Khristina Chess's Blog
July 16, 2024
YA Book Giveaway for Property of Nobody
“No one is coming for you. No one is missing you. And no one will mourn you if you’re killed.”
Enter today to win a free copy of Property of Nobody, a searing new novel by Khristina Chess.
If you liked Trafficked, don't miss this intense story about an unaccompanied minor from Honduras who flees murdering coyotes, only to become ensnared by human traffickers.
Sign up today! Closes August 4.
Book Giveaway for Property of Nobody
Enter today to win a free copy of Property of Nobody, a searing new novel by Khristina Chess.
If you liked Trafficked, don't miss this intense story about an unaccompanied minor from Honduras who flees murdering coyotes, only to become ensnared by human traffickers.
Sign up today! Closes August 4.
Book Giveaway for Property of Nobody
July 9, 2024
YA Book Giveaway for Property of Nobody
Enter today to win a free copy of Property of Nobody, a searing new novel by Khristina Chess.
If you liked Trafficked, don't miss this intense story about an unaccompanied minor from Honduras who flees murdering coyotes, only to become ensnared by human traffickers.
Sign up today! Closes August 4.
Book Giveaway for Property of Nobody
If you liked Trafficked, don't miss this intense story about an unaccompanied minor from Honduras who flees murdering coyotes, only to become ensnared by human traffickers.
Sign up today! Closes August 4.
Book Giveaway for Property of Nobody
October 31, 2023
Ending Soon! | YA Book Giveaway for The Delinquent Hero
Just in time for the holidays - Enter today to win a free Kindle copy of The Delinquent Hero, a heart-wrenching new mystery by Khristina Chess.
If you liked Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, don't miss this raw and unforgettable story about a grieving teen's search for answers about her anorexic sister's sudden and tragic accident.
Or did someone try to kill her?
Sign up today! Closes November 3.
Book Giveaway for The Delinquent Hero
If you liked Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, don't miss this raw and unforgettable story about a grieving teen's search for answers about her anorexic sister's sudden and tragic accident.
Or did someone try to kill her?
Sign up today! Closes November 3.
Book Giveaway for The Delinquent Hero
October 6, 2023
YA Book Giveaway for The Delinquent Hero
Just in time for Fall Break - Enter today to win a free Kindle copy of The Delinquent Hero, a heart-wrenching new mystery by Khristina Chess.
If you liked Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, don't miss this raw and unforgettable story about a grieving teen's search for answers about her anorexic sister's sudden and tragic accident.
Or did someone try to kill her?
Sign up today! Closes November 3.
Book Giveaway for The Delinquent Hero
If you liked Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, don't miss this raw and unforgettable story about a grieving teen's search for answers about her anorexic sister's sudden and tragic accident.
Or did someone try to kill her?
Sign up today! Closes November 3.
Book Giveaway for The Delinquent Hero
March 19, 2023
YA Book Giveaway for Junior Missing
Just in time for Spring Break - Enter today to win a free Kindle copy of Junior Missing, a thrilling new release by young adult author Khristina Chess.
If you liked Sadie by Courtney Summers or Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, check out this steamy thriller about a runaway teenager who escapes an abusive relationship with an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go.
Sign up today! Closes March 28.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
If you liked Sadie by Courtney Summers or Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, check out this steamy thriller about a runaway teenager who escapes an abusive relationship with an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go.
Sign up today! Closes March 28.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
March 3, 2023
YA Book Giveaway for Junior Missing
Just in time for Spring Break - Enter today to win a free Kindle copy of Junior Missing, a thrilling new release by young adult author Khristina Chess.
If you liked Sadie by Courtney Summers or Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, check out this steamy thriller about a runaway teenager who escapes an abusive relationship with an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go.
Sign up today! Closes March 28.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
If you liked Sadie by Courtney Summers or Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, check out this steamy thriller about a runaway teenager who escapes an abusive relationship with an older man who takes her in—and won’t let her go.
Sign up today! Closes March 28.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
November 18, 2022
Book Giveaway for Against the Pack
Finish your 2022 reading challenge with a new release YA wilderness survival thriller where Cujo meets I Am Still Alive. Sign up today! Closes December 5.
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
November 6, 2022
Book Giveaway for Against the Pack
Finish your 2022 reading challenge with a new release YA wilderness survival thriller. Opened today!
When you're going in the wrong direction, how do you find your way home?
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
When you're going in the wrong direction, how do you find your way home?
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
November 2, 2022
Great Books for Fans of I Am Still Alive
I Am Still Alive is an amazing page-turner! From the beginning this book grabbed me and didn't let go. It's the kind of story that had me staying up late to read, sitting outside in the shade to read, read, read, reading to finish because I couldn't put this novel down. It starts with a BANG--literally, when strangers kill Jess's father, leaving her stranded in the wilderness of Canada with his dog, Bo. She's still recovering from a car accident that killed her mother, so she doesn't walk well, and she's a city girl so she's not great at hunting and fishing. How will she handle a Canadian winter alone without shelter or food?
