I started this book knowing what was going to happen which would usually be annoying. However, getting a front row seat to the inner workings of what was definitely a cult was fascinating. I obviously didn’t know exactly what was going to happen but could see it coming from a mile away and yet I wasn’t bored and tired of reading the book.

It’s honestly sad because there are really businesses and people out there in the world that do similar things to “easy” targets. Even though this is just a fun thriller I picked up, it could maybe be helpful for the younger generation. Open up their eyes and make them not to easy to target!

Overall, this was a fun and interesting one to pick up!

3.75⭐️
This took me a bit to figure out my rating because overall I enjoyed it but it was still a head scratcher at times.
I figured out what I didn’t like and it was because the book was so repetitive and predictable. It’s a YA mystery/ thriller but for most of it the suspense came in the form of waiting for something to happen. When it finally did even that was predictable as to what was going to happen and who did it.

That being said I enjoyed the romance insofar as the two teens get together and it is what it is. It doesn’t have all the entanglements of not being accepted or being bullied due to being gay etc. it just is. On the other hand the relationship really isn’t based on nothing. It’s more like “insta lust”. I would have loved to see why they actually should be together.

The rest of the book is very cult like with the lifestyle brand Deep and its hold on a community and the country at large. It was very reminiscent of the real life Goop.

It was interesting to see how the teens fell for the “company” and the lengths they would go-to to fit in.
I think this will be a very entertaining book for teens as well as acting as a warning for them as well.


I am thankful to have gotten an eARC for free from Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group to enjoy which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.
This comes out April 15th 2025.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Based on the title, I thought Hayley Kricher's You Belong to Me would be more of a relationship thriller, but it's not.
Francis Bean is a goth girl attending a fancy private school. While she seems to be happy with being an outsider she admires the Femme girls. They all wear white and meet together at parties that promote Deep wellness products. When Julia the founder's daughter invites Bean she jumps at the chance to get closer to her crush. It takes a minute but things start to take a turn at these parties. At first, this group seems great and accepting and Bean seems to be finding herself but soon she starts to see what really going on.
I find areas of the health and wellness world very creepy, and this book captures that energy well. The Femme group takes on a very cutting feel that left me feeling off center.
While it is well written I wasn't a fan of the main character Francis Bean. She starts to lose her sense of self as she explores her relationship with Julia and Deep. She ignores the warning signs that her friends bring up that her and Julia are moving too fast. I do admire that when she found something off she spoke up even as she was dismissed and ridiculed for it.
This book is well written but it's a bit disturbing and it wasn't my favorite.. I think it might be a good warning to be careful who you get involved with and learning when to speak up when things are off.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Hayley Krischer for the opportunity to read this book prior to release. I absolutely found myself enthralled with the Deep drama and the cult vibes from the very beginning - even before realizing it was actually a cult. I think what was so incredible about this book is how plausible it really was. From the patriarchal ability to victimize young girls to the sad reality of a woman allowing it to happen just to have some semblance of power to the obsession young girls have with beauty standards and being Instagram perfect. This book absolutely nailed it.

A solid view into cults through the eyes of a young woman, and the dangers of groupthink. I think back to how vulnerable I was at that age and totally see how easily this could actually happen, which makes it all the more terrifying.

If you’ve ever read Cultish, you’ll also probably connect the dots between the wellness industry, pseudoscience and cults, a prevalent topic in this book.

This is an excellent YA thriller!

This book was fantastic
I rarely come across books that are so thrilling with a good plot and characters.
I suited for the audience it's targeting but also for adults

I had no idea what I was getting into with Hayley Krischer's You Belong to Me. This disturbing tale is ripped from various headlines. But Krischer imbues it with thrilling commentary about the more heinous elements of our culture. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Wow! What an interesting and disturbing book. I’ve never read anything like this but I thoroughly enjoyed it. A really well done twist on a ya thriller. Several themes explored that I enjoyed like LGBTQ+, friendships, cults.

It's only fair to state upfront that I read several titles about the "wellness" industry and cult-y beauty brands over the last year, including Glow by Jessie Gaynor, Rouge by Mona Awad, youthjuice by E.K. Sathue, and the nonfiction tale of Glossier in Marisa Meltzer's excellent book Glossy. Most recently, I read Ling Ling Huang's novel Natural Beauty, which is my favorite of the bunch.

Because I've read the books listed above, I couldn't wait to get my hands on You Belong to Me by Hayley Krischer and I was thrilled that it centered a romance between two teen girls. It seemed like the recipe for a perfect YA novel.

Unfortunately, You Belong to Me is far, far from perfect. It has an excellent premise, but the novel's issues start in the beginning when Frances Bean (yup, named after that Frances Bean) is matched with her crush Julia for a literature project. There's no tension between the girls--Julia makes it as clear as she can that she has a thing for Bean. Then Bean goes to the famous Femme party (an influencer program for teens who love the beauty products by DEEP, created by Julia's mother Deena Patterson, an obvious take on Gwyneth Paltrow.) And--tada!--Bean and Julia are girlfriends. It was too easy.

