12 must-read mystery books like Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin

Cover of Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin

Primal Animals

By: Julia Lynn Rubin

3.14

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

Protect the girls Arlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rocka…

"He had it coming. Don’t waste your tears and cry for him. Don’t ever cry for a boy. Not even a dead one."

-Julia Lynn Rubin, Primal Animals

"He had it coming. Don’t waste your tears and cry for him. Don’t ever cry for a boy. Not even a dead one."

-Julia Lynn Rubin, Primal Animals

"He had it coming. Don’t waste your tears and cry for him. Don’t ever cry for a boy. Not even a dead one."

-Julia Lynn Rubin, Primal Animals

"I had her, if only for a little while. We kissed. We laughed. I felt love radiating through her. I tear a handful of clovers from the ground and squeeze them together, the green juices staining my fingers. It makes me so anxious, thinking of how fragile every relationship is. How someone can be right there with you one minute and then gone the next. Or dead. I shudder."

-Julia Lynn Rubin, Primal Animals

If you liked the mystery plot in Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin , here is a list of 12 books like this:

Cover of Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley

1. Sofi and the Bone Song

By: Adrienne Tooley

4.05

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

In this gorgeous standalone fantasy with a “sweet sapphic romance” ( Booklist ), a young musician s… read more

Similar categories in Adrienne Tooley's Sofi and the Bone Song book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • fantasy
  • queer
Cover of Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis

2. Under This Red Rock

By: Mindy McGinnis

3.94

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

Neely’s monsters don’t always follow her rules, so when the little girl under her bed, the man in h… read more

Similar categories in Mindy McGinnis's Under This Red Rock book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • mystery thriller
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
Cover of Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould

3. Where Echoes Die

By: Courtney Gould

3.60

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

Beck Birsching has been adrift since the death of her mother, a brilliant but troubled investigativ… read more

Similar categories in Courtney Gould's Where Echoes Die book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • mystery thriller
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • fantasy
  • queer
"I want to feel like I can keep going. Like I know how. I don't want to be afraid to look forward and lose everything behind me."

-Courtney Gould, Where Echoes Die

"...that pain isn't universal. It's just a part of living in Backravel, tethered to the same chunk of time forever with no escape. At one point, Beck thought it sounded perfect. Now, it sounds like a …"

-Courtney Gould, Where Echoes Die

"For the first time it occurs to Beck that the people of Backravel might not be recognizing her, but her similarities to her mother. An ache pangs deep in Beck's chest, and she wants to press for more…"

-Courtney Gould, Where Echoes Die

"She can't help picturing what her morning would look like today in a world where [her mother] never died. [...] She didn't like details then because details made time slow down. Lingering in the same…"

-Courtney Gould, Where Echoes Die

Cover of The Wicked Unseen by Gigi Griffis

4. The Wicked Unseen

By: Gigi Griffis

3.73

Format: 288 pages, Paperback

The new girl in town is having trouble fitting into a community that believes there's a secret Sata… read more

Similar categories in Gigi Griffis's The Wicked Unseen book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • mystery thriller
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • queer
"If I had the Taser, Truck Nuts would be Electric Nuts"

-Gigi Griffis, The Wicked Unseen

"Fantasma. She didn't alert. That probably means it's animal blood. Or fake, maybe. ENGLISH! Get fucked. How's that?"

-Gigi Griffis, The Wicked Unseen

Cover of Mermaids Never Drown: Tales to Dive For by Zoraida Córdova

5. Mermaids Never Drown: Tales to Dive For

By: Zoraida Córdova

3.67

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

14 Young Adult short stories from bestselling and award-winning authors make a splash in Mermaids N… read more

Similar categories in Zoraida Córdova's Mermaids Never Drown: Tales to Dive For book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • fantasy
  • queer
Cover of One Last Breath by Ginny Myers Sain

6. One Last Breath

By: Ginny Myers Sain

3.83

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

The New York Times bestselling author of Dark and Shallow Lies delivers another chilling supernatur… read more

Similar categories in Ginny Myers Sain's One Last Breath book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • mystery thriller
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • fantasy
Cover of Valiant Ladies by Melissa Grey

7. Valiant Ladies

By: Melissa Grey

3.88

Format: 371 pages, Hardcover

Two teen vigilantes set off on an action-packed investigation to expose corruption and deliver just… read more

Similar categories in Melissa Grey's Valiant Ladies book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • fantasy
  • queer
Cover of Dig Two Graves by Gretchen McNeil

8. Dig Two Graves

By: Gretchen McNeil

3.45

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

I did my part, BFF. Now it’s your turn. Seventeen-year-old film noir fan Neve Lanier is a girl w… read more

Similar categories in Gretchen McNeil's Dig Two Graves book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • mystery thriller
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
Cover of My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham

9. My Dearest Darkest

By: Kayla Cottingham

3.74

Format: 352 pages, Paperback

WILDER GIRLS meets THE CRAFT in this Sapphic horror debut that asks: What price would you be willin… read more

Similar categories in Kayla Cottingham's My Dearest Darkest book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • fantasy
  • queer
Cover of I'm the Girl by Courtney Summers

10. I'm the Girl

By: Courtney Summers

3.39

Format: 344 pages, Hardcover

The new groundbreaking queer thriller from New York Times bestselling and Edgar-award Winning autho… read more

Similar categories in Courtney Summers's I'm the Girl book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • mystery thriller
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • queer
Cover of Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne

11. Wake the Bones

By: Elizabeth Kilcoyne

3.45

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

The sleepy little farm that Laurel Early grew up on has awakened. The woods are shifting, the soil … read more

