Greyfriars Reformatory

October 15, 2020
Emily finds herself, once again, on the bus to Greyfriars Reformatory with a new batch of troubled girls. Her acute dissociative disorder means Emily not only has serious behavioral issues, but also lacks the memory of her misdeeds. Through Emily's honest?but completely unreliable?eyes, readers quickly enter the severe and isolated institution, meeting her fellow students, the hard-nosed principal, and a nefarious ghost girl dressed in their school uniform. The breathlessly paced plot and its interesting twists and turns alone would keep readers glued to the page, but the solidly rendered creepy setting, Lee's deft development of the secondary characters with strategically placed snapshots or backstory chapters, and Emily's engaging and direct narration all work together to enhance the unease and atmosphere of this intense tale. Readers' heads will spin wondering what is real, what is supernatural, and, most importantly, who the real monster is. Sell it as Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough (2017) meets The Devil in Silver by Victor Lavalle (2012) to reach the full range of potential fans for this satisfying psychological suspense-horror hybrid.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)