You Belong to Me follows Frances Bean, an outsider perfectly content with avoiding the rich and popular at her school. Until Julia, daughter of the famous wellness guru who runs DEEP, takes notice of her. Suddenly, Bean is going to DEEP femme gatherings and falling for Julia. But one of those parties takes a dark turn and Bean is forced to reevaluate what is truly going on.

This was an interesting story with a sinister undertone woven throughout. It has a very cult-like vibe going on and I really liked when we finally got more into the creepy, sketchy stuff going on. I did wish there was more of a horror factor as a lot of the novel is Bean falling for Julia and growing apart from her friends. But I did appreciate the narrative and themes presented.

Bean is a good main character who goes through a lot over the course of the book. I enjoyed her arc and found it very realistic. I enjoyed how complicated and toxic her friendships and relationship with Julia was.

Overall, this is an interesting story that fans of beauty culture and cult-like vibe stories will enjoy.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

First, I want to thank Netgalley and Penguin Random House for giving me the opportunity to read You Belong to Me by Haley Krischer. This opinion is solely mine. This book is not one that I would normally choose to read, but I'm glad I was given the chance to read it. The story follows Frances "Bean" and the lore of beauty, wellness, and love. Bean was always an outcast with her very small group of other misfit friends. That is until Julia starts talking to her. Julia's mom is the owner and guru of Deep, a beauty and wellness health line. Bean gets drawn into the glamor of "Deep Life," that is, until someone ends up dead at one of the parties. The book explores a lot of different hard topics (abuse, childhood trauma, drugs, alcohol). It was a decent read, 3 stars, and I would recommend it to others who are interested.

Hayley Krischer always demonstrates such an acute understanding of teenage social dynamics which then translates to a thriller plot, and this book is no different. You Belong to Me follows Frances as she becomes involved with Julia, the daughter of a wellness businesswoman. Their relationship evolves from casual to platonic to romantic, which also aligns with Frances being pulled into Julia's mom's company, Deep. Deep felt pretty cult-y to me pretty early on, but it was still interesting to read about Frances descending into it.

I think that Krischer handled Frances's and Julia's relationship very well, having them bond over legitimate shared experiences (like their lack of a father figure) and having genuine positive interactions while also making it clear that their relationship is unhealthy, especially since I was in an unhealthy relationship as a teenager and wish I had been taught about healthy relationships. We see how Deep (and Julia) changes Frances's personality and her relationships with both her mom and her existing friend group, who are toxic in their own ways too which added a nice nuance to the story (since I think it'd be very easy for Krischer to depict them as benevolent and acting solely in Frances's best interest). Of course, this being a thriller there is an unexpected death which adds even more intrigue to the story.

Lots of characters right off the bat.


Lgbtqia+
Young love and beauty products


Slow burn into the beauty world and what people may be hiding behind to find purpose and fit in.

Major cult vibes


Very namaste and wellness talk, also explaining away why things cost so much because of how they're made, feels alot like brainwashing
Along with drugs and alcohol and creepy investors. This book is a wide eyed look into the dark side of wellness


So taken aback by the amount of pressure they instill in keeping their perfect personality intact


I don't think ive really ever read a cult book before but this is something else

Such a fast paced thrill, I read it in one sitting. Lovebombed by your first girlfriend so hard you accidentally join a cult, classic teenage lesbian shenanigans. To me it was like if Lottie Matthew’s wellness cult in Yellowjackets ran a sex-driven Goop.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Stories about the dark side of the wellness industry seem to be a thing right now, such as the movie The Substance. I read Ling Ling Huang's Natural Beauty recently and really dug it, so when I saw this book that sounded like it was in a similar vein available to read on NetGalley, I immediately requested it.

Unlike the two aforementioned examples of this subgenre, which use horror and fantasy elements to comment on "wellness" being sold to us at a great price, this book is firmly grounded in reality and seems like it could have been plucked straight from the headlines. It is a really well written account of the main character getting sucked into a wellness guru's orbit yet finding something darker there than she bargained for.

