I LOVED this book. It is the perfect combination of teenage angst and horror all swirled together into one enthralling story. Albert makes it feel as if magic is just a step away, but taking that step may require more sacrifice than you realize. Nora and Becca were perfectly flawed in a way that made them feel like realistic teenage girls. Each reveal is layered in a perfect order that takes the reader on a thrilling, horrific ride. The Bad Ones draws you into the goddess game and doesn't let you go until it is done with you.

I found this to be a fun and interesting take on YA Horror! I liked the twistiness and the spooky atmosphere.

The vibes and mystery of this book are perfect for spooky season. However, it felt very similar to Melissa's other book Our Crooked Hearts. At times I really just wanted to get through the story to see what happens. Even then it feels like not that much happened at all. It wasn't a very satisfying story.
It dragged a bit and I was getting bored. I also felt like the romance was weird and out of place and it should have just been omitted.

3 stars as the writing wasn't terrible and I actually finished the book to see where it was going.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. It seemed like there were numerous different story threads, all vying to pull the reader after them, all potentially headed in different directions. But, from the moment I began reading I was pulled in, and pulled along by those threads— I trusted the author to get me (and the story) where we needed to be, even though I wasn’t sure how we were going to get there.

That’s a generally obtuse way of saying that this is a mystery novel— a very well structured, well plotted, and well planned mystery novel. Too often mystery novels fall prey to over-planning— leaving the author with too many stray threads to clean up— or under planning— making the mystery simply too easy for the reader to solve and therefore not as engaging. “The Bad Ones” had the exact right amount of planning to keep the story interesting and engaging, but not over complicated. I was drawn in from the very beginning, the sense of urgency and prickling unease that spread through the pages spurring me on, and made me not want to put it down. The stakes were always high, to the point that you wanted to keep reading, but not so much that you felt overwhelmed.

The characters all felt real, the story itself just on the edge of probability that will have you questioning whether something like this really *could* happen. Or whether it should.

The Bad Ones continues Melissa Albert’s trend of writing complex stories. This one bent more towards fantasy horror. Nora and Becca’s friendship is told in chapter’s both in the present and the past. Mostly told from Nora’s perspective, there are a few chapters from Becca’s POV.
As always, Melissa Albert’s writing style draws the reader in. From the beginning I wanted to know the what’s and the why’s of what was going on. My only gripe came from the ending, which I believe was deliberate. I wanted to know more. It felt a bit incomplete to me. Overall though a perfect fall read. Many thanks the NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this story.

When I read "THE BAD ONES is a poison-pen love letter to semi-toxic best friendship, the occult power of childhood play and artistic creation, and the razor-thin line between make-believe and belief." in the summary for this book, I knew I wanted to read this book.

I am not disappointed. The relationship between Nora and Becca is intense and overwhelming in a way that Nora, the person we are most with during the book, doesn't even understand at first. I don't want to get into spoilers, but the relationship is handled very well. Nora has to examine how well she knows her best friend and how much faith she has in her.

I thought all the characters were fleshed out well and I liked the overall story. I will say this book is maybe a slow burn, which I don't mean in a bad way at all. A lot of it looks at Nora's psychological well being after Becca disappears and saying it's not going well is definitely an understatement. The book feels a little less outright horror and edges more into the unsettling/haunting type of horror, which I really liked.

3.5 stars (rounded to 4 stars). Review to be posted 1/28/2024.

The Bad Ones explores toxic friendship, childhood games, and goddesses with a twisty thriller with aspects of fantasy and horror.

Nora's best friend, Becca, disappears in the same winter night as three other people in her small town. The two friends have been estranged for the last few months, so Nora is surprised to learn Becca has left her small clues to her disappearance as well as other secrets hidden within the town. This leads Nora to a local legend surrounding the goddess game, a childhood game centered around the death of a woman decades ago. At the same time, Nora doesn't feel quite "right" and as if she is being haunted.

I found this book to be a YA thriller at its true essence versus a horror or fantasy. The book itself was actually super short and leads to a speedy pace. I'm a big horror reader, so I wouldn't call this a horror book, but it does have small elements that create a tense atmosphere. There's a sleep walking scene that I thought was definitely the creepiest part, but as a whole I felt the vibe and plot was more thriller based. The book does jump back and forth between multi-povs and different timelines, so be prepared for that.

Character wise, I liked that we got the backdrop to Nora and Becca's friendship throughout their childhood years. It really helps show their dynamic and also their childhood games and make-belief that had a big effect on the current timeline. The author also did a great job incorporating how grief impacts children and the importance of make-belief and friendship. The goddesses, lore, and supernatural elements were super interesting and unique and definitely my favorite part of the book!

Some things I didn't like, the romance seemed a bit misplaced. Nora doesn't spend a ton of time with the love interest and it doesn't seem to match with the high stakes vanishings and the eerie atmosphere. It almost felt like a check in the box so that it fits a standard YA book. Additionally, the actual "exploration into toxic friendship" seems incomplete, because it seems like Nora truly doesn't face the truth of Becca's manipulation and is blind even at the end to how she was treated.

It reads like a thriller/mystery, but the messages and trail that Becca leaves for Nora doesn't really make sense at the end when everything wraps up. It was more of Nora just looking into the town's history and stumbling through each day and discovering new things. Things just kept "happening" to Nora versus her following a trail of clues. I didn't like the ending all too much, but I also didn't predict it either and it was all a surprise for the most part.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for a ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow. Just....wow. This book was PHENOMENAL. I was immediately hooked and KNEW I was going to be on here gushing about it even before the halfway mark.

