Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This is my second Darcy Coates book and I will be reading more.
How Bad Things Can Get keeps you on the edge of your seat (in the last half of the book).
There's too much at the end of the book for me, like it goes horror pretty quickly.

3.5 Stars rounded up

This book was a bit of a rollercoaster and I’m still not entirely sure whether that was for better or worse. The premise is fantastic: an isolated influencer festival gone wrong, layered with eerie cult histories and chilling secrets. Each storyline had strong potential, but the execution felt uneven. The shifts between timelines and storylines (present day horrors and the two disturbing cult backstories) often disrupted the momentum and made it difficult to stay grounded in the main narrative.

That said, Darcy Coates does an impressive job blending genres. The mix of gore, horror, thriller, and mystery is ambitious, and she pulls it off in ways that many authors couldn’t. The atmosphere is tense, the pacing moves quickly, and it never failed to keep me curious about what was coming next.

The ending, even with two epilogues, felt a bit undercooked. It wrapped up the plot but lacked emotional depth or real payoff for everything that came before.

Despite its flaws, How Bad Things Can Get is a fast, darkly entertaining read. If you’re in the mood for chaotic horror with cult vibes, modern satire, and plenty of blood, this one delivers.

Many Thanks to NetGalley, Darcy Coates, and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you @poisonedpenpress @netgalley #partner for the gifted copy of this eARC!

The setting of How Bad Things Can Get is basically my dream combo...locked room on an island and cults. Ope… sign me up for both (but only in pretend life, thank you very much). I could have used even more of the cult element, but it was still such a fun and twisted ride.

Darcy drops us into this tropical, beachy jungle competition that, on the surface, feels totally random...just a bunch of strangers brought together for some mysterious event. But as the layers peel back, it becomes clear that nothing about it is random. What starts as a sunny island paradise quickly devolves into a dangerous, disastrous nightmare.

This book is dark, sinister, and shocking, with dead bodies stacking up left and right. The tension was pretty extreme the whole way through. I’ve read a lot of Darcy Coates, but this one felt different. It had a more thrillery vibe in the beginning before diving headfirst into horror territory. And it’s wild. Chaotic. And Unrelenting.

It’s a whirlwind from start to finish. Its a lot of high stakes, twists, and chaos that kept me guessing until the very end. That ending was mind blowing. Definitely one of those reads that makes you want to not go on vacation. HAHA. This book is perfect for spooky season so make sure to grab this one at the end of the month!

How Bad Things Can Get is a captivating read, with a unique storyline. I’ve always enjoyed a cult-centric narrative and this one did not disappoint. The backstory, the present day drama, the twists and the turns all had me on the edge of my seat, right until the very end! This is my third read by Darcy Coates and she is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. 5 stars from me!

A disturbing blend of horror, mystery, and thriller....this one will leave you the way most of Darcy's books do....jaw open & impatiently waiting for her next book. An influencer invites fans to an isolated island where they will party for 5 days straight. What they don't realize is the island has a history connected to a cult. Cannibalism? Curses? Deserted island? Yup....Darcy packed a punch with this one. Heart racing, white knuckling, nail biting scenarios from start to finish. One of her best. Did not see there going in the direction she did and that's the sign of a great book.

4.5 Stars
This book was so unexpected. I was expecting just an average horror read. This was so much better. I loved the concept of influencers on an island with a cult element. This book was nearly perfect! There were so many twists and turns. I was constantly left guessing what else could happen. I absolutely loved this book and this has solidified my love for Darcy Coates as an author!

2.75 ⭐️ this is my second book by this author as this isn’t my go to genre but i wanted to give it a go. i will say it took me a bit to get into but then once it picks up, it’s crazy. it started off slower to set up the story but then a lot goes on. almost too much? i feel like i still have questions after finishing and parts of it dragged. it just didn’t hit for me fully as i felt there was so much going on with me being confused at times. i will say the story gives off survivor vibes but add the horror aspect so if that’s up your alley, id give it a chance!

How bad can things get? Well… things can get real bad — especially when a story tries to do way too much at once.

I was immediately hooked by the premise: a remote island, influencers competing in challenges for prizes hosted by a rich social media mogul… only for it all to descend into chaos and carnage. Think Mr. Beast meets Survivor, but then it mutates into Lord of the Flies with cult vibes and a dash of Hunger Games — all fueled by a desperate need for likes and followers.

Unfortunately, the execution didn’t live up to the concept.

