The Worst is Yet to Come coming October 6th, 2026 from Henry Holt and Co.; 384 pages
Content Warning: Violence, death, gore, substance use, sexual implications
About the Author: “Trish Lundy is an East Coast transplant who now calls California home. She received her BA in English from UCLA, where she fell in love with the craft of writing. She’s worked in the film industry, in marketing, and is also a former hospice & palliative care volunteer. The One That Got Away with Murder is her debut novel” (Bio from author’s Bookshop profile).
Find Trish Lundy on the following platforms:
Graduation came with more than a diploma for high school senior Rose. On the night of her graduation her best friend is murdered, and Rose is left for dead at an abandoned house. Jake, former high school quarterback and heartthrob, becomes an unlikely ally. While they used to run in different social circles, he’s the one who finds her injured at the abandoned house and rushes her to the hospital. Together, they realize there is a bigger mystery at hand and must work together to solve it. When she learns that seventeen years ago, another girl suffered the exact same fate at the exact same place, she wonders if a murderer might be back for revenge or if there is a new killer out there trying to repeat the murders. Rose follows clues and the trails of evidence to solve the murder of her best friend and the secrets within her town.
The Worst is Yet to Come fits perfectly within the subgenre of teen slashers. As a fan of the horror genre, the depictions of violence in this coming-of-age book were detailed and well thought out. There was a Scream vibe to the small town setting and the “who done it” investigation. Often in young adult thriller books the main protagonist feels unrelatable or frustrating to me; however, Rose is strong and independent, and the progression of her character arc is relatable to young adults but also makes her a good survivor against the violence she faces. The element of romance between Rose and Jake was also very high school in a way that contributed to the setting of the story. Their romance is a slow burn that becomes a sub-plot to the book, which works well to not overshadow the bigger conflict within the novel. As a reader, I really appreciated that the romance did not dictate Rose as a character. I did struggle to like Jake at times because he really fits the cliche of a high school quarterback, but his loyalty inevitably won me over. The only thing I struggled with within this book was that it is dialogue and action heavy, so it sometimes lacks descriptive imagery. It doesn’t ruin the book by any means, but for me it made some of the more emotional scenes harder to process. However, this is only Lundy’s second book and I think we can expect more great things to come!
The Worst is Yet to Come releases on October 6th, 2026.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. 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.
Abby Tuer, Pine Reads Review Writer, Editor, and Website Manager