ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
OLDER FICTION
Brown, Erik J.

Better the Devil

400 pp. | HarperCollins/Storytide | January, 2026 | Trade ISBN 9780063338326 $19.99
(2) YA What begins as a queer identity–focused young adult novel quickly turns into a dark mystery. The teen protagonist has fled his West Virginia home because his parents intend to send him to conversion therapy. After living on the streets for eight months, he is caught shoplifting and arrested. In order to escape charges, the boy assumes the identity of Nate Beaumont, a child who went missing years earlier, and becomes part of a loving Maryland family. While the faux Nate contends with his growing mountain of lies and attempts to establish relationships with his new family, he experiences moments of unconditional love but also begins to question strange, sinister occurrences. He finds acceptance with a childhood friend of Nate’s who runs a true crime podcast, and the two secretly team up to piece together what happened to the actual Nate, but they quickly become involved in a situation full of dangerous twists and gruesome violence. While an action-filled narrative drives the plot, readers get to know characters whose likability duels with the suspicions against them. The story questions how far beyond reason a person might go to feel accepted—or to exert diabolical control. A compelling thriller that is not for the faint of heart.
Reviewer: Nicholas A. Brown | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2026

RELATED 

OLDER FICTION

The Trouble with Heroes
by Messner, Kate
OLDER FICTION

One Kiss
by Jocelyn, Marthe
OLDER FICTION

The Trouble with Secrets
by Milliner, Naomi
OLDER FICTION

Family Week
by Moon, Sarah
OLDER FICTION

The Family I'm In
by Flake, Sharon G.
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?