Thank you NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the opportunity to read & review this book.

Bad Creek follows Iris and her group of family friends who return to the same summer vacation destination every year to take part in long standing traditions. This year, it's different. Why? Her sister drowned in the creek last year, thought to be an innocent accident...but was it?

Think The Summer I Turned Pretty with a paranormal twist. A bit slow to start with a lot of character and info dumping, by the second half I was thoroughly freaked out, getting up to close my back door and being hyper aware of the creaks in my floorboards.

The description of the setting gave me small town creepy vibes with a dash of that melancholic nostalgia that I'm never sure feels good or bad. I didn't feel a huge attachment to the characters, the focus feeling more on the feel and atmosphere of the story.

Despite highlighting my way through the book, I didn't predict the twist. I did however feel like the book could have been finished much quicker after the fact, so I guess for me the pacing felt a bit off and could be more engaging by being a bit shorter.

Overall I enjoyed it and I would recommend it for anyone looking for a easy to read, creepy paranormal murder mystery.

This gave me Pretty Little Liars x We Were Liars x Scooby Doo vibes. Teens poking around secrets they probably shouldn’t, in a town that’s hiding way too much.

It’s more creepy than scary, with themes around grief, queerness, and religious trauma woven through. The undercurrent of control and belief systems gave the story a tense, uneasy feel. The pacing wasn’t super tight, but it didn’t drag. The slow build suited the story. It’s labelled as horror, but it didn’t really feel like it. More of a paranormal or psychological thriller with emotional weight and a quietly unsettling vibe.

Still, I really enjoyed it and didn’t guess every twist, but once revealed I could see the breadcrumbs. Easy read, didnt want to put it down after about 60% through and had a satisfying end.

Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest, I requested solely based off the cover, but Bad Creek did not disappoint me in the least! Surprised at how truly creepy this YA horror novel was! Fantastic!

Imaginr a life where your best friend group in shattered by loss and lies. My heart can't Peyton June has crafted a soft and wrenching story. I wanna hug all the Disasters.

I really enjoyed this book, and love the multiple peoples view through the book. The writing is amazing and I can’t wait to read more from Peyton June, her writing is beautiful. And the art work is incredible

Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for the ARC! I’m giving Bad Creek 3 out of 5 stars.

In Peyton June’s YA mystery Bad Creek, the lakeside town—once the perfect setting for “The Disasters” annual Fourth of July—now feels haunted. Iris has returned to Bad Creek for the first time since her sister Glory drowned here last summer, certain it wasn’t an accident. Reuniting with her childhood friends takes dark turns when Gum begins seeing Glory’s ghost and Aidan grows distant, desperate to escape the guilt that binds him to the town.

June wisely spreads the spotlight: Iris’s relentless search for closure, Gum’s struggle for acceptance amid unsettling visions, and Aidan’s tortured need to leave all collide against the town’s eerie backdrop. At times I wished their voices were more distinct and the flashbacks clearer, but the core mystery—rituals, sacrifices and restless spirits—holds strong, evoking Friday the 13th and Fear Street chills.

Hudson, the polished cousin everyone adores, proves unexpectedly magnetic, while Aidan’s lack of sympathy for Iris’s grief feels frustratingly cold. As the supernatural stakes rise, Bad Creek itself becomes a character—the creaking docks, shadowed woods and whispered legends lending a lingering unease.

Bad Creek is a cozy, fast-paced debut that balances mild horror with themes of trauma, friendship, sexuality and family. It doesn’t always dig deep into its characters, but it delivers a fun, suspenseful summer read.

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.