Marked for Death

by Melinda Salisbury

Bestselling YA author Melinda Salisbury delivers a gripping, supernatural teen thriller as videoing without consent leads to deadly consequences for Liv and her friends.

Messing about on the train home from school, Liv’s friend Sophie angles her phone to film a strange old woman sitting in their carriage with a cat. There’s an argument when the woman objects, and Sophie is scratched by the cat before the odd pair vanish.

Hours later, Sophie is dead. The police report it as a tragic accident, but shortly afterwards, Mickey is the second of the friends to be scratched. And the second to die.

Liv finds the circumstances too strange to be a coincidence, but can she piece together what is happening and how to stop it before it’s too late?

Particularly suitable for readers aged 11+ with a reading age of 8.

104 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication January 14, 2027

About the author

Melinda Salisbury is the four-time Carnegie nominated and bestselling author of multiple teen and young adult novels, including the Sin Eater's Daughter series, Hold Back the Tide, and Her Dark Wings, a Guardian Children's Book of the Year 2022 and a Reading Agency Book of the Year 2022 pick.

Her debut teen novel, EchoStar, a tech thriller aimed at 12–14-year-olds, was published in March 2024 by Barrington Stoke, with AdelAIDE following in August 2024, The Foundation in January 2025 and Endgame in February 2026.

Her first novel, The Sin Eater's Daughter, was the bestselling UK YA debut novel of 2015, and collectively her books have been nominated and shortlisted for numerous national and international awards and accolades, including the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the YA Book Prize, the Branford Boase, the Edgar Awards, YALSA Best YA 2022, Eason's YA Book of the Month, and more. Her books have been published in sixteen countries to date.

Melinda works as a writing mentor and development editor, and volunteers at a local independent cinema on the East Sussex Coast. She also likes Surrealist art.

Reviews

[Kandace · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

On their way home from school, friend group Liv, Caleb, Sophie, Layla, and Mickey encounter a strange old woman with a one eyed cat. Sophie films the woman, causing the two to argue before the cat scratches Sophie… and then the woman and cat disappear. By the end of the night, Sophie is dead. A terrible accident they say. But then it happens again, and Liv starts to think it’s too weird to be a coincidence.


3.75/5 stars. Definitely an interesting little short story! Aimed at younger readers, but this still kept me interested. It’s a good story for teaching a lesson. Many lessons…

Justice for black cats though let’s stop putting them adjacent to magic/witchcraft 💔

[Cin (cinsnextchapter) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marked For Death is a chilling tale about a group of 14-year-old school friends who learn the hard way that some actions have consequences. While riding the train, the teens encounter an old woman talking to her one-eyed cat, and when one of the girls decides to film her against her wishes, things take a VERY dark turn. This was a fun little horror story that doesn’t shy away from killing off its characters. I appreciated the important lesson about consent, respecting boundaries, and understanding that just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD. A spooky read with a meaningful message for young readers!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marked for death follows a group of 14 year olds that learn a valuable lesson in filming people without their consent. 


I was drawn in by the cover and a nicer spooky vibe. While I know I am far from the target audience, I was getting “said” fatigue. There was a lot of dialogue and almost all of them ended with said. When I was going through school I recall my teachers saying to use variations so your reader doesn't get bored. While I was not bored, it did get a little annoying. It made everyone feel like a robot and some scenes fall flat.


Even with this in mind, I liked the lesson and how the ending was handled. Nobody magically lived again proving the consequences to your actions lesson and that you should pass on your wisdom even if they don’t listen. 


Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to enjoy this ARC. Also thank you for focusing on dyslexic friendly fonts. I appreciate it!

[Entisar Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liv and her friends were just messing about on the train home from school when Sophie angled her phone to film a strange old woman with a one eyed cat, and I felt dread curl up in my stomach the moment the woman objected and the cat’s scratch drew blood. When Sophie was dead hours later and Mickey was scratched next, I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I loved how the story doesn’t shy away from killing off its characters, and Liv’s race to piece together the coincidences kept the tension high. The lesson about consent, boundaries, and understanding that just because you can film something doesn’t mean you should is delivered without ever preaching. It’s a spooky, fast, chilling read with a meaningful message for young readers.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Mystrylovr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for giving me access to this ARC in return for an honest review!

I know I'm not the intended audience for this but I actually really enjoyed this! Its a really good young horror about consent and how actions have consequences and how sometimes even if you're forgiven things don't go back to how they were.
A book I'll definitely be recommending to people I know with children!
This book was incredibly accessible and I really appreciate the publisher having a more dyslexia friendly font.

[Lex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ARC provided through NetGalley and I’m grateful to be given the early access.

My thoughts are that it was a decent, solid read. Cute and whimsy and just enough scare for Middle Grade level readers. I do believe this book is appearing to young readers so I won’t judge the book off adult horror/thriller.

It had a good story line based and a quick overview of events happen. Nothing too extreme and nothing too boring. Just a solid read through and through with a typical open ending. I think this book is a good, short palette cleanser.

[Singe · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc of Marked for Death by Melinda Salisbury.
3.5⭐️
This is a short novella cautionary tale, of what happens when you film someone without consent. Especially in today’s society where everyone is filming everything.

It’s a Goosebumps/Creeped Out style of horror. Perfect for middle grade. The writing did feel a bit choppy and very middle grade. But also some of the subjects surrounding the deaths are a bit more YA

Overall perfect horror started for young readers