4 Star Rating for Bad Date by Ellery Lloyd

What a great mystery/thriller shorty story brought to us by Ellery Lloyd. Bad Date is a sharp, fast-paced psychological thriller that dives into the dangers of modern dating and identity. Fay Roper, a washed up actress that is fed up with stalkers and failed romances, joins an exclusive dating app under a fake name, only to match with someone who has secrets of his own.

In just 58 pages, Ellery Lloyd packs a lot of tension, glamour, and deception into this short story. It is twisty, addictive, and perfect for fans of dark, high-stakes thrillers.

A few reveals feel a touch rushed, which is to be expected with only so many words. I found myself wanting just a bit more time with the characters to really feel the emotional stakes. I would love for this to be turned into a full length novel or potentially a series of short stories.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this short story!

A quick read that started out well but seemed to fall flat about halfway
Didn’t hate it but definitely not a must read for me

I devoured this short story in one sitting! It’s like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets a Freida McFadden thriller, with a stalker twist that keeps you hooked. Fay’s messy dating life and her glamorous yet vulnerable persona make her such an interesting lead. You always think men are the scary ones on the first date—but they never expect it to be you. Her son, Wolf, is the character you want to hate, but Fay feels compelled to protect him at all costs, which adds so much depth and tension. And I loved her dynamic with Poppy—her manager/best friend who always has her back.

This short but to the point story was a good break between books. It had such an interesting concept, but didn’t fully meet the mark on execution. The book itself kept me engaged for the duration, but I wanted and needed more from this to get the full experience. Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, and author Ellerly Lloyd for the opportunity to read and review this story!

A stalker, catfishing, online profiles, suspense!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

This novella had me hooked from the start and I could not put it down. The story is suspenseful and twisty from the beginning to the end.

Overall, an interesting short story about an obsessive stalker that kept me hooked.

I enjoyed the story being told in different perspectives meaning each character was uncovering parts of the story as well as learning about that individual.

I think Poppy and Fay's characters were lost a bit in the story as Ollie and Wolf's characters are more detailed and made to be disliked.

At times I was a bit confused about Fays celebrity status.

The channels of communication in this are very modern making this story scarily real.

The twist of Ollie and Wolf at the end was a small bit of payback but kinda wanted it to be a tiny bit longer as I think there was a lot more I would have liked a conclusion to.

Two friends decide to catfish one of their stalkers... but when the truth comes out there might be a killer closer to home. In this game of cat and mouse, bodies will be dropping, fake names and cons... and most of all, someone is going to finally pay for everything. This one had such a fun potential but it just kind of abruptly ends and it just leaves you scratching your head asking where the rest of it is and why it just ended like that. It definitely had potential, but mimssed the mark a bit unfortunately.

Release Date: September 1, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Fay is off on a first date. There's just one problem: He's not what he seems, and he knows more than he appears to.

But then, there might be another problem: Fay also knows more than she appears to.

This is a dark little story. It's clear early on that nobody is what they are trying to present to the world; I'm not sure that any of the characters in this story could be considered mentally stable. Fay is an actress whose career has dried up (and with it her money); Oliver is a fan who badly wants more; Wolf is Fay's son who has never had a normal life; Poppy is Fay's best friend who knows exactly where the bodies are buried. The question is how far each of them is willing to go—and who will have the upper hand in the end.

I liked this more as I got farther into it and it became clear that Fay knew more than she was letting on (did not enjoy being in Oliver's head, thank you). The ending was a bit of a letdown—it was clear that that was the direction the story was going in, but I actually tried to swipe forward to the next page multiple times before realizing that no, the story was over; the ending was that abrupt. Still a fun little thriller (well—can I call this fun, when we had to be in Oliver's head and also contemplate Wolf being let loose on the world?), but I was glad that this was a story rather than a book.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Bad Date follows the Fay Roper, an actress who is struggling in her career and is famously unlucky in love, who turns to an exclusive dating app hoping to avoid any obsessive fans or stalkers. On the app, she meets Oliver who appears normal but is in fact playing a game of his own.

I had previously really enjoyed People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd so I was very excited to read this book, especially as it seem to center on similar themes including appearance vs reality on social media. I thought the premise was intriguing and I enjoyed the writing style in the podcast chapters as the dialogue felt natural and gave you a good sense of the characters and their friendship.

However in general I found the story quite predictable and as this is a short story it all felt quite surface level so we never really get to understand Wolf's motivations or character. I feel like this concept could've worked as a full length novel but I found it felt more like an outline of a story than a fully developed short story.

Overall, unfortunately this story was not for me but I am definitely open to reading more of Ellery Lloyd's books in the future.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This book follows a woman and a man as they go on some dates. Things are not as they seem for either of them.

I liked this short story. It was a quick read and I liked seeing how everything unfolded. I liked the different POVs as well.

The premise was a bit unrealistic but I didn't really mind for this one. I do wish it was a bit longer as well.

This definitely started off better than it ended but it’s a quick read, short thriller book that is worth a read. I enjoyed it in between full thrillers

‘An online flirtation between two apparent strangers takes a deliciously wicked turn in a twisty short story about love, obsession, and deadly deceptions by the author of The Club..’

This was okay. Typical for a short story. Didn’t love the ending, but I’d still recommend it to fans of shorts.

Thanks to AOS for this opportunity! I am always grateful!

“Bad Date” has quite a few twists and turns in the short amount of time it takes you to read this short story by Ellery Lloyd.

The story is told in the narrative of three people: Fay Roper (a single mom and a fading star/podcaster with money problems), Poppy (her best friend and personal assistant), and Oliver. Oliver is latest in a long line of men in Fay’s life.

Just when you think you know what is really going on and what each person’s motives are, the next paragraph comes along to switch it all up.

Quick and enjoyable read. It may have benefitted by being a full-blown novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Bad Date is a very short (58 pg), very fast paced story with twists you will never see coming. This was great being read as a quick palate cleanser and I was able to read it in less than an hour. I personally didn’t mind the abrupt ending because the book did exactly what I needed it to (cleanse my palate) but I could totally see this being extended into a full length novel because the story was interesting and the plot was plotting. I’m interested to see what else this author will come up with next.

Thank you, Amazon Original and Ellery Lloyd for an advanced copy of Bad Date.

⭐️ This was an okay read for me. The storyline had a strong premise, but since it was a short story, parts of it felt a bit rushed. The ending definitely left me hanging though I’m still wondering what happens next!

This was a good short story. The plot could’ve definitely been developed into a full novel.

Fay, a world famous actress and single mom, faces challenges in her career and in her love life. Her opportunities for roles are practically non existent. While every guy she dates, who looks promising, always ends up vanishing out of thin air. Determined to find someone who will stick around, she joins an exclusive dating app where she meets a man named Oliver.

I like the story overall, and the writing was compelling. However, with it being a short story you don’t really get attached to the characters. But, the plot twist made up for it.

This short story explores motherhood and the dark side of fame with an intriguing premise. While the characters felt underdeveloped, the narrative took an unexpected and thought-provoking twist that made it memorable. A fast paced read but leaves a lot of questions.

Actress Fay Roper and her personal assistant/friend Poppy have a podcast together called “Ride or Die” and on it they discuss all kinds of things, like Fay’s experiments with the dating site Raya. Fay meets someone on Raya using a fake name, a man named Oliver, but it turns out he’s hiding something, just like Fay and Poppy. There’s quite a few twists and turns in this short story by Ellery Lloyd, and they are delightfully hard to predict. It’s a very quick read, and that might be part of the problem. There’s quite a bit of buildup in the beginning of the story, and then the ending is really abrupt. I think if the ending was as built up as the beginning, this would be rated higher.

This was a typical Amazon original. Nice and short. Pretty much straight to the point. 😂 I was confused where it was going on the beginning and then the twist hit me. I enjoyed it.