Kill Creatures

by Rory Power

From the bestselling author of Wilder Girls and queen of twisty narratives, Rory Power, comes her highly anticipated new Young Adult thriller.

Last summer, Nan's three best friends disappeared into Saltcedar Canyon.

She's spent the year since grieving their loss and avoiding questions about what happened that night. Now, on the anniversary, she's ready to say goodbye, and so are the girls' families, who have reconvened to hold a memorial. But their vigil is interrupted by the shocking return of one of the missing girls alive. Everybody is overjoyed. Everybody, that is, except Nan, who was pretty sure they were dead.

After all, she's the one who killed them.

Atmospheric, fast-paced and vividly realised, Kill Creatures is a book about secrets, jealousy, violence and revenge. Perfect for fans of A Good Girls Guide to Murder and Gone Girl.  

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, LGBT, Fiction

281 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 3, 2025

About the author

Rory Power grew up in New England, where she lives and works as a crime fiction editor and story consultant for TV adaptation. She received a Masters in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia.

Reviews

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

💖🍀Hold your friends close and your enemies closer💖🍀. Kill Creatures written by Rory Power was bone chilling creepy. This book was so captivating, it had my attention captured throughout the entire book even though some parts dragged a little bit and was often repeitive, hence the four star rating. I have never read a book by this author before, but damn she gave me full body chills with this book, I will definitely have to check out her other books in the future. As many of you know by now, I'm such a sucker for those stunning covers, so of course I knew I had to get my hands on this book because just take a minute and admire that stunning cover. Kill Creatures reminded me of that case where that one girl stabbed and tried to kill her two best friends to prove that Slenderman was real. This book literally scared me to the bones, I can't even imagine being murdered by my best friend or by someone who I thought was my real friend. This is the type of book that will make you sit down and think about the people you surround yourself with or the people who you thought were your friends, but then you think damn that person is so two faced. I can't recommend Kill Creatures enough, if you are looking for a gory thriller, then look no further than Kill Creatures written by Rory Power and make sure it's on your thrilling thrillers list. This book does deal with super heavy topics, so please be mindful and check the trigger warning's before picking this one up, they will also be listed down below in my review, so be sure to check them out before you decide to pick up this gory book.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN'S FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!

TRIGGER WARNING'S
~Descriptions of Physical Violence and Murder~
~Animal Cruelty (animals involved are NOT pets, the incidents are imagined or references rather than depictions)~
~Drowning~
~Gore/Blood~
~References to Underage Drinking~
~Implied Alcoholism in a Parent~
~References to Prolonged Captivity~
~Infidelity~
~Distortion and Manipulation of Memory/Perception~

"💗🌊My girls are the light off the water. They are heaven and high summer, they are clasped hands in the dark, and I will take whatever I can get💗🌊".

"👙🎨Choosing a bathing suit is an art👙🎨".

"😭💔No day at the canyon will ever be as perfect as the day my best friends died😭💔".

Nan Carver is a wicked bitch and a master manipulator. Nan is a girl whose biggest fear is not losing the people she loves, but getting them back. Last summer, Nan killed her three best friends in Saltcedar Canyon- their favorite swimming hole. Nan has one truth and one truth only that she told the police, they set off on a boat ride one last time before the summer ends, only for Nan to be the only one that returned alive. The girls set off with no mooring rope and no anchor, so someone had to stay behind on the boat so it didn't disappear, only Nan never did, she went into the swimming hole to murder her three best friends. After murdering her best friends, Nan has this voice in her head telling her "somebody knows, somebody knows, somebody knows what you did". After the murder of her three best friends, Nan kept a box of treasures from that night- gold hoop earrings from Jane, silver stud earrings from Edie, but kept nothing from Luce, hmm why could that be? I didn't like Nan one bit, she was so rude, a wicked bitch, a mean girl, and a master manipulator. I find joy in rooting for characters, but I could never find myself rooting for Nan at all, I mean after all she did kill her friends and she deserves to be locked up for life. Kill Creatures is a book about secrets, revenge, jealousy, and murder. Nan, I hope you rot like a bad apple behind bars, you are completely sick and twisted in the head.