As someone who really enjoyed Darcy Coates’ Dead of Winter, I came in with high hopes. But this one dragged hard — about 65% of the book felt like setup, with chapter 43 (!) finally offering some clarity on what’s actually going on. By then, the backstory of the island felt underwhelming and oddly irrelevant. That time could’ve been better spent developing the characters or deepening the plot.

The ending — and two epilogues — left more questions than answers. I even spotted a few errors and notified the publisher.

That said, I do think this might appeal more to a younger, social media-savvy audience who enjoys chaotic, fast-paced thrillers with moral undertones.

Some key takeaways:
🤔 Think for yourself
🍯 Don’t drink the Kool-Aid (or honey, in this case)
📱 Don’t live your life for likes and clicks
❤️ Care about others, not just your online image
👟 Always be faster than murderous, zombie-like cult members
✈️ And never take a free trip unless you book it yourself 😁

3/5 ⭐️
Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Darcy Coates and NetGalley for the ARC

What a fun and extraordinarily violent read.

It has everything you want. Toxic personalities. A main character to root for. Stabbings. Flaying. Carnage. It's all there!

While I got just a little tired of the various backstories, I was all in for the present tale and was just munching my popcorn and hoping our MC would end up okay.

Definitely entertaining and absolutely nothing that will tax your brain (for good or bad).

A blast of a read.

* ARC via Publisher

Thank you so much for this ARC!
OMG. Things can get very bad. But this book was very good. It's so gripping, I couldn't put it down. Character development was great, I was a bit nervous about the introduction of new characters as the book went on, but it wasn't too much to handle. I loved the interpersonal dramas, a good layering of story telling and building suspense. 5☆ highly recommend this fun and fast paced (especially the second half) read!

The Scooby Doo fan in me was instantly hooked by the premise of this book. A former cult member, island mysteries, content creators competing? Sign me up.

I thought the pacing of this book was similar to a rollercoaster. Slow and steady to start and then it really takes off. Ruth was easy to root for along with Logan. I wish they would have interacted more in the book. I think this is a great summer read.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Darcy Coates, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

My favorite horror-suspense author has created another masterpiece. I was given an Advanced Reader Copy through Netgalley for an honest review. I couldn't put this book down. Not only does it involve a bunch of content creators, fans. and celebrities on a remote island owned by one of the most popular online personalities for a multi-day festival, but it has a main character that is hiding something. This book will make you question everything and try to piece together the truth. The question is whether those at the festival can figure it out before it's too late. Definitely a great story with the complex characters that Darcy Coates is known for.

I am extremely grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the privilege of reviewing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I was primarily excited to read this book because I am a sucker for anything involving a creepy cult. Sadly, this book ended up being not very much about the cult and more a meld of adventure horror and atmospheric thriller.

Main character, Ruth, is the sole survivor of the infamous Petition cult. She has struggled to maintain her anonymity - having been rescued as a child - while carving out a life for herself under a new identity. Ruth finds herself accompanying her boyfriend, Zach, and his lifelong friends, couple Carson and Hayleigh, on a cruise to remote Prosperity Island. The foursome have won coveted tickets to attend a luxury retreat hosted by a wildly famous social media influencer - think Mr. Beast. The friends arrive with 500 or so other guests - from top celebs to lucky average Joes -on the shore of a beach that is bordered all around by wild, untamed jungles. What begins with high dollar swag bags, unlimited free drinks and a series of Survivor-style challenges for cash prizes quickly devolves into some sort of gory, slasher movie kind of vibe.

There are a SLEW of characters here and at times it seemed like too much to manage. There was never enough time to really flesh out the ones who only stuck around for a few pages and I found myself not caring if they lived or died. The book started with a flashback to Ruth's life as a child in the cult and that really piqued my interest. Then the flashbacks to the cult got pretty few and far between and by the time the ultimate tie-in came, it seemed rushed and implausible.

I get that this genre requires a certain amount of suspension of disbelief - for me, this book just asked too much in that regard. It's sort of like watching Gilligan's Island and needing to stop overthinking how the Professor made a washing machine and a Geiger counter out of coconuts and rope. Where did all of the people come from? How is this wildly popular social media influencer managing to hold this event with no one else in the world being there with drones or helicopters? Several other spoiler-heavy nonsensical events. Wash, rinse, repeat.

On the plus side, this book was a super fast read and the tropical jungle atmosphere is well written. The heroine had a nice evolution and some moments of power and there was sort of an element of "Final Girl" gusto that made it worth getting to the end. The book has not one but two epilogues and the second felt superfluous. There is a twist or two but I wouldn't call them jaw-dropping.

