The Bitter End

Alexa Donne

$22.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Random House Books for Young Readers
08 April 2026

Children's & young adult fiction & true stories

A BLIZZARD CAN'T HIDE BETRAYAL. When a winter storm traps eight teens in a remote ski cabin, they find themselves stranded with a killer. From the acclaimed author of The Ivies and Pretty Dead Queens comes a YA thriller that will make your blood run cold.

The trip of a lifetime might be the death of them all. The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip.

Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.

And when a blizzard strikes, secrets are revealed, betrayals are exposed, and survival is at stake in a race to the bitter end.

""Eight prep-school students, an isolated winter hideaway and a serial killer — in Donne’s hands, you’ve got a recipe for a massive adrenaline rush.""— E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars

""Readers will rejoice in feeling part of the characters’ investigative team in this entertaining thriller that ticks all the right boxes."" -PW

By: Alexa Donne
Imprint: Random House Books for Young Readers
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 21mm
Weight: 318g
ISBN: 9780593651094
ISBN 10: 059365109X
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 08 April 2026
Recommended Age: From 14 years
Audience: Young adult , Preschool (0-5)
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Alexa Donne is the Edgar Award–nominated author of Pretty Dead Queens, The Ivies, and The Bitter End. By day she lives in Los Angeles and works in television marketing. The rest of the time she contemplates creative motives for murder and takes too many pictures of her cats.

Reviews for The Bitter End

""Wicked, acid-tipped, unparalleled fun. Donne is an evil genius."" —Ashley Winstead, author of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and Midnight is the Darkest Hour ""Readers will be kept guessing until the end."" —Kirkus Reviews ""[An] entertaining thriller that ticks all the right boxes."" —Publishers Weekly ""A gripping, fantastically twisty mystery for fans of Karen M. McManus and Holly Jackson."" —School Library Journal ""Donne has done a dandy job of serving up an irresistible mystery with a devious plot that offers the requisite red herrings."" —Booklist