Lancashire Book of the Year shortlist 2026
Here are the books that are shortlisted for the 2026 award:
A Better Nightmare by Megan Freeman
Emily Emerson has the Grimm. A disease nobody wants.
Removed to a facility, she becomes property of the state, a pale shadow
of her former self. Here she meets a boy, Emir, who tells her she’s not sick – she’s just different.
Only by dreaming, he says, can they break out of the world that’s keeping them imprisoned.
And perhaps make a better future . . .
Aphrodite by Bryony Pearce
Naked and salt-soaked, Aphrodite is born from the waves. Knowing nothing of who or what she is, she quickly discovers that she has incredible power and the kind of beauty that makes men mad. Her blood pulses with the same call: home, home, home.
Cue Olympus, the home of the gods.
But Olympus turns out to be a seething snake-pit, and love is never simple. Ordained the mere Goddess of Love and Beauty, the threatened and spiteful gods and goddesses seek different ways to control Aphrodite. As a trap closes in around her, she learns that it is a curse to be seen as nothing but beautiful - but it may also be her strongest weapon.
The gods of Olympus will soon learn not to underestimate the Goddess of Love and Beauty.
Don't Let the Forest In by CG Drews
On the first day back at boarding school, Andrew can't wait to find refuge in the twisted fairy tales that he writes for Thomas - the boy with hair like autumn leaves.
But Thomas' parents have vanished, and he has blood on his sleeve. Stranger still, Thomas won't talk to Andrew, even though he's always loved sketching the monstrous creatures from Andrew's stories.
Desperate to discover the truth, Andrew follows Thomas into the forest and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster - his drawings have come to life.
To ensure no one else dies, the boys must battle the creatures every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew fears the only way to stop them might be to destroy their creator.
Heir of Storms by Lauryn Hamilton Murray
When Blaze came into the world, she almost drowned it.
Blaze, a Rain Singer, is born into one of the most powerful fire-wielding families in the empire. Her birth summoned a devastating storm that resulted in the deaths of thousands, and she has spent her life as an outsider, reviled and feared.
When Blaze and her twin brother, Flint, are selected to compete in the Choosing Rite, the trials which decide the future rulers of the empire, she’s suddenly thrust into the limelight – and into battle.
Threats abound at the Golden Palace, where intrigue and romance await with not one but two handsome suitors: the enchanting Crown Prince and a dangerously alluring newcomer at court.
As her powers strengthen and her fellow competitors fall, the throne is suddenly within her grasp. But in order to take the crown, she’ll have to leave behind the stories that others have told about her and find the courage to write her own.
How to Survive a Horror Movie by Scarlett Dunmore
Horror movie enthusiast Charley is determined to keep a low profile when she’s enrolled at a girls’ boarding school on a remote island. That is, until someone starts killing off her senior class! From elaborate scare tactics to severed heads in fridges, Charley has found herself at the centre of a teen horror movie. And that's not the only alarming thing that’s happening – she’s now seeing the ghosts of her former classmates!
Haunted by her peers, and with everyone beginning to suspect her, Charley decides to do something about it. She and her only best friend Olive are going to solve the murders and find out who’s killing off the class before graduation. Charley just needs those pesky ghosts to shut up and give her a hand…
Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie
Welcome to Blackwood Academy: a boarding school located on the fringes of the afterlife.
No one knows why they end up at Blackwood; but when they enter the school's arched gates the only way out is to be chosen for the Decennial – a series of magical trials held once a decade. The chosen pupil is offered a choice: graduate and join Blackwood’s magical elite, or venture into the unknown and cross over to the Other Side.
Wren knows she has what it takes to win—unless, that is, her arch-rival (and subject of her tortured dreams) Augustine steals her spot.
Irene has never cared about playing by the rules and will break whatever (and whoever) stands in her way, including her only friend, Masika.
Olivier has given up securing the nomination. But he’ll stop at nothing to keep Emilio, from crossing over to the Other Side.
All are determined to be Blackwood’s chosen candidate. All are determined to win. But this Decennial will be unlike any before.
Six nominees.
Four trials.
One victor.
The competitors are about to learn that there are some fates worse than death.
Mondays are Murder by Ravena Guron
Seventeen-year-old Kay left her sleepy hometown after the devastating death of her friend, Ivy. But when Kay is forced to come back, she receives an anonymous letter that turns her life upside down.
The letter tells her that there will be a thrill on Tuesday, a wreckage on Wednesday, treachery on Thursday, a fire on Friday, sabotage on Saturday, a stabbing on Sunday - and her murder on Monday.
And if Kay can't figure out who is behind the threats, the worst day of the week is about to get deadly...
Oxford Blood by Rachael Davis Featherston
Eva has set her sights on studying English at Oxford University. Atmospheric old libraries; secret societies; eccentric professors – it’s the stuff of her dreams.
When she and her best friend (who she’s also secretly in love with), George, are invited to Interview Week, it seems like those dreams are coming true.
But only a day in, George is found dead on the steps of a university statue. And it is Eva who finds him.
All eyes are now on her as she races to clear her name, uncover the truth – and take back her future.
Shadow Thieves by Peter Burns
13-year-old Tom Morgan and his friends live on the streets of an alternate London, shining shoes and picking pockets – until one day Tom’s friends are caught and sent to a brutal workhouse.
Frantic and without a way to save them, Tom bumps into the mysterious Corsair, who offers him an opportunity to train at an elite international boarding school for thieves. Seeing a glimmer of hope, Tom lets himself be whisked away to the snowy Alps in a zeppelin. Swept into a thrilling world of danger and intrigue, the more secrets he learns about the Shadow League, the harder it becomes for Tom to leave. But there are dark forces at work and real danger is coming…
Can Tom save his fellow pupils from disaster – and ever be able to get home again to rescue his friends?
Strange Nature by Mary Watson
When she was a child, she witnessed her famous, adored grandfather attempt to kill her grandmother.
Now Jasmin is eighteen, watchful and curious. She hangs out at the local college, sneaking into the lectures of charismatic professor Theo Merrick and spying on an intoxicatingly cool group of older students. She can only dream of being part of their world.
Then, when a college student dies in mysterious circumstances, Jasmin seizes her chance to join the group as they try to solve the mystery - while unwittingly unraveling her own dark past.
The Deadsoul Project by Dan Smith
Kyle and Lauren Dempsey believe their soldier stepdad is dead, killed in action in Northern Ireland. But then he turns up at their flat in the Alpine Heights tower block, terrifyingly changed.
One day later, a mysterious virus seems to be running rampant through the building and many residents are dead.
Nobody has ever discovered what really happened – until now.
The Hive by Anna February
A FUTURE QUEEN LIES MURDERED. Justice is merciless in the Hive, a monarchy of tomorrow, where young bodyguard Feldspar awaits execution, guilty of being alive when her charge is dead. The girl has one defender – Niko, a royal maverick. Together they have three days to prove the impossible. Three days to question everything Feldspar knows about the world that raised her and discover who the real murderer is.
