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You're No Better
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Expected 20 Oct 26PREORDER NOW to receive the limited deluxe edition—only available on the first printing while supplies last! This striking deluxe hardcover edition features metallic edges, illustrated endpapers, a special case stamp, and foil jacket effects.
Bestselling author Andrew Joseph White returns with another horrific YA thriller: a profound portrait of a struggling teen trying to convince the world—and himself—that he’s better than the serial killer who raised him.
Morgan Slaughter, a seventeen-year-old trans boy with autism, put his serial killer father in prison years ago. Despite that, everyone thinks Morgan will grow up to be just like his dad: including his volatile mother, the documentary crew following their family, and maybe himself.
Desperately, Morgan latches onto his father’s final victim—the only one who was never identified—hoping that if he unravels the mystery, he’ll finally prove he’s better than the man who hurt him. But this puts Morgan in the crosshairs of classmate Felicity Keating, who knows the truth about Morgan’s childhood—that he wasn’t just a witness to his father’s brutality, he was an accomplice. And if he doesn’t let them help with his investigation? They’ll tell everyone.
Forced to confront his past, Morgan’s ugly but carefully controlled world unravels. The film crew is manipulative. His mother’s temper spirals into malice, then violence. And Morgan and Felicity may be more tightly intertwined than either of them can stomach . . .
You're No Better is a gritty and unapologetic coming-of-age suspense about teens who grew up surrounded by cruelty and are clawing their way to adulthood the only way they know how.
Bestselling author Andrew Joseph White returns with another horrific YA thriller: a profound portrait of a struggling teen trying to convince the world—and himself—that he’s better than the serial killer who raised him.
Morgan Slaughter, a seventeen-year-old trans boy with autism, put his serial killer father in prison years ago. Despite that, everyone thinks Morgan will grow up to be just like his dad: including his volatile mother, the documentary crew following their family, and maybe himself.
Desperately, Morgan latches onto his father’s final victim—the only one who was never identified—hoping that if he unravels the mystery, he’ll finally prove he’s better than the man who hurt him. But this puts Morgan in the crosshairs of classmate Felicity Keating, who knows the truth about Morgan’s childhood—that he wasn’t just a witness to his father’s brutality, he was an accomplice. And if he doesn’t let them help with his investigation? They’ll tell everyone.
Forced to confront his past, Morgan’s ugly but carefully controlled world unravels. The film crew is manipulative. His mother’s temper spirals into malice, then violence. And Morgan and Felicity may be more tightly intertwined than either of them can stomach . . .
You're No Better is a gritty and unapologetic coming-of-age suspense about teens who grew up surrounded by cruelty and are clawing their way to adulthood the only way they know how.
384 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 20, 2026
About the author
Andrew Joseph White
15 books6,520 followersAndrew Joseph White is the trans, autistic, and bestselling author of Hell Followed With Us, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, Compound Fracture, and You Weren't Meant to be Human. Born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley, he received his MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University, and lives in Virginia with his wife and their antisocial cat.
He can be found at andrewjosephwhite.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @AJWhiteAuthor.
He can be found at andrewjosephwhite.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @AJWhiteAuthor.
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February 20, 2026Hi y'all - early review copies are out in the world, so it's time to post the content warnings for YOU'RE NO BETTER.
YOU'RE NO BETTER discusses the aftershocks of extreme childhood violence in plain, straightforward detail. This is one of my rougher YA novels, and I urge you to take care of yourself. Content warnings include:
Backstory, mentions, or discussions of:
* Kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder
* Child abuse and grooming, including forcing a child to witness or participate in the above
* The troubled teen industry, the adoption industry, mental health struggles, past hospitalization, and psychiatric mistreatment
On-page:
* Narrative focus on child abuse (physical and emotional) and true crime’s exploitation of abuse and trauma for “content”
* Graphic violence, including manslaughter
* Sexual harassment and assault
* Queerphobia, transphobia, and ableism; forced closeting, misgendering, and medical/psychiatric neglect
* Mental health crises; intrusive thoughts, autistic meltdowns, self-medication with alcohol/alcohol abuse, self-harm (physical and emotional), suicidality
* Confinement
* In epilogues: hospitalization after injury, the justice system, and foster care
This story has a happy ending, or at least a hopeful one. These content warnings can be found on my website, and a more general list also exists in the author's note at the front of the book.
