Early Review: And Then We Screamed

And Then We Screamed by Holly Bourne

Published By: Usborne Publishing
Publication Date: September 10, 2026
Date Read: August 5, 2026
Genre: YA – Contemporary / Thriller
Source: eARC from Usborne and Netgalley
Format: E-Book
Pages: 384

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The mind-blowing new novel full of mystery, conspiracy and dark secrets from bestselling Holly Bourne, for fans of Kathleen Glasgow and e. lockhart

Everything was perfect in the small town of Maple Lakes…until the cheerleaders started screaming.

Clover wishes something would happen in her boring high school – so she can spend more time with her crush Brody, covering it for the school newspaper. But she never wished for this…

When cheerleader Abigail starts screaming in the middle of an exam, people laugh. But as more girls start breaking into uncontrollable screaming fits, it’s clear something is seriously wrong. The authorities don’t have a clue what’s happening – so it’s up to Clover and Brody to investigate. What they discover is a darkness beneath the perfect veneer of Maple Lakes – and it is spreading fast.

I’ve been a big Holly Bourne fan for a long time. I remember picking up Soulmates, Holly’s debut back when it first released, and I’ve loved seeing her grow more and more popular for her wonderful YA books. I’ve read and loved so many of them, and I was so excited to hear that her new YA novel would be more on the thriller/mystery side than just a contemporary. As someone who loves a thriller, I couldn’t wait. I had such high hopes for this book, and it met every one of those expectations. This book was fantastic. I couldn’t put it down.

And Then We Screamed is set in a small town in the USA who find themselves at the centre of a bizarre scandal. Some of their female students are going into ‘screaming fits’ where their eyes glaze over, they scream and collapse. When they come to, they have no memory of the scream. The students who work for the school newspaper are determined to find out what is happening, why the girls are screaming and how to stop it. But when their principal forbids any talk of what is happening, they go to desperate measures to uncover the truth.

And Then We Screamed is the first Holly Bourne book I’ve read that has not been set in the UK. I don’t know if she has done this before, as admittedly I haven’t read every single one of her books, but for me it was the first one set in the USA that I’ve read, so that was something really different for me. I think this was really refreshing and it was nice to get a British author’s take on a USA high school experience. I found it really refreshing, and it felt really authentic which was fantastic. I really loved that the book was wrote on a mix of prose and interviews (after the events of the book). It really kept me fully engaged and dying to know what was going to happen.

I really loved the concept of this book. It was so intriguing to me. I honestly couldn’t figure out what was going on for the longest time throughout this book. I sped through it as I really couldn’t wait to get to the bottom of the screaming and figure out what was the underlying cause. Was it something more spooky and supernatural? Or more mundane? I had so many theories throughout the book, and while I had an inkling of the cause, I definitely didn’t guess everything that was revealed at the end. Want to know what it was? Well, you’ll just have to read this fantastic book and find out. You’ll get no spoilers from me!

As with every Holly Bourne book there are feminist tones threaded throughout, and I really loved the messages that were given in this one. I can’t say a lot because it will definitely spoil the twist, but what I can say is that there is a big element of the book that focuses on girls just not being believed. These girls are not remembering the screams, and as more and more girls become afflicted with the screaming, there’s a lot of discourse about it not being real and girls just attention seeking. I felt like this was such an important rhetoric to explore in a YA book like this. After finishing the book, I felt like the whole thing was just so powerful and impactful in it’s message, I truly believe everyone should read this book. It should absolutely be required reading for every teen,

And Then We Screamed was so different to what I was expecting, in the best way possible. I was so surprised and I truly loved every moment of it. It was emotional, and hard hitting in places, with female friendship and relationships at the centre of it. I really enjoyed every moment of this book and I would highly recommend this book to everyone. Pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.