Outstanding. Ever page kept me turning and it kept me up past my bedtime. My first Darcy Coates read and certainly not my last.

It was seeing the elevator pitch for this book that made me want to read it. “Blair Witch Project meets Fyre Fest” sounded like a fun time and I can confirm reading this book was a lot of fun. Also, I need someone, whatever studio, to turn this book into a movie because I could picture what was happening so easily while I read it that I feel it could be adapted into a movie script with no problems. It’d make for a really fun movie.

This book throws you into the story on page 1. So for those with no patience who avoid slow burns, you’ll be right at home here. It’s because of that fast start that there are so many pieces presented to us all at once and you have to trust the process. It all makes sense in the end. And even if there is the doubt of is this supernatural or not, I do like it when the books I read make sense. I can excuse a few tiny details not being the most coherent due to that supernatural aspect but I don’t like when it’s used to explain things that just shouldn’t work. It feels like cheating. But it’s not the case here and it’s all explained and it makes a lot of sense.
The way the story is told felt a bit choppy at first but then I understood the point of telling the events that way so it’s another reason to trust the process, like I already said. And at the end of the book, that “choppy” way of jumping from one scene to another actually helped move the story faster and allowed me to know where everyone was and what was happening to them. I feel the story moved fast the whole time but when you reach the end of this type of story, you’re desperate to know the ending and find all the answers. So it moving so quickly due to the writing was very welcome.

The characters were very interesting in the sense that none of them felt like a reliable narrator. Each of them for different reasons but I kept wondering who I could trust. And when I realised who shouldn’t be trusted, I thought about those little crumbs the author left throughout the book and felt like the foreshadowing had been done really well. It’s effective if you reread the book or if you just try to think about the previous mentions of those characters, but it’s not obvious. I mistrusted a lot of characters at some point (probably all of them, actually) and if I guessed who was hiding something, I never guessed what they hid. And as much as I like being able to guess, I prefer getting it wrong and being surprised. So I enjoyed that.
Each character was very unique as well. No two characters were the same so differentiating them felt very easy. And the cast is quite big in a way. The “main” characters, if we can call them that, are not that many. But there are so many other characters around the island since the festival is attended by so many people, that being able to give each one of them their own personality and unique nuances is pretty impressive. And it helps a lot when reading the book.

As for the plot, I enjoyed it a lot. At first, I was trying to see how the pitch I mentioned was developed. I have to say that any story that’s set on an island will remind me of Lost and there were two small elements that felt Lost-esque to me but I’m a huge fan of that show so maybe it’s just me trying to find similarities.
The way things were being uncovered made the plot very interesting to follow. And I didn’t expect any social commentary to pop up in this story the way it did but I always appreciate that. I’ve noticed many books and movies as well exploring similar topics when it comes to commentary and it for sure is a reflection of the world we live in nowadays. The commentary was obvious but still subtle enough throughout mostly the later part of the book. But then the epilogues really drove the point home. Just in case any readers didn’t get it.

Mentioning negatives is hard because there were a couple of things that made me wonder if the book would have plotholes or an explanation because they felt like very obvious issues. But then they were all explained so those “negatives” disappeared.
I guess if I have to mention something that could be a negative to some is that the book gets pretty explicit when mentioning the violence, especially in the second half. I was wondering actually how far the author was going to take it and it kept getting more and more explicit. Not an issue for me, since I’m fully disensitized after reading and watching so many horror stories. But to those who are a bit squeamish, it can be a bit much. However, I feel like if they read those details without trying to imagine those scenes too much, they’ll be fine.

This book being released in the summer is so perfect because, believe it or not, it could make for a good beach read for lovers of this genre. So I’d encourage those types of readers to check it out.

Well that little island vacation took an unexpected turn really quick. 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.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing this book, with my honest review below.

How Bad Things Can Get turned up the tension from the start, making the tropical destination that Ruth, her boyfriend, and his friends are staying at for a highly anticipated festival a hotbed of a different type of action.

Ruth is a survivor of a cult but very few people know about that, and as the story goes on we learn about how crazy this cult was and what exactly caused her to be its only survivor. The pre-festival partying includes a game that Ruth is selected to take part in that brings back those memories along with some suspicions on the organizer and guests. As it emerges, Ruth is right to be suspicious as an all out blood bath takes place. The story combines some ‘what could go wrong’ for a Mr. Beast style influencer competition along with plenty of dark cult practices through Ruth’s memories and some twists that just added some fuel to the mystery that takes place.