YOU'RE NO BETTER discusses the aftershocks of extreme childhood violence in plain, straightforward detail. This is one of my rougher YA novels, and I urge you to take care of yourself. Content warnings include:
Backstory, mentions, or discussions of:
* Kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder
* Child abuse and grooming, including forcing a child to witness or participate in the above
* The troubled teen industry, the adoption industry, mental health struggles, past hospitalization, and psychiatric mistreatment
On-page:
* Narrative focus on child abuse (physical and emotional) and true crime’s exploitation of abuse and trauma for “content”
* Graphic violence, including manslaughter
* Sexual harassment and assault
* Queerphobia, transphobia, and ableism; forced closeting, misgendering, and medical/psychiatric neglect
* Mental health crises; intrusive thoughts, autistic meltdowns, self-medication with alcohol/alcohol abuse, self-harm (physical and emotional), suicidality
* Confinement
* In epilogues: hospitalization after injury, the justice system, and foster care
This story has a happy ending, or at least a hopeful one. These content warnings can be found on my website, and a more general list also exists in the author's note at the front of the book.
Want to Read
October 18, 2024AJW does nothing but cook up amazing stories and I’m sure this will be no different
February 21, 2026
Got to read this early by virtue of being the Andrew Joseph Wife
When AJ and I moved in together he would sometimes sit in the room while I watched my tv shows because this boy does not watch tv, and somewhere along the way he started tuning in for this cop show with the guy who played Jesus in the Walking Dead called Prodigal Son I was watching and eventually he got really invested and asked if we could start it over from the beginning.
Picture it, Domino meme:
Tiny Domino is labeled “Alice watches Prodigal Son (2019) on Fox”
Big Domino is labeled “YOU’RE NO BETTER (Peachtree Teen, October 2026)”
God damn, yall.
If you’ve read Courtney Summers’ entire bibliography and need something new to be destroyed by, this is it. It’s a rough one, but rough in a different way from the doomsday cults and the angry ghosts of his previous books, because sometimes the most horrifying you can imagine is the fear that what’s wrong with your parents is also wrong with you. This is an angry book. it’s bloody and hateful and I can tell it’s not gonna be for everyone, but it will find its audience. And to that audience I say: you are not your worst thoughts, you are not the darkest parts of yourself, and you are worthy of love. Read the CWs, go in prepared, and have a great time being devastated; you wouldn’t expect any less from an AJW book.
When AJ and I moved in together he would sometimes sit in the room while I watched my tv shows because this boy does not watch tv, and somewhere along the way he started tuning in for this cop show with the guy who played Jesus in the Walking Dead called Prodigal Son I was watching and eventually he got really invested and asked if we could start it over from the beginning.
Picture it, Domino meme:
Tiny Domino is labeled “Alice watches Prodigal Son (2019) on Fox”
Big Domino is labeled “YOU’RE NO BETTER (Peachtree Teen, October 2026)”
God damn, yall.
If you’ve read Courtney Summers’ entire bibliography and need something new to be destroyed by, this is it. It’s a rough one, but rough in a different way from the doomsday cults and the angry ghosts of his previous books, because sometimes the most horrifying you can imagine is the fear that what’s wrong with your parents is also wrong with you. This is an angry book. it’s bloody and hateful and I can tell it’s not gonna be for everyone, but it will find its audience. And to that audience I say: you are not your worst thoughts, you are not the darkest parts of yourself, and you are worthy of love. Read the CWs, go in prepared, and have a great time being devastated; you wouldn’t expect any less from an AJW book.
