This book was amazing. I loved how atmospheric it felt. This is the perfect read for "spooky season" coming up!

This book was not for me. I didn't like the writing style, noticed a lit of repetitive themes, and couldn't read through the weak plot points.

Thank you NetGalley & W. W. Norton and Company for this ecopy.

Initial thoughts went as follows:

The name choices I really did not like through most of this book; specifically Glory and Gum. I understand that "gum" was a nickname, but I feel like with the "g's" it was too close and too obscure at the same.

Other than that I felt like the beginning 30-40% was a little slow and that the last 20% was very fast.

I really enjoyed the otherwordly aspect of the "big bad" but it felt like we didn't get enough. I can see how people would relate this to the Indian Lake series by Stephen Graham Jones, but it just wasn't quite there for me.

I think it would have been scarier to have 1 POV, max 2 POV's and have us not pick up on specific things, but in that same vein I don't think the story would have progressed. The twist of almost reverse satanic worship was what kept me hanging on and took this from a 3 star to a 4 star for me. The ending was a good little bow that tied everything together pretty well all things considered.

This book gave me nightmares, so naturally I LOVE THIS BOOK. The spooky parts delivered, and I loved each of the 3 main characters, whose arcs came full circle. Will definitely be reading more from Peyton in the future!

This debut novel is the perfect read if you are looking for a summer campground mystery.
This novel features multiple pov’s, generational ties, paranormal activity, possession and a family cult, perfect for YA thriller readers. The same families from multiple generations continue to come back to Bad Creek every summer, even after tragedy continues to strike. After another person drowns in Bad Creek with a lack of explanation, Iris with the help of Gum and Aidan, wants to find the “killer” or so she thinks.

I really enjoyed reading this campy thriller. The atmosphere of Bad Creek and the amount of details that the author used to describe the different locations and scenery made me feel like I was in Bad Creek. The new discoveries and plot twists kept me wanting to read more and the characters had a lot of depth to them, keeping me engaged. This book is not too YA and I think readers of all ages can enjoy this book.

This novel does contain multiple points of views and time changes, moving from past to present consistently throughout the book. The main critique I have is sometimes the changes from past to present were unclear, and could be confusing. There are also a lot of characters with connections from the past and present. This made it difficult to read at some points remembering each character's background stories and ties to the present but also added to the plot.

Overall, I think this thriller, paranormal novel was written very well and I really enjoyed the story. Thank you, NetGalley and Norton Young Readers for this ARC.

DNF at 36%. I can get through sloppy writing, but parts of this were just unbearably stupid. This reads like an old Goosebumps book, and I was willing to stick around for the camp, but I was already hating the way one of the characters pretends his disabled mother is dead so that he can avoid talking about her (wft), and how one character has a little quirk that gets mentioned almost every chapter in case we somehow miss it (nobody could), and then I got to a section rife with what’s supposed to be “character building” but was just childish word salad, and I’m done. Two stars because this is a debut and maybe this book or future books by the author will get better after Chapter 14, but I don’t have it in me to tough it out with these one-dimensional characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. As you can see, there are other people who really liked this, so please consider their comments as well.

This is the perfect book to bring along on a summer vacation. Murder mystery, family/friend drama, plus something maybe a little more sinister? Count me in!

The characters were diverse and not in a way that felt forced. Gum was probably my favorite of the Disasters group. I loved his sense of humor. The whole time I was reading this I was picturing Glory as Glory from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show.

The beginning was a little slow, but the last half of the book really picked up. The villains were pretty obvious from the beginning, but that didn’t take away from the storyline. I’d recommend this as your next beach, or lake, read.

This is the perfect book to read during the summer if you like creepy vacation horror books. The summer camp aspect of the book felt so nostalgic at times. The mystery aspect of the book was good. It was a little predictable at times, but that didn’t really take away from the story. I thought the characters were well written and interesting.

Bad Creek
By Peyton June
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.5 👻 slightly spooky ⭐️’s

Bad Creek is a YA part horror (horror “lite”—I’d say eerie more than nightmares for life), part coming-of-age mystery. It’s also a not-so-subtle rumination on grief, change, and finding the courage to be unapologetically yourself. Dead or alive (literally, in this book), everyone is flawed, and everyone has parts of themselves they’d rather forget.
Therapy lessons aside, Bad Creek centers around teen Iris and friends (Iris is the protagonist, though chapters alternate between her friends’ POV’s) and their vastly different families on their annual summer pilgrimage to the titular camp grounds of Bad Creek.
Nothing changes in Bad Creek—at least, that’s what they say (ad-naseam). Yet, everything has changed for Iris, after the tragic loss of her sister the previous summer, even if nearly everyone stubbornly pretends all is peachy perfect.
Despite everyone else’s seeming attempts to move on, Iris is determined to find out what really happened that night. But, she’ll soon find there’s more than one ghost in Bad Creek, and some people will do anything to keep the bodies buried.

A summer read, with relatable, diverse characters. I liked how the author approached queer characters—their identities were clear, and a part of who they were, but not their entire being. Shockingly, LGBTQ+ people are just that—people.
The diversity between the characters and their families absolutely matters, but it’s a piece of what makes these people a whole. So, props to the author for that 🍾🌈.
The story itself was decent, though it moved a bit slowly for my tastes (yet, somehow, fell short on some plot points, especially near the end). The imagery was overall well written; I can easily picture each location described as actual places.
The ghosts and eerie bits were equally well-rendered, but I really wanted more from a novel that billed itself as horror. I felt the plot became too repetitive or stuck at times. The themes worked, but didn’t need to be hammered in. Again, it’s a ghost story and a story of grief/growing up, but it often felt like the horror elements were pretty secondary. I would’ve preferred a better blend of genres complementing each other.

That said, I mostly enjoyed it, and I think it’s target audience will too.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I absolutely love the cover design of Bad Creek and was hoping the story would be just as captivating but unfortunately for me it didn't quite hit the mark.

Bad Creek is a yearly vacation spot for Iris, her sister Glory and their friends Gum and Aiden who make up the Disasters. It's also the home of rickety old cabins and the Worlds Second Largest Crucifix.

The story focuses on the mystery of Glories death after she drowns in the lake the year before. Iris is dealing with her grief as well as the Disasters falling apart and makes it a mission to bring the truth the light.

Where I struggled with the book is I felt it a bit too long and for the first half I didn't really like the characters.

There were some creepy elements in the book which could have been amped up but it may be more appealing for a younger side of the YA audience.

Overall it's not a bad read and if you like isolated camp settings then I would recommend trying it out or adding it to your Summerween tbr.

Thank you to Netgalley for my arc.

Between 3 and 4 stars! A summer YA horror taking place in a small, conservative town.

Iris and her family spend a week every summer in Bad Creek, a small town with the world’s second largest crucifix. Her friends, Aidan and Gum, also vacation there every year. The previous summer, Iris’s sister Glory died in a drowning accident, but Iris is sure it wasn’t a simple accident. With her friends, she searches for the truth in Bad Creek, but soon discovers that whatever happened to Glory may happen again.

The horror elements are light and slow to come at the beginning, and it feels more like a mystery as the characters set out to solve Glory’s death. I would’ve liked more scary elements personally, or a more creeping sense of dread, but that’s probably just my subjective taste. The characters I think were developed well, definitely felt like everyday teens who each have their own struggles and problems to get over. The flashbacks were sometimes a little sudden or hard to tell when we were looking back on the past or in the present. But I got a good image of Glory even if she never appeared in the main timeline, without it feeling natural.

The writing feels a bit more for younger YA, with the conservative/rural setting with the teens who want to break out of it reminding me of Wake the Bones, but I wouldn’t call this exactly atmospheric. I could guess the mystery, but I think that means the clues were properly spread through out the beginning. I was a bit confused about the mechanics and curse, and I kinda wanted more from the climax, but I thought the ending was wrapped up pretty well.

A decent YA horror! May not be completely my taste, but I think the characters were pretty well-formed for multiple POVs and we never lost the plot, so a pretty successful debut!

Thanks to Netgalley and Norton Young Readers for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

i gave it an honest try and maybe it was just the formatting of the epub delivered to my Kindle, but I couldn't get much pass the middle point. the story was intriguing and plot was interesting, but I unfortunately couldn't wrap my brain how the epub formatting was on my Kindle. I'll definitely give this another shot upon publishing!

I would call this a solid addition to the YA horror genre. I especially liked the character relationships. They felt very lived-in, in a way that I find novels with an ensemble cast sometimes struggle to achieve. The setup of a group of teen friends who are mostly only friends because all their parents were a friend group is definitely something I've read before more than once, but I think it was executed particularly well here.

I'm also a big fan of when horror stories leave it up in the air for a while whether we're dealing with a supernatural or a human threat. Are we dealing with actual ghosts, or is this a hallucination caused by grief and stress? Have we got a killer ghost/monster/demon on our hands, or just a good old case of the human capacity for evil? The book does eventually provide very clear anwsers one way or another, but I liked that for a good two-thirds of the book I felt like it could still go either way.

