Kill Your Darlings coming October 6th, 2026 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers; 352 pages
Content Warning: Death of family members, murder, grief, foul language, racism, violence, death, sexual harassment, sexual content
About the Author: “Yuvashri Harish writes speculative fiction for YA and adult audiences, featuring Tamil main characters in dramatic, magical, and often terrifying situations. Born on Tharawal land and now living on Gadigal land, she grew up borrowing twelve books a week from the library. She is deeply passionate about writing stories and creating worlds where brown girls are not just represented but are the protagonists of their own narrative. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found eating pasta, watching Bob’s Burgers, and providing employment law advice and representation for disadvantaged and vulnerable people in New South Wales. Yuvashri is represented by Keir Alekseii at Azantian Literary” (Bio from author’s website).
Find Yuvashri Harish on the following platforms:
In the small town of Applesweet, a teenage Tamil girl named Thulasi is eagerly anticipating attending her best friend Celeste’s Halloween party; but when her family entrusts her with babysitting her younger cousin, Arjun, she agrees and slips into the role of the perfect, obedient daughter she’s spent her whole life becoming. When Arjun asks to see his friend, Miri, Thulasi decides to make Halloween night exciting for at least one of them. But the night quickly spirals out of control when they accidentally unleash a swarm of monsters from a book of horror tales by Thulasi’s favorite author Addison Greer. Thulasi soon discovers that Addison has returned for revenge against innocent people in her ex-husband’s bloodline, and Thulasi teams up with Sam, her classmate and Miri’s older brother, to unravel the mysterious ancestral secrets buried beneath Applesweet’s history and stop Addison from destroying their town.
I didn’t recall the synopsis for this story, so I went in blind with zero expectations and finished satisfied. I absolutely adored the small-town vibes; it reminded me of Forks from Twilight. I love supernatural stories, so I especially enjoyed the mini segments we get of Addison Greer’s novels. I’ve never read from the perspective of a Tamil character before, so I really enjoyed learning about the culture through food, religious beliefs, languages, and phrases. I like stories that feature many POC characters, but in this one, Sam and Thulasi were the only brown teens in their town. It was interesting to see how they could connect on a cultural level that the rest of the town wouldn’t understand. I had gotten the vibe that Thulasi was queer, so I was a bit surprised and disappointed at first with Sam being her love interest, but felt validated later when it’s revealed she’s bisexual. Though I didn’t care about Sam at first, he grew on me as the chaos ensued. I saw how protective he was toward Miri and Thulasi, and I appreciated that he wasn’t afraid to speak out against racism. I completely fell in love with Celeste; I thought she was the funniest character and I adored her stupid threesome joke. I did feel like the ending dragged a bit after the 75% mark, and a specific death at the end felt unnecessary to me. If you’re a fan of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps and you’re an eldest daughter, this is the perfect book for you!
Kill Your Darlings releases on October 6th, 2026.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Anasofia Alejandro, Pine Reads Review Writer and Social Media Manager