Want to Read
August 20, 2025uhhhhh, excuse me??? i will be thinking about this for the next year, thanks
Want to Read
April 11, 2025I need this book like right now
Want to Read
February 25, 2026I’m going to give White one last try. The blurb sounds pretty intriguing, not gonna lie, but I’m afraid—after the disappointments that were HFWU and CF—that this is going to be another formulaic, flat book of his. I seriously hope this one won’t have a , telling instead of showing, badly-written side characters, comically evil antagonists, didactic prose about some societal issue(s), cringy Tumblr-esque lines, or an all-White cast. So yeah, I’m waiting.
Update 25/02: the cover absolutely rocks. I hope the interior will be equally good.
Update 25/02: the cover absolutely rocks. I hope the interior will be equally good.
June 28, 2025
i'm giving this a 5-star rating already, andrew joseph white's novels have all been and all will be absolutely game-changing BANGERS. can't wait for fall next year and see what absolutely delightful horrors he's cooked up this time! :)
Want to Read
January 10, 2025"In You're No Better, Morgan Slaughter must contend with his fame-hungry mother, a true crime-obsessed classmate, and his own destructive impulses to prove he is nothing like his serial killer father."
Want to Read
March 2, 2026Alright, let's do this one last time.
I feel like I've been watching Sisyphus push his rock up the hill for a long time now. I would love to see him make it to the top and have this book be good. If it is, I'll enjoy reading it and eat crow. Unfortunately, AJW has repeatedly proven that he has no idea what to do with a good concept. Four times already he's dropped the boulder and gone back to the start with a near-identical strategy. It looks like this is gonna go the same way. We have another wooby 'feral' white skinny autistic tboy in a situation that COULD make him morally questionable, but is probably going to go just conveniently enough for him to not take any real blame. I desperately want for AJW to do something, anything else. And to be clear, I'm saying this as a trans man myself. I'm not hating to hate, I'm just frustrated that this man's writing strongly represents my community in literature and want to see him do better. In my own exhausted way, I'm rooting for him. If this one is bad, I'll finally move on. Life is too short to waste time on stuff that repeatedly proves to be the Potential Man of writing.
I feel like I've been watching Sisyphus push his rock up the hill for a long time now. I would love to see him make it to the top and have this book be good. If it is, I'll enjoy reading it and eat crow. Unfortunately, AJW has repeatedly proven that he has no idea what to do with a good concept. Four times already he's dropped the boulder and gone back to the start with a near-identical strategy. It looks like this is gonna go the same way. We have another wooby 'feral' white skinny autistic tboy in a situation that COULD make him morally questionable, but is probably going to go just conveniently enough for him to not take any real blame. I desperately want for AJW to do something, anything else. And to be clear, I'm saying this as a trans man myself. I'm not hating to hate, I'm just frustrated that this man's writing strongly represents my community in literature and want to see him do better. In my own exhausted way, I'm rooting for him. If this one is bad, I'll finally move on. Life is too short to waste time on stuff that repeatedly proves to be the Potential Man of writing.
Want to Read
February 16, 2026I really want to like this book. I really do. It sounds like a good book! But the problem is that all of AJW’s books sounded like good books, yet all of them, without exception, were incredibly poorly written, borderline racist, and in the case of his one adult book, incredibly degrading towards rape survivors. The fact that AJW has already published a book where he got away with blatantly fetishizing rape probably just means he’s going to think he can do it again with this YA book, and that’s not even getting into how he clearly wants to write protagonists that are unsympathetic or morally grey, yet fails because he’s more excited to write graphic rape scenes than he is to write a plot that makes sense or characterization that feels human. Morgan seems like such an interesting character, but this character’s probably going to be nothing except Tumblr discourse quips, cringe homicidal thoughts that are passed off as intrusive despite being ego-syntonic, and entirely passive characterization. I guess only a dumbass would give a shitty author a 5th chance, but at the very least, I can have a good laugh if it’s as bad as I expect.
October 17, 2025
Is it out yet? No. But will this be an absolute banger book? Yes.
Want to Read
March 2, 2026im so so so so so freaking excited for this book. already preordered. yall don't understand
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
lıllılı.ıllı.ılılıılıı.lllııılı.
𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:
"You're no Better⋅" ★
𝟶𝟷:𝟻𝟷 ━━━━━━●─── 𝟶𝟹:𝟶𝟹
⇆ ◁ ❚❚ ▷ ↻
I was fortunate enough to read an advanced copy of You're No Better as part of assessing it for our public library collection. (But disclaimer that I'm also a long-standing Andrew Joseph White enjoyer.) So this is both a personal and reference-teen-librarian review.
The concept for You're No Better promised glaring excisions of the True Crime entertainment industry (call it what it is, tragedy porn) and that was a big draw for me. It doesn't shrink from how skeevy the online world revolving around True Crime and the lives (and deaths) of very real people are reduced to mundane fandom-style giggling about blorbos. For that purpose I believe that the social media post-stylized slices really felt uncomfortably realistic. Like, that's not a "Wouldn't it be wild if someone said this!" it's quite literally reading like a very real-existing comment somewhere right now with user names edited for anonymity. Right down to the stomach-roiling countdown. (You'll see.)
It also crosses paths with the equally unsettling reality of modern day stage parents commodifying the journey of parenthood for online gratification at the cost of the child's well being. I abhor influencers that peddle their children like products, so this hit a nail directly on the head for me.
I felt an immense satisfaction as usual when it comes to reading from the perspective of an autistic protagonist, specifically written by White. The sensory details, whether delicious or grating, felt satisfying and I found myself also getting stuck on the idea of dirt under my nails on many occasions.
I will say that I felt very sad when I realized I was reaching the end of the book. I didn't feel ready to let go of Morgan or his journey. Which I guess ultimately really plays into the closing feeling of his life no longer being plastered online.
Coming fresh off White's previous book, You Weren't Meant to Be Human, I will say that it definitely felt like being reeled back into young adult territory (I wont go into more comparisons because this is a reflection on You're No Better, not a side by side). BY NO MEANS DOES THIS MEAN IT'S A WALK IN THE PARK. But you can definitely feel where some parts perhaps had more room to poke around and how it had to scaled down just a bit to fit the rating (14 and up, according to Google). I would personally say that this is very much a book for a seasoned horror/thriller reader for the violence AND psychological themes, it's not a starter book at all (this hypothetical morbid precocious adolescent certainly exists as I deffo remember being 14 and unsupervised on the internet). I don't think it crosses solidly into Adult Reading territory, but I can imagine pearl-clutching at some of the themes that pop up like underage drinking (don't worry parents, the narrative goes out of its way to remind the reader that this is a Bad(TM) thing, and in this setting it is not presented as a Fun thing to do but actually rather miserable in context), intimate scenes (nothing super explicit), and of course the murder(s)(Varying detail, lots of gruesome little moments).
It also relies (not relies, actually, more like leans on a familiarity) on some baseline knowledge of things like True Crime podcasts/documentaries/exploitation, the Saw movie series, and the hardest part for me was already being familiar with the similarities between Morgan's father Graham Nathanial Slaughter and the real life case of David Parker Ray, who I find so revolting that I wasn't honestly sure if I'd be able to stomach reading continuously (Have to mention this because although we are told from the get-go this is about a child and their serial killer father, the specific kind is not in the general summary). But I did, because the worst part is that intentionally or not (probably intentionally because Andrew Joseph White knows ball when it comes to writing intrusive thoughts/feelings) the character of Graham Nathanial Slaughter is strangely fascinating in that hypnotizing-snake-stare way and I am still not totally sure how they managed to dilute that into writing. But yeah, it was awful to feel myself sinking into the same morbid fascination that True Crime exploitation mills thrive off of.
This read is definitely YA, but not the shallow end, and I would definitely say it earns its place in the Andrew Joseph White pantheon.
𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:
"You're no Better⋅" ★
𝟶𝟷:𝟻𝟷 ━━━━━━●─── 𝟶𝟹:𝟶𝟹
⇆ ◁ ❚❚ ▷ ↻
I was fortunate enough to read an advanced copy of You're No Better as part of assessing it for our public library collection. (But disclaimer that I'm also a long-standing Andrew Joseph White enjoyer.) So this is both a personal and reference-teen-librarian review.
