Genre 📚: YA Horror, Thriller, Paranormal
Tropes 💁♀️: Haunted lake, Witch’s curse, Murder mystery
Rep ✔️: Black main characters
CW ⚠️: Loss of a loved one, murder, car accident, drowning, drug use, alcoholism
Rating ⭐️: 4.5/5
*blink blink* Wow… Well, that was something. 😨 They Call Her Regret follows FMC Simone, who is living with many dark secrets and, as the title suggests, regrets. One night, she and some friends have a party by the lake that’s supposedly haunted by a witch. Things go terribly wrong when Simone’s best friend Kira dies in an accident. The witch appears to Simone, offering her a deal: The witch will bring Kira back to life, and in return, Simone will find a way to free the spirit. If Simone fails, she’ll have to kill Kira again herself.
I was expecting a fun, spooky story — and I certainly got that — but this book was so much more. Once the deal was made and Simone’s fate was sealed, the story launched into the juiciest, twistiest mystery. Simone teamed up with an old friend (and love interest) to look into the witch’s history, trying to discern fact from gossip, and they found themselves digging up a chain of buried tragedies. All the while, Simone was having to come to terms with her mistakes, her loved ones’ mistakes, and how to move forward.
I had a grand ol’ time putting the puzzle pieces together, alongside Simone and love interest Cory. The vibes were the perfect mix of a Halloween-themed Disney Channel movie and a classic teen horror flick. The characters did some questionable shit, for sure… But with a creepy witch literally named Regret on their tail, you can’t really blame them. 😅
**Much thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. They Call Her Regret will be released on February 17, 2026.
Sara Bechtol 