Under This Red Rock

A Chicago Public Library Best Teen Book of 2024A 2025 YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction SelectionFrom award-winning author Mindy McGinnis comes a mesmerizing YA psychological mystery following a teen girl who is grappling with the death of her brother as she starts a new job in the caverns of Ohio—only to become the number one suspect in her coworker's murder. Perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Kathleen Glasgow.Neely’s monsters don’t always follow her rules, so when the little girl under her bed, the man in her closet, and the disembodied voice that shadows her every move become louder, she knows she’s in trouble. With a history of mental illness in her family and the suicide of her older brother heavy on her mind, Neely takes a job as a tour guide in the one place her monsters can’t follow—the caverns. There . . . she meets Mila. Mila is everything Neely isn’t—beautiful, strong, and confident. As the two become closer, Neely’s innocent crush grows into something more. When a midnight staff party exposes Neely to drugs, she follows Mila’s lead . . . only to have her hallucinations escalate.When Mila is found brutally murdered in the caverns, Neely has to admit that her memories of that night are vague at best. With her monsters now out in the open and her grip on reality slipping, Neely must figure out who killed Mila . . . and face the possibility that it might have been her.Unreliable Narrator: Neely’s memories of the murder are a blur of drugs and hallucinations. With her monsters growing louder, she can’t even trust her own mind.Sapphic Thriller: Just as Neely’s crush on the confident, beautiful Mila begins to grow into something more, Mila is found dead—and Neely is the number one suspect.Mental Illness Representation: A raw and unflinching look at a teen girl's struggle with mental illness, family trauma, and the terrifying possibility that the monsters in her head might be real.Murder Mystery: In the deep, dark caverns that were once her only refuge, Neely must race to find the real killer before she's convicted of a crime she can't remember committing. Read more