Author Spotlight on Kara Thomas

This Author spotlight on Kara Thomas will focus on an author who got her start way back in the 2010s, writing a Gossip-Girl inspired YA series under the name Kara Taylor. After that, she wrote YA suspense fiction as Kara Thomas from 2016 to 2021. Recently, she’s been writing adult suspense. This is a perfect author to explore if you’re wondering what to read after 2010s YA!

Author Spotlight on Kara Thomas

I’ll look at Kara Thomas’s YA Books and then focus on her adult books, looking at what I think were her YA and adult influences.

YA Books by Kara Thomas

Prep School Confidential (as Kara Taylor; three book series 2013-2014)

After an unfortunate accident at her NYC private school, Anne gets sent to a school in Boston. There her roommate is murdered, she investigates the death of a former student decades ago, and the disappearance of a teachers.

These feel very influenced by Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars.

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Darkest Corners (2016)

I also think suspense author Gillian Flynn was a big influence on Kara Thomas (and a lot of other suspense authors, even to this day!

This is what I said about Darkest Corners in 2016:

A pretty solid YA thriller for fans of true crime. I thought it had some similarities (besides the title – ha ha) to Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, with the true crime themes and the girl revisiting her dark childhood.

For me, The Darkest Corners took a while to get started as it explored the main character’s dysfunctional family and friendship relationships. But I’m glad I kept reading, because the last quarter was really good and the resolution much more surprising than I expected. 

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Little Monsters (2017)

Here’s what I said about Little Monsters in 2017:

I was a huge fan ofDarkest Corners, but didn’t think feel this was quite as strong. There was definitely a sense of suspense, but for me it didn’t build as the book went on, and the unlikeabilty of many of the characters kept me from being as invested as I could have. While I admired the WTF aspect of the killer’s identity, I’m not sure I really found it plausible.

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The Cheerleaders (2018)

Here’s part of what I said in my full review of The Cheerleaders in 2018:

The Cheerleaders was about Monica, a girl trying to get to the bottom of her sister’s suicide five years earlier, which she begins to think is connected to the deaths of four other Sunnybrook cheerleaders.

What I think The Cheerleaders did really well was present a lot of possible suspects and keep me guessing. I had a feeling about where the story was going and I was (mostly) right, but I was never sure until the very end.

That Weekend (2021)

I didn’t read this but it’s about a girl who does on a weekend away with two friends … who disappear. Classic unreliable narrator story. It sounds good and I want to read it!

The Champions (2024)

This sequel to The Cheerleaders was interesting in that it fast-forwarded six years from the first book. Read my Review of The Champions here!

Adult Books by Kara Thomas: Are They What to Read After 2010s YA?

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Out of the Ashes (2023)

This story uses the now-familiar trope of a woman returning to her hometown to confront a family tragedy. The main character learns something shocking: her sister, presumed dead in a tragic house fire, might actually be alive.

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Lost to Dune Road (2024)

You can read my full review of Lost to Dune Road on my mystery and thriller website, but I also feel the Gillian Flynn influence here, as as disgraced journalist struggles to find work and can’t quite let go of the case that ruined her: one inspired by a real life True Crime case.

Are books by Kara Thomas what to read after 2010s YA?

Absolutely! Like Megan Miranda, I feel like Kara Thomas was a little off-trend in her YA suspense novels.

Mystery and suspense never really caught on in 2010s YA, which was obsessed with fantasy trilogies and dystopian YA.

That changed in the late 2010s and 2020s as books like the One of us is Lying series and The Good Girls Guide to Murder series became massive hits and sparked many more YA mysteries and thrillers. Sometimes timings is everything!