Books like 'It's Only a Game'

Readers who enjoyed It's Only a Game by Kelsea Yu also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  mystery  horror  lgbtq  thriller  poc-mc  asian-mc  crime

  • The Know by Martina Cole

    The Know by Martina Cole

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Joanie Brewer' s children meant the world to her. She'd do anything to protect them, even resorting to prostitution and petty crime in order to feed and clothe them. So when her beautiful teenage daughter is raped and murdered, only one thing will stop Joanie's pain - seeing her daughter's killer brought to justice. Joanie knows who he is and she'll do whatever it takes to nail him..
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  family  fiction  horror
  • Vražedná lhůta by Andreas Gruber

    Vražedná lhůta by Andreas Gruber

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Když do 48 hodin zjistíte, proč jsem tu ženu unesl, zůstane naživu. Pokud ne, zemře.Tímto poselstvím začíná perverzní hra sériového vraha. Nechává své oběti vyhladovět, utopit v inkoustu nebo je zaživa zalije do betonu. Mnichovská komisařka Sabine Nemezová zoufale hledá nějaké vysvětlení, motiv...
  • Der Insasse by Sebastian Fitzek

    Der Insasse by Sebastian Fitzek

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Vor einem Jahr verschwand der kleine Max Berghoff.Nur der Täter weiß, was mit ihm geschah.Doch der sitzt im Hochsicherheitstrakt der Psychiatrie und schweigt.Max' Vater bleibt nur ein Weg, um endlich Gewissheit zu haben: Er muss selbst zum Insassen werden.Der InsasseUm die Wahrheit zu finden, muss er seinen Verstand verlieren...
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary  fiction  horror
  • A Caller's Game by J.D. Barker

    A Caller's Game by J.D. Barker

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    DIE HARD meets TALK RADIO in this heart-pounding, relentlessly fast-paced thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Fourth Monkey—master of suspense, J.D. Barker. "I'm going to offer you a choice." Controversial satellite radio talk show host, Jordan Briggs, has clawed her way to the top of the broadcast world...
  • Jantar Secreto by Raphael Montes

    Jantar Secreto by Raphael Montes

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Um grupo de jovens deixa uma pequena cidade no Paraná para viver no Rio de Janeiro. Eles alugam um apartamento em Copacabana e fazem o possível para pagar a faculdade e manter vivos seus sonhos de sucesso na capital fluminense. Mas o dinheiro está curto e o aluguel está vencido...
    Categorized as:
    crime  lgbtq  horror  suspense  fiction  contemporary  mystery  terror
  • Labyrinthes by Franck Thilliez

    Labyrinthes by Franck Thilliez

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Une scène de pure folie dans un chalet. Une victime au visage réduit en bouillie à coups de tisonnier. Et une suspecte atteinte d’une étrange amnésie. Camille Nijinski, en charge de l’enquête, a besoin de comprendre cette subite perte de mémoire, mais le psychiatre avec lequel elle s’entretient à bien plus à lui apprendre. Car avant de tout oublier, sa patiente lui a confié son histoire...
  • The Couple at No. 9 by Claire Douglas

    The Couple at No. 9 by Claire Douglas

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    It was the house of their dreams. Until the bodies were found . . . BODIES FOUND UNDER PATIOWhen pregnant Saffron Cutler moves into 9 Skelton Place with boyfriend Tom and sets about renovations the last thing she expects is builders uncovering a body - two bodies, in fact.POLICE INVESTIGATEForensics indicate the bodies have been buried at least thirty years. Nothing Saffy need worry herself over...
    Categorized as:
    crime  lgbtq  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary  death
  • Five Survive by Holly Jackson

    Five Survive by Holly Jackson

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    The brand new unmissable crime thriller from Holly Jackson, best-selling, award-winning author of the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy.Eight hours.Six friends.One sniper . . .Eighteen year old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere...
  • The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