I can see where the author's plan was that the bulk of the tension be saved for when Bean was ensconced in Julia's world of Femme and DEEP, but even that tension wasn't given time to cook. It seemed like as soon as Bean went to the Femme party she was on the outs with her small group of goth friends. Then Krischer throws everything from a Goop-like company to the Manson Girls to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and who knows what else into the book. It had too many references and parts to other stories for it to be its own story.

There were too many characters, too: Bean, Julia, Bean's friends (Ivy, Brooks & Nico), Bean's mom, Deena Patterson, Kai, Harmony, and about six Femme/DEEP girls. No one had character development. Julia starts with promise but ends up being treated as a brainwashed victim. Ivy comes the closest to being a complex character, but even she seems to be defined by one thing.

If the novel had fewer elements and fewer characters, it could fantastic and really dig into the (very) juicy subject of "natural" beauty and how companies engage with/create teen influencers. The e-galley had quite a few errors in it, so maybe the published version of the novel will have gone through another edit. Regardless, I'll definitely keep an eye out for what Hayley Krischer writes next.

I struggled to get into this book. The premise was great and I loved seeing LGBTQIA+ representation, but I lost interest in the plot pretty quickly.

Thank you to Net Galley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for the ARC. This wasn't bad, I like the concept, it just got a bit boring and predictable in the middle and end.

Gwyneth Paltrow who??????? Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review! I wasn't expecting the way this storyline to play out the way it did, but I'm not mad about it. I'm a sucker for a YA romance mystery, and this is no exception! It wasn't a 5-star for me because it was still relatively predictable, and the pacing was weird at points, but overall I enjoyed it! It was a nice October read for spooky season

Book:
YOU BELONG TO ME by Hayley Krischer
Thank you PenguinTeen and Netgalley for the Earc (April 15)

Review:
4⭐
After being paired with Julia---daughter of Deep founder---Frances Bean receives and invite to a party to learn about Deep. There, she falls under the spell of what Deep stands for and joins the group where she uncovers harsh truths about some of the members---one of which takes a dark turn.
I devoured YOU BELONG TO ME. From page one, there was something enticing about an secret---but not so secret---club. But not really a club: a cult that no one sees as a cult until it's too late.
I really enjoyed this book. It felt like a fresh take on a mystery with the addition of something that felt really realistic for today's time (social media being a big part of people, followers, etc.)
I appreciated the short chapters that kept YOU BELONG WITH ME moving. There wasn't a huge info dump, and that made this book refreshing...though the heavy topics do dwindle that thought. Nonetheless, YOU BELONG TO ME is a thrilling tale of social media and followers coupled with a slight mystery and everything in between.

4 stars for this strong YA read.

Frances Bean (yep, she’s named after Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s daughter, and, yes, I immediately knew that. They don’t just hand out honorary degrees in Us Magazine to anyone, people!) is a teenage goth girl on scholarship at a fancy high school (such a trope. You’re either on scholarship at the fancy private school and the book’s hero or your parents are paying full freight and you’re the villain. I get that being poor is noble and all, but, damn, if you have to shell out all that money shouldn’t you have a chance at being the MC? Anyone? No? OK, my bad.)

She gets paired up with beautiful Julia, daughter of Deena Patterson, founder of Deep, a famous wellness line. This is perfect as Bean has a crush on Julia and it turns out that Julia feels the same. Oh, young love!

Julia invites Bean to Femme, the teen offshoot of Deep and Bean loves it and loves the sense of being a part of something. But eventually things take a dark turn and Bean doesn’t know who she can trust.

This is some quality YA right here and I enjoyed it. I hope it finds a wide audience.

God, there really is something to the cult intrigue of it all.

Frances Bean has always been comfortable as an outsider, until a class project pairs her with Julia, her crush and the wealthy daughter of wellness guru Deena Patterson. Initially indifferent to the luxurious world of DEEP, Deena's wellness brand, Frances finds herself drawn to Julia and the empowering Femme program for young ambassadors. As she navigates this glamorous life and begins a romance with Julia, her outlook brightens. However, when a DEEP party takes a troubling turn, Frances begins to question whether her desire to fit in was a dangerous distraction from her true self.

The author really did a good job at pulling off this cult-set YA thriller. The slow unfolding of it all was done oh-so well, and I did love the meta commentary done on the wellness industry throughout. Extremely well executed in terms of scene setting, but I think the resolution after the climax fell a little short--still a spectacular read and I look forward to future novels from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought this was a good YA novel about wellness cults and how easily you can fall into them. I found some of the things they were saying impactful and I'm like dang... could this cult have gotten me? Maybe! I definitely did have to remind myself that this was YA as some of the writing styles and characters were bothering me. The ending also felt rushed in a sense and I kind of wish we would've gotten more closure? I would've loved to see more of that.