Would definitely not be out of place on my or any other libraries' YA horror shelves. The cover design is in my opinion likely to appeal to the exact kind of reader who would enjoy this, which is also always a plus!

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for approving me to read this, I’m rating it 4.25 stars.

I love this genre, it had small town creepy vibes with a mystery that links the past and present together in the worst ways.

I adore the friendships in this story, it was looking a little rocky at points because you never know who to trust during this book, but everything comes full circle.

I highly recommend this for fans of a supernatural mystery with creepy and unsettling vibes plus very likeable characters.

This book has such a dark and creepy feel to it that at pints I swear the hairs on my arms and back of my neck were standing to attention. I couldn't put it down and read it in one short sitting,

Thank you to NetGalley for the early ARC of this book.
This was good. I don't know if I'll remember it for a long time and it probably won't be a favorite for 2025 but I enjoyed it while I was reading and liked the characters. Iris became more annoying as I read which was a bummer but got better again towards the end of the book. The other characters were all interesting with their own backstories but came in second on down to Iris even with the book splitting POV between her, Gum and Aiden. The mystery of what was happening to the drowned girls in the small town was fun to follow with an interesting conclusion. I predicted some of it but still appreciated the big climax and ending. I'd be happy to read more by this author in the future.

If you liked Fear Street 1978, you will love this. I know this because I love both. Generational curses, a cursed town, ect.

In the beginning of this book it’s set up that Glory drowned to death one year before. Iris, her younger sister, believes the death is suspicious, due to her sister being such a good swimmer. From there out, Glory is the epitome of haunting the narrative. Her point of view is told from three different perspectives - Iris, Glory’s sister; Aidan, Glory’s friend and ex boyfriend; and Gum, Glory’s friend who is LITERALLY being haunted by her. Come on, doesn’t that make you want to read this?

There was some confusion I had about the final reveal, though it was phenomenal. This town (Bad Creek) was a vacation destination, most people there only inhabited it during the summer. There’s a reason that the families come back every year, though I wish I got more on the reason. Was just a bit confused on that.

Otherwise super fun horror and mystery elements. I definitely recommend.

The YA horror debuts this year are coming in full force, and Bad Creek is no exception. And I think it's important to mention that this is a debut because while that can scare some readers away, this is a book that doesn't read as a debut. Peyton June did an amazing job with crafting a book that is unique to her voice while simultaneously being reminiscent of late 90's RL Stine and Christopher Pike.

What worked well about this book is great character development and an atmospheric setting. The characters are all multi-faceted, and we get to see their flaws as well as their redemptions. They're unique to themselves while still working well as a group, which isn't something that is always done well. The setting also packs the perfect blend of idyllic summer vacation and traditions among friends/family with eerie, ominous vibes.

What didn't work for me is fairly limited. There were a few points that tied up a little too neatly for my like, and a few others that I would have loved to see fleshed out. The build was also a tiny bit more delayed than I'd have preferred.

Ultimately, this is a fun, slightly campy ((complimentary)) horror. The notes around grieving and how it can look so different are woven in so well, and I do love that in the face of everything we see Iris come more into herself and not just settling into the version of herself she feels she has to be. I also think the take on what's really happened in Bad Creek is intriguing and enjoyably worked in- it's a fast read that keeps you entertained.

((While the viewpoints shared are my own, I want to thank NetGalley, W.W. Norton & Company, and Peyton June for this complimentary copy.))

This tale will send chills down your spine and goosebumps on your skin!
Thrilling, chilling and slightly scary, a well written story that plays out brilliantly and hooks you from the get-go.
A cast of characters to die for!
Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fast-paced YA supernatural horror/thriller that was good for it's target audience, but was ultimately pretty predictable. I did enjoy the concept of a generational curse causing the demise of others. However, it is getting tiring with the modern day rhetoric and personal ideations of the rich suck, religious people are all evil and bigots, conservative vs liberalism, etc. being thrown into the stories which just subtracts from it overall. Can we just get a good spooky story again?

The bouncing back and forth between timelines also became a little confusing at times but came together at the end. The main characters were well done especially for the youth of today, I could see how they can be relateable, and the Disasters (the group they call themselves) working together to figure out the deaths around Bad Creek was done well.

I also enjoyed the descriptions of the ghost and how it would turn into the different girls. All in all, it was a decent read through. I just wish some things could have been left out to shorten the story and provide more depth.