JENNIFER NIVEN is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of All the Bright Places, Holding Up the Universe and Breathless. Her books have been translated in over 75 languages and have won literary awards around the world. An Emmy-award winning screenwriter, she co-wrote the script for the All the Bright Places movie-- currently streaming on Netflix and starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith. She is also the author of several narrative nonfiction titles and the Velva Jean historical fiction series. Jennifer divides her time between coastal Georgia and Los Angeles with her husband and literary cats.

"Niven's signature ingredients: deep sensitivity, romance, poetry, and misunderstood, passionate characters. Now add a gothic mansion, a dangerous cliffside and a charismatic genius, and she's serving up a standout dark academia thriller." --E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars

"A poignant story of young love, yearning, and the desire to live. Like the best gothic mysteries, this one is drenched in atmosphere and unease---a taut, exquisitely executed novel from start to finish." --Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Girl

"Fans of dark academia will enjoy this atmospheric story of art, lies, and redemption that features a lurking, slowly building sense of dread that grows throughout the novel. Leisurely and spine-tingling." --Kirkus Reviews

"[A] satisfying psychological thriller." --Publishers Weekly

"This homage to the works of Shirley Jackson and Lois Duncan is a sinister look at unchecked ambition and creativity pushed to the brink of madness." --Booklist

"An upsettingly immersive storytelling workshop in this eerie and suspenseful YA psychological thriller." --Shelf Awareness

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Pub date: 2026-09-08

Length: 400 pages