100 books like All Your Twisted Secrets

In A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, everyone in Pippa’s small town knows that five years ago, Sal Singh murdered Andie Bell. But Pippa disagrees. For her senior project, she sets out to unravel the cold case of Andie’s murder. Narrated using media like police interviews, newspaper articles, and Pippa’s project notes, this book asks the question: Is something true just because everyone believes it? Read if you’re a justice seeker who loved Nancy Drew as a kid or if you’d totally open the locked basement door in a scary movie even though you know it’s a bad idea. 

I wasn’t sure what to think of this novel. I picked it up in a bookstore after reading the back cover with no recommendations from anyone. I should do that more often.

This book pulled me in quickly with its well-crafted mystery and buildup of suspense. I thought I knew what was happening, who to suspect, who to love, and who to despise. I didn’t want to put it down. Then, in the end, the author turned everything upside down and broke my heart.

It left me questioning the validity of my perceptions and my own reality for a long time after. It stayed with me, and, for me, that is evidence of a successful twist.  

Jenny has big dreams. She’s going to be a journalist when she grows up. And when she returns home from her grandparents’ house in New York, she’s going to kiss her boyfriend for the first time.

The Twist? Jenny boarded her plane in 1995 and when it lands in St. Louis, 25 years have passed. Everyone in her life is much older or has passed away, and she’s been deemed long dead. As Jenny navigates social media, the internet, and the world that has gone on without her, she finds everyone is hiding things from her.

Your Life Has Been Delayed is a YA contemporary with a speculative twist that reads a bit like a thriller and had me flipping pages to find out what happens next and how each twist would affect Jenny.

Wes and Stella have bonded online over their favorite sci-fi show that was tragically cancelled after the first season ended on a cliffhanger. Something I, as a huge sci-fi fan, sympathize with. Wes draws amazing fan art, while Stella writes fanfic and deals with the mansplaining of what a real sci-fi fan is. Wes and Stella agree to meet in person to uncover their identities at the local comic con.

The Twist? In real life, they hate each other, to the point of a prank war and are both competing to be valedictorian.

Shipped is You’ve Got Mail at comic con. It’s a love letter to fandom and played to my sci-fi-loving heart.

This is one of those books where you’re like – the premise couldn’t possibly be as good as the execution.  And yet it is. The dystopic world in which Sid has to take the punishment for all of Knox’s behavior is so rich and dark and delicious it resonates as a class critique of our own world without even having to try. It’s a knock-out debut, and I can’t wait to jump into London’s Black Wings Beating, which is next on my Kindle.

In a world with superpowers, two abilities mean you’re a Super and none means you’re Normal.

The Twist? Merrin Grey has a single power, meaning she’s half a Super called a One. And when she’s forced to transfer to a normal high school she meets Elias who is also a One. When they combine their powers, they can fly! 

One is a love letter to superheroes and comics and plays with the idea of what makes someone a superhero vs a less than. I loved all the sci-fi tropes stood on their heads in this book. And Merrin and Elias are the cutest. This was one of the first indie-published novels I read. It showed me the art of possible, and how fantastic the world of indie publishing is.

Next, we have a true standout in YA—a novel that arguably revolutionized the mystery genre for teen readers.

While mysteries have long been a staple in YA literature, in my view, this book sparked a new age. This novel, now adapted into a popular Netflix series, firmly established YA mystery as a force to be reckoned with, largely thanks to its clever twist.

Taut, scandalous, and enthralling, this book exemplifies the blame game genre.

This. Book. 

Wow. 

I felt changed after I read it and talked about it with everyone who would listen. Not only is this book a riveting, fast-paced read, but it’s an important novel about assault, grooming, and the abuse of power.

The protagonist is an aspiring teenaged singer who gets discovered and then manipulated and abused by a much older celebrity R&B artist. When she wakes up with her hands covered in his blood and finds him dead, she realizes she has no memory of what occurred the night before. This novel was enticing as much as it was heartbreaking.

I love thrillers featuring twins. Ever since watching Freaky Friday as a child, I’ve been very interested in books and shows about people switching places. The 2022 series, Echoes, and the 2021 series, I Know What you Did Last Summer, both captivated me with twins trading lives.

In this novel, Emma, who lives in a foster home, sees a video of a girl who looks exactly like her being strangled, starts wondering if this girl is a twin sister she never knew about, and decides to investigate. This book had me up way too late, devouring every word. 

The coolly creepy cover of Survive the Night compelled me to pick it up, but I was hooked by the set up: four teen girls at an all-night rave in an abandoned section of New York City’s underground subway system where someone or something is hunting them. It hits all my worst fears: being trapped underground, total darkness, and tunnels filling up with water. Casey, the main character was fresh from rehab, vulnerable, and unsure of where she fits in and her unease with herself and her friends added such a delicious tension to the story. She goes to the rave out of peer pressure but quickly realizes this is a big mistake. This book is an off-the-rails ride with unexpected twists and the sort of scares that made me keep the lights on while I read.