Kayla Cottingham is a YA author and librarian. Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Kayla lives just outside of Boston where she loves to go hiking in the woods, pet any and all dogs, and play RPGs. She is passionate about connecting young people with books featuring diverse voices so they can see themselves and their communities represented on the page. My Dearest Darkest is her debut novel.
[A] call back to '90s teen horror movies a la The Craft and The Faculty -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books A spine-tingling thrill ride that calls on classic prep school dynamics and eerie gothic imagery -- Publishers Weekly A sweet, queer romance makes this a good option for genre lovers in search of more diverse characters -- Youth Services Book Review Cottingham succeeds in crafting a truly inventive, gruesome horror story that fans of blood and gore will relish -- School Library Journal Cottingham's debut opens with a gut-wrenching first chapter and doesn't let up, juxtaposing vivid and unsettling horror with Sapphic teenage angst -- Kirkus Fans of cult-classic film Jennifer's Body and similar scary tropes will revel in Cottingham's atmospheric, spine-tingling horror-romance -- Booklist The tenacity of youth, love, and friendship go to war with the horrors that create nightmares and it really is uncertain who will end up the winner -- Missouri River Regional Library