Samantha Mabry

When Case’s best friend Drea goes missing, Case dives into the bizarre, cultlike—and possibly murderous—behavior of Drea’s roommates in this gripping literary horror novel for fans of The Honeys and Mexican Gothic. WHERE IS DREA? When Case shows up at the isolated West Texas house where her best friend, Drea, lives with friends from school, Drea is nowhere to be found. Why would she ask Case to visit and then disappear? With twenty-four hours until her ride home, Case intends to find out.   But Drea’s roommates can’t—or won’t—answer any questions. They leave Case to search alone, to find bits and pieces of Drea's life hidden in and around the house, while they continue playing out a rural utopian fantasy. Their bizarre behavior puts Case on edge, and she’s not the only one. The animals nearby are lashing out, strangely aggressive.   Something bad happened in this house. Something that must be connected to Drea’s disappearance—and if she gets too close to the truth, Case might just be next.

Everyone knows the legends about the cursed girl--Isabel, the one the señoras whisper about. They say she has green skin and grass for hair, and she feeds on the poisonous plants that fill her family’s Caribbean island garden. Some say she can grant wishes; some say her touch can kill. Seventeen-year-old Lucas lives on the mainland most of the year but spends summers with his hotel-developer father in Puerto Rico. He’s grown up hearing stories about the cursed girl, and he wants to believe in Isabel and her magic. When letters from Isabel begin mysteriously appearing in his room the same day his new girlfriend disappears, Lucas turns to Isabel for answers--and finds himself lured into her strange and enchanted world. But time is running out for the girl filled with poison, and the more entangled Lucas becomes with Isabel, the less certain he is of escaping with his own life.