"You Belong to Me" by Hayley Krischer is a compelling exploration of obsession and the intricacies of teenage relationships. The author skillfully captures the intensity of youth, balancing moments of vulnerability with darker themes of control and identity. While the pacing occasionally lags and some characters feel underdeveloped, the gripping narrative keeps readers invested. Overall, it's a thought-provoking read that highlights the complexities of love and belonging, earning 4 stars for its emotional depth and engaging storyline.

Francis Bean takes pride in being on the fringes of her super-exclusive prep school, until her crush on Julia pulls her into the mainstream, popular crowd and their lifestyle cult.

Three stars because the book felt uneven to me, making it hard to keep my interest up. Some things - the school cliques, portrayal of luxury lifestyles, and the danger of letting emotion override common sense - felt predictable. There were good twists, though, and I think teens will see themselves in some of the characters.

Getting the opening chapters of a psychological thriller right is crucial. The author needs to set the tone and hook readers quickly, or they risk losing them. This is especially true when the novel is geared toward a young adult audience, as YA readers often have different expectations and shorter attention spans. With so many other books or activities to move on to, they’re quick to abandon a story that doesn’t engage them. It’s a challenging task, but when an author succeeds—like Hayley Krischer does in You Belong to Me—the book can have a powerful impact.

Right off the bat, Krischer intrigues readers. She opens the narrative with a shocking event, or at least one that feels shocking in the eyes of a teenager: geeky goth Frances Bean, or “Bean” to her friends, finds an invitation to an exclusive Deep party wedged into her locker door at school. She’s been invited by an elite group of girls—people who have previously mocked her and her friends—to a fancy soirée. It seems entirely out of the blue. Her goth friends are skeptical of the embossed invite, yet their curiosity is piqued. For Bean, however, the invitation stirs something entirely different—nervous excitement. Julia Patterson, her current crush, has invited her to an extravagant party at the home she shares with her mother, Deena Patterson, a wealthy and famous wellness/beauty guru. While Bean doesn’t fully understand why she’s been invited, she feels compelled to go, wanting to impress the girl who once called her the “coolest person she ever met.”

It’s clear that Krischer understands YA readers; she gives them flawed, complex characters they can identify with, ones that are accessible and relatable. Readers don’t have to stretch themselves to connect with Bean, Julia or their friends. Krischer immerses them in a high school drama filled with intense, fast-paced intrigue, recognizing YA readers need strong visuals and action-packed scenes. YA audiences don’t want lengthy exposition or slow-paced buildup; they don’t need time for things to marinate. Krischer paints a picture they “get” right away, demonstrating she has what it takes to craft a compelling YA novel.

Besides knowing how to draw YA readers into her story, Krischer also understands how to keep them engaged. She does this by developing a relevant and emotional character journey, filled with high stakes and tension. Readers see parts of themselves in Bean. Her motivations, fears, and feelings feel genuine and relatable, especially her emotions around Julia. As they watch Bean grapple with her sense of identity and belonging in Julia’s opulent, over-the-top world, readers resonate with aspects of Bean’s experience. Even if they can’t relate to wealth, they understand the desire to belong, to be accepted, and to be loved. This makes the storytelling compelling and strikes a real chord with readers. Krischer also delves into contemporary issues within Bean’s journey—social class, wealth, beauty standards, and authenticity—making the narrative not only entertaining but thought-provoking and meaningful.

Even though You Belong to Me includes themes of romance, it’s ultimately a psychological thriller, and readers never lose sight of that. There are ominous and unsettling events happening behind the scenes at Deep. Krischer uses short chapters and intense scenes with rapid shifts, keeping the energy high. She also makes Bean an unreliable narrator at points in this twisty, suspenseful tale—a commonly used device in thrillers, which adds complexity and keeps readers on edge. As Bean struggles to know whom to trust, the stakes get scarier with each unsettling discovery. Her vulnerability and doubt build suspense in a way that YA readers can handle, and the story thrives on this carefully timed tension, keeping them eager to read on.

Final Remarks…

Krischer has done an exceptional job with this YA psychological thriller, taking readers on a compelling journey. By the end, she resolves major plot points and delivers a suspenseful, emotional experience, but she also leaves readers with something to ponder. There’s room to re-examine Bean and Julia’s actions, and while some may not appreciate an open-ended resolution, it’s a hallmark of YA psychological thrillers. Young adult readers appreciate it because it allows them to interpret key parts of the story on their own, reflecting on themes of loyalty, friendship, identity, self-discovery, and love. This open ending makes You Belong to Me feel personal and heightens its emotional impact. Most importantly, it leaves room for a sequel—and I, for one, would love to see that.

Strengths….

Filled with twists and turns
Relatable, well defined characters
Reliable, immersive storyworld
Solid story development
Intense and page-turning

4.5 stars rounded up because this book deserves it! A super fun and unpredictable YA thriller that had me on the edge of my seat! I think this book could’ve benefitted from like 100 more pages and some more context, but I really did enjoy it.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC!