I got into this book easily. It is fast paced and kept me interested. I loved the ending, I will have to buy it when it comes out. Thank you so much for the ARC.

I went into The Mean Ones with high expectations because I INHALED Such Lovely Skin last year, and it did not disappoint.

Sadie was a character that I kept rooting for even after knowing she might have made some ‘abnormal’ choices. This book is told in 2 timelines: 2006 when Sadie was 12 at summer camp and 2023 when Sadie is 29 and still dealing with the PTSD and trauma that happened at camp all those years ago.

The creepy forest vibes were immaculate and the body horror made me pause for a bit. I was reading this at night and had to put it down and wait for day time because I was a little frightened, which is what I look for in horror.

I think the author did so well branching out into adult horror and I hope she continues to do so. Especially if she keeps writing Good For Her, because the ending of this book was the cherry on top.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the review copy.

Ten out of Ten this book was FANTASTIC!! Schlote-Bonne mastered both the adult and pre-teen POVs. The twists and turns had me guessing the whole time and the ending was perfection. I am thrilled we already have an event lined up for The Mean Ones (with some other awesome horror authors!) and I cannot WAIT to talk about this book to customers in the store.

This was an odd book, but the story really captivates you. Going back and forth between 2023 & 2006, Sadie has to come to terms with what happened when she witnessed her friend’s deaths in 2006. Sadie was diagnosed with PTSD and hallucinations, which she calls The Other Place. She’s spent the last 17 years trying to be normal, only to discover normal is way different than she thought.


3.5⭐️

Thank you for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the perfect camp horror/slasher, combined with a new, unique take on cults and from start to finish I was obsessed.

Sabrina/Sadie was a fun character, neither likeable nor dislikable but entirely engaging. One you wanted the best for, despite eye rolling at her constantly.

The dual timeline/narrative was very well done, with just the right amount of information given about Sadie’s past as we moved through the present day storyline.

While the Damon aspect seemed silly at times, it was something I’ve never seen done before and, as a result, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was a fast paced, fun read and left me desperate to read more of the author’s work.

slasher, campy, and effective hallucinogenic and interesting work with some very interesting reality. 5 stars. tysm for the arc, would recommend.

The writing style of this book hooked me and got me into the story right away. It had a slasher/culty feel which I really liked. There were maybe one too many cultural references that took me out of the story a bit but I didn’t let that hinder my enjoyment. I found this to read quickly and was quite gruesomely entertaining. It doesn’t not take itself too seriously and is morbidly funny at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the earc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I got into this really easily, I was hooked from the first chapter and it stayed that way right to the end. It was so addictive I swear, it had me gripped every time I read it.

I liked how it was written, going from the present and to the past when Sadie went camping where everything happened. It’s also interesting to read how the deaths of her friends affected her as an adult. It’s descriptive, what she sees and hears around her and the strange place no one but her sees. I also liked how young the 2006 pov was, you could tell how young she was and it read like a child retelling the story.

It is incredibly descriptive and gory (which I don’t mind) the way it describes “the other place” is so so good, it’s absolutely full of detail and you can definitely picture it. (I can’t because I have aphantasia, but if I didn’t, I know it would be a vivid picture)

I really liked the ending, the build up to it and the epilogue was amazing. I loved how it was done and how accepting Sadie was about the stuff that happened in the cabin. You can feel the relief she feels, the acceptance, how lighter she is emotionally and mentally, it’s truly incredible.

Overall, I LOVED this. An absolute incredible horror with the perfect amount of creeps and gore.

Sadie is a perfectly normal 29-year-old. She has a good job and a doting boyfriend, as long as she doesn’t make him mad. When they get an invite to visit their friends’ cabin for the weekend, Sadie worries she won’t be able to ignore the voices in her head, reminding her of when she witnessed a ritualistic killing at summer camp seventeen years ago.

This book is gnarly in the best way. The atmosphere is incredibly vivid. There were many times I wished I could look away from the movie in my mind.

The dual timelines work so well together, each one building off what we learn in the previous chapter, each one tense and quickly paced. I flew through this book.

Sadie is written in a way that I absolutely believed all her choices—her reason to stay with the people who hurt her and her need to protect herself. The chapters in 2006 perfectly capture a toxic friendship of three!