She is alive. And she is tenacious.
I loved this girl's grit, and I wanted to see her survive. I wanted to know the answer to the mystery about who the men killed her father.
If you’re like me and want to know what to read next after I Am Still Alive, you’ve come to the right place. I have a great list of books similar Kate Alice Marshall’s I Am Still Alive that will satisfy your hunger for more wilderness survival thrillers.
1. Against the Pack
When you decide you’re going in the wrong direction, how do you find your way back?
While walking on a rural road, Melender and her mom are attacked by a pack of dogs and fall down a near-vertical hillside into a ravine. Now they’re trapped on a narrow ledge and wounded. No one knows where they are. No one even knows they’re missing.
They have no food, water, shelter, or warm clothes. No phone to call for help. No medical supplies. Nothing.
The only positive is that Melender can walk. She doesn’t want to leave her critically-wounded mom behind, but it could be days before anyone starts looking for them.
They don’t have that much time.
If you’re looking for a list of great books for fans of I Am Still Alive, you definitely want to check out Melender’s riveting tale. I would describe this one as Cujo meets I Am Still Alive.
2. Be Not Far from Me
BE NOT FAR FROM ME is a fast and engaging read about a girl who is lost and wounded in the woods. There are some plot points that seem a bit problematic, but the story is so compelling that I couldn't put this book down. There was a moment near the end when I became as lost as Ashley and wasn't sure how things would end for her anymore.
I was impressed by a novel that progressed almost entirely with just one character. Ashley carried the weight of the narrative and the conflict on her shoulders by herself. Alone and barefoot.
If you enjoyed I Am Still Alive, be sure to check out this YA book about survival that pits a lone quick-witted, tough-talking teen against nature’s elements.
3. Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined
In this absorbing novel, a broken mother-daughter relationship drives everything that’s happening, both in the present and in the past. The present is awful. Ingrid has been sent away to a 3-week wilderness program for at-risk teens, although she didn’t realize what she was signing up for at the time, and now she’s wet, miserable, mosquito-bitten, and trapped with a misfit group in the middle of nowhere. But she’s determined to see things through to prove something to her mother and earn the carrot, which is permission to attend a music school abroad.
The past is a complicated story about her mother’s beautiful opera voice and depression. There is a strong codependency relationship between the mother and daughter, since the mother is a depressed diva. From an early age, Ingrid took care of her mother since no father was in the picture.
I loved the mystery about how Ingrid ended up in the wilderness, and I was rooting for her to make it out.
Fans of I Am Still Alive will enjoy this YA book about survival that offers real character depth and heartbreak.
4. The Distance Between Lost and Found
Three teenagers are separated from their church youth group and survive for 7 days in the wilderness. Along their journey, they find forgiveness with each other and also love. And faith. Although the story has a strong plot element of fighting nature to survive (storms, poison ivy, etc.), the real story is one of character transformation in the distance between lost and found.
5. Switchback by Danika Stone
I enjoyed the fast pacing of this YA survival story, and I was invested in seeing Vale and Ash get out alive. As with other books like I Am Still Alive, many disasters and obstacles kept the tension taut through the length of the novel.
Do you have any personal favorites to recommend to me? I’m always looking for another great read in this category.
www.khristinachess.com
She is alive. And she is tenacious.
I loved this girl's grit, and I wanted to see her survive. I wanted to know the answer to the mystery about who the men killed her father.
If you’re like me and want to know what to read next after I Am Still Alive, you’ve come to the right place. I have a great list of books similar Kate Alice Marshall’s I Am Still Alive that will satisfy your hunger for more wilderness survival thrillers.
1. Against the Pack
When you decide you’re going in the wrong direction, how do you find your way back?
While walking on a rural road, Melender and her mom are attacked by a pack of dogs and fall down a near-vertical hillside into a ravine. Now they’re trapped on a narrow ledge and wounded. No one knows where they are. No one even knows they’re missing.
They have no food, water, shelter, or warm clothes. No phone to call for help. No medical supplies. Nothing.
The only positive is that Melender can walk. She doesn’t want to leave her critically-wounded mom behind, but it could be days before anyone starts looking for them.
They don’t have that much time.
If you’re looking for a list of great books for fans of I Am Still Alive, you definitely want to check out Melender’s riveting tale. I would describe this one as Cujo meets I Am Still Alive.
2. Be Not Far from Me
BE NOT FAR FROM ME is a fast and engaging read about a girl who is lost and wounded in the woods. There are some plot points that seem a bit problematic, but the story is so compelling that I couldn't put this book down. There was a moment near the end when I became as lost as Ashley and wasn't sure how things would end for her anymore.
I was impressed by a novel that progressed almost entirely with just one character. Ashley carried the weight of the narrative and the conflict on her shoulders by herself. Alone and barefoot.
If you enjoyed I Am Still Alive, be sure to check out this YA book about survival that pits a lone quick-witted, tough-talking teen against nature’s elements.
3. Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined
In this absorbing novel, a broken mother-daughter relationship drives everything that’s happening, both in the present and in the past. The present is awful. Ingrid has been sent away to a 3-week wilderness program for at-risk teens, although she didn’t realize what she was signing up for at the time, and now she’s wet, miserable, mosquito-bitten, and trapped with a misfit group in the middle of nowhere. But she’s determined to see things through to prove something to her mother and earn the carrot, which is permission to attend a music school abroad.
The past is a complicated story about her mother’s beautiful opera voice and depression. There is a strong codependency relationship between the mother and daughter, since the mother is a depressed diva. From an early age, Ingrid took care of her mother since no father was in the picture.
I loved the mystery about how Ingrid ended up in the wilderness, and I was rooting for her to make it out.
Fans of I Am Still Alive will enjoy this YA book about survival that offers real character depth and heartbreak.
4. The Distance Between Lost and Found
Three teenagers are separated from their church youth group and survive for 7 days in the wilderness. Along their journey, they find forgiveness with each other and also love. And faith. Although the story has a strong plot element of fighting nature to survive (storms, poison ivy, etc.), the real story is one of character transformation in the distance between lost and found.
5. Switchback by Danika Stone
I enjoyed the fast pacing of this YA survival story, and I was invested in seeing Vale and Ash get out alive. As with other books like I Am Still Alive, many disasters and obstacles kept the tension taut through the length of the novel.
Do you have any personal favorites to recommend to me? I’m always looking for another great read in this category.
www.khristinachess.com
March 20, 2022
Books You’ll Love If You Enjoyed Willow by Julia Hoban
Willow is a thought-provoking and heartbreaking YA novel that wrestles with the tough topics of self-harming, grief, and the healing power of love. When I first met the wonderful character of Willow, I immediately fell in love with her. She’s an orphan with terrible secrets. Guilt. Pain. Numbness. And love.
Find your next great read by exploring my reviews of these YA books if you loved Willow as much as I did.
1. The Cutting Edge of Friendship
“Sometimes my inside hurts so bad that I need to make the outside hurt worse so the inside will stop. ~ Sadie” ― Khristina Chess, quote from The Cutting Edge of Friendship
Sadie and Elana are keeping dangerous secrets.
Best friends since elementary school, they know everything about each other, but on the night of the fireworks, something terrible happened to Sadie that she hasn’t told anyone. She can’t even say the word to herself. Instead, she’s started cutting to deal with the pain.
Elana has a secret of her own; she’s texting Hunter and making plans for a clandestine meeting with him. She doesn’t know what he did or why he really wants to keep their relationship secret.
To end this dangerous cat-and-mouse game, Sadie must reclaim her courage and rescue Elana before a rapist can attack again.
If you loved Willow, you won’t want to miss this thrilling story about the complicated nature of friendship, cutting, and the aftermath of sexual assault.
2. Girl in Pieces
“People should know about us. Girls who write their pain on their bodies. ~Louisa”
― Kathleen Glasgow, quote from Girl in Pieces
This wonderful novel about self-harm was the kind of story that kept pulling me away to a quiet room to curl up with a cup of tea and a lamp until I finished. I had to know what was going to happen to Charlie. I had to know whether or not she was going to be okay in the end. Because although she seemed to be making progress, this guy in her life wasn't a good choice for her. And then her friend from the hospital shows up, and she doesn't seem to be a good direction either. And if you've ever known addiction or seen someone struggling with recovery from anything, you know that the line is so easy to cross.
For Charlie, crossing the line might have devastating consequences because she has her tender kit, and it's full of glass. It's not tender but slashes and cuts.
So I read and worried and loved this young girl, who was so alone and hungry and living on the edge. I wanted someone to help her. Someone good.
Like Julia Huban’s Willow, Charlie and her story will stay with me for a long while.
3. Scars
“Other times, I look at my scars and see something else: a girl who was trying to cope with something horrible that she should never have had to live through at all. My scars show pain and suffering, but they also show my will to survive. They're part of my history that'll always be there.” – Cheryl Rainfield
Wow! What a powerful, thrilling, emotional, heartbreaking book. Scars packs a real punch, touching on multiple tough topics, including cutting, sexual abuse, and relationships. Kendra was raped at a very young age by a man whose face she cannot remember. The story opens with her in therapy with a counselor who is helping her to cope with the painful memories that have started to surface, but the plot accelerates quickly as Kendra feels her abuser is stalking her. She copes with her pain through self-harming and also in her art, which is both beautiful and darkly disturbing. Descriptions of her art in this book are very vivid.