The lyrical prose was so immersive and beautiful without being wordy. Spooky without being over the top. Creepy without being cheesy. The perfect balance in a good horror novel. I literally sat down to fold laundry, opened this instead, and didn't move until I read and absorbed the last of the book. I don't think I could give this more of a glowing review, honestly. This was the PERFECT book to kick off spooky season.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫, 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐏𝐎𝐕.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

✨ARC REVIEW✨

This was creepy, twisty and suspenseful. Fantastic YA thriller. It will absolutely keep you on your toes. Secrets, toxic relationships and magic make this a great read.

I have read books by this author before, and I truly enjoy them. This falls in line with the recent trend YA books to focus on friendships more than romance, which is enjoyable. The premise here, being that Nora and Becca have been friends since childhood, but the deaths of Becca’s parents and a subsequent fight in their ladder teenage years, causes them to drift apart for a few months. During this time, people in town start to go missing. Nora wonders if it has anything to do with a game they used to play as kids, and starts to feel strange, as if she is dissociating, or is being haunted.

This has rich characters as well as lyrical prose— especially when it comes to the setting. An example of a line I really enjoyed from interiority respect was “ And we thought, if there can be a goddess of fevers and of door hinges, a goddess for every hour of the day, a god literally of poop, no kidding, then why not a goddess of crushes, of white lies, of the middle of the night?“

Though I think it works in this book, it’s important for readers to know that this is not a linear, single POV. While the majority of the story is told from Nora’s first-person perspective, there are flashbacks in third person that tell the stories of other people in town, including Becca.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review! The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert releases February 20th, 2024.

This book was creepy, haunting, enthralling, twisty, and so much more. I picked this book up and found myself unable to put it down! I was second guessing myself throughout the story and will definitely be looking into more books by Melissa Albert!

A full review will be posted on GoodReads closer to the release date.

I was hesitant to start this book because I read Melissa Albert’s other novel, Our Crooked Hearts, which didn't stand out to me, but I’m so glad I decided to give this one a shot. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book and how intoxicating it was.

The Bad Ones deals with friendships that can be toxic to a certain degree, buried secrets revolving around the supernatural, and when playing pretend becomes more real. The plot itself was spine-chilling, and I felt I was constantly on the verge of solving the mystery that would explain the sinister disappearances. Once the dark histories came to light and the story reached its conclusion, I can say I was positively satisfied. I had already enjoyed most of the book, and the ending wrapped everything together nicely.

A few parts bored me somewhat, but I got past these moments easily due to the short chapter length and quickly grew excited again. Although I didn't resonate with the characters, I was still fascinated with the relationship dynamics (aside from the romance that felt out of place). With how much trust people are willing to put in their best friend.

If you’re interested in supernatural mystery/thrillers or the dark complexities of friendship, The Bad Ones is worth checking out.

Thank you, NetGalley and Flatiron Books, for sending me an e-ARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

Wonderful horror novel. I loved the writing and all the creepy stuff actually made me truly uneasy at times. This author is always such a solid bet, I was never disappointed in their works. Recommended.

So the mythology of this book is extremely expansive and the writing is well done, however I did not enjoy this book. The characters were all over the place, and while the obvious messages about toxic friendships and girlhood were present, nothing about these characters made them standout.

Let me start by saying. I am so thankful NetGalley and FlatIron allowed me to read and review this book. When I read the description “horror fantasy” I was instantly intrigued. Melissa Albert has done it again. She has left me speechless, and racing my kindle “time left” to the very end. It was unnerving, and every twist and turn had me needing to know more. If I’m honest the only thing that fell short for me was the “romance” I truly don’t believe this book needed it.

* Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. *

The Bad Ones is a story about an urban legend, people disappearing in small towns, and the bond between two best friends.

I don’t want to say too much. The Bad Ones is the kind of book you want to go into mostly blind. It’s a slow, sleepy creepy horror that sneaks up on you. It exists in that liminal space between sleep and wake, where everything and nothing is real and you’re somehow the clearest you’ve ever been but also confused.

Does that tell you anything about the story? No? Then you will have to see for yourself.

Anyone who loves weird YA horrors will be a fan of this one.

The Bad Ones is an excellently written and intricate story. This book was difficult to put down.

This story follows four seemingly unconnected people go missing in a single night. When Nora’s best friend, Becca, is one of the missing, Nora decides to uncover the truth. Becca has left many clues behind for Nora, but they all lead back to a childhood game, the goddess game. Throughout her search, Nora unravels a dark, sinister history to her town.

This book has left me with no words. I don’t think I have read anything as captivating and complex as this story was.

Thank you NetGalley and FlatIron books for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a page-turner. While a little confused by the mechanisms of the ending, this was an enjoyable read.

I loved this! Spooky but not too scary, with excellent writing and complex characters. A bit gothic, a bit Ferrante, a bit Ninth House. All things I loved, so I loved this one too. Definitely worth reading for anyone who enjoys toxic friendships, teenage girl weirdness, loner boys, and spooky unexplainable events

I am not a fan of the horror genre but HOLY CRAP this was freaking amazing. This was my first book by Melissa and it certainly won’t be the last!