Take a photo of a barcode or cover
dutchessofbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
4.0
A fun YA horror read with lots of openings for discussion. I think the ending definitely left a little to be desired though, I felt everything was wrapped up a little too quickly, my students in the book club agreed. The kiss at the end was a little cheesy. But ohwell, it's YA ;)
We talked about this book for a good 1,5 hours. I see what you did there, Melissa Albert,with the story about the man who died in the mausoleum. Annabel Lee? Well anyway that gave me an entry to introduce Edgar Allan Poe and the poem Annabel Lee to them. Once they saw the similarities, they saw where my hypothesis was coming from and they really appreciated their introduction to this writer ("whut, did gothics exist back then?! yes, my dear student, they certainly did").
The other subject we talked about for a good while wasTate's story. We are in a high school, and we discussed whether something like that could 1. happen at our school and 2. to the present students. It was fascinating to hear some of their naivité. Because of course it could happen to anyone. What if a teacher gave them lots of compliments and lulled them into a sense of security.... A very good opening to talk about boundaries. Thanks to the author for including this story!
We talked about this book for a good 1,5 hours. I see what you did there, Melissa Albert,
The other subject we talked about for a good while was
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Mass/school shootings
shanaaa's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
styxx's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment
paulineerika's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
I love that Melissa Albert is not afraid to be dark. Her characters and her stories are not necessarily light and happy and even if the ending isn't bad, it doesn't mean it's a happily ever after.
The Bad Ones is billed as a story about semi-toxic friendships and the thin line between reality and make-believe in children's games. It mostly lives up to that billing. This book was hard for me to put down, even in the slower parts. And while the ending is happy-ish, you still get the sense there's unfinished business or trauma that's not being dealt with. It's all still very much in the air.
Nora and Becca are best friends, but the friendship doesn't seem particularly equal or even healthy at first. But as the story goes on, we learn more about what Becca has experienced and given her (implicit) already-somewhat fragile mental state, her susceptibilityto the goddess games and the "goddess" herself is not surprising.
What is surprising?The fact that it wasn't Becca at all. Or maybe I'm just slow.
I wasn't entirely clear on what happened to Becca's body while the goddess was possessing Nora or how Becca came back with such scarred lungs, etc. I would have liked to read more about her and what she went through in her own POV, versus Nora's.
The Bad Ones is billed as a story about semi-toxic friendships and the thin line between reality and make-believe in children's games. It mostly lives up to that billing. This book was hard for me to put down, even in the slower parts. And while the ending is happy-ish, you still get the sense there's unfinished business or trauma that's not being dealt with. It's all still very much in the air.
Nora and Becca are best friends, but the friendship doesn't seem particularly equal or even healthy at first. But as the story goes on, we learn more about what Becca has experienced and given her (implicit) already-somewhat fragile mental state, her susceptibility
What is surprising?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Misogyny, and Sexual violence
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
When 3 students and a teacher go missing one night, one of their best friends, Nora, and the mysterious boy James, get pulled into an old town myth, the Goddess Game.
Well, I found the book partly predictable. I figured out what was up with the connection to the old game, or who was now in the story was connected to it pretty easily.
There were some good parts, like the interesting twist as to why these particular people disappeared, and what exactly was going on with Becca being a bit harder to guess.
I didn't like the "evil Goddess" thing. It's an anti-Pagan trope that rubs me the wrong way, even though I do not identify as Pagan.
Overall, the book wasn't terrible, it was just a bit too anti-Pagan and predictable for me. Though at least it wasn't preachy it was more overall anti-religion.
Narrator Rating: 4 stars
The narrator was excellent but not spectacular. Her voice can also be a bit annoying at certain points; it just depends on her tone.
Elemental Levels: Heartfelt-3/5 Mystery-3/5 Predictability-3.5/5 Suspense-1/5 Tear- 2.5/5 Thrill-1/5
Well, I found the book partly predictable. I figured out what was up with the connection to the old game, or who was now in the story was connected to it pretty easily.
There were some good parts, like the interesting twist as to why these particular people disappeared, and what exactly was going on with Becca being a bit harder to guess.
I didn't like the "evil Goddess" thing. It's an anti-Pagan trope that rubs me the wrong way, even though I do not identify as Pagan.
Overall, the book wasn't terrible, it was just a bit too anti-Pagan and predictable for me. Though at least it wasn't preachy it was more overall anti-religion.
Narrator Rating: 4 stars
The narrator was excellent but not spectacular. Her voice can also be a bit annoying at certain points; it just depends on her tone.
Elemental Levels: Heartfelt-3/5 Mystery-3/5 Predictability-3.5/5 Suspense-1/5 Tear- 2.5/5 Thrill-1/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Mass/school shootings
gingermouse's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I read this as an ARC.
It was a slog. The full first 3/4ths of the book essentially nothing happens.
The first chapter is all 4 of the people disappearing, by the time the book gets to the adult who disappeared you've forgotten they existed in the first place.
The metaphors are liberal and try too hard, the long strings of adjectives are the same. Things that really need describing are not described or are but too late in the story- well after the point you've mentally created an image of your own. The MCs appearances come later in the book but the love interests car is described in detail before that.
The Goddess game that the entire book is premised on doesn't make sense and is never explained, the supernatural element doesnt really appear until 2/3rds of the way through. It also isn't explained at all, even at the end. It feels like several times the story is trying for mystery and false leads but it falls pretty flat.
The Love interest is forced and unconvincing and seems to only be there because its a YA novel set in a high school. So of course there has to be a love interest. It adds nothing at all to the story. And franklythe ending of the book being a kiss between Nora and James is a let down
Several chapters towards the end fully switch to a previously largely undeveloped side character, who is mentioned by name maybe a couple of times before that and has maybe one scene with the protagonist. Then once their plot point is leveraged they are written completely out with no real explanation or consequence.
The disappearances are never properly explained nor dealt withthe main character- Nora, apparently posessed, disappears three people and presumably kills them. It is never explained how they disappear, where the bodies go and why Nora is never caught. Nor why investigation isnt more enthusiastic. Becca, the second MC also disappears bodily, which is more or less glossed over as well. The disappeared people are supposedly evil but their stories are intensely shallow and their crimes- aside from the sexual predator teacher- are never properly explained. One of them is a 14 year old child bully (?) With unspecified crimes that lead to a 17 year old Becca deciciding she must be killed. The last one is a 17 year old boy who said some stuff online, i think the author might be alluding to a planned school shooting but thats a guess.
There is liberal use of dissassociation throughout, which is tied to the demonic possession but a lot of which just goes unexplained. In fact only one incident is explained as the initial posesssion and subsequent disappearances and the reason Nora loses her memory then is because the demon wipes it for her, not because she disassociates. The remaining incidents are not explained. It feels like a lazy way to segue to the next event or show that Nora is possessed. In several such incidents the demon uses this time to dress Nora or half put lipstick on her instead of doing anything interesting. At the end it is shown that the demon can choose to take full control of Nora and does so at points, yet for the majority of the time Nora remains in control and ultimately is able to do something to oust the demon. And the demon allows it.
I almost DNFd this several times throughout. Especially in chapter 19 when the author opts to use the word "worser", which is a word but it is archaic and feels wrong. Worse or worst would have been fine, this really hammered home the overuse of a thesaurus and the flowery unnecessary language throughout. Which for me, pulled me frequently out of the story.
All in all there are gaping plot holes, the ending is unsatisfying, this book is at least half too long and does not live up to its potential.
There are some possibly feminist themes but they aren't well visited or fleshed out.
I finished it to see if anything was explained and not only were most things not but other stuff continued to happen without satisfactory explanationwhere was Beccas body that whole time and how did it get there? Where did the possessed teacher go and how was she never caught? Why was the stabbed to death principal just accepted and nothing further done? What even was the demon really, where did it come from and why did it appear around the time of patties murder? .
This book isn't a horror or a supernatural thriller in reality. It's more a dark story about teenage friendship.
It was a slog. The full first 3/4ths of the book essentially nothing happens.
The first chapter is all 4 of the people disappearing, by the time the book gets to the adult who disappeared you've forgotten they existed in the first place.
The metaphors are liberal and try too hard, the long strings of adjectives are the same. Things that really need describing are not described or are but too late in the story- well after the point you've mentally created an image of your own. The MCs appearances come later in the book but the love interests car is described in detail before that.
The Goddess game that the entire book is premised on doesn't make sense and is never explained, the supernatural element doesnt really appear until 2/3rds of the way through. It also isn't explained at all, even at the end. It feels like several times the story is trying for mystery and false leads but it falls pretty flat.
The Love interest is forced and unconvincing and seems to only be there because its a YA novel set in a high school. So of course there has to be a love interest. It adds nothing at all to the story. And frankly
Several chapters towards the end fully switch to a previously largely undeveloped side character, who is mentioned by name maybe a couple of times before that and has maybe one scene with the protagonist. Then once their plot point is leveraged they are written completely out with no real explanation or consequence.
The disappearances are never properly explained nor dealt with
There is liberal use of dissassociation throughout, which is tied to the demonic possession but a lot of which just goes unexplained. In fact only one incident is explained as the initial posesssion and subsequent disappearances and the reason Nora loses her memory then is because the demon wipes it for her, not because she disassociates. The remaining incidents are not explained. It feels like a lazy way to segue to the next event or show that Nora is possessed. In several such incidents the demon uses this time to dress Nora or half put lipstick on her instead of doing anything interesting. At the end it is shown that the demon can choose to take