I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
All hail Ralac.

(Bonus points for the Samurai Cop reference)

I devoured this book!!

Gritty, raw and intense, I couldn’t stop turning the pages because I had to know what would happen next!!

I loved the flashbacks and the dual timelines, the mystery surrounding the past (and the present) had me hooked the entire time.

Sadie is a genuine and authentic fmc and I really connected with her journey of self-discovery.

After witnessing the brutal murder of her two bestfriends years before, she begins to hear strange things: animals talking, trees crying…

What really happened 17 years ago? And who does the deep male voice she keeps hearing belong to?

This was such a chilling, atmospheric horror: I loved every minute of it!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!!

The Mean Ones was an acid trip from hell and I loved every single second! Reading this turned my head inside out and put it through the ringer, like what was in this book?! Pure genius probably! The story was so well plotted and the characters so unlikeable, it was delicious. Sabrina's friends made me think back the the friends I had when I was a kid and I felt like I was at that summer camp looking through Bina's eyes, it felt so real. I felt anger, sadness, disgust, and overall unwelcomed. I also felt vindicated and that was a beautiful feeling! I saw myself in the main character so much it felt like I was in the story. Truly a masterpiece of a book and I can't wait to own a physical copy!

Wow! This was one hell of a book. I absolutely love books like this: where I have no idea what is going on. This was SO weird, I feel like giving this author a pat on the back because I haven't had a book that made me feel like this in a long time.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I finished yesterday. I absolutely loved this, the vibes were unmatched and this was so beyond creepy. The pacing was super quick, I devoured it so fast to the point I was suddenly 10 chapters ahead. The POV's switched between then and now, which I thought was a really nice touch. This was incredibly well written, from the emotional storyline to the gore. It got under your skin and wormed its way into your brain, until all you could think about was picking this book back up.

This was unlike anything I have read before, the uniqueness was refreshing. I liked that all of the characters were unreliable, I wasn't sure who was telling the truth and who to look out for, it only added to the intensity. I think some of Sabrina's story will be highly relatable for many; the bullying, the trauma, emotional dependency, family struggles. The author tackled these topics really well and they felt genuine. I also loved that you honestly couldn't tell if it was in Sabrina's head or not. The trip this book gave me was so fun!

The horror elements were descriptive and genuinely traumatising at times. Sabrina's rage was well warranted, I enjoyed her inner monologue and her character development. I honestly found myself saying 'good for her' toward the end. I love female rage and feminist horror, this book really delivered. Last thing to note is that I support women's rights and most importantly, I support their wrongs.

This is a must read for me, especially if you love cultish horror books, with an unreliable narrator and female rage. I don't have a bad word to say about this book. READ IT!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amanda Manns for an arc copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

I was gifted a copy of this ebook from Net Galley and Creature Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This book is available September 30, 2025. This is the first adult novel written by this YA author and unfortunately you can tell. Adding a few sex scenes but not changing your writing style does not make for an adult novel. It just makes it feel gross. There was also a lot of judgy-ness of less than perfect people..."fat", "slow" , "facial asymmetries"(???), "hairy", "ugly", "big dimply legs". Lots of references to early 2000s shows and current events which will be lost on many readers, especially in the near future. And lastly, so much weightlifting talk. I skimmed those parts. The horror wasn't horror-ing either. Skip this one.

Deliciously creepy. I loved every word. So devourable. I can't wait to see what comes next from Tatitian's mind. The atmosphere she creates is wonderful and scary.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy to review honestly.

The Mean Ones is one of those horror books that’s way more than just scary—it’s got real heart and depth. Tatiana Schlote-Bonne nails the creepy, spooky folk horror vibes but also dives deep into what it’s like living with trauma and trying to heal from some seriously messed-up stuff.

Sadie, the main character, feels super real. She’s dealing with a dark past involving a cult, and you can feel how heavy that is on her, but she’s also tough and trying to figure things out. The way she battles her past while facing all the weird, eerie stuff happening around her makes the story way more than just a typical horror read.