I don’t know if I would call this Fire Festival 2.0 but it’s definitely a more hardcore thriller that will hold on to your attention and make you second guess that exclusive beach vacation. The gore may be a bit much for some readers, but I can’t see any other way this would play out. Pick this up if you don’t mind that and do love a good horror thriller!

This was a gory, spooky, MESS. A 5 star MESS. I loved every second of it. This is 1000% my new favorite Darcy book. If you love slashers, cults, the beach, this book is for you!

This one was hard for me to read, as it was more gruesome than i expected. Horror readers will enjoy it!

This felt like the best blend of Fyrefest meets Jonestown! I really loved the pacing and Coates knack for layering dread and impending doom in cunning little quips and asides. It was a really fun (and terrifying!) ride!

Darcy Coates gave readers another edge of your seat book. It's filled with scares, gore, and suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it read like a vivid horror movie.

Wow. This horror slasher won't be for everyone -- those who are sensitive to graphic and detailed violence and mutilation -- but just as I find myself with most of Darcy's books, I was fully sucked into this terrifying world and after about 1/3 of the way in, I couldn't put it down. There were a lot of characters to keep up with in the beginning, but as the story goes on, the most important players and who should be remembered starts to stick. This was such a wild ride and no one is safe -- it took me right back to some of the shock of "Dead of Winter" but to an even more extreme degree.

This would be PERFECT for a movie/miniseries adaptation and the story plays out viscerally and disturbingly to the extreme. Again, I wouldn't recommend to someone who wasn't a fan of horror/extreme thrillers but if that's your genre, you will devour this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to review this ARC!

A cult, a tropical island, and a game of death all wrapped up into one book. I couldn’t pass up the chance to read this Darcy Coates novel, as she’s so well known for her horror and thriller novels (thanks NetGalley for the ARC!). Coates did not disappoint with this one. There’s lots of guessing of who is what throughout the first part of the novel, but we are quickly wrapped up into this story of games created by a viral influencer only interested in gaining more and more views, and the backstory of a cult massacre survivor. How do these two tie together? It’s plausibly frightening.

Darcy is hit or miss for me. I often will question why some of her books are in the horror genre because they're just not scary to me!

I sadly didn't get through this one, it just didn't grab my attention early on.

I plan to order the physical book and try that! Sometimes I just need to read a book physically and not ebook in order to enjoy it.

I'll be sure to update.

Darcy Coates can do no wrong! What a great spooky thriller set with so many twists and turns! Thank you Netgally for the opportunity to read this e-arc!

I had so much fun with this book! In fact, I’m pretty bummed I didn’t get to read this on vacation by the pool!
I found myself unable to stop reading this and was luckily able to start and finish this in a day! I could totally see this being adapted into a movie! I can’t wait to read her next work!

How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates is a chilling thriller set on a tropical island that promises the ultimate vacation but delivers terror instead. When an influencer and his followers arrive for a party, they quickly discover the island's dark secrets—and Ruth, a survivor of a cult, is forced to confront her bloody past. As guests go missing and the games turn deadly, Coates delivers a fast-paced, suspenseful story full of twists. Perfect for fans of psychological horror with a dark, thrilling atmosphere.

I absolutely loved this book. It was exciting, perfectly paced, and had me on the edge of my seat. This is my fourth book by Darcy Coates and I continue to be wowed by her awesome stories. I have already begun telling everyone about this book.

A “lucky” beach festival trip, orchestrated by an Internet sensation along with extravagant games, goes wrong when one participant’s past comes back to haunt her - and everyone else on the island.

This book had me on edge and morbidly curious to see what would happen next. Though the overall plot wasn’t too surprising, this was still filled with suspense and gore, leading me to absolutely devour it. This was a quick read with the perfect amount of detail, backstory, and action so that everything makes sense without becoming monotonous.

Thanks to NetGalley and Darcy Coates for the ARC!

WHOA!!!!!! I don’t usually get ‘scared’ from books as I’m pretty good at separating truth and fiction but this book was SO CREEPY! I couldn’t put it down!!! Highly, highly recommend!

How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates
A party on a remote tropical island, hundreds of fans, and an influencer with big plans—what could go wrong? Turns out, everything.

I almost bailed on this book early on. The influencer angle nearly killed it for me—I don’t get the appeal in real life, and I definitely didn’t want to read about it. But I’m so glad I pushed through. The pacing is fast, the violence is gloriously over the top, and the cult backstory hooked me hard. There's something disturbingly fascinating about people being controlled so completely they'd die for it. The tension keeps ratcheting up, and by the time it hits the explosive climax, I was all in.

Dark, twisted, and relentless—this one surprised me in the best way.