The pacing is really snappy and I blew through it in two days because I wanted to see where it was going. Without spoiling anything, I particularly liked how the author situated the main character to be able to see through what was going on when no one else was able to. I liked the book so much I grabbed another one of the author's books from the library as soon as I was done.

Bonus points for the Heathers reference. If it wasn’t for the fast pacing of this book I probably would’ve DNFed it. I wanted so badly to love Bean. I mean an gothy teen named after Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s child, how could you not? But unfortunately she was annoying and the entire story was utterly predictable.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an arc

Some spoilers ahead:

While You Belong to Me had a really interesting premise, unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. I enjoyed The Falling Girls by Krischer and while I ultimately decided on the same rating for both of them, I definitely connected more with her previous work than this one.

We follow Bean, a high school junior nursing a crush on Julia, daughter of famous wellness guru Deena Patterson, who runs a company called DEEP. When Bean- who is one of her elite private school's resident goths- receives an invitation to a DEEP event, she's shocked- and excited- for the opportunity to get closer to Julia. At first, it seems like a dream come true, a dazzling world of beauty and inner enlightenment. However, as Bean is pulled further into the inner workings of DEEP, she realizes everything is not quite as it seems. When tragedy strikes within the DEEP community, Bean must decide where she draws the line.

I think what caused the majority of the disconnect for me was the writing style. It just felt a little too... stilted? for lack of a better word. I'm sure it works for some people, but for me, something about the style really kept me from being able to fully immerse myself in it. I do wonder if this would've worked better in the adult genre rather than YA because maybe the writing choices were meant to keep it at that slightly younger level. However, I read mostly YA and don't typically run into this problem, so I'm not fully sure what about it didn't work for me.

I'm always down for a cult-esque/psychological book, especially if it's sapphic. The romance was pretty well done and I did like Bean and Julia together, but at times, I couldn't tell if Julia actually liked her or not. It was a bit insta-love, but that didn't bother me so much as while it was an important motivating factor throughout, the romance wasn't the main storyline.

There was also really great commentary on the beauty industry and the way it preys on vulnerable women and girls. The discussion surrounding the way wealth plays into that idea and how the rich are able to get richer by exploiting the insecurities of the working class was beautifully done. I actually haven't read too many books that explore this topic by taking it to the farthest point from a YA point of view, so that was unique and something memorable for me.

But man, oh man, do I wish that Femme- the young ambassadors group of DEEP- was able to do what I think it was attempting to do just slightly more successfully. It's pretty cut-and-dry clear that Femme is a cult. They wear all white and participate in strange rituals that require full devotion from the members. I just wish, as a reader, that I believed that I would be convinced. I've read some other books about cults, and the reason that they work so effectively is that you don't even realize that you're being pulled in until you find yourself nearly agreeing with the characters as well. Unfortunately, the whole time I was thinking, Why are you doing this, Bean? This is clearly a cult. As the reader, it's almost too obvious that it's a cult in a way that makes it less fun. While maybe it's not obvious to Bean in the moment, if it had been a touch more subtle, that would also allow the reader to get drawn in.

Bean's friends were way too forgiving, but I am happy that they stood up for her in the end- especially Ivy, who definitely would've been within her rights to never talk to her again. I did like the touch at the end that Ivy got to write her expose article, which felt like a little bit of earned justice for her. Brooks and Nico are somewhat the same character to me, they don't really get enough of their own individual storylines. Same with most of the Femme girls, other than Harmony. Kenny, Grace, Harlow, and Katrina again seem to all somewhat serve the same purpose. For them, however, I'll accept their similarities since they're meant to be representations of the cult and everyone sort of morphing into the same person.

All I'll say about Harmony is that she deserved better; that's for sure.

Kai was a very bad person but an interesting character in that he's sort of the figurehead for all these young, impressionable girls and is the mastermind behind everything. He deserved far worse, definitely.

