I Don't Wish You Well by Jumata Emill
on January 20, 2026
ISBN: 059381102X
Genres: LGBTQ+, Suspense
Format: Young Adult
Goodreads

I Don’t Wish You Well is a teen thriller with social justice themes. Pryce is an aspiring journalist in college who stumbles across a message board post expressing that the person the police said was responsible for the serial murders in Pryce’s town five years ago might actually be innocent. Intrigued, Pryce decides to investigate and start a podcast as a journalism project, but as he starts digging up old secrets, he realizes the consequences are very real, and the real killer might be after him.

School Library Journal suggests grades 10 and up, and I would agree with that age range; unfortunately, there are no content warnings at the beginning of this book. While some teens might be okay with murder and pick this up looking for a good mystery, they could be surprised by the heavy topics of sexual assault, abuse, rape, homophobia, and pedophilia that play a central role in the book.

Content warnings aside, Emill tackles many challenging topics with nuance and thoughtfulness. Themes of social justice, sports (particularly football) culture, privilege, race, intersectionality, sexuality, and coming of age are highlighted and make the reader think. There are also twists and turns the reader might not see coming and will keep them guessing. This would be a great addition to any collection that serves older teens and adults who love murder mysteries, serial killers, teens solving crime, or a page-turning read that you can’t put down. This was a five-star read for me. Reviewed by Katy Jones, Gardiner Area High School Library, Gardiner