The concept for You're No Better promised glaring excisions of the True Crime entertainment industry (call it what it is, tragedy porn) and that was a big draw for me. It doesn't shrink from how skeevy the online world revolving around True Crime and the lives (and deaths) of very real people are reduced to mundane fandom-style giggling about blorbos. For that purpose I believe that the social media post-stylized slices really felt uncomfortably realistic. Like, that's not a "Wouldn't it be wild if someone said this!" it's quite literally reading like a very real-existing comment somewhere right now with user names edited for anonymity. Right down to the stomach-roiling countdown. (You'll see.)
It also crosses paths with the equally unsettling reality of modern day stage parents commodifying the journey of parenthood for online gratification at the cost of the child's well being. I abhor influencers that peddle their children like products, so this hit a nail directly on the head for me.
I felt an immense satisfaction as usual when it comes to reading from the perspective of an autistic protagonist, specifically written by White. The sensory details, whether delicious or grating, felt satisfying and I found myself also getting stuck on the idea of dirt under my nails on many occasions.
I will say that I felt very sad when I realized I was reaching the end of the book. I didn't feel ready to let go of Morgan or his journey. Which I guess ultimately really plays into the closing feeling of his life no longer being plastered online.
Coming fresh off White's previous book, You Weren't Meant to Be Human, I will say that it definitely felt like being reeled back into young adult territory (I wont go into more comparisons because this is a reflection on You're No Better, not a side by side). BY NO MEANS DOES THIS MEAN IT'S A WALK IN THE PARK. But you can definitely feel where some parts perhaps had more room to poke around and how it had to scaled down just a bit to fit the rating (14 and up, according to Google). I would personally say that this is very much a book for a seasoned horror/thriller reader for the violence AND psychological themes, it's not a starter book at all (this hypothetical morbid precocious adolescent certainly exists as I deffo remember being 14 and unsupervised on the internet). I don't think it crosses solidly into Adult Reading territory, but I can imagine pearl-clutching at some of the themes that pop up like underage drinking (don't worry parents, the narrative goes out of its way to remind the reader that this is a Bad(TM) thing, and in this setting it is not presented as a Fun thing to do but actually rather miserable in context), intimate scenes (nothing super explicit), and of course the murder(s)(Varying detail, lots of gruesome little moments).
It also relies (not relies, actually, more like leans on a familiarity) on some baseline knowledge of things like True Crime podcasts/documentaries/exploitation, the Saw movie series, and the hardest part for me was already being familiar with the similarities between Morgan's father Graham Nathanial Slaughter and the real life case of David Parker Ray, who I find so revolting that I wasn't honestly sure if I'd be able to stomach reading continuously (Have to mention this because although we are told from the get-go this is about a child and their serial killer father, the specific kind is not in the general summary). But I did, because the worst part is that intentionally or not (probably intentionally because Andrew Joseph White knows ball when it comes to writing intrusive thoughts/feelings) the character of Graham Nathanial Slaughter is strangely fascinating in that hypnotizing-snake-stare way and I am still not totally sure how they managed to dilute that into writing. But yeah, it was awful to feel myself sinking into the same morbid fascination that True Crime exploitation mills thrive off of.
This read is definitely YA, but not the shallow end, and I would definitely say it earns its place in the Andrew Joseph White pantheon.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
"I've made the promise, and it's stuck in my teeth, and when I want something, Jesus Christ, I will burn through everything I touch if it means I'll get it in the end
Andrew Joseph White once again managed to write a book that blew me away and had me at the edge of my seat wanting- needing- more. This book was phenomenal. The writing was engaging and the plot and world building was amazing. I read part of the book while on the metro and I had to literally stop myself from crying and gasping out loud.
"Girlhood is a costume I'm putting on; a performance in exchanged for the trust fund. Of course this marionette made of eyeliner and c-cup breasts and kitten heels isn't actually me. It's a mask, like the veil of neurotypicality I drape over my autism. The kind of mask you can forget exists, the mask that becomes so second nature that it's difficult to take off... but a mask nevertheless"
Andrew, as always, managed to capture autism and transness perfectly. His books manage to reach in to my soul and capture parts that is not seen by everyone. They always make me feel seen in a way that no other books quite manage, and You're no better was no exception to this.