If you like B-slasher movies, remote island settings, influencer/celebrity culture and lots of blood and guts then there is enough here to entertain. 2.5 stars rounded up for being a fast read and the character arc for Ruth.

This “locked room” island horror/thriller is a perfect end-of-summer read. It reminded me of the game show Beast Games. A rich influencer invites a bunch of people to a private island to compete for cash, but of course, there’s something way more sinister going on behind the scenes.

Coates knows how to write gore and suspense. Some parts were really gross, and it had me on the edge of my seat. I also loved the creepy cult angle, it added a really fun twist, and there were a few neat surprises throughout.

Ruth didn’t really stand out for me, though. I wasn’t the biggest fan of her and honestly would’ve loved more sections from Eton or Petra. There are a lot of characters in this book, but it actually worked with the story and didn’t feel overwhelming.

Overall, it was a quick, gory, and an entertaining read. I’m definitely planning to check out more of Coates’ books!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this eARC to review. All opinions are my own. This book will be released on August 26th, 2025.

Read if you’re into:
🔪 Gore
🏝️ Island Settings
🙏 Cults
🏆 Competition and Games

Cults. YouTubers. Isolated Island.

This book was such an insane and wild ride. As a YouTube kid, I throughly enjoyed the YouTuber event aspect. There were so many times I was audibly gasping. It’s a very fast read, because you want to get to the next chapter.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC

Darcy Coates does NOT disappoint! Her description of pure evil comes through on the page. Top-notch suspense from beginning to end! This book will give you chills. A definite must read!

Holy smokes!!! There is a reason why Darcy Coates is amazing!!!

This book had me awake at night and making sure I heard nothing weird, hahaha

The tension you could FEEL IT.

The suspense, you will find yourself holding your breath!

The whole "aura" of the book is chef's freakin kiss!!!

I just don't have the words to express the feelings and sensation of reading this book!

If you love other books by Darcy Coates, you gotta make sure you read this one! Perfect for spooky season!!

thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!

yeah unfortunately I guess this was the mid summer (no pun intended) version of Dead of Winter. the books really are quite similar, but that one worked so so well whereas this one is a slog. for one, this book felt like two separate books most of the time, the cult story and the evil murder island story. they do come together eventually... sorta... but it wasn't satisfying. also I thought for all the focus on the cult, it didn't actually focus on the cult, but on the horrifying end to the cult. I actually thought the most interesting stuff about the cult came after the 90% mark, when you start finding out about the actual daily life of the cult, but it was a bit too little too late by then.

another issue this book has is that the craziness doesn't truly kick off until about 60% in, and a lot of it is super boring until then. there are too many characters in this book and very few of them are developed in an interesting way. even fewer have a satisfying ending, which to be fair is to be expected in a slasher. but it didn't help.

this book wasn't bad, and it does pick up a lot when the horrendous deaths actually start happening (I don't know what this says about me). Coates can really write the hell out of a gory murder scene. but yeah, I won't remember this one whereas I still think of Dead of Winter all the damn time!

a HUGE thank you to @netgalley , @poisonedpenpress & @darcybooks for the opportunity to read this early!!

(swipe to read a blurb on the book)

this was a different darcy coates book than what i’m used to (i’ve read a handful of her books: mainly dealing with haunted houses). but! don’t worry, there’s still a semi paranormal/spooky element to it! (how does a cursed island sound??) 🏝️

in my opinion, this is another banger when it comes to spooky summer slasher books. and any book that deals with a cult??? sign me up!! (there were also several twists in this book that i was not expecting that left my jaw DROPPING)

i do wish that there were more detailed flashbacks of “Petition”, the cult that our main character, Ruth, is a sole survivor of. (i really wanted to dig into the cult and its history during this book.)

but overall, this was a solid book! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

pub date is expected to be AUGUST 26TH 2025, so mark those calendars and pre order your own copy!! it is one banger of a summer slasher 🔪🩸

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. An online influencer has bought an island and brought hundreds of fans for a spectacular gathering of games and entertainment. Ruth is the lone survivor of a cult and strives to keep her identity a secret from the world. What should have been a fun and relaxing time quickly turns into chaos. It was surprising that it was a bit gory (which is fine with me), I didn't think that this author got into gore in her books. I understand Ruth's position, but I struggled a bit with how she frequently feigned ill or tired or something when she had her visions (I couldn't remember what they were called in the book). I don't know why it bothered me, and maybe it didn't happen as often as it felt. To me Ruth seemed weak/meek, which contradicts the strength it would have taken to survive the cult in the first place. I just didn't find Ruth to be as likeable as I'd hoped. Overall this was a really good book, I would definitely recommend.