21 exciting new YA book releases arriving in the summer of 2021
By Lacy Baugher
A Lesson in Vengeance – Victoria Lee
The latest novel from The Fever King author Victoria Lee, A Lesson in Vengeance is described as perfect for fans of Wilder Girls and Ninth House. The book is a dark, twisty, atmospheric thriller about a boarding school haunted by its history of witchcraft and two girls dangerously close to digging up the past.
(Sign me up right now, is basically what I’m saying.)
It follows the story of Felicity Morrow, who is returning to the Dalloway School a year after her girlfriend’s tragic death and is determined to make it to graduation. But when new girl Ellis Haley asks her to help write a novel about the infamous Dalloway Five, a group of rumored witches who all died one after the other, Felicity finds herself drawn into the school’s history of the occult – and to Ellis herself.
The official synopsis offers more context about the story.
"Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School. Perched in the Catskill mountains, the centuries-old, ivy-covered campus was home until the tragic death of her girlfriend. Now, after a year away, she’s returned to graduate. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumored to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students—girls some say were witches. The Dalloway Five all died mysteriously, one after another, right on Godwin grounds. Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway’s history. The school doesn’t talk about it, but the students do. In secret rooms and shadowy corners, girls convene. And before her girlfriend died, Felicity was drawn to the dark. She’s determined to leave that behind her now; all Felicity wants is to focus on her senior thesis and graduate. But it’s hard when Dalloway’s occult history is everywhere. And when the new girl won’t let her forget. It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway, and she’s already amassed a loyal following. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is a so-called “method writer.” She’s eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks Felicity for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no. Given her history with the arcane, Felicity is the perfect resource. And when history begins to repeat itself, Felicity will have to face the darkness in Dalloway–and in herself."
A Lesson in Vengeance is available on August 3.