We Are Villains

In this propulsive and shocking mystery from Callender (Infinity Alchemist), a boarding school’s brutally enforced social hierarchy crumbles following a student’s death. Returning to Yates Academy in Upstate New York after a brief absence, Black, transgender scholarship student Milo endeavors to probe the mystery behind the campus fire that killed his best friend, Ari, also a Black scholarship student. Meanwhile, Liam—the king of Yates and illegitimate half-Black and presumed half-white son of a magnate—has been receiving threatening messages relating to Ari’s death. As the crowned king, Liam is able to mark other students as targets for intense, physical bullying without worry of school administrators interfering; he offers to call off Milo’s mark if he can uncover the sender. Meanwhile, Liam’s white friend Preston, who is in love with Liam’s girlfriend, shows growing irritation with not being king himself. Then incriminating texts linking Liam to Ari’s death go viral. Alternating chapters shift seamlessly between myriad confidently crafted characters, each contending with challenges surrounding class as well as sexual and gender identity. Hair-raising plot twists conjure a sinuous tale of harmful traditions and the institutions that uphold them. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)