First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview copy of A Long Stretch of Bad Days. This may be my favorite Mindy McGinnis book yet. I loved Bristal and Lydia's growing friendship and Lydia's growth as a character. I did think a few things at the end were too neat, but I really believe this one is going to strike a chord with my readers! I can't wait to put it in their hands!

One of the best books she has written you will be drawn into the history and present of this small town.

Mindy McGinnis does it again!
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Lydia Chass is known to have it all in her small town of henley Ohio. Bristol Jamison is known for causing trouble. These two drastically different people come together to co-host a podcast following "the long stretch of bad days" that occurred in their small town in the 1990s because they both desperately need an extra history credit to graduate.
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This book did not disappoint at all. It was a slow burn in the beginning but by the end, I could not turn the pages fast enough. I loved Lydia and bristols friendship and how they grew together and were always there for each other. I loved the podcast element and seeing their behind-the-scenes research which reminded me so much of one of my favorite books good girls guide to murder. overall this was so amazing and I loved every second of it
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thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Two girls from completely different worlds fine themselves working on a podcast together when their school guidance counselor accidentally leaves them a credit short from graduating. With this podcast they’ll be investing the Long Stretch of Bad Days- one week of the town’s worst days from the town being hit by a tornado and the town’s first and only unsolved murder. Lydia Chass is cut throat and has planned her entire life to get into a good college. She’s willing to lie, cheat, and manipulate to achieve her goals, she is afterall a Chass. and Chass’s have a reputation to uphold. Yet when she discovers that the school has left her a credit short from graduating, she is livid. They offer her an alternative, she can do a school project for credit and what better thing to do than use her podcast in order to not only get the credit but to show her potential colleges her journalistic abilities... and then there is Bristal Jamison, a girl with a bad reputation who is constantly drunk, fighting, or swearing. But Lydia needs Bristal to give her podcast something more and so when they both begin to investigate this week they begin to realize both their families are much more connected the mystery than they previously thought and that there is something much darker going on. This was such a fun mystery and I loved the friendship between Lydia and Bristal. Both of them were polar opposites, yet they just work and the mystery was a fun one to follow along. I would definitely recommend it for fans of true crime podcasts and small town mysteries.

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This story started a tad slow for me and it took me awhile to connect to the characters, but by the end I was truly endeared to them.

It was just so much different than I expected. Bristal is a firecracker and provided the comic relief and realness this book needed. Lydia’s character growth was, in my humble opinion, fascinating to witness. Sometimes characters change so much that you hardly recognize them by the end. While Lydia grew by leaps and bounds, her personality stood unwavering.

I did predict the general idea of the ending, but I fully enjoyed the “resolution” of it all.

OMG! THIS BOOK IS FREAKING BRILLIANT! Dear Mindy McGinnis, you proved me right one more time that you are one of the greatest authors!

Lately I read YA thrillers with the similar concept: two teenage girls from different backgrounds, social statuses, having opposite characteristics stuck together to do a podcast project which also involves digging out a cold case the townies meticulously buried and wanted so hard to forget! The concept might be similar but so far this book is the best executed version of this similar plot line!

The special thing about the book is the perfect characterization, genuine honesty and dark sarcastic sense of humor blend with the intriguing mysteries of town !

Yes, there are two big mysteries intercepted adroitly; a young misfit girl’s missing case who didn’t get declared as missing for years and town’s most despicable person’s cold case murder! Both events take place at the same week: when the tornado and flash flood hit the small town Henley. Those days are called as “town’s long stretch of bad days” ! Townies lost their homes, their streets, their loved ones, their animals, everything they’ve cared for is gone with the water!


When we return back to present we meet with Lydia, valedictorian,high achiever, competitive, callous, a member of Chase family who is the pillar of their small community. Her dreams to go to Ivy League college might be crushed by the school’s alcoholic guidance counselor who made a terrible mistake that affected Lydia’s graduation from high school because of one missing history class credit.

Misfit, foul mouthed Bristal Jamison who is member of the Jamison family lives in Ash trailer park, famous for being underaged pregnancy and involvement in misdemeanors, suffering from same faith with Lydia. She wants to be the first Jamison who achieved to graduate from high school but thanks to their highly drunken counselor suffering from marriage problems, she needs history credit urgently.

Lydia makes an offer to Bristal to merge their powers to create a unique podcast coverage which they can be both benefited from!

Bristal has her own suspicions. She knows the guts of Lydia and her dark motives to do whatever it takes to get her way but when Lydia tells her they’re gonna investigate the town’s only murder case which hasn’t been solved since the flood and is still an open investigation, Bristal screams murder and excitedly captures the police records of the crime scene. Her uncle is in prison and he has a lot to tell them about the murder case and the motive that even the police officers didn’t know about!

The girls’ unusual friendship who are coming from different circles and their unique approaches to the case, their differentiated survival mechanisms made you engage with them!

