Guest post written by Wicked Darlings author Jordyn Taylor
Jordyn Taylor is a former magazine editor and the USA Today bestselling author of The Revenge Game, The Paper Girl of Paris, and Don’t Breathe a Word. She is also an adjunct professor of journalism at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Jordyn was born and raised in Toronto and now lives in New York. Her latest book is Wicked Darlings.
About Wicked Darlings (released February 2025): From the author of The Revenge Game comes a twisty YA thriller about the underbelly of Manhattan’s high society, where nothing is off-limits—not even murder.
“SADIE meets GOSSIP GIRL.” That was how I first pitched my idea for a new YA thriller in the fall of 2022. Like Courtney Summers’ haunting novel, my book would follow a girl desperately seeking answers about her sister’s death, and like Cecily von Ziegesar’s addictive series—which I inhaled as a teenager at summer camp—it would take place on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Over the next few months, I hunkered down to write and revise WICKED DARLINGS, a story about a teenage aspiring journalist who infiltrates Manhattan high society to investigate the sketchy circumstances surrounding her older sister’s apparent suicide. Along the way, I found myself drawing inspiration from a bunch of surprising sources in addition to the beloved YA books I used as comp titles—including from some of the shows and movies I was watching in an attempt to turn my brain off. (Fail.)
Here are some of the shows, movies, and music that sparked ideas for WICKED DARLINGS.
OWNING MANHATTAN
What it inspired: the Avalons’ penthouse
This reality show was absolutely intended to shut off my brain activity, but instead it got me thinking about the Avalons, the rich and powerful family Noa befriends in WICKED DARLINGS. On the show, real estate mogul Ryan Serhant is tasked with selling a $250 million penthouse in a Manhattan neighborhood (casually!) known as “Billionaire’s Row.” That absurdly lavish seven-bedroom, eleven-bathroom home overlooking Central Park is what I pictured when I described the Avalons’ 90th-floor penthouse.
GAME OF THRONES
What it inspired: Noa and Leah’s sister relationship
Noa has always been the outcast of her family, while Leah, her beautiful, talented older sister, was always her parents’ pride and joy. After Leah’s death, Noa wrestles with a complicated mix of grief over losing her sister and relief that she’s finally out of her shadow. When I describe their sisterly relationship, I keep coming back to Sansa and Arya Stark in GAME OF THRONES. The sisters start off resenting each other, but eventually, they come to realize they’re both products of the same oppressive societal systems—and that they can fight them together.
THE MURDAUGH MURDERS: A SOUTHERN SCANDAL
What it inspired: the themes of wealth and power
This true crime documentary explores the web of mysterious deaths surrounding a prominent South Carolina family, who continuously wielded their wealth and privilege in attempts to evade blame. As I was shaping the world of Manhattan high society—from the Avalons and their social circle to the Gotham Sentinel newspaper, where Leah interned before she died—let’s just say I was very inspired by the idea that someone could be rich and powerful enough to literally bend reality.
SUCCESSION
What it inspired: the Avalons’ family dynamic
When I started bingeing SUCCESSION during the time I was working on WICKED DARLINGS, I didn’t know anything about it—only that a lot of my then-colleagues were raving about it and insisting I watch it, too. Well, I owe them a big thank-you, because I ended up drawing sooo much inspiration for the Avalon family from the fictional Roy family and their media conglomerate, Waystar RoyCo.
Like the Roys in SUCCESSION, everyone in the Avalon family has a role in the Avalon Hospitality Group: a portfolio of luxury restaurants and hotels all over the world. There’s the grandfather, Rex, who’s the cutthroat CEO; his daughter-in-law, Gracie, who’s in charge of PR; and Gracie’s college-age twins, Sylvie and Duke, who are being trained as the next generation of leaders. And yes, of course WICKED DARLINGS has a helicopter scene.
GLORY DAZE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MICHAEL ALIG
What it inspired: Sunday Service
GLORY DAZE documents the New York City “Club Kids” of the early ‘90s, including a gruesome murder that took place within the group. When I was creating Sunday Service—the Avalon-owned restaurant that Leah visited on the night she died—I kept imagining Limelight, one of the venues where the Club Kids used to party. It was housed inside a former Episcopal church. I was drawn to the idea of a peaceful-looking exterior covering up something much more sinister.
“UNHOLY” by Sam Smith ft. Kim Petras
What it inspired: THE VIBES OF THE WHOLE BOOK
If there was one song that transported me into the alluring-yet-dangerous world of this book, it was “Unholy” by Sam Smith and Kim Petras. In my imagination, it’s the song that’s playing every time Noa walks into Sunday Service.
Fun fact: I listened to this song so many times during the writing process that I briefly considered titling the book Unholy Darlings, but ultimately, WICKED DARLINGS won my heart.
