Review: My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham

Author: Kayla Cottingham 
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: March 2022

Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy... but she's also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of a river. But something monstrous, and ancient, and terrifying, wouldn't let her drown. Finch doesn't know why she woke up after her heart stopped, but since dying she's felt a constant pull from the school and the surrounding town of Rainwater, like something on the island is calling to her.

Selena St. Clair sees right through Finch, and she knows something is seriously wrong with her. But despite Selena's suspicion, she feels drawn to Finch and has a sinking feeling that from now on the two will be inexplicably linked to one another.

One night Finch, Selena, and her friends accidentally summon a carnivorous creature of immense power in the depths of the school. It promises to grant every desire the girls have kept locked away in their insecure hearts―beauty, power, adoration―in exchange for a price: human body parts. But as the cost of their wanting becomes more deadly, Finch and Selena must learn to work together to stop the horror they unleashed, before it consumes the entire island.

My Dearest Darkest is a YA paranormal mystery.  On the way home from an audition for an elite prep school, Finch and her parents are in a car accident.  Left an orphan, Finch enrolls in Ulalume Academy.  Unknown to Finch and her classmates, they unleash an ancient demon on the school.

I enjoyed this one.  I found all of the characters interesting, especially Finch.  As she makes friends and enemies at the school, she also begins to question her feelings for Selena.  She has a very sweet coming out scene.  That story line isn't the main one.  The girls are fighting a creature who seems to give them things that they desire.  But they quickly find out that it comes at a cost.  Some of them have the strength to say no, and some can't resist the pull.  Finch has a unique connection to the creature.  I won't give it away.  It was a fun YA paranormal read.   I would recommend this one.