The struggle Morrigan goes through while forced to be in the closet hit hard. Tying your masking and your femininity to each other was something I didn't know that I needed to see represented.
"Am I actually feminine? Or is the mask I put on to hide my autism just in the shape of a girl? It might be easier to prefer something I don't have a choice to be"
I loved getting to know the other characters surrounding Morrigan. Felicity was a personal favourite of mine. Their story was perfect and I love them.
I loved that Morrigan wasn't perfect and that he gets called out on his bullshit like so many other characters doesn't. I loved that he is fallible and that he is realistic. I love him so much as a character.
"I don't want to hurt her, but I think about it so often that I don't believe myself when i say it"
Now I'm gonna shut up so I don't start to spoil things. I'll end this with a shoutout to Andrews author letter, which as always hit me hard. Yes It made me grit my teeth. It was perfect as always.
I can't wait for y'all to read this, and for me to be able to listen to how they do the audiobook once it's out. I can't wait!
Andrew Joseph White once again managed to write a book that blew me away and had me at the edge of my seat wanting- needing- more. This book was phenomenal. The writing was engaging and the plot and world building was amazing. I read part of the book while on the metro and I had to literally stop myself from crying and gasping out loud.
"Girlhood is a costume I'm putting on; a performance in exchanged for the trust fund. Of course this marionette made of eyeliner and c-cup breasts and kitten heels isn't actually me. It's a mask, like the veil of neurotypicality I drape over my autism. The kind of mask you can forget exists, the mask that becomes so second nature that it's difficult to take off... but a mask nevertheless"
Andrew, as always, managed to capture autism and transness perfectly. His books manage to reach in to my soul and capture parts that is not seen by everyone. They always make me feel seen in a way that no other books quite manage, and You're no better was no exception to this.
The struggle Morrigan goes through while forced to be in the closet hit hard. Tying your masking and your femininity to each other was something I didn't know that I needed to see represented.
"Am I actually feminine? Or is the mask I put on to hide my autism just in the shape of a girl? It might be easier to prefer something I don't have a choice to be"
I loved getting to know the other characters surrounding Morrigan. Felicity was a personal favourite of mine. Their story was perfect and I love them.
I loved that Morrigan wasn't perfect and that he gets called out on his bullshit like so many other characters doesn't. I loved that he is fallible and that he is realistic. I love him so much as a character.
"I don't want to hurt her, but I think about it so often that I don't believe myself when i say it"
Now I'm gonna shut up so I don't start to spoil things. I'll end this with a shoutout to Andrews author letter, which as always hit me hard. Yes It made me grit my teeth. It was perfect as always.
I can't wait for y'all to read this, and for me to be able to listen to how they do the audiobook once it's out. I can't wait!
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
This book is simultaneously too much and not enough.
Woof. I feel bad rating this so low, especially since I think I'm one of the first reviewers. I RAN to read this book on Edelweiss as soon as it became available. I'm a big AJW fan and (up to this point) I've loved all his other books. But this one didn't hit, and I think the seams are starting to show.
AJW has a "type" of book he writes, and he's very good at writing it. You can expect to find similar beats in each: similar main characters, similar love interests, similar content warnings. There's a niche he likes to explore, and usually, it's something he does with talent. But. But. This book felt very "2D," for lack of a better term. It all felt.. caricature-ish? Morgan is super flat as a character, and it's hard to sympathize when the antagonists in his life are just SO overblown and cartoonish. His evil mother is such an overblown parody of vapid influencer parents that anything (ANYTHING) she does feels mustache-twirlingly, bizarrely, cartoonishly evil. Felicity is irritating, and a little nonsensical in her motivations. The stakes don't feel high, and honestly, it feels like petty teenage drama which is deeply disappointing when there's literal serial murder getting investigated. The conclusion is both too climactic and unsatisfying at the same time.
