Underrated is the most abused word in book blogging, so here is a stricter test. One of Us Is Lying had about 1.12 million Goodreads ratings in a snapshot from October 31, 2026. Every book below has a fraction of that, from a couple of hundred ratings up to roughly sixty thousand, and I list the numbers. Fewer ratings do not make a book better. They do mean fewer people have argued with it, which is half the fun of a thriller. To make the list, a book needed a published premise, a trade review I could open and a Goodreads count I could cite, and every entry carries one honest catch, because none of these is flawless.
If you want one: Dangerous Girls, which has the best average on this list (about 4.06 from roughly 26,000 ratings). For Poe and revenge, The Initial Insult. For a prep-school puzzle with a revenge website, People Like Us. Everything here is researched from publisher pages, trade reviews and reader reactions, and every Goodreads number here is a snapshot from October 31, 2026, so it will have moved. I go from the smallest crowd to the largest.
Fake Plastic Girl by Zara Lisbon
Justine Childs, 16, falls into the world of Eva-Kate Kelly, an emancipated former child star who moves in next door in Venice Beach. Then Eva-Kate ends up dead, and Justine, who has a history of psychiatric care, becomes the main suspect, per Kirkus. Henry Holt published Fake Plastic Girl on March 26, 2019, and the sequel is Fake Plastic World (2020). On Goodreads (October 31, 2026) the first book sits at 3.39 from 221 ratings, the smallest crowd here, and the sequel has 74 ratings at about 3.94, which shows how small this corner is. Kirkus called the debut salaciously entertaining and a disturbing, often depressing look at celebrity obsession, with a Hollywood noir atmosphere. The catch: Kirkus says readers who want the murder investigation must wait for the sequel, and the narrator may not be reliable. Content notes include drugs, alcohol, murder and mind games.
When I Am Through With You by Stephanie Kuehn
Ben Gibson narrates from jail and reveals early on that he killed his girlfriend, Rose. Earlier, he agreed to help lead a camping trip for his school’s orienteering club; he, Rose and six classmates set out, and the trip quickly falls apart, per Kirkus. Dutton published When I Am Through With You on August 1, 2017. Kirkus called it a satisfying, sophisticated study in complicated relationships and praised the taut plotting. Goodreads has it at about 3.17 from roughly 1,790 ratings, the lowest average on this list, so treat it as a lower-rated pick. The catch: Kirkus says the prose can be trenchantly foulmouthed, and the narrator admits to killing his girlfriend, so it is bleak.
The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis
Seven years after her parents vanish, high school senior Tress Montor lives with her negligent grandfather at his exotic animal attraction in the town of Amontillado, shunned by classmates. The one person who may know what happened is Felicity Turnado, Tress’s former best friend and the last person to see her parents alive, per Kirkus. Katherine Tegen Books published it on February 23, 2021, as the first book of a duology, and Goodreads has it at roughly 3.67 from about 7,150 ratings. Kirkus called it a dark, Poe-inspired thriller and praised the echo of The Cask of Amontillado and the panther’s free-verse chapters. The catch: Kirkus describes a slow-burn opening, with longer chapters before the mystery speeds up, and the ending leaves room for the sequel.
People Like Us by Dana Mele
At Bates Academy, Kay Donovan and her popular senior classmates keep a tradition of skinny-dipping in the lake after the Halloween dance. This year they find the body of a fellow student, Jessica Lane. Kay has seen a dead body before, and someone knows it, so when an email from Jessica’s account leads her to a revenge website, she is told to expose her friends’ secrets or have her own revealed, per Kirkus. Putnam published it on February 27, 2018. Goodreads shows 3.51 from 20,077 ratings, and it was a nominee for the 2019 ITW Thriller Award for Best Young Adult Novel. Kirkus called it a fizzy read and praised the nuanced bisexual protagonist. The catch, also from Kirkus: it leans on familiar prep-school tropes, with backstabbing, parties and a mostly white cast of socialites.
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
Anna Chevalier moves to Hillcrest Prep and befriends Elise, the charismatic daughter of a powerful Massachusetts politician. Their senior-year trip to Aruba ends when Elise is stabbed to death, and Anna is left in jail, charged with her best friend’s murder. Simon Pulse published it on July 16, 2013. Kirkus says present-tense narration is interspersed with deposition and TV newscast transcripts, and that the ambiguity over Anna’s guilt sustains the tension to the last page. Goodreads shows about 4.06 from roughly 26,000 ratings, the best average of the six. The catch: Kirkus notes a booze-soaked, sex-filled life and a sensational trial, and says Boston-area readers may spot geographic errors.
The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas
Monica, 16, starts her school year as the fifth anniversary of her older sister Jen’s death approaches. Jen was the last of five cheerleaders to die: two of her friends died in a car accident, two others were murdered, and Jen died by suicide. Monica makes discoveries that lead her to question that account and chase each loose end, per Kirkus. Delacorte published The Cheerleaders on July 31, 2018. This is the least overlooked pick, with about 3.7 from roughly 60,000 ratings on Goodreads, so file it as underrated only by comparison with the million-rating giants. Kirkus called it a busy but satisfying whodunit and said the many characters and shifting perspectives can be hard to track. Content notes: suicide, a 16-year-old character’s pregnancy after a relationship with a man in his twenties, and its termination (per Kirkus’s summary), and murders.
Where to start
If you want a trial and a friendship under pressure, start with Dangerous Girls. If you want gothic revenge, The Initial Insult. If you want a modern prep-school mystery, People Like Us. Choose The Cheerleaders when you want a whodunit with several deaths to untangle, and treat Fake Plastic Girl and When I Am Through With You as the lower-rated picks, the ones to try after you have found out which kind of thriller you like.
Questions readers ask
What counts as underrated here?
Only rating count: each book has far fewer Goodreads ratings than One of Us Is Lying, from about 221 for Fake Plastic Girl up to about 60,000 for The Cheerleaders. The numbers are a Goodreads snapshot from October 31, 2026, and they drift, so treat them as a rough scale rather than a ranking.
Which one is closest to One of Us Is Lying?
People Like Us has the closest setup: a dead classmate, a clique with secrets and a heroine under pressure to expose them. Kirkus calls it a fizzy read for fans of the genre and lists familiar prep-school elements, so it works best if you want the prep-school flavor rather than the same puzzle.
Do any of these have sequels?
The Initial Insult is the first book of a duology, and Goodreads lists a sequel, The Last Laugh. Fake Plastic Girl has a sequel, Fake Plastic World (2020). Abigail Haas also wrote Dangerous Boys. Goodreads lists Dangerous Boys as a separate 2014 thriller rather than a numbered sequel to Dangerous Girls, and dates The Last Laugh to 2022.
Are these suitable for younger teens?
Kirkus recommends People Like Us for ages 14 to 18 and lists Dangerous Girls for 14 and up. Several of these deal with murder, suicide, alcohol and sex, and Kirkus’s summary mentions a terminated pregnancy and suicide in The Cheerleaders, so check the notes above before handing one over.
If you finish this list and want more series to chew through, our YA crime thriller series to binge after A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder has the next stack, and our Coldest Girl in Coldtown review covers a darker vampire turn.
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