The revelation of her abuser is a shock and a non-shock, and I was rooting for her to confront him and find a path to justice and healing. Scars is a great read if your looking for a YA book about self-harm and cutting.
4. By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead
Daelyn is going to kill herself in 23 days.
A website named Through the Light provides support to wanna-be suicide “completers” like Daelyn, and she spends a lot of free time there. Counting down the days.
Then she meets a boy. She tries to ignore him, but he’s pushy. Persistent. Charming, even.
But is he charming enough to keep her from going through the light when the countdown ends?
This raw book is a fast read. It’s not easy, happy, or hopeful, but it’s an authentic and real look at depression and suicide.
What about you? Do you have any recommendations about self-harming to add to my list? If you enjoyed Willow, are there other similar books you loved?
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
Find your next great read by exploring my reviews of these YA books if you loved Willow as much as I did.
1. The Cutting Edge of Friendship
“Sometimes my inside hurts so bad that I need to make the outside hurt worse so the inside will stop. ~ Sadie” ― Khristina Chess, quote from The Cutting Edge of Friendship
Sadie and Elana are keeping dangerous secrets.
Best friends since elementary school, they know everything about each other, but on the night of the fireworks, something terrible happened to Sadie that she hasn’t told anyone. She can’t even say the word to herself. Instead, she’s started cutting to deal with the pain.
Elana has a secret of her own; she’s texting Hunter and making plans for a clandestine meeting with him. She doesn’t know what he did or why he really wants to keep their relationship secret.
To end this dangerous cat-and-mouse game, Sadie must reclaim her courage and rescue Elana before a rapist can attack again.
If you loved Willow, you won’t want to miss this thrilling story about the complicated nature of friendship, cutting, and the aftermath of sexual assault.
2. Girl in Pieces
“People should know about us. Girls who write their pain on their bodies. ~Louisa”
― Kathleen Glasgow, quote from Girl in Pieces
This wonderful novel about self-harm was the kind of story that kept pulling me away to a quiet room to curl up with a cup of tea and a lamp until I finished. I had to know what was going to happen to Charlie. I had to know whether or not she was going to be okay in the end. Because although she seemed to be making progress, this guy in her life wasn't a good choice for her. And then her friend from the hospital shows up, and she doesn't seem to be a good direction either. And if you've ever known addiction or seen someone struggling with recovery from anything, you know that the line is so easy to cross.
For Charlie, crossing the line might have devastating consequences because she has her tender kit, and it's full of glass. It's not tender but slashes and cuts.
So I read and worried and loved this young girl, who was so alone and hungry and living on the edge. I wanted someone to help her. Someone good.
Like Julia Huban’s Willow, Charlie and her story will stay with me for a long while.
3. Scars
“Other times, I look at my scars and see something else: a girl who was trying to cope with something horrible that she should never have had to live through at all. My scars show pain and suffering, but they also show my will to survive. They're part of my history that'll always be there.” – Cheryl Rainfield
Wow! What a powerful, thrilling, emotional, heartbreaking book. Scars packs a real punch, touching on multiple tough topics, including cutting, sexual abuse, and relationships. Kendra was raped at a very young age by a man whose face she cannot remember. The story opens with her in therapy with a counselor who is helping her to cope with the painful memories that have started to surface, but the plot accelerates quickly as Kendra feels her abuser is stalking her. She copes with her pain through self-harming and also in her art, which is both beautiful and darkly disturbing. Descriptions of her art in this book are very vivid.
The revelation of her abuser is a shock and a non-shock, and I was rooting for her to confront him and find a path to justice and healing. Scars is a great read if your looking for a YA book about self-harm and cutting.
4. By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead
Daelyn is going to kill herself in 23 days.
A website named Through the Light provides support to wanna-be suicide “completers” like Daelyn, and she spends a lot of free time there. Counting down the days.
Then she meets a boy. She tries to ignore him, but he’s pushy. Persistent. Charming, even.
But is he charming enough to keep her from going through the light when the countdown ends?
This raw book is a fast read. It’s not easy, happy, or hopeful, but it’s an authentic and real look at depression and suicide.
What about you? Do you have any recommendations about self-harming to add to my list? If you enjoyed Willow, are there other similar books you loved?
Khristina Chess is the author of several YA novels about troubled teens turning corners. You can find her on Goodreads and on Twitter.
