Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication date: February 2026
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 designed to be the party of the year—an 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 this year.
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 virtual paradise 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.
I don't even know where to start with this one. I am definitely not the target audience for this book. But then I'm not sure that there is an audience for this book among younger YA readers. Usually, I can read a YA mystery and enjoy it. Not so much with The Spiral Key. I really didn't like this book. It was promising in the beginning. I liked the virtual world funhouse aspect. However, once you get down to it, none of the characters were anyone I could ever root for. That includes the main character, Bree. In fact, I think the only one I was rooting for was her little brother.
This may be a little spoilery here, so skip it if you want to read this book. How Bree really thought that Madison would all of a sudden want to make amends is beyond me. She should have skipped the party. This entire plot hinges on things that happened in middle school. I mean, I get holding a grudge, but let's really address the elephant in the room. Madison is a clear psychopath whose parents enable her behavior. Again, this plot was a way over the top reaction to the events that happened in MIDDLE SCHOOL. Everything could have been cleared up with a few honest conversations. Maybe that is the moral of the story? By the end, I really didn't care. I don't really recommend this one, but maybe you'll find something to like about it.
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