The setting—the woods, the cabin—it’s like its own creepy character. The writing pulls you right in with a slow-building tension that keeps you hooked but also sneaks in some quieter, emotional moments that really hit. What I liked most is that this book doesn’t just rely on jump scares or gore. It’s all about the psychological stuff—the memories, the nightmares, and how trauma messes with your head. It’s scary, yeah, but also sad and kind of beautiful in a weird way.

If you want a horror story that’ll mess with your head and stick with you emotionally, The Mean Ones is a great pick. It’s the kind of book you won’t stop thinking about, even after you’re done reading.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an e-arc!

I was a huge fan of Tatiana's first book SUCH LOVELY SKIN, so of course I had to request this one on Netgalley and it did not disappoint! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. There is something about her writing style that is so addicting! I literally read this in a few days when it usually takes me about a month to read a book. It was that good! She will always be an auto-buy author for me!

She did such a good job of establishing a spooky setting and creating suspense. I loved the structure of the book. It flips back and forth from the horrors in her past to the horrors of her present until they weave together to reveal the true mystery at the heart of the story. At the end of every chapter it left me with a desperate need to keep reading. I was equally as invested in what happened in the past as the present which is hard to do! I was seriously never bored for one second when reading this which is an incredible feat for an author to achieve. Bravo, Tatiana!

I was truly impressed with how realistic the main character came across and how authentic her live was. Her love of weight lifting was a unique interest that I haven't read about very often and I enjoyed seeing that represented.. She felt so real and her idiosyncrasies were authentic.

Possible spoiler in this paragraph about the love interest relationship. Skip if you want to go in blind: <spoiler> I also really appreciated how accurately she represented the mindset of someone in a toxic relationship. The author nailed on the head exactly how someone justifies things the toxic person does when in these relationships and how in order to survive, the person creates their own "management" strategies in order to live with that person. Her metaphor of the dangerous speeding up of the car in one scene as a metaphor about her romantic partner's rage accelerating was so spot that it gave me chills. I nearly gasped out loud about how accurate that depiction was. My heart ached for the main character in her situation and I really enjoyed watching how her realization of that unhealth relationship played out in the plot. <spoiler>

I don't want to give any spoilers about the ending, but it definitely was not a "cookie cutter" ending. She did something unique in the character/plot choices which was refreshing to see. I like when a book can surprise me and this one did.

Spoiler warning: <spoiler>I like the idea presented in the story that literal monsters can be more compassionate and that regular humans can be more of the "real" monsters in peoples' lives. <spoiler>

I gave this one a read because of the badass cover and the promise of a strange voice inside the main character's head. I love stuff like that. It's told in dual timeframes, past and present, with a bloody murder that you already know about going in and other mysterious aspects that unfold as you go along. 

It's important to note that in the flashback/2003 chapters, the protagonist goes by the name Sabrina and in the current day/2023 chapters, she has changed her name to Sadie. Though the names are so close that I honestly didn't catch on immediately that she was even hiding her identity. I thought the 2023 chapters were a bit more fun to read, for the most part. (Aside from the boyfriend.) The flashbacks felt a little more in tune with a younger narrator and they were probably written that way on purpose. But O-M-G, they had so many pop culture references. Like at least one on every page. I figure this was likely done to generate nostalgia and set the scene as well as show us Sabrina's personality, but it was still a LOT. And there was also some awkward homophobia in those chapters, too. Sabrina’s two BFF's were garbage and I was counting down the moments until they died violently.

When it comes to the adult part of the story, Lucas sucks and Sadie just makes excuses for him and stays in this toxic and gross relationship. I almost DNF’d the book a couple of times because of that, and also because parts of it felt very close to glorifying/romanticizing potential mental illness. Also, in the 2023 storyline as soon as Sadie let her boyfriend’s buddy take everyone’s cell phone away on their weekend trip and didn’t object, I was pretty much done with her. (And annoyed at the author, because that’s a little too convenient.) I had a very hard time sympathizing with her even after everything she had been through, because she kept simping and apologizing for this absolutely garbage person. It also felt off that she kept saying things like, "I have to be Normal Sadie, and Normal Sadie would do this instead."