I obviously didn't enjoy it, but the story shines with its conversation on the way men are able to get into power positions over young girls and manipulate them. That and the beauty guru aspect were the best-executed parts of the story and the parts that kept me reading. Bean's slow transformation from goth to wearing all white was a nice touch, too. I also liked it in the end when her friends reflect on how she was the one who got them all into goth culture in the first place because it showed how Bean's own understanding of events was sometimes misconstured. I think that idea could've been leaned into harder to develop her character more.

Deena is sort of a faceless entity -- which is the point -- who only really exists online. I liked her character for the intrigue she provided and how she was able to grow her company and become a savior to women by manipulating them. I wasn't shocked to find out she knew everything but I do wish her and Julia had more moments together to show what their relationship was like.

Bean's mom was nice but was also a touch too clueless for me. She expresses concern maybe like once? And then never tries to stop Bean from hanging out with DEEP. Bean's father was an interesting storyline but only pops up a few times and I sort of forgot about him until just now writing about her mom.

Towards the end, Bean's mom also mentions that it had only been 4 weeks, which was jarring to me because it definitely seemed like the timeline was way longer! I think if it had taken place over a longer period of time, that would have made more sense.

The "mystery" was a bit predictable (and I think popped up too late) but added good tension and moved the story forward, allowing Bean's view of Femme and DEEP to be altered. It was also pretty obvious immediately what had happened, though I think that that's sort of the point -- the reader knows but Bean has to come to that conclusion herself.

I didn't really love the ending. The epilogue was a little too blunt for me. I had hoped that maybe Julia and Bean would be able to salvage their relationship when Julia stood up to her mom and Kai, but nope, they break up off-page, and we just get told in the epilogue. Realistic, yes, but not the happy ending I had been hoping for! Funnily enough, I think the style of the epilogue is the best of the book and has a lot of great insight, despite that.

I don't think this is a bad book by any stretch of the word. I wanted more from it, but I think a lot of people are really going to love this. There's really great commentary on what it means to be a woman -- or even a girl -- in a world that seems to throw new products at us every second meant to make us look "younger" or "prettier." The way men use money to abuse and control girls was also thoughtfully explored. I just don't think this was for me personally!

3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Sadly, I did not enjoy this very much. I’m settling on a 3 star review just because this is a YA book and I think some of my expectations not being met are due to age range. I LOVED the authors last book “Where Are You Echo Blue?” And I usually enjoy stories about wellness gone wrong or cult-y type books. However, this just missed the mark for me. It didn’t feel well developed , felt rushed, frustrating ending and just overall underwhelming. I will certainly try the authors next adult work. I think for younger YA this might be a really exciting and entertaining read.

This was an interesting book. I had a feeling from pretty early on how the story would end, but I was pleasantly surprised but some of the twists that I didn’t see coming. This book had some layers to it, and I quite enjoyed reading it. It was something new for me, because while I love thrillers and books that give off uncomfortable auras, I’m not a big beauty person, so I found myself entering a world I didn’t know much about, but found to be well developed. I would recommend this to friends.

I expected a lot more from this just from the premise: a health and beauty cult, a sapphic romance…

It spectacularly failed to deliver on such a promising idea.

The dialogue and narration felt very stale and surface-level. The characters’ dialogue felt very forced and caricatured.

The main character, Frances, is the antithesis of what the Femme cult entails: She is goth, she hasn’t worn white her entire life, and she cares little about her appearance. All of this is just told to us by her, it is never actually shown in a way that makes me believe it. Yet within 5 pages, suddenly she is buying into this cult. Which is not inherently bad, but I was just not seeing why I should care.

Maybe this would be enjoyed more if you are less picky than me about the “show, don’t tell” narrative device, but it irks me to no end to be told everything and not see any proof.