    The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying… yet enticing...
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  poc-mc  horror  fiction  contemporary  mystery  dark
  • Le Manuscrit Inachevé by Franck Thilliez, Jean-Yves Berteloot

    Le Manuscrit Inachevé by Franck Thilliez, Jean-Yves Berteloot

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Aux alentours de Grenoble, un jeune a fini sa trajectoire dans un ravin après une course-poursuite avec la douane. Dans son coffre, le corps d’une femme, les orbites vides, les mains coupées et rassemblées dans un sac...
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary  fiction  horror
  • Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

    Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 5 ratings
    Sly, surprising, and razor-sharp, Natural Beauty follows a young musician into an elite, beauty-obsessed world where perfection comes at a staggering cost.Our narrator produces a sound from the piano no one else at the Conservatory can. She employs a technique she learned from her parents—also talented musicians—who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution...
    Categorized as:
    crime  lgbtq  poc-mc  adult  book  contemporary  fiction  gothic
  • A Child for the Devil by Conrad Jones

    A Child for the Devil by Conrad Jones

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    A Child for the Devil is a full length dark thriller based on the novella 'Nine Angels'. When the author Conrad Jones was asked to help the police with the investigation into a double murder by identifying occult symbols, which had been carved into the victims, he is plunged into a nightmare and forced to go on the run...
  • #NoEscape  (Volume 3) by Gretchen McNeil

    #NoEscape (Volume 3) by Gretchen McNeil

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    The #murder and mayhem continue in this prequel companion novel to the grisly, campy social media insanity that is #MurderTrending and #MurderFunding. Gretchen McNeil brings her signature wit and merciless kills to this gruesome yet hilarious, wildly topical young adult novel.Twenty years before Dee Guerra and the Death Row Breakfast Club took down The Postman and Alcatraz 2...
  • Small Town Nightmare by Anna Willett

    Small Town Nightmare by Anna Willett

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    A young drifter is in deep trouble, his sister is his only hope... Lucy’s younger brother has gone missing. When she sets out to find him, the trail takes her to Night Town. It’s a rural backwater deep in the forests of south western Australia. Lucy tries to enlist the help of the local police, but she is met with hostility. She befriends a man who might help her cause...
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  fiction  heist  horror
  • Three Strikes by Kate Kessler

    Three Strikes by Kate Kessler

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Three Strikes is the new novel in a thriller series where a criminal psychologist uses her own dark past to help law enforcement catch dangerous killers.Thanksgiving is approaching, and Audrey Harte has a lot to be thankful for -- her mother has recovered from surgery, her relationship with Jake is solid, her father is relatively sober, and her career is evolving in an exciting direction...
  • American Devil by Oliver Stark

    American Devil by Oliver Stark

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    A violent killer is stalking New York's streets, and the trophies he will take from his victims are essential if he is to complete his masterpiece. That he also likes playing games with the police and his pray is a bonus. He can outwit everyone he comes up against...
  • Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson

    Black for Remembrance by Carlene Thompson

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Caroline Webb knows what it means to lose the person you love most. Twenty years ago, her five-year-old daughter, Hayley, was the light of her life, her treasure, her angle. Then came the terrible day when Hayley was kidnapped from her favorite swing. More than a month passed before her burned, lifeless body was found. All that remained was the silence of Caroline's heartache--and her guilt..
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  fiction  horror  mystery
  • Nailed by Joseph Flynn

    Nailed by Joseph Flynn

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Ron Ketchum saw his share of the dark side of life as a cop in Los Angeles. Then he left L.A. to become the chief of police in the Sierra Nevada resort town of Goldstrike. One sunny morning in the mountains, though, he comes upon a crime unlike anything he’s ever seen before. He finds the body of an African American man nailed to a tree...
    Categorized as:
    crime  poc-mc  adult  book  contemporary  cozy  fiction  horror
  • Tortured Dreams by Hadena James

