They Call Her Regret

By Author / Illustrator

Channelle Desamours

Genre

Suspense & Thrillers

Age range(s)

14+

Publisher

Bloomsbury YA

ISBN

9781526675019

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

12-02-2026

Synopsis

A page-turning thriller with a supernatural twist by the author of Needy Little Things, perfect for fans of Signed Sealed Dead and Harrow Lake.

'A dark spectre lives on the banks of Yearwood Lake.
Make a deal and you're in her debt.
Those who've met her call her Regret.'

Halloween is Simone's favourite holiday. Every year she throws an epic, spooky party, and this time she's hosting it beside a lake, where legend has it that a haunting figure named Regret makes deadly deals with trespassers.

Simone isn't worried about all of that - she just wants to have fun, scare her friends and distract herself from her own dark secrets. But in the dead of the night, things begin to go very wrong. When her best friend's life is in danger and Regret appears, Simone must make a choice. How far will she go to save her friend?

Every deal comes with a price ...

'Unsettling, page-turning' Guardian

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Reviews

Sue

Simone loves Hallowe'en and enjoys throwing the best spooky party each year. Seeking a suitably eerie location, she discovers a cabin in the woods by Yearwood Lake. Known locally as Doll's Head Lake, the area is reputedly haunted by a dark spectre called Regret. Keen to distract herself from the secrets she herself is carrying, Simone plans a scare-filled weekend for her friends. However, things go badly wrong and Simone comes face to face with Regret who issues her with a deadly choice . . .

A real page turner, They Call Her Regret is a great read. Full of suspense and mystery, it is laced with red herrings and misdirection, keeping the reader guessing to the very end. Simone is used to wearing 'masks', keeping her feelings and the weight of the secrets she carries hidden from those around her. She appears to be very much in control of her life, popular and happy, but lurking beneath the surface are feelings of guilt and anxiety about her mother leaving her and her father, the death of a friend in a hit and run and a secret kiss she shared with her best friend's boyfriend.

Hints and clues at what has happened are given as the story progresses and Simone strives to settle the deal she has made with Regret, creating a compelling and tension-filled read. Fulfilling her side of the bargain leads Simone into investigating events from her town's past as well as facing up to some of her own mistakes which are haunting her.

The story is cleverly constructed with false paths laid to mislead, twists and surprises, all leading to a very satisfying and unexpected conclusion. Although perhaps not the best thing to be reading late at night, still I could not put it down until I had finished!

320 pages / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher