I’ve read a lot of books that have multiple pages of trigger warnings with the author leaving cutesy little notes asking “are you sure?” This one didn’t have any trigger warnings and it might be the only book I’ve ever read that actually needed them. It is darker, more violent, gorier, and more disturbing than you can possibly imagine. The cult angle is interesting, that has always been a subject that catches my attention, and it was mixed with what seems like Beast Games x Fyre Festival. Very original but really really violent.

Damn… this was a lot…. In a good way. I’m not real big on a lot of gore but this was such a good story. I flew through the last 200 pages, I was so absorbed in everything. As much as I thought it was frustrating when the perspective changed between characters right as something good was getting revealed, it really drew me in. 10/5 stars lol

Thank you NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.


This is a fun, twisted, gore filled ride. I can definitely see myself sitting out by a campfire reading this just to put myself in the element of more on edge then this book already does 😅

Darcy Coates is an auto-read author for me. I was ecstatic to receive an e-arc of this, thanks to the publisher and Netgalley!

This is billed as the Blair Witch Project meets Fyre Fest, and I think that is accurate. I'd add to that Jonestown vibes and a dose of influencer culture that leads to one hell of a read.

We follow Ruth, her boyfriend Zach, and their friends Carson and Hayleigh as they get selected to go on an all expenses paid trip for a five day festival run by mega-rich, game designing, prank pulling Youtuber Eton. Ruth has dark secrets in her past, and when her history begins to blur with her current reality, relationships are tested, trauma is brought to light, and people begin to die.

This reminded me, vaguely, of her backlist title Hunted.

While I very much enjoyed the read, I don't think it is her strongest work. It is a solid summer thriller/horror.

I have always been a huge Darcy Coates fan and this did not dissapoint!! I read this book in 2 days. I loved the storyline and allbthe details that were added to almost think you were there on that island with them. Another great book!!!!
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy

This book gave me uneasy vibes pretty much throughout. An influencer invites hundreds of people to a remote island, but there is something sinister that awaits them. Ruth had been part of a cult most of her life, and while on the island she is trying to keep her head down. The island and Ruth's past are tied together, and I absolutely loved this book for steering away from paranormal and into cult life. It was absolutely amazing and well-paced. I wish there had been more connection, maybe via background on some of the characters, but overall, an amazing book!!!

This book was a wild ride. I'm still thinking about some of the twists/revelations and I want to talk about them and that's just spoilers, so I absolutely won't, but know I was flying through the back half of this. Well, truly, I flew this this book in general. Coates has an immensely readable style and was very good at keeping the pace steady. I really liked Ruth. She's really going through it and I was rooting for her through the whole book. The only issue I kind of had with the book was there was definitely times where I wondered how the alarm that something was terribly wrong hadn't been sounded yet. I could understand why for pacing reasons, but universe, it was a little weird. Overall, I will definitely be checking out other Darcy Coates books.

I was SUPER intimidated by this book and what people were saying about it. HOWEVER please, please, please read it! I should have never doubted MISS DARCY COATES!!! I was pleasantly suprised and fully investigated in this plot line. The clausterphobic cult vibes ATE. I honestly did not know where this story was going to take me and I am honestly not disappointed one bit. I enjoyed the character devlopment, the questionable events, and the back story of the main characters. What is Petition, will there be a winner, and who will survive the night?

How Bad Things Can Get

ARC review ✨




I went into this one blind + requested it just bc it was by @darcybooks and I love her!
Darcy, my girl—this book was SCARY. From chapter one just had an overall unsettling and ominous vibe. Nothing made sense until towards the end when I was like WHOA🤯

Fabulous book with culty scary vibes 🔪💀

Four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Thanks @netgalley for the chance to read and review ahead of time! Releases August 26, 2025🤩

Pretty good book. I enjoyed the twists. I saw most of them coming, which is not a bad thing. There was something about the writing style that just was not for me though.

Thank you Negalley for this ARC! I LOVE Darcy Coates. She is a great Horror author. This is a 4 star read. I love island horror and money reality TV and this gave off both of those vibes. I could see this book turned movie!