    Tortured Dreams by Hadena James

    Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    When the US Marshals Serial Crimes Tracking Unit comes knocking at Aislinn Cain's door, she is given a chance to use her past to save other people's futures. She has survived attacks by two different serial killers and devoted her life to studying the darker side of human history. A new killer is using medieval torture methods to slay his victims...
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary  fiction  horror
  • Escape! by Iain Rob Wright

    Escape! by Iain Rob Wright

    Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Brand new Horror novel from acclaimed author Iain Rob Wright. Can you figure out the secrets of "the room" and escape before it's too late?Cheryl is about to learn that the people she works with are keeping a secret. One they are willing to kill for.Cheryl is the new girl at work, which is why she feels like she doesn't have a choice when she's asked to go on a "company outing...
  • Twelve by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

    Twelve by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Cassie Hobbes has been working with the FBI since she was a teenager. Now twenty-three years old, she and her fellow Naturals have taken over running the program that taught them everything they know. As a unit, they're responsible for identifying new Naturals--and solving particularly impossible cases...
    Categorized as:
    crime  lgbtq  thriller  abuse  book  contemporary  espionage  fiction
  • The Islanders by Caroline Mitchell

    The Islanders by Caroline Mitchell

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    She thinks the island will keep her safe—she is wrong.Traumatised by the death of a child in her care, top London paediatrician Claire seeks refuge on remote Selkie Island in the wilds of the Irish Sea with her husband Daniel and their baby daughter Kitty...
  • Broken Dolls by James Carol

    Broken Dolls by James Carol

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Jefferson Winter is no ordinary investigator.The son of one of America's most renowned serial killers, Winter has spent his life trying to distance himself from his father's legacy. Once a rising star at the FBI, he is now a freelance consultant, jetting around the globe helping local law enforcement agencies with difficult cases. He's not got Da Vinci's IQ, but he's pretty close...
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary  fiction  horror
  • Keep It In The Family by John Marrs

    Keep It In The Family by John Marrs

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    In this chilling novel from bestselling author John Marrs, a young couple’s house hides terrible secrets—and not all of them are confined to the past.Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant. But just when they think the house is ready, Mia discovers a chilling message scored into a skirting board: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC...
  • Paranoia by Franck Thilliez

    Paranoia by Franck Thilliez

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Rare...
  • You're Family Now by Jack Stainton

    You're Family Now by Jack Stainton

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘ EPIC!! EPIC!! EPIC!! This book had EVERYTHING I love in a book!! ' Goodreads ReviewerHe only had to do one thing. Love her family…Matt Walker was a chancer; he’d spent his entire profession chasing the next job. His personal life took on a similar mantra; a succession of one-night stands and brief relationships. Life was slowly drifting him by...
  • No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara

    No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara

    Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Two children get on the train. Only one gets off...No one saw it happen.You stand on a crowded tube platform in London. Your two little girls jump on the train ahead of you. As you try to join them, the doors slide shut and the train moves away, leaving you behind.Everyone is lying.By the time you get to the next stop, you've convinced yourself that everything will be fine...
  • Blood Echo by Christopher Rice

    Blood Echo by Christopher Rice

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    A conspiracy that promises bloodshed and the only woman who can stop it collide in the page-turning thriller by Christopher Rice, Amazon Charts bestselling author of Bone Music. Kidnapped and raised by serial killers, Charlotte Rowe suffered an ordeal that made her infamous. Everyone in the world knew who she was. But no one in the world has any idea what she’s become…Charlotte is an experiment...
  • Penance by Eliza Clark

    Penance by Eliza Clark

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    One of Granta's Best Young British Novelists 2023From the author of the cult hit Boy Parts comes a chilling, brilliantly told story of murder among a group of teenage girls—a powerful and disturbing novel as piercing in its portrait of young women as Emma Cline’s The Girls...
  • ASBO by Iain Rob Wright

    ASBO by Iain Rob Wright

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    YOUR FEAR IS THEIR ENTERTAINMENT...Andrew’s life is one of bored contentedness: a teenage daughter, a faithful wife, and a middle-class job. He even has a Mercedes. His life is without drama, and the comfort of middle-age is setting in.That all changes when he refuses to buy a pack of cigarettes for the local gang of youths...
  • L'Âme du mal by Maxime Chattam

    L'Âme du mal by Maxime Chattam

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Pas plus que sa jeune assistante, l'inspecteur-profileur Brolin ne pense que les serial killers reviennent d'outre-tombe. Fût-il le monstrueux bourreau de Portland qui étouffait et vitriolait ses victimes avant de les découper avec précision. Mais le bourreau est mort et le carnage se poursuit, identique : un même rituel horrible...
  • Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

    Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists returns…with a family reunion that leads to murder.After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours...
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  fiction  gothic  horror
  • The Valley of Lost Children by David Barbur

    The Valley of Lost Children by David Barbur

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    It starts with a footprint. It ends with a murder.Wildlife tracker and wilderness survival expert Tye Caine just wants to live in the woods and be left alone, but a killer haunts the misty forests of the Pacific Northwest. When someone attempts to abduct a child, and a local resident is murdered, Tye is drawn into a web of hidden secrets and madness...
  • Prey by James Carol

    Prey by James Carol

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    HAS JEFFERSON WINTER FINALLY MET HIS MATCH?Six years ago a young married couple were found brutally stabbed to death in their home in Upstate New York. Local police arrested a suspect who later committed suicide...
  • The Escape Room by L.D. Smithson

    The Escape Room by L.D. Smithson

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Everything is a clue.Eight strangers arrive at a remote sea fort off the coast of England. They are here to take part in The Fortress, a mysterious reality TV show in which contestants have to solve a series of complex puzzles. But this is no game, and the consequences of failure are more deadly than anyone anticipated.No one leaves...
  • Ink by Jonathan Maberry

    Ink by Jonathan Maberry

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    From New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry comes a standalone supernatural thriller Ink, about a memory thief who feeds on the most precious of dreams.Tattoo-artist Patty Cakes has her dead daughter’s face tattooed on the back of her hand. Day by day it begins to fade, taking with it all of Patty’s memories of her daughter...
    Categorized as:
    crime  lgbtq  poc-mc  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary  dark
  • The Black Queen by Jumata Emill

    The Black Queen by Jumata Emill

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Nova Albright was going to be the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High--but now she's dead. Murdered on coronation night. Fans of One of Us Is Lying and The Other Black Girl will love this unputdownable thriller.Nova Albright, the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High, is dead...
  • I Am Dust by Louise Beech

    I Am Dust by Louise Beech

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    The Dean Wilson Theatre is believed to be haunted by a long-dead actress, singing her last song, waiting for her final cue, looking for her killer… Now Dust, the iconic musical, is returning after twenty years...
    Categorized as:
    crime  lgbtq  thriller  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary  fiction
  • Neutral Mask by Barry Lyga

    Neutral Mask by Barry Lyga

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Connie is the new girl in town, but she already has friends...and maybe even a boyfriend. Her father isn't happy that Connie is dating a white boy like Jasper Dent, and things get even worse when she realizes that Jasper is the son of Billy Dent, one of the world's most notorious serial killers! This is the story of how Connie and Jazz overcame their early troubles and fell in love...
  • Lincoln Hospital by Cassia Brightmore

    Lincoln Hospital by Cassia Brightmore

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    On the twenty-third day—he hunts, bringing the scum of the earth to justice; his justice. Ending up as a patient on Dr. O’Reilly’s table could either save your life or end it in the most horrific way. New York City. The infamous city that never sleeps; the place where dreams either shine brightly or shatter into razor sharp pieces of metal. For Dr...
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  dark  fiction  horror
  • Ward D by Freida McFadden

