
The Dark Cove Theatre Society
Annick Press · Paperback · October 7, 2025
An aspiring young actor must find her place at a cutthroat arts boarding school in this gothic YA debut for fans of Ace of Spades and If We Were Villains.
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- Who it’s for
- For when you want backstage energy, sharpened by a supernatural edge.
- Genres
- Theater & Musicals for Teens, Boarding School YA, YA Mysteries
- Published
- Annick Press, October 7, 2025
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An aspiring young actor must find her place at a cutthroat arts boarding school in this gothic YA debut for fans of Ace of Spades and If We Were Villains. Violet Costantino knows she is already on thin ice this school year: her scholarship has taken a significant hit due to her panic attack during her final performance in acting class last semester—which simultaneously shattered her dreams of becoming a leading lady.
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This year, she is determined to keep her head down and just get through unscathed. But the school seems to have other plans for Violet: to her extreme foreboding, she is cast as one of the leads in the annual Halloween play. What’s worse, the beautiful, infuriatingly talented Frankie Lin and Violet’s ex-crush, Hunter Kinsey, are both cast as her love interests. Despite her initial reluctance, Violet is drawn in by the glamor of the Dark Cove Theatre Society, and she cautiously starts believing that maybe she is cut out for this after all. But lurking in the shadows of Violet’s fragile self-confidence is the rumor of the Society curse, which is said to cause one cast member to drop out before opening night every year, mysteriously and without reason. In this captivating YA debut, The Dark Cove Theatre Society illustrates both the intoxicating and insidious nature of success and the price we are often forced to pay for it. Passages of found text—glimpses of the school’s handbook, secret letters, and other peeks into life at the Academy, including a map and school crest illustrated by artist Lily Huang—seamlessly woven into the plot will immerse readers even further into the lush, magnetic world of Dark Cove.
Backstage Friction
For when you want backstage energy, sharpened by a supernatural edge.
Come here for
- boarding-school theater with a dark edge
- supernatural chill and teen-drama tension
Expect
- category-bending YA
- edgy, immersion-first pacing
Where it sits
| Theater & Musicals for Teens | 56% |
|---|---|
| YA Mysteries | 34% |
| Boarding School YA | 32% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Theater & Musicals for Teens
- YA Romance - LGBTQ+
- Boarding School YA
- Mental Illness for Teens
- Authors
- Sierra Marilyn Riley
- Publisher
- Annick Press
- Published
- October 7, 2025
- Format
- Paperback
- Reading lane
- Theater & Musicals for Teens