You Belong to Me by Hayley Krischer

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The details…

  • Title: You Belong to Me
  • Author: Hayley Krischer
  • Publisher: ‎G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
  • Publication date: April 15, 2025
  • ISBN-10:‎ 059369838X
  • ISBN-13‏: ‎978-0593698389
  • Available formats‏: paperback, hardcover, ebook, audiobook 
  • Print length: 320 pages
  • Audio length: 8 hours; produced by the Listening Library 
  • Genre: young adult psychological thriller 
  • Reading age‏: ‎14 – 17 years
  • Grade level: ‎9 – 12
  • Themes: friendship, loyalty, self-discovery, self- expression, identity, pressure for perfection, romance, social class exploration, the perils of the beauty industry, cult-like behavior, power imbalances, sexual assault, drugs, alcohol, high school drama, bullying
  • Tropes: rich girl/poor girl, first love

The blurb from the publisher…

Full to the brim with sapphic romance, class exploration, and friendship clashes comes a new YA psychological thriller exploring the dark secrets of the wellness and beauty world.

What if living your most authentic life leaves you dead? 

Frances Bean was always content living life on the perimeter. Until she gets 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 a DEEP event, she is blown away by the beauty and luxury of Julia’s world and the group’s focus on empowering girls to be their most true selves surprisingly strikes a chord. Before long Frances finds herself invested in DEEP, 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…

You Belong to Me is perfect for fans of Nine Perfect Strangers and Kathleen Glasgow novels.

My thoughts…

Getting the opening chapters of a psychological thriller right is crucial. The author needs to set the tone and hook readers quickly, or they risk losing them. This is especially true when the novel is geared toward a young adult audience, as YA readers often have different expectations and shorter attention spans. With so many other books or activities to move on to, they’re quick to abandon a story that doesn’t engage them. It’s a challenging task, but when an author succeeds—like Hayley Krischer does in You Belong to Me—the book can have a powerful impact.

Right off the bat, Krischer intrigues readers. She opens the narrative with a shocking event, or at least one that feels shocking in the eyes of a teenager: geeky goth Frances Bean, or “Bean” to her friends, finds an invitation to an exclusive Deep party wedged into her locker door at school. She’s been invited by an elite group of girls—people who have previously mocked her and her friends—to a fancy soirée. It seems entirely out of the blue. Her goth friends are skeptical of the embossed invite, yet their curiosity is piqued. For Bean, however, the invitation stirs something entirely different—nervous excitement. Julia Patterson, her current crush, has invited her to an extravagant party at the home she shares with her mother, Deena Patterson, a wealthy and famous wellness/beauty guru. While Bean doesn’t fully understand why she’s been invited, she feels compelled to go, wanting to impress the girl who once called her the “coolest person she ever met.”

It’s clear that Krischer understands YA readers; she gives them flawed, complex characters they can identify with, ones that are accessible and relatable. Readers don’t have to stretch themselves to connect with Bean, Julia or their friends. Krischer immerses them in a high school drama filled with intense, fast-paced intrigue, recognizing YA readers need strong visuals and action-packed scenes. YA audiences don’t want lengthy exposition or slow-paced buildup; they don’t need time for things to marinate. Krischer paints a picture they “get” right away, demonstrating she has what it takes to craft a compelling YA novel.

Besides knowing how to draw YA readers into her story, Krischer also understands how to keep them engaged. She does this by developing a relevant and emotional character journey, filled with high stakes and tension. Readers see parts of themselves in Bean. Her motivations, fears, and feelings feel genuine and relatable, especially her emotions around Julia. As they watch Bean grapple with her sense of identity and belonging in Julia’s opulent, over-the-top world, readers resonate with aspects of Bean’s experience. Even if they can’t relate to wealth, they understand the desire to belong, to be accepted, and to be loved. This makes the storytelling compelling and strikes a real chord with readers. Krischer also delves into contemporary issues within Bean’s journey—social class, wealth, beauty standards, and authenticity—making the narrative not only entertaining but thought-provoking and meaningful.

Even though You Belong to Me includes themes of romance, it’s ultimately a psychological thriller, and readers never lose sight of that. There are ominous and unsettling events happening behind the scenes at Deep. Krischer uses short chapters and intense scenes with rapid shifts, keeping the energy high. She also makes Bean an unreliable narrator at points in this twisty, suspenseful tale—a commonly used device in thrillers, which adds complexity and keeps readers on edge. As Bean struggles to know whom to trust, the stakes get scarier with each unsettling discovery. Her vulnerability and doubt build suspense in a way that YA readers can handle, and the story thrives on this carefully timed tension, keeping them eager to read on.

Final Remarks…

Krischer has done an exceptional job with this YA psychological thriller, taking readers on a compelling journey. By the end, she resolves major plot points and delivers a suspenseful, emotional experience, but she also leaves readers with something to ponder. There’s room to re-examine Bean and Julia’s actions, and while some may not appreciate an open-ended resolution, it’s a hallmark of YA psychological thrillers. Young adult readers appreciate it because it allows them to interpret key parts of the story on their own, reflecting on themes of loyalty, friendship, identity, self-discovery, and love. This open ending makes You Belong to Me feel personal and heightens its emotional impact. Most importantly, it leaves room for a sequel—and I, for one, would love to see that.

Strengths….

  • Filled with twists and turns
  • Relatable, well defined characters
  • Reliable, immersive storyworld
  • Solid story development
  • Intense and page-turning 

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A bit about the author…

Hayley Krischer holds an MFA in creative writing from Lesley University. She is the author of Where Are You Echo Blue?, Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf, The Falling Girls(Penguin Teen) and the upcoming You Belong To Me (April 15, 2025). 

She is also an award-winning journalist who has written for the The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Marie Claire, Elle, and more.

Connect with her on her website, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Facebook, Goodreads page, Amazon Author page, and Penguin Random House page.

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