I stayed up way too late many a night to find out what was going to happen next! It was so clever the way the further you got into the story, how all the dots started connecting for a very exciting and unexpected ending! 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

NO SPOILERS
How Bad Things Can Get
Darcy Coates, Author
Pub Date: August 26, 2025
Ruth and three friends were chosen to go to an exclusive event on an island in the middle of nowhere. Ruth is the sole survivor of an infamous cult. This weekend also coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the cults murderous demise. But Ruth has spent her whole life keeping her identity a secret from everyone, or so she thought.

This book had more horror than I expected and was a little hard for me to read. If you like horror you will definitely enjoy this!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. for providing this ARC for my honest review.

Overall, it was an interesting read. It definitely was different from what I’m usually reading. The plot was the most inventive part of the book, by far. The setting is exotic in a way, very summery so perfect for the upcoming months. The cast of characters was not my favorite, and I sometimes had a hard time distinguishing two characters. My main issue was with the pace, which was slow for me. The book could have also been shortened a little bit, it felt too long. Other than that, I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Darcy Coates is back and has done it again! Coates will forever be one of my top horror authors. How Bad Things Can Get is another one of her homerun books. I was sucked in from the very first page. The way the book starts, you can't help but staying up through the night to finish!

Thank you NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

How Bad Things Can Get is disgusting, disturbing, insane... and sooooo fun. It was supposed to be the party of the century: miles of idyllic white sand beaches, lush jungle foliage...and then people start going missing. Following Ruth, the only survivor of an infamous cult, How Bad Things Can Get gets...really bad, really quickly.

Fair warning: this book is a gore fest. I loved it, and I was riveted/terrified/entranced for every moment, but it was pretty gross at times, so if you are gore-averse, I'd stay away. It is a true horror, not a mystery-thriller that's kind of spooky, but a genuinely scary horror that will make your skin crawl.

I enjoy all of Darcy Coates' books to varying degrees, and this one did not disappoint. I highly recommend this to any horror lovers looking for an action-packed horror fest involving cults, an island, influencers and a cannibal witch.

I have to start off by saying that this is my first Darcy Coates book and I had no clue what to expect.

This book had me saying multiple times “what the heck am I reading”? But in a good way. At first when they mentioned “games”, I thought that it would be something like the Hunger Games but it definitely wasn’t. The story follows Ruth, the sole survivor from a popular cult who just wants to enjoy a nice relaxing vacation. Things start to get really crazy & creepy on the island and Ruth must confront her past.

* Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this ARC!*

This book is definitely one for fans of creepy, gory stories with a dose of body horror (think skinning and clawing). How Bad Things Can Get feels like a mix between a reality TV competition and an escape room gone horribly wrong, with some deceipt and really inept producers in the background The cult element adds a weird and unsettling twist that keeps things interesting, and true crime fans might enjoy how the mystery unfolds.

Ruth and Zach’s relationship is a bit sketchy from the start, so readers might catch onto something feeling off in the book. Overall, this is a tense, creepy read that keeps you guessing. I'd give it three to four stars — not perfect, but certainly a fun time.

3.5 Stars

While I've enjoyed Coates haunted house novels, it's interesting to see her branching into slashers recently. The cult angle was unique, and one of the more compelling facets was Ruth's struggle to escape her past.

As for the rest of the story, there was simply too much going on. Too many threads being pulled throughout the middle that distracted from the main action. The Mr. Beast character and his issues, Zach being watched by Logan, Carson acting overtly suspicious, Ruth overhearing Petition gossip and melting down. The deaths in between felt incredibly downplayed as a result of all the mundane drama. And when we get to the big reveal, a lot is spoiled by Ruth's 'sightings' which are never explained (and in fact, contradict Ruth's own assertions about Petition). Also, on occasion, the motives of the 'bad guys' were bizarre and confusing.

The story is relatively fast paced and the gore level high, which makes the book easy to read in one sitting. The characters are fine, and mostly likeable. I'm torn on the setting, because I was getting 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer' vibes the whole time.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I'm not sure how to really get into this without spoiling anything... But I found that I had to suspend WAY too much disbelief to even try enjoying this. So many things were just too much and didn't make sense.

There was nothing that had me rooting for any of the characters and it drove me absolutely insane reading Petra's name cut down to "Pet." It made my skin crawl each time.

I definitely would have been more interested in the original cult than whatever ended up happening.