    Ward D by Freida McFadden

    Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars
    · 33 ratings
    Medical student Amy Brenner is spending the night on a locked psychiatric ward.Amy has been dreading her evening working on Ward D, the hospital’s inpatient mental health unit. There are very specific reasons why she never wanted to do this required overnight rotation. Reasons nobody can ever find out...
  • The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

    The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

    Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    The Plot meets Please Join Us in this psychological suspense debut about a young author at an exclusive writer’s retreat that descends into a nightmare.Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo...
    Categorized as:
    crime  lgbtq  thriller  adult  book  contemporary  dark  female-mc
  • Eyeshot by Taylor Adams

    Eyeshot by Taylor Adams

    Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    James and Elle Eversman are a young couple travelling through the Mojave desert on their way to a new life. When their car mysteriously breaks down they are stranded in the middle of nowhere without much water and no cell-phone reception.A mile away a deadly sniper has them in his cross-hairs. They are pinned down behind their broken-down car, surrounded by open ground in all directions...
  • Twisted: The Collected Short Stories by Jeffery Deaver

    Twisted: The Collected Short Stories by Jeffery Deaver

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver has long thrilled fans with tales of masterful villains and their nefarious ways, and the brilliant minds who bring them to justice. Now the author of the Lincoln Rhyme series has collected for the first time his award-winning, spine-tingling stories of suspense -- stories that will widen your eyes and stretch your imagination...
  • The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

    The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of legendary horror author Vincent Taylor, famous not only for his novels but for being the prime suspect in the brutal slaying of his siblings...
  • Smilin' Sam's Corn Maze by Stephanie Perry Scissom

    Smilin' Sam's Corn Maze by Stephanie Perry Scissom

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    When her seven-year-old daughter Lizzy disappeared into a corn maze on Halloween night in 1984, Catherine Bryant didn’t think she’d survive the loss.For nearly forty years, Catherine has struggled with her grief and guilt, so when her doctor delivers a fatal diagnosis, it’s almost a relief.But something is happening to Catherine...
  • The Midnight Game by Cynthia Murphy

    The Midnight Game by Cynthia Murphy

    Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Rules of The Midnight Game:Do not turn on the lights.Do not go to sleep.Do not leave the building.When a group who have met on a creepy Deddit thread decide to meet in real life, they only have one plan in mind: they are going to summon the Midnight Man. And once you start the Midnight Game, you must finish it - there's no other way out! Six strangers. One night...
  • My Darkest Prayer by S.A. Cosby

    My Darkest Prayer by S.A. Cosby

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby’s debut novel My Darkest Prayer is republished in a new edition, with a new introduction from the author.“S.A. Cosby’s reissued debut thriller proves he was a master from the start…Cosby has in three books emerged as one of the genre’s best living practitioners...its reissue is a brilliant idea.” ―Los Angeles Times“I handle the bodies...
    Categorized as:
    crime  thriller  poc-mc  mystery  fiction  audiobook  suspense  noir
  • El libro negro de las horas by Eva García Sáenz de Urturi

    El libro negro de las horas by Eva García Sáenz de Urturi

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Alguien que lleva muerto cuarenta años no puede ser secuestrado y, desde luego, no puede sangrar.Vitoria, 2022...
  • Something Dangerous by Patrick Redmond

    Something Dangerous by Patrick Redmond

    Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Alternate title: The wishing gameKirkston Abbey is no place for weak or sensitive boys. Jonathan Palmer cant believe his good fortune when Richard Rokeby seeks out his friendship. Rokeby is everything Jonathan is not: wealthy, strong, handsome, aloofeven the professors cant touch him. As the bond between the two boys deepens, Rokeby grows increasingly possessive...
Fantastic book recommendations by book lovers for book lovers.
Find out more about thebooknaut.com.



Looking for more inspiration? Enter another book title to get more suggestions on what to read next.


Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.