Frances Bean and her group of friends are known in their school as the goth outsiders. But when Bean is paired to work on a school project with her crush Julia, the popular daughter of a famous wellness figure, she soon finds herself in a completely different world. What starts out as fun parties and product samples quickly turns more sinister and dangerous.

I enjoyed the concept of this book and showing the darker side of the wellness industry and how easy it can be for young or impressionable girls to be taken advantage of. I also thought it was really interesting to have the main character start out as an outsider, but show how she can still fall prey to mainstream influences that people might assume she has no interest in.

The book immediately starts with Bean being invited to a party by Julia and very quickly becoming involved with the wellness company and leaving her friends behind. I wish there was a little bit more time in the beginning of the book showing her and her friends before she starts changing. I felt like I wasn’t able to appreciate how much of a change she made since I barely got to see her as a character before the wellness cult part of the story happens. It just seemed like everything in this book was a bit rushed and I didn’t get the character development I would’ve liked. I can appreciate that things were probably happening quickly in the story to show how easy it is for people to fall under the influence of a cult. But it didn’t fully work for me as a narrative.

There are definitely parts of this book that are thrilling and suspenseful. It’s interesting seeing this type of cult story from a YA perspective. And I’m always going to be excited to read a sapphic thriller. While this didn’t become a new favorite, I do think it’s a quick and compelling read. It’s worth checking out if it sounds interesting to you.

I really enjoyed this. It was super dark and didn’t go quite the way that I expected. The writing flowed well and it was easy to get sucked into the story. I really liked the main character. All in all, I think this is a pretty solid thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of this ARC! This will be out in April of 2025!

An absolute delight! I loved not only the pacing of the story, but the telling of it as well. From start to end, I was given an adventure!

This was my first YA and I think it would be a cute fun read for young teens it’s not my normal but it’s cool for the young kids that it was ok since it was my first of this genre

You Belong to Me is a novel that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Hayley Krischer has a way of writing that makes me devour all her books. They are fast-paced and so easy to read which helps with the stories she writes.

In this novel, we follow Frances Bean and although like most high school students she feels lost, she also has a great sense of self and leadership. Frances is a very strong lead even when she gets involved in Deep, a wellness brand with a lot of secrets.

I believe the story that was told about leadership and what makes a good leader was done very well. This is an intense read that offers readers a look into the Instagram wellness world. It will remind you that things aren't always as they seem and sticking to who you are instead of getting involved in a place that is trying to erase your identity is the better option.

Overall, this is a quick read with a lot of twist and turns. It's queer, but done in a very tasteful way that doesn't make it Frances's entire personality like most YA novels I have read in the past.

I would recommend this book for anyone who likes I'm The Girl by Courtney Summers.

A dark YA thriller about obsessive teenage friendship and the dangerous pull of belonging. When new girl Sadie becomes fixated on popular Nina, their intense bond spirals into something far more sinister.

You Belong to Me is a gripping, thought-provoking story that tackles love, obsession, and power dynamics. Krischer’s sharp writing makes this a compelling and unputdownable thriller.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

This is the second book I've read recently about people being influenced and sucked into a cult. Each was very different but hit the mark on what that is probably like when people get hoodwinked in without realizing it.

Frances Bean is on scholarship to a prestigious private school because her mom is a teacher there. She gets paired up with her crush for a school project and the crush just so happens to be the daughter of a mysterious, wealthy CEO who is now recruiting young folks into the mix. It's quite a whirlwind and Bean is sucked in almost immediately. Glamour, attention from the girl she likes, what's not to love.

Until there is something not to love, of course. I'm not opposed to same sex relationships (you do you, boo!) but this relationship felt a tad too forced for me because it was like one second Bean didn't exist to Julia and then suddenly they are a couple. It was just kind of weird.

Overall the story is good and will likely be entertaining to the YA audience it is targeted for. It has it's issues but I don't think most teens who pick this up will be bothered by those issues.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me the opportunity to read an advanced review copy. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.