I loved Bristal so much! I think if this book could be adapted into movies, Maya Hawkes could be hell of amazing Bristal! I had so many hesitations to like goody two shoes Lydia! When I learn more about her weaknesses and how her character evolved after her interactions with Bristal, I quickly liked her more!

The characterization was FREAKING AMAZING! The heart wrenching twist at the end broke my heart! But the conclusion was fair and well wrapped up!

I think this is my favorite book of the author and I wished I could give more than five stars! I highly definitely absolutely recommend you to read it!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Children’s Books / Katherine Tegen Books for sharing this FANTASTIC digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

this was a great young adult mystery novel, it does what I was hoping for. I was invested in the plot of the book and going on this journey. The characters worked in the mystery and was glad I was able to read this. I had enjoyed previous work from Mindy McGinnis and this had what I wanted from the author.

“Boggs’s trailer is gone,” she says. “But I went door to door, and it’s a rough patch of a place. My grandma and grandpa used to live out there, Dover and Mom’s parents. They moved into town when Mom and Dad set up in Ash Park, to help with me and the rest of the pack; Jamison girls are kind of like Pez dispensers when it comes to babies,” she says, looking dubiously down at her own midsection, as if daring it to grow."

I loved Mindy's work ever since I read "A Madness So Discreet". She proves she's still a master of writing with. "A Long Streatch of Bad Days". Her writing is superb, as usual, and immediately sucks you in.

Thank you so much to Harper Collins for sending me an advanced copy of A Long Stretch of Bad Days.

I loved this book so much. This book shows how important female friendships are which you do not see a lot in books ESPECIALLY in YA and let me tell you I adored Bristal and Lydia’s friendship so much. The story is pretty fast paced and The ending did leave me completely suprised. Highly reccomend

Thanks NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I thought this was a good book and I didn’t see that end coming! Bristal and Lydia are from a small town and both just found out their a credit shy of graduating. Together they decide to do a podcast, but Lydia is tired of the small town everyone is so nice routine. They decide to do the podcast on the long stretch of bad days that happened in town. Multiple events that rocked the town, including murder. But will they be able to solve it? Will they like what they find? A lot of good twists and turns in this one and as I mentioned the ending was unexpected for me! If you like mysteries with strong female protagonists check this one out!

In A Long Stretch of Bad Days, Mindy McGinnis draws YA readers into a contemporary mystery with roots in the 1990's. Senior Lydia Chass has almost everything: a last name that makes her Henley, Ohio royalty, a stellar academic record, and all the extracurricular activities an Ivy League school would want. What she doesn't have is the final credit needed to graduate. Due to her guidance counselor's mistake, she might not graduate, but she cajoles her principal into letting her use her podcast to explore Henley's history for the missing credit. When she learns that rebellious Bristal Jamison, of the wrong-side-of-the tracks Jamisons, is in the same boat, she offers Bristal the chance to contribute to her podcast for the credit she needs, and the two begin exploring Henley's "long stretch of bad days" in 1994 when a tornado, a murder, and a flash flood left the town changed forever.

As they investigate, they bump egos and cultures and discover a cache of secrets that have never been explored, like a missing high school student who was never found and never reported to authorities, a potential culprit for the unsolved murder of a man no one missed, and the reason why Lydia's father seems tied to the small town's least likable family. As they draw closer to the truth, they face sabotage, assault, vandalism, and even death.

This plot is outstanding, leaving readers in the dark until each secret is revealed. The characters feel authentic and complex, showing their better sides in one moment and their worst in the next. The themes of family expectations, injustice based on one's family or background, and the sickness that comes from buried secrets are well supported. Lydia and Bristal aren't always likable, but they grow and develop into people readers will cheer for.

My one concern, and the only reason I will not use this story in my classroom, is the language. While profanity is common in YA stories, especially contemporary fiction, the profanity in A Long Stretch of Bad Days goes beyond occasional and becomes excessive and overpowering. As a high school teacher, I understand that profanity is typical in the age group, but the degree and frequency of the language in this story makes it difficult for me to defend to the same students who I don't allow to use it.

Overall, this novel is outstanding in so many aspects. The language is the only tripping point that makes me uncomfortable recommending it to a wide audience.

I am a huge Mindy McGinnis fan and always enjoy the sort of weird and gross parts of her books. A Long Stretch of Bad Days is a little different than her other work. It is an interesting mystery with little body horror, etc. Two seniors, who should be graduating but due to a drunken counselor are not, come together to produce a podcast on local history in order to get credit for a class. They uncover a series of lies, maybe some treasure, and maybe a murder as they unravel the story of their town's worst week. I LOVED the banter between Lydia and Bristal and in fact, Bristal is one of my favorite smartass female characters ever. While certainly unique, this book has similar vibes to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and Sadie, and should be easily enjoyed by fans of those novels. I will definitely be purchasing a copy for my classroom (high school) when the book comes out!