Luce Allard, Jane Bristow, and Edie Gale are three sixteen year olds that are murdered the summer before their junior year of high school. Edie, Jane, and Luce are best friends and Nan's favorite people in the world, so why did she murder them? The three girls wandered into the dark and let Saltcedar Canyon swallow them whole. During the time they were murdered, the townfolks wear t-shirts saying BRING THEM HOME with the girls faces right in the middle of the t-shirt. Luce was murdered after a rock rocked her skull, and Edie and Jane were lured into the current to drown in Devil's Eye which was their favorite swimming place. On their final summer day on the lake, these four girls had a huge fight, because Edie thinks Nan is a fourth wheel and she's obsessed with Edie, Jane, and Luce, but no one apologized for the fight and or the words they said to Nan, so she just kills them before the end of summer. Nan also had a crush on Edie, but Edie had feelings for Luce, so maybe Nan felt jealous? But still, that's not a valid reason to kill your friends. During their one year memorial anniversary on the river, Luce returns alive, but doesn't remember anything, or she's just playing stupid so Nan can talk and say what actually happened. During the memorial anniversary, Nan is wearing the same outfit she wore the night the girls were murdered- cutoff shorts, sandals, and one of her dad's old button-ups shirt hanging open over her bathing suit. Please read this book to see how this story goes and what happens after Luce returns alive and finally get the answers as to why Nan murdered her friends that she so dearly loved. My heart goes out to these young girls and their families.

[Ricarda · Rating 4 out of 5]

And what if I said that the cover is the best part about this book? I didn't dislike it, but it really did not blow me away either. It's a fast read and I was kinda dying to find out what actually happened, but the reveals were a bit underwhelming and unsurprising in my opinion. I wanted to obsess over this the same way I did (and still do) over Wilder Girls, but it wasn't meant to be. 3.5 stars.

The cover artist is Kei-Ella Loewe, if you want to check her out!

--------------------------------------------------

I don't even read that much YA anymore, but this is absolutely my most anticipated release of 2025.

[chloé ✿ · Rating 1 out of 5]

the cover is absolutely the best part of this book.

dull, detached writing style, underwhelming, i hated everyone, and it was all extremely predictable.

i’m just glad it was short and the font was large. 🫣 1.5 stars.

[Alex.andthebooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serce wali mi tak mocno, że chyba nie zasnę

[Igel :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5🌟 Okay, that was (quite ) disappointing. It wasn't terrible but compared to Rory Power's other books , this one was so underwhelming.

I can't really talk about my issues with this book without spoilers, so let's start with the things I enjoyed:

-The writing style. I love Rory Power's writing style , and the writing is as good as in her other books.

-I loved the premiss of the book. It is so sad to see how much of the potential was wasted.

-I enjoyed the beginning of the book.

-I love the queer representation in Rory Power's ya books. It always makes me feel very seen.

⚠️⚠️SPOILER ⚠️ ⚠️

🚨SPOILER ALERT 🚨

There is just so much wasted potential and I absolutly hated the ending.

Somehow I thought this book would have horror and supernatural elements (just like in Power's other ya books)

From the start we know that Nan killed her friends. IT'S LITERALLY WRITTEN ON THE BACK OF THE BOOK. So I thought this book would be about her friends returning from the dead as some kind of skinwalkers (or mabye something like the creatures in "House of Hollow ") and seeking for revenge. Well it wasn't about skinwalkers.
Since we know who killed the girls , I thought we would atleast get a good story WHY the main character killed her best friends BUT NOTHING. THE REASONS WHY SHE KILLED THEM WERE SO DUMB AND UNDERWHELMING. YOU WANT TO TELL ME SHE KILLED THEM BECAUSE SHE WAS JEALOUS AND HER CRUSH WAS MEAN TO HER ???? THAT'S IT???

