Victoria author Joanne Wiebe’s debut is a page-turning supernatural story full of vividly painted characters and thrilling plot twists worthy of a good horror movie.

Death is part of everyday life for 16-year-old Anne Merchant: her father owns a funeral parlour in California and her mother died two years earlier. When her dad sends her to Maine to attend the elite Cania Christy school, Anne hopes to shed the unflattering nickname “Death Chick,” get good grades, and achieve her dream of one day opening an art gallery in New York City. But Cania Christy, located on a forbidding island, is rife with dark secrets.

Anne is a familiar type in YA – the smart, dorky girl who clashes with a clique of mean girls. But Wiebe makes her distinct, giving her crazy curls and a crooked tooth, as well as a seemingly unconscious knack for questioning everything she encounters. This ability makes all the difference when Anne enters the race for “the Big V” – the competition every junior must participate in to qualify for valedictorian.

Wiebe turns the trope of the intelligent loner out of place at a new school into a moving exploration of staying true to oneself and dealing with the loss of a parent, set against the backdrop of a supernatural thriller. The mystery plotline deepens on almost every page, but even as Anne uncovers answers, she finds herself left with more questions, and so does the reader. This being the first book in the V trilogy, one hopes these loose threads will be addressed in future instalments.