I think that's the thing which made me so disappointed in this in comparison to his other books: it felt petty and flat, and Morgan didn't feel real. It veers into some of the common YA pitfalls (Everything Happening All At Once; bland first-person prose; The Grownups Are The Enemies) and kind of splashes around in a shallow kiddie pool of trauma. Things are either glanced over, or melodramatic, or somehow both at the same time. I really don't know why this one didn't work for me like the others did: maybe it's because I know how GOOD AJW's books can be, and therefore the bar is higher. I think this book would've benefitted from being "smaller" -- focusing on Morgan's internal struggles rather than going off on a goose chase of murder investigations. I can't help but compare it to Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey, an excellent novel about a daughter of a serial killer reckoning with who she is.
Sorry AJW I wish I could've rated this higher :( will still be reading the next one, though!
Woof. I feel bad rating this so low, especially since I think I'm one of the first reviewers. I RAN to read this book on Edelweiss as soon as it became available. I'm a big AJW fan and (up to this point) I've loved all his other books. But this one didn't hit, and I think the seams are starting to show.
AJW has a "type" of book he writes, and he's very good at writing it. You can expect to find similar beats in each: similar main characters, similar love interests, similar content warnings. There's a niche he likes to explore, and usually, it's something he does with talent. But. But. This book felt very "2D," for lack of a better term. It all felt.. caricature-ish? Morgan is super flat as a character, and it's hard to sympathize when the antagonists in his life are just SO overblown and cartoonish. His evil mother is such an overblown parody of vapid influencer parents that anything (ANYTHING) she does feels mustache-twirlingly, bizarrely, cartoonishly evil. Felicity is irritating, and a little nonsensical in her motivations. The stakes don't feel high, and honestly, it feels like petty teenage drama which is deeply disappointing when there's literal serial murder getting investigated. The conclusion is both too climactic and unsatisfying at the same time.
I think that's the thing which made me so disappointed in this in comparison to his other books: it felt petty and flat, and Morgan didn't feel real. It veers into some of the common YA pitfalls (Everything Happening All At Once; bland first-person prose; The Grownups Are The Enemies) and kind of splashes around in a shallow kiddie pool of trauma. Things are either glanced over, or melodramatic, or somehow both at the same time. I really don't know why this one didn't work for me like the others did: maybe it's because I know how GOOD AJW's books can be, and therefore the bar is higher. I think this book would've benefitted from being "smaller" -- focusing on Morgan's internal struggles rather than going off on a goose chase of murder investigations. I can't help but compare it to Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey, an excellent novel about a daughter of a serial killer reckoning with who she is.
Sorry AJW I wish I could've rated this higher :( will still be reading the next one, though!
March 5, 2026
Early review copy provided by Edelweiss.
"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" -Cesar A. Cruz
And let me and you, Andrew Joseph White has once again created a thriller that perfectly straddles that line.
Our protagonist, Morgan, embodies the gritty truth of complex trauma to an extent that I could never decide whether or not I was rooting for him. He is a pathological liar, manipulative, and an awful friend, but at the same time, all I wanted was to see him find peace and closure.
Morgan's characterization is what made this book an absolute page turner, and I finished it in under a day.
Unfortunately, I found many of the other characters, particularly the adults, a bit flat and one dimensional. Maybe this was purposeful, being that the novel is first person limited from Morgan's perspective, and many of his struggles stem from his inability to connect with others. But it resulted in the rest of the cast acting like caricatures rather than actual people.
Despite that, as with AJW's previous works, I couldn't set this book down. It was gripping and disturbing in a way that didn't just feel like torture porn, which was absolutely necessary given the subject matter.
4.25/5 stars
"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" -Cesar A. Cruz
And let me and you, Andrew Joseph White has once again created a thriller that perfectly straddles that line.
Our protagonist, Morgan, embodies the gritty truth of complex trauma to an extent that I could never decide whether or not I was rooting for him. He is a pathological liar, manipulative, and an awful friend, but at the same time, all I wanted was to see him find peace and closure.
Morgan's characterization is what made this book an absolute page turner, and I finished it in under a day.
