For fans of Holly Jackson and Jessica Goodman, this high-stakes thriller is set in a virtual-reality paradise turned hellscape, from a celebrated writer making their YA debut.
" An edge-of-your-seat thriller about friendship and ex-friendship, love, loss, and longing, and the need to belong that is as honest and relatable as it is spine-tingling. Don’t miss this one."
—Jennifer Niven, #1 NY Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places
At the start of each school year, Madison Pembroke, the most popular girl at Lincoln Academy, sends out invitations to her epic birthday party in the form of custom forged spiral keys. For that one night, a few lucky teens get to enter Ametrine, a virtual paradise that hosts the party of the year—a wild, unforgettable celebration that will secure their social status in the real world. As Madison’s hated ex-BFF, Bree Benson never receives a key.
Until now.
Despite warnings from her boyfriend, Bree sees the invite as an olive branch, the perfect opportunity to rekindle her once-amazing friendship with Madison. But as the party games begin to turn provocative and violent, Bree finds that Ametrine might not be the decadent wonderland she was promised. And that Madison may have let Bree enter Ametrine, but she has no intention of ever letting her leave . . .
Kelsey Day’s gripping debut shows that while best friends know each other the best, ex–best friends know how to hurt each other the worst.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
" An edge-of-your-seat thriller about friendship and ex-friendship, love, loss, and longing, and the need to belong that is as honest and relatable as it is spine-tingling. Don’t miss this one."
—Jennifer Niven, #1 NY Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places
At the start of each school year, Madison Pembroke, the most popular girl at Lincoln Academy, sends out invitations to her epic birthday party in the form of custom forged spiral keys. For that one night, a few lucky teens get to enter Ametrine, a virtual paradise that hosts the party of the year—a wild, unforgettable celebration that will secure their social status in the real world. As Madison’s hated ex-BFF, Bree Benson never receives a key.
Until now.
Despite warnings from her boyfriend, Bree sees the invite as an olive branch, the perfect opportunity to rekindle her once-amazing friendship with Madison. But as the party games begin to turn provocative and violent, Bree finds that Ametrine might not be the decadent wonderland she was promised. And that Madison may have let Bree enter Ametrine, but she has no intention of ever letting her leave . . .
Kelsey Day’s gripping debut shows that while best friends know each other the best, ex–best friends know how to hurt each other the worst.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Praise for this book
"The Spiral Key is a pulse-pounding read, a sharply written and disturbingly vivid descent into a nightmarish - yet utterly addictive! - virtual reality. Kelsey Day has crafted a speculative horror novel that also provides an unflinching exploration of shame, regret, and the lengths we go to rewrite the reality of our past. Day forces us to confront the uncomfortable truth: sometimes the most terrifying monsters are the versions of ourselves we try to bury." - Caitlin Barasch
"A smart, deliciously twisty techno-thriller that proves the most frightening realities are the ones we've already lived. I could not put this down." - Anna Carey
"An edge-of-your-seat thriller about friendship and ex-friendship, love, loss, and longing, and the need to belong that is as honest and relatable as it is spine-tingling. Don't miss this one." - Jennifer Niven
"A sinister, pulsing page-turner about the dark side of queer adolescent friendships and the lengths we will go to for revenge. Nothing about these characters is straightforward or wholly true. Their cruelty - and their vulnerability - will burrow into your brain and stay there." - Kelly Quindlen
"Day explores the idea that, without a clear mission, the only thing AI is actually able to deliver is our own regurgitated memories, fears, and egotistical power fantasies. The ultimate villain is wealth, lack of community, alienation, and the furious need for recognition and the adulation it produces." - Hal Schrieve
"A twisting thriller, a visceral dissection of dead friendships, and an exploration of how desperation for acceptance can fester into something awful - I had a blast with this one." - Andrew Joseph White
"A smart, deliciously twisty techno-thriller that proves the most frightening realities are the ones we've already lived. I could not put this down." - Anna Carey
"An edge-of-your-seat thriller about friendship and ex-friendship, love, loss, and longing, and the need to belong that is as honest and relatable as it is spine-tingling. Don't miss this one." - Jennifer Niven
"A sinister, pulsing page-turner about the dark side of queer adolescent friendships and the lengths we will go to for revenge. Nothing about these characters is straightforward or wholly true. Their cruelty - and their vulnerability - will burrow into your brain and stay there." - Kelly Quindlen
"Day explores the idea that, without a clear mission, the only thing AI is actually able to deliver is our own regurgitated memories, fears, and egotistical power fantasies. The ultimate villain is wealth, lack of community, alienation, and the furious need for recognition and the adulation it produces." - Hal Schrieve
"A twisting thriller, a visceral dissection of dead friendships, and an exploration of how desperation for acceptance can fester into something awful - I had a blast with this one." - Andrew Joseph White
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