I expected so much more from Rory Power. There was no interesting twist to the story, and NOTHING INTERESTING HAPPENED throughout the whole book . The entire time I always had faith that the ending would be groundbreaking and we would get some amazing twists.
And there is not even a massage to this book.




🚨 Spoilers End🚨


Conclusion:
-It's not a good crime book because we know from the beginning who killed the girls.

-It sadly isn't a horror book at all.

-It isn't thrilling for the most part.

-It doesn't have a good plot and it doesn't have a good ending either.

-Everything I liked about this book can be found in Rory Power's other books.

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gripping, twisty young adult mystery that you’ll devour in one sitting! The plot is thoroughly intriguing, keeping you hooked from start to finish. Rory Power is a brilliant author, and her previous works, especially Wilder Girls, are also exceptional—ones I highly enjoyed and recommend to any thriller enthusiast!

The story revolves around 17-year-old Nan, who recently lost her three best friends. A year ago, she joined Luce, Edie, and Jane on a night boat tour that ended in Devil’s Eye Canyon. Nan was the only one who returned. No one knows what happened to the other three girls—except Nan. She knows because she killed them.

On the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, the residents of Saltcedar, including the families of the missing girls, gather for a vigil. But during the ceremony, something unexpected happens: Luce returns. Nan suspects the girl claiming to be Luce is an impostor because Nan is certain she killed her, smashing her head with a rock. Luce wasn’t breathing when Nan left her. But now, she’s alive and claims to remember nothing.

Could it be true? How did she survive the head trauma, and where has she been hiding for the past year? Why has she returned now? Is she planning revenge? Meanwhile, someone knows what Nan did. Someone has found the keepsakes Nan secretly took from the dead girls. But who? Nan must act quickly to protect her secret—but what if there are even darker truths waiting to be uncovered?

Overall, the twisty ending was masterfully executed. While I predicted a few elements, I didn’t see the full picture coming. It’s a short, fast-paced, surprising, and well-developed thriller with a fantastic ending. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking something gripping, smart, and quick to read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for providing this addictive YA thriller’s digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

1 Sentence Summary: A year after Nan’s three best friends disappeared into Saltcedar canyon, one of the missing girls returns, miraculously alive, which shouldn’t be possible—after all, Nan is the one who killed them.

My Thoughts: OH. MY. GOODNESS. I don’t even know what I just read! This was soooo good and unsettling in the best way. It had such an eerie atmosphere and was very well written.

The characters were really well developed and everyone was so unhinged and insane. I loved the setting of Saltcedar, and I loved how the narrative went back and forth between past and present.

I read this whole book in one sitting because I could NOT put it down. So twisty and suspenseful and creepy and unreliable. And that ending?!?!?!

Recommend to: People who enjoy YA psychological thrillers.

(Warnings: swearing; mentioned infidelity; blood/violence; death)

***
thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review

[Brend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious

[zara · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'm telling you rn, it is so weird being in the head of a fundamentally unlikeable narrator... that was twisted and i hated every second of being in nan's head. it was fucking awesome but never again lmao

[angelpompom · Rating 2 out of 5]

every time she said “my girls” my stomach swirled.

[Abbey Lavinia ꕥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ☆

5 ☆ cover though

[Stormaloo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nan is an emotionally detached narrator, which could’ve been compelling if the book leaned into the whole “dark antihero” thing but instead, I just couldn’t connect with her. Her flat, casual way of talking about murder made it hard to feel any tension or urgency. I never really understood her motivations, and I didn’t feel invested in her inner world.
The structure didn’t help either. The flashbacks were constant and disrupted the flow. Instead of building suspense, they made the timeline feel messy and slow. I kept waiting for something to really happen, but it never quite took off.

