Day’s YA: UNTIL THE LAST LIGHT GOES OUT

UNTIL THE LAST LIGHT GOES OUT by Courtney Gould
9781250423474
10/13/2026
Wednesday Books
Ages 13-18

E-galley available on Edelweiss and NetGalley

Twenty-five years ago, a Miami senior class celebrated the end of their high school years at the Kaleidoscope Key Resort. 188 students entered the swanky hotel that night. Only five survived to see the next morning. And those five survivors have never talked about what happened. Paige Keller’s mom was one of the survivors, and Paige has spent her life trying to put the massacre behind her. She has no interest in the mystery that the rest of the world can’t seem to let go of. But her best friend KJ, another survivors’ kid, has always been obsessed with the resort. When KJ goes missing on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the deaths, Paige knows exactly where to find her. So Paige and the remaining survivors’ kids enter the abandoned resort, just like their parents did decades ago, only to find that the hotel is nothing like what they thought. Once they’re inside, there’s no way back out, and the long-buried truth of what happened to their parents is slowly uncovered.

Courtney Gould is a star on the rise in the YA horror world, and this newest installment from her only adds to her starpower. At the forefront, UNTIL THE LAST LIGHT GOES OUT is a blood-splattered gothic horror filled with some of the best classic horror tropes ala Stephen King. But as you venture deeper into the book—and deeper into the Kaleidoscope—you learn that at its core, this is a multigenerational story about complex mother-daughter relationships, friendship, and queer love. With chapters from the past and present, and mind-boggling twists and turns, the truth of what’s really going on is both a slow-burn reveal and a wild rollercoaster ride, all cast in the nostalgic neon glow of the Miami heat. Courtney has a history of scaring me to my bones with her atmospheric and emotional YA horror novels, and this is Courtney at her best and scariest. 

“A disorienting hell ride that’s a sure-fire hit for horror fans.” —Kirkus Reviews

Happy reading!
<3 Emily

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