Sixteen souls (Scholastic)

The spooky, swoony YA debut from BookTok star @Merrowchild! Someone is stripping Europe's most haunted city of its spirits. When self-destructive, 16-year-old seer, Charlie Frith, realises that one of his own ghostly friends has gone missing, he must put aside his own safety - and reclusive existence - if he is to find them.

Charlie reluctantly teams up with Sam Harrow - the new seer in town - and a rag-tag group of ghosts, to save their friends from a fate literally worse than death. But there is a dark purpose behind these disappearances - more sinister than Charlie could ever have imagined.

And, as he slowly comes to terms with his romantic feelings for Sam, the stakes become even higher as time quickly runs out! Perfect for fans of Cemetery Boys, Becky Albertalli and V E Schwab. #SixteenSouls has more than a-quarter-of-a-million views on TikTok and counting.

A must-read for all young adult fans with intricately plotted mystery, sublime world-building and fantastically diverse cast of characters. Praise for Sixteen Souls: "Delivers fun and frights in equal measure.

A fantastically spooky, thrilling adventure!" - Kat Ellis, author of Wicked Little Deeds "Flawless twists, this book immediately pulled me in." - H.M Long, author of Hall of Smoke "A captivating take of loss, friendship and love that had me gripped from first to last." - Menna van Praag, author of The Sisters Grimm "Absolutely gripped." - Amy McCaw, author of Mina and the Undead "The writing is rich; the characters sharply drawn." - K.D Edwards, author of The Tarot Sequence Series "Sixteen Souls is a boundlessly clever, heartfelt queer take on the story of a sensitive young man who sees dead people.

Talbot has crafted something chillingly delightful! Perfect for any ghoul-lover's shelf!" - Adam Sass, author of Surrender Your Sons and The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers "Deliciously dark" - Cynthia Murphy, author of Last One to Die, Win Lose Kill Die and The Midnight Game "A delectable mystery" - Dawn Kurtagich, author of The Dead House "An outstanding debut" - Bex Hogan, author of Isles of Storm and Sorrow series