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Lindsay Lovise’s The Gingerbread Bones follows delinquent teens on a reality TV show set in a wilderness campThe novel combines elements from Hansel and Gretel and Five SurviveLovise’s new novel will be available in June 2026
A group of teens are being hunted for sport in The Gingerbread Bones.
Lindsay Lovise‘s new novel sees a cast of teenagers make their way through life in a wilderness camp for a reality show about troubled youth. But then their multi-day hike takes a turn for the worst, in this paranormal thriller-romance that combines elements from Hansel and Gretel and Five Survive.
PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover of The Gingerbread Bones, which will debut in the summer of 2026.
The Gingerbread Bones by Lindsay Lovise.
Entangled: Mayhem Books
The Gingerbread Bones meets “delinquent” siblings Georgie and Hamish, as well as a series of other teens with various suspicious or criminal pasts, Lovise tells PEOPLE. Up until their lives at the wilderness camp, they’ve accepted adults’ assessments of them — “losers” — and thus have found themselves on this reality TV show following troubled teens.
But when camp crew and counselors disappear to leave them fending for themselves, the teens are “shaved down to who they really are” as they fight a terrifying battle against a supernatural predator.
“When I set out to write this book, I knew I wanted to make it ‘creepy,’ but even I was surprised by some of the darker twists and turns when they appeared — especially since I’m terrified of horror movies,” Lovise tells PEOPLE. “Gingerbread Bones will be my first young adult horror book.”
Lindsay Lovise.
Courtesy of Lindsay Lovise
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The book’s setting is also close to her heart, Lovise says. The novel takes place in her home state of Maine, and she’s crafted each character to “represent the hardiness of people there.”
The Gingerbread Bones hits shelves on June 2, 2026 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.