I guess that basically, I wasn't in love with the writing style. But I stuck around because of all the weird, nightmarish imagery. I was definitely into that and there was enough of it to keep me interested. There was definitely a dark romance aspect to this story that typically isn't my thing, but I can definitely see a lot of other people loving it. (I'm just jaded, lol.) Very cool that Sadie/Sabrina is a bodybuilder, though! I don't think I've ever read a book with a protagonist like that before, and it looks like the author was drawing from real-life experience.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

This book completes my 2025 goal of 60 books for the year, but of course I'm going to keep reading more!

Biggest TW: Bullying, Body shaming, Animal Harm/Death, Chronic Illness, Hate speech/slurs/Homophobia

2.25 stars.

The Mean Ones takes place in dual timelines: 2023 and 2006. We start in the present. Sadie's about to go lifting with her boyfriend and it's laid out from the very first page that her childhood friends were murdered. She was diagnosed with PTSD induced hallucinations. Unfortunately… She isn't a likable character. She's an obnoxious people pleaser incapable of telling people no. (Not a big sin on its own but the flaws pile up fast). She doesn't stand up for herself or anyone else. She lets her abusive boyfriend treat innocent servers like shit without trying to help or signal outwardly that she thinks it's wrong. She has no self respect.

I won't judge Sadie for staying with her boyfriend. But I do judge her and hate how she treats others. One of the running themes throughout the novel is that there's mean girls and nice girls and one can't exist without the other. It's almost like Sadie wants us to believe she's a nice girl. But, imo, she's not. She's incredibly judgy and two faced. Shallow. She has a comment about her father that's straight up racist??? There's also a bit of fatphobia throughout and while I'd say most of it doesn't come from Sadie... I definitely side eyed her. It feels quite baked into the book. Oh! And Sadie is a physical therapy assistant who complains that her regular clientele are middle-aged men who are considering hip replacements they don't need. Essentially, Sadie is the type of medical professional that I'd be dreading getting. Because who wants treatment from someone who LITERALLY calls their clients lazy (not to their face, sure, but behind their back)??? That's what she says in her own words! Sadie, who is totally able-bodied, has the audacity to call people who are in chronic pain lazy without knowing the full extent of their everyday existence. And I find that insufferable. I'm sorry, what's this book trying to tell me? Does the narrative think Sadie is right or does it think she's wrong? It's really unclear.

Oh oh! I can't forget about the homophobia. The comments aren't said by Sadie, thankfully, they're said by other kids in 2006 but I still found it tiring after awhile. That paired with how aggressively heterosexual everything was in the present, it just didn't feel like a book that thought about queer people beyond “ew, icky"? I'm not saying I need main characters to be queer to have a good time! But some indication that being queer is normal or ok in the present would have helped my reading experience.

Horror is subjective but I didn't feel an inkling of dread while reading The Mean Ones. I wasn't unnerved. I certainly wasn't scared! I was just frustrated because I didn't care about the characters enough to be invested. I don't need to like a character to enjoy a horror novel. But if I hate the characters the novel better bring the scares and, for me, this one didn't.

Oh my God, and the third act??? The ending??? Rushed. And certain aspects were not properly developed, so I felt nothing. It was simply unbelievable. And one of the characters felt like a groomer, so. That wasn't fun.

I'm not sure who I'd recommend this book to but don't be discouraged if you were interested as I have the minority opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This was absolutely wicked in the best way! I really enjoyed it! Liked 2 different timelines, it’s pretty short and fast read but to the point

The Mean Ones

by Tatiana is a thrilling and gruesome read that I couldn’t put down! The book is narrated over two timelines, allowing me to connect deeply with both Sadie’s younger and older selves. The folk/occult horror elements of the story are captivating, especially the sacrifice scene.

The descriptions were vivid and plentiful. I was completely drawn into Sadie’s world. The inclusion of “the Other Place” made for a completely immersive experience, transporting me to a realm of vile darkness and uncertainty. Her internal dialogue was authentic, and I really resonated with the emotional turmoil she endured due to toxic frenemies in her youth and mistrust. And her “normal” Sadie struggles truly capture the damage of conformity. You gotta live your true life! Sadie’s desire for inclusion and acceptance is too real, and the impact of someone finally offering her true friendship had me cheering!

If you want a book that you can read in a day and leaves you with a “good for her” feeling, with some good old-fashioned blood and guts, this is it!

All hail Ralac.

And an extra special bonus for a girl who lifts!