[Angyl · Rating 2 out of 5]

so... this was one of my most anticipated 2025 releases ....and it was a flop
😭😭😭

Kill Creatures is a YA horror/thriller following Nan, a young girl in the small town of Saltcedar. One year ago, her three best friends disappeared without a trace, so imagine the relief and surprise the townsfolk feel when, out of the blue, one of the girls comes back alive. Except, Nan feels the opposite of relief, because she was the one who killed the three girls.

Super promising premise, and I don't read much YA these days, but Wilder Girls is a 5 star for me - I wanted from Kill Creatures what I got from that one and it just did not deliver. The best way I can describe this book is: half-baked. Throughout the entire time I was reading Kill Creatures, I just couldn't shake the feeling of disconnect. Nothing seemed fully developed - not the town, the characters, or the mystery. I felt like I was reading a rough draft at times and was like ok, this is a cool concept, now send it back and build it out some more.

Everything was so underwhelming. One of the big "twists" was so painfully obvious from the beginning. And yes, I know I am not the target demographic for a YA novel, but I think even a younger audience is smarter than this. I really have no further thoughts except for the moment I finished this book, just being like "ok so where is the rest of it?"

Gorgeous cover, wish the inside matched! If you are looking forward to Kill Creatures because, like me, you loved Wilder Girls, I might think again before going into this with high expectations.

[Kate♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

I love when rory writes about sapphic murder horror girls

[Anya Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so good, I could not put it down.

[Salomé · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is for all the lesbian losers out there 🤘🏽

It took me some time to get used to the first-person narration, but after that, I couldn’t put this book down. Nan is an amazing character to follow; you never guess where she’ll take you. She gives off so many unhinged vibes that you can’t help but be excited to see how far she will go.

Thank you Scholastic UK for the arc.

[return to blue]

struggling on what to rate this.
i can't say i enjoyed a single second of this book
but also, idk what i was expecting?
at times this book was actually a bit sickening
this whole plot was just very disturbing to me, as i think it was meant to be?
i really don't know.
this was a short, difficult read.
beyond that i am trying not to think about it
seriously, im actually struggling
everything about the premise of this book, along with it's execution makes my skin crawl
maybe it is because i am around the exact same age as the characters that this just felt so creepy to me?
It also might have just been nan's internal dialougue, which was not so much unreliable as it was plain delusional, but it really made this book feel just so strange and unnerving.
in some ways it felt very similar to Adolescence on netflix, which was also a difficult watch
im really not sure what to think about this one.

(side note: i love the art style of this cover, the only reason i read it-- i need to start reading blurbs😨😨)

[Books_the_Magical_Fruit · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter read one of Powers’ other books and didn’t really like it, so I wasn’t sure what to expect with this. I absolutely HAD to request an eARC when I read the synopsis, though! It’s such an interesting premise.

Nan is presented as an unreliable narrator right from the beginning, and she claims to have killed her three best friends a year ago. Imagine her surprise when one of them shows up, seemingly back from the dead!

I love the way Ms. Powers writes—this is beautifully written. The events enfold going back and forth between the present and the past, and it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not. I was sucked in right from the get go, and I couldn’t wait to get back to it when I was forced to put it down. That said, I was confused and unsatisfied with the ending. I would’ve liked to see more explanations. I can’t go too much into detail without spoilers, but I really wanted to know more backstory.

Ultimately, I give it a 3.75, rounded up, because the story really reeled me in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the advance copy. I am writing this review entirely voluntarily.

[ShannonXO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feral psycho gay girls are where it's at.

[Karina (shedreamsinwords) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly this didn’t grip me which is disappointing because the cover has me drooling, but hey.. it happens.

[v d · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I loved Wilder Girls and liked Burn Our Bodies Down enough. I really love Powers’s brand of sapphic eco-horror, especially with the beautiful, flow-y prose and fun, gripping concepts. That’s to say that I had high expectations for Kill Creatures, and crazy theories about how Luce came back.