Unfortunately, I found many of the other characters, particularly the adults, a bit flat and one dimensional. Maybe this was purposeful, being that the novel is first person limited from Morgan's perspective, and many of his struggles stem from his inability to connect with others. But it resulted in the rest of the cast acting like caricatures rather than actual people.
Despite that, as with AJW's previous works, I couldn't set this book down. It was gripping and disturbing in a way that didn't just feel like torture porn, which was absolutely necessary given the subject matter.
4.25/5 stars
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Okay I read this in just over 2 days. This was such a heart-racing and intense story, full of rage and incredibly harsh truths about the exploitation of the true crime industry, and how victims are often treated. I couldn't put this book down. Especially for any queer and/or neurodivergent teens who love thrillers, this is an absolute must-read and a must-purchase for library collections. Morgan is such a fascinating protagonist; he's so full of rage and fear but also has a very satisfying character development arc. The supporting characters, especially Felicity and Alyssa, feel so well fleshed out and add a brilliant emotional depth to the story. Gory and full of terrifying details and action-packed, high-stakes scenes, this is a fantastic thriller for older teens looking for a more intense story that's still age-appropriate but not overly-sanitized. Overall, this was a phenomenal book and I absolutely cannot wait for it to publish.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
If you are a fan of Prodigal Son, this book will be phenomenal! This is my fifth AJ White book that I have gotten on pre-release and I truly fell in love with it. The metro information that the character has a special interest in was so fun to read while actively taking the metro lines talked about. The ending (not spoiling anything) was something I did not see coming and his pacing for the story is truly something special. In tense moments, you really feel as though you are in it with the main character. Overall, a book that I will be recommending to EVERYONE I can. I believe this might be my favorite (or tied with You Weren’t Meant To Be Human).
March 2, 2026
Got an early reader copy and read it in one sitting!
I loved it so much. It’s just as shocking and gritty as his other books, but it feels more real and psychological instead of supernatural. The main character is messy and intense in a way that makes you have to keep reading. If you liked the raw emotion and chaos of Hell Followed With Us or Compound Fracture, this has that same punch, but with a different vibe that hits just as hard.
It’s dark, uncomfortable, and completely unforgettable in the best way. Hard to talk about it without spoiling, but go read it when you can.
I loved it so much. It’s just as shocking and gritty as his other books, but it feels more real and psychological instead of supernatural. The main character is messy and intense in a way that makes you have to keep reading. If you liked the raw emotion and chaos of Hell Followed With Us or Compound Fracture, this has that same punch, but with a different vibe that hits just as hard.
It’s dark, uncomfortable, and completely unforgettable in the best way. Hard to talk about it without spoiling, but go read it when you can.
April 7, 2026
AMAZINGGGGGGGG
The second Edelweiss sent me this galley I cancelled all my plans to read it. HOLY SHIT. AJW always delivers. Loved all of it & especially how all the relationships are written. Incredible cover too. I do wish the ending was fleshed out more but nevertheless will be reccing this to all my friends.
The second Edelweiss sent me this galley I cancelled all my plans to read it. HOLY SHIT. AJW always delivers. Loved all of it & especially how all the relationships are written. Incredible cover too. I do wish the ending was fleshed out more but nevertheless will be reccing this to all my friends.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
There's no one writing YA like AJW, this was book was a fucking explosive journey. I'm not the fastest reader, so when I finish a book in two days you know I'm hooked. Thank you Edelweiss for the eARC, my first 5 star YA read of the year.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Thank you to Edelweiss for the ARC!
I enjoy this author's premises, and this one had a promising beginning, but the ending didn't quite stick it for me. I was hoping for more of a conclusion, though I guess the moral of the story is things aren't always wrapped up in a satisfying way.
I enjoy this author's premises, and this one had a promising beginning, but the ending didn't quite stick it for me. I was hoping for more of a conclusion, though I guess the moral of the story is things aren't always wrapped up in a satisfying way.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Damn. While this didn't manage to supplant Compound Fracture as my favorite Andrew Joseph White book, it was very good. I truly love what AJW is doing in the horror and thriller space, and I will continue to read everything he writes.
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