SUCH A LUCKY GIRL

Two former friends living in sun-dappled Southern California unwittingly release a demon.

Seventeen-year-old Kerry can’t stand her former best friend, Bella, who dropped her as soon as her own social status started to rise. Bella, who’s “white, skinny, and pretty,” posts uplifting content to the 3 million followers on her Instagram account, @imsuchaluckygirl, instructing viewers how to manifest the life they want (which, of course, resembles the one she purportedly lives). Driven by envy and betrayal, Kerry, who presents white, tries her own hand at manifestation after she finds an enigmatic book from the 1960s at the home of Ruby, the 85-year-old woman whose house she cleans. When bad things start happening to Bella, Kerry wonders if maybe her spell worked a bit too well. Unbeknownst to Kerry, Ruby grew up as part of a cult whose members met a tragic end. When people in the girls’ orbit begin dying, they must figure out how to stop the evil they’ve unwittingly unleashed. Heard’s deliciously dark thriller unfolds in multiple points of view that span the 1950s to the present day. With nimble pacing and plotting, this meaty but accessible read tackles heavy topics such as personal authenticity, fatphobia, influencer culture, and toxic masculinity through a sharply focused lens, leaving readers with much to think about long after the final page. Going viral has never been so creepy.

Thoughtful and timely—puts the “cult” back in influencer culture.