Similar categories in Elizabeth Kilcoyne's Wake the Bones book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • fiction
  • fantasy
  • young adult
  • horror
Cover of Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah

12. Where Darkness Blooms

By: Andrea Hannah

3.48

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

Andrea Hannah's Where Darkness Blooms is a supernatural thriller about an eerie town where the sunf… read more

Similar categories in Andrea Hannah's Where Darkness Blooms book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • mystery thriller
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • fantasy
Cover of Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino

13. Not Good for Maidens

By: Tori Bovalino

3.66

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

Salem’s Lot meets The Darkest Part of the Forest in this horror-fantasy retelling of Christina Ross… read more

Similar categories in Tori Bovalino's Not Good for Maidens book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • fantasy
  • queer
"Lou felt like she'd fallen headfirst into the rabbit hole, if that rabbit hole was also a thrift store run by two bunnies on ecstasy."

-Tori Bovalino, Not Good for Maidens

"It had taken her a while to figure it out, skirting around the Queer Club at school and going to virtual talks with Neela and in-person events with May, but once she tried the ace label on, she felt …"

-Tori Bovalino, Not Good for Maidens

Cover of To Break a Covenant by Alison Ames

14. To Break a Covenant

By: Alison Ames

3.67

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

Debut voice Alison Ames delivers with a chilling, feminist thriller, perfect for fans of Wilder Gir… read more

Similar categories in Alison Ames's To Break a Covenant book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • fantasy
  • queer
Cover of I Am the Ghost in Your House by Mar Romasco-Moore

15. I Am the Ghost in Your House

By: Mar Romasco-Moore

3.74

Format: 432 pages, Hardcover

From the author of Some Kind of Animal comes a wildly unique story about an invisible girl struggli… read more

Similar categories in Mar Romasco-Moore's I Am the Ghost in Your House book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • fantasy
  • queer
"I can be seen only when I'm dead."

-Mar Romasco-Moore, I Am the Ghost in Your House

"But you are all I see. You are all I ever see."

-Mar Romasco-Moore, I Am the Ghost in Your House

"It wasn't a proper romance, I know that, but it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me. She took over my thoughts, my every waking hour. All my life became a letter to her."

-Mar Romasco-Moore, I Am the Ghost in Your House

"I always had to pretend back then," he said. "Trying to act the way I was supposed to, to understand what people wanted from me. Alone is not synonymous with lonely. Out in the world, everyone tells …"

-Mar Romasco-Moore, I Am the Ghost in Your House

Cover of Monstrous by Jessica   Lewis

16. Monstrous

By: Jessica Lewis

3.88

Format: 432 pages, Paperback

Forced to spend her summer in her aunt's strange small town, a teen girl discovers dark secrets hid… read more

Similar categories in Jessica Lewis's Monstrous book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • fantasy
  • queer
Cover of Cake Eater by Allyson Dahlin

17. Cake Eater

By: Allyson Dahlin

3.62

Format: 448 pages, Paperback

She has a million followers on social media. She uses her fashion-forward eye to pick the perfec… read more

Similar categories in Allyson Dahlin's Cake Eater book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • fiction
  • fantasy
  • young adult
Cover of Dead End Girls by Wendy Heard

18. Dead End Girls

By: Wendy Heard

3.79

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

In one week, Maude will be dead. At least, that’s what she wants everyone to think. After years of … read more

Similar categories in Wendy Heard's Dead End Girls book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • mystery thriller
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
Cover of Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin

19. Primal Animals

By: Julia Lynn Rubin

3.14

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

Protect the girls Arlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rocka… read more

Similar categories in Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • mystery thriller
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • fantasy
  • queer
"He had it coming. Don’t waste your tears and cry for him. Don’t ever cry for a boy. Not even a dead one."

-Julia Lynn Rubin, Primal Animals

"I had her, if only for a little while. We kissed. We laughed. I felt love radiating through her. I tear a handful of clovers from the ground and squeeze them together, the green juices staining my fi…"

-Julia Lynn Rubin, Primal Animals

Cover of Bad Graces by Kyrie McCauley

20. Bad Graces

By: Kyrie McCauley

3.79

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

Yellowjackets meets House of Hollow in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s gripping and magical Y… read more

Similar categories in Kyrie McCauley's Bad Graces book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • horror
  • mystery
  • thriller
  • fantasy
Cover of Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder by Saundra Mitchell

21. Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder

By: Saundra Mitchell

3.74

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

Into the queer new yonder! To conclude the trio of anthologies that started with critically acclaim… read more

Similar categories in Saundra Mitchell's Out There: Into the Queer New Yonder book and Julia Lynn Rubin's Primal Animals

  • lesbian
  • lgbt
  • young adult
  • fiction
  • fantasy
  • queer

12 Best thriller books like Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin

Transform Your Habits

Under This Red Rock

Mindy McGinnis

3.94

Transform Your Habits

Where Echoes Die

Courtney Gould

3.60

Transform Your Habits

The Wicked Unseen

Gigi Griffis

3.73

Transform Your Habits

One Last Breath

Ginny Myers Sain

3.83

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18 must-read young adult books like Mermaids Never Drown: Tales to Dive For by Zoraida Córdova

Transform Your Habits

Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection

Madeline Dyer

3.98

Transform Your Habits

The Hills of Estrella Roja

Ashley Robin Franklin

3.98

Transform Your Habits

Mermaids Never Drown: Tales to Dive For

Zoraida Córdova

3.67

Transform Your Habits

Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror Delight

Shelly Page

3.84

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