Overall, Kill Creatures was just fine. The prose, as always, was beautifully written. But I didn’t love the mystery (how it unfolded or the anti-climactic ending). And honestly, there was a surprising lack of tension or stakes, especially for how interesting the concept could have been. Luce’s reappearance could have been MAJOR—I mean, I really wanted it to not *really* be Luce but rather some kind of mimic, but even with that in mind, the reintroduction of Luce as the girl Nan couldn’t kill had a lot of potential. But Powers’s rarely used her. Throughout the entire book, Nan interacted with Luce four times, if that. And for most of that I was just *waiting* for something to happen between them.

Don’t even get me started on the events leading up to the end—Nan sneaking into Luce’s room, finding the box, calling her dad, calling Luce’s number. Luce acting like she had some master plan in the final confrontation when, really, there was very little leading up to that made the reveal feel deserved. It just wasn’t satisfying in the slightest. And the final fight being broken up by the sheriff or whoever… idk man. The epilogue with Luce winning was sweet, though. And the reveal that Luce was going to kill Nan to get back @ her dad was fun. But still.

So what are the really great things about Kill Creatures that saves this from being a complete clusterfuck? Well, I really loved the characters. Nan being outrageously apathetic about murdering the girls felt very refreshing. The slow realization that she is, in fact, kinda nutty and weird also felt great. It’s only natural to believe Nan when she positions herself as one of the girls early on, but Powers did a great job of slowly showing how deeply that is not the case. When Nan buys the red hair dye to “become” Luce and then goes through her phone, I just about lost it lol. The other girls were fun, too—seeing their personalities and dynamics in the flashbacks were fun, even as someone who generally dislikes flashbacks in stories.

The vibe was also very fun. Nan’s voice is just great, especially as she’s spiraling about so many different things. Luce killing the bird, about liking Edie, about Luce reappearing, possibly remembering, and the sheriff being on her ass. The very few times I felt tension was when Marsden was grilling Nan, mostly because Nan just read so frantic sometimes that it was making me nervous.

Overall, Kill Creatures is a fun little ya thriller, though it had potential to be more. I don’t know if it’s fully realized, and I wish Nan or the story were more active, less passive (at a certain point it’s just Nan @ the mercy of everyone else, kinda letting things happen to her) but I enjoyed it all the same.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

A year ago, Nan and her three best friends, Luce, Edie, and Jane, stole a boat to go for a swim during the summer. None of them knew that only Nan would come back. Now, the town is holding a vigil for the three lives lost, and Nan is meant to speak there, but when a body shows up in the river and it ends up being Luce, who is alive and well, Nan loses all color in her face. Luce is supposed to be dead, and Nan knows this because she is the one who killed her – who killed. them all.

The only other book I've read from Rory Power is her debut novel, Wilder Girls, which I want to say I read back in 2019. That one was very elusive, thrilling, and had an ending that still pisses readers off to this day. Kill Creatures was on my radar for this year as it sounded like the next book from Powers I was interested in, but to be honest, I don't think I would have picked this book anytime soon, if at all, if I wasn't given an ARC copy.

Kill Creatures has a dual timeline story. The past, both pre- and post-murders, and the main timeline during the present, as Nan figures out how much Luce remembers and how and why Luce is back in town. I read this on the same day, but I was bored for the majority of this. This book is less than 300 pages, but I still think it should have been much shorter. The summary gives away the big twist, so as the reader, you're just wondering how we get to that point. I honestly would have preferred if Nan being a killer wasn't given away in the synopsis, and we found that out rather at the beginning of this book or the very end. The last 50 pages were the most thrilling and the BEST out of them all.

The epilogue was definitely my favorite part of the whole book. I think an alternate reality version of this story where that storyline happens would also be really cool to see. I didn't love Amazon Prime's I Know What You Did Last Summer series, but this book reminds me A LOT of the vibes of that show despite the fact that they don't quite overlap.

Thank you to Delacorte Press for the ARC! This title was released on June 3, 2025. My review reflects the physical ARC copy I read.

