the country of white lilies book The Lilies – HarperCollins

Yellowjackets meets If We Were Villains in a time-loop thriller that’s as much about identity as it is about survival.

Four seniors. One closet. A time loop that won’t let them lie.

At Archwell Academy, the next generation of women destined for power is forged behind ivy-covered walls. The campus is a monument to ambition, excellence, and the impossible pressure of becoming someone worth remembering.

When threat locks down the school, four seniors are trapped in the Chancellor’s closet--and quickly discover the room won’t let them out. Instead, it sends them spiraling through the same twenty-four hours on repeat, each loop dragging a new secret to the surface.

There’s Rory, the Chancellor’s daughter, who isn't above sabotage in her quest for perfection. Blythe, who's determined to be Archwell’s first Black valedictorian, no matter the cost. Drew's hiding a dangerous secret about their sudden fortune. And Vero sees everything no one wants seen, turning other people’s truths into art that brings consequences to the school’s door.

They were never supposed to be in this room together. But the loop keeps resetting, and one name keeps surfacing: Charlotte Vanderhayden. The sophomore no one has seen since Friday.

A genre-defying debut that braids mystery, magical realism, and deeply queer storytelling, The Lilies asks what it costs to hide who you are--and what it takes to finally stop.