friend's daughter's funeral five years previously. This town seems to be swimming in murder and intrigue, and Ellery --true crime aficionado-- is lapping it all up. But is she really prepared when a classmate goes missing? To up the ante, Declan, Prime Suspect #1 and Lacy's boyfriend, is mysteriously back in town, as is Lacy's best friend Daisy. Who killed Lacy? And are they tied to this new disappearance?

Two Can Keep a Secret is a murder mystery, but it much more grisly and dark compared to the lighter-in-tone, Breakfast Club-like One of Us Is Lying (McManus's first book). In fact, there are so many threads in Two Can Keep a Secret, that it's impossible to guess the ending, which makes it an intriguing and un-put-down-able read.

Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

Maddie and Logan were best friends until a foiled kidnapping lands her, and her dad, in the wilds of Alaska. Six years later, Maddie can flip a hatchet and kill a fly, but she's coldly angry that best friend (and the President’s son) Logan has never answered any of her letters. But when he shows up on her doorstep with kidnappers on his trail,it's up to Maddie and her survival skills to get them out of this alive.

Time Bomb by Joelle Charbonneau

Seven students are trapped in a high school nearly destroyed by a terrorist's bomb. Most are injured; two will die. And one of them set the bomb. Butwith fire raging and everyone's backstory a mystery, it's almost impossible to tell who's a bad guy and who's not. All the while, there's another bomb, just waiting to go off.

Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Chaya Lindner, a Jewish girl working as a courier into the ghettos of World War II Poland, is on a suicide mission. She knows that the Nazis are about to obliterate the Warsaw ghetto, but she feels compelled to help Esther arrive there to deliver a mysterious package. Chaya is willing to do whatever it takes feel like she's in charge of her own life...even if it results in her death.

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

After a near-death experience, Cassidy can see ghosts. She's even become best friends with one. So when her author parents agree to do a TV series about the world's most haunted cities, it shouldn't be a big deal. But Edinburgh has far more ghosts than Cassidy's hometown in the US, and some of them--like the Raven in Red--are lingering in hopes of being able to snatch the soul out of a living person...like Cass...and use it to come back to life.