[Casey Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a YA thriller, so know that going in because it does read as such, and I don't like it when people judge YA for reading as YA. It's exactly what it's marketed as. This is a fun little unhinged book of teen girl crazy! Nan Carver's three best friends died last summer, and on the one year anniversary during a vigil, one of the dead girls turns up alive. Everyone is overjoyed, except Nan. This cannot be! Why? Because she killed them. (This is literally written on the back of the book, so not a spoiler.) Nan has a story and she is sticking to it. Does Luce remember what really happened that night? This is an unhinged story of secrets, delusion, jealousy, girl drama and murder. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away, but I really enjoyed it and didn't want to put it down! I had a fun time with this one and the pacing was great. I love unhinged females. Also, this cover is incredible. Looking for a fun YA summer thriller? Look no further. 

[marilynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

on the edge of my fucking seat! was licking my fingers after this was too good im so mad i finished it this quickly

[Laura (laurascozyreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

oh i flewwww through this. love some completely unhinged toxic girls and a questionable small town setting with impressive nature, bonus points if the story takes place in summer. very reminiscent of pretty little liars and a super quick, addicting read!

[Frankie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rory Power always knows how to write a tight, deftly paced psychological thriller. I finished this in a day.

One day, four girls went swimming at a canyon lake, but only Nan came back. Her three friends disappeared and were presumed dead in a freak accident. Exactly one year later, at their memorial service, her friend Luce turns up alive and without any memories. This should be impossible. Luce is dead; Nan knows, because she killed her and the other girls too.

The book lures you in with the mystery, but all throughout there is this increasing sense of wrongness -- until you realize that we've got an unreliable, unhinged narrator; and no, that isn't just because she killed her friends... there is something much worse at play. I always love Rory Power's books because her YA age rating doesn't prevent her from delving into the darkest, most messed up parts of the human psyche (and also, she knows how to write a plotty thriller that DOESN'T meander for 400 pages. Other writers need to learn from her).

Kill Creatures is beautifully written with her usual cutting prose, with vivid imagery of the canyon and small town, and with a mystery that made me want to keep reading. Admittedly, I still prefer her older books, but if you want a short thriller to get you in the summer mood then I highly recommend giving this a try.

I won an ARC from the author during a giveaway. This review contains my honest opinion.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ (rounded down for Goodreads)

𝙏𝙇𝘿𝙍 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬: I enjoyed this one, but there were some plot holes and the ending was a bit rushed. It had some entertaining aspects and is a creative idea, so I’d still recommend it, but with an *

𝙇𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:

I liked the dark tone to this and thought it was an interesting way to do the missing presumed dead friend storyline. You know from the very start that the MC is an unreliable narrator who is perplexed when her missing friend returns given she killed her. The pacing was uneven, especially in the middle where it felt like it was dragging on without anything new happening. The reasons behind everything felt very questionable and there were many little things that just didn’t add up. The Scooby Doo style reveal and epilogue weren’t my fav. It felt like the entire book was building to something major which made the predictable ending very ho-hum. Interesting idea and I do applaud the creativity, there just were things that kept me from loving it more.

[Ingerlisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super addictive, it has been a very long time since I read a book in one sitting.

I hoped the ending would be a little more twisty and the main character Nan was a little dumb particularly toward the end with the reveal but overall a fun read.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I called us what we were - kill creatures, born for exactly this."

A summer town is still trying to heal after 3 girls went missing a year ago. But when one of the girls comes back, stumbling into her own vigil - the 4th girl is shocked. Because she knows she already killed her, how can she be back?

Nan is that 4th girl and our main character. She's trying to figure out Luce's game, since she's stumbled into town, back from the dead. How can she be alive? This is a slow unravel story but still a quick read. It flips from current and the past and paints a picture of what was going on with Nan's world both now and then. I did see a lot of the twists coming but I didn't guess the final ending. Interesting mystery and I liked the darker theme of how unapologetically violent Nan was.

[Cat✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.