The Little Things That Kill

In Fox’s YA mystery, a teenager must piece together the truth behind her apparent suicide—and the events leading up to it—from beyond the grave.

Sixteen-year-old Nicole Benson wakes up confused and disoriented on a bright platform floating in an abyss, surrounded by a group of kids her age and younger, many of whom have horrific injuries that disappear soon after she sees them. They’re taken to “Substation Fifteen,” where they are welcomed and assigned mentors to support and guide them as they prepare for “The Evaluation,” which they must pass in order to move on to their next destination. Nicole’s mentor, Grace, explains that Nicole is dead and that Substation Fifteen is for those who have died by suicide. (“Lemon-yellow lights illuminate a larger area. ‘This is the simulation center devoted to viewing memory projections.’ We’d better get YouTube and Netflix or I’m definitely leaving.”) Though Nicole comes to remember falling to her death, she can’t recall the events leading up to it…but she’s absolutely certain that she didn’t do it on purpose. Sure, her life wasn’t perfect: Her mother died when she was a baby, she’s insecure about her looks, and the object of her infatuation, Alex Traynor, is dating her frenemy, Cassie Church. Still, Nicole knows that she didn’t kill herself. As the 30-day countdown to The Evaluation ticks by, Nicole begins to master skills, like entering the dreams of her loved ones, telekinesis, astral traveling, and even materializing before the living. In doing so, she starts to reclaim her memories from her final day. Fox’s captivating mystery explores adolescent friendships, betrayals, and suicide with cleverness and an abundance of compassion. The characters are well developed, distinctive, and compelling. (Nicole, a gifted singer-songwriter, guitar player, and actor, is sympathetic and relatable; she’s also judgmental and a bit conniving.) Readers will enjoy the author’s imaginative worldbuilding and exploration of the supernatural and will be especially enthralled by the dizzying twists and turns as the circumstances surrounding Nicole’s death are revealed.

A compassionate exploration of friendship and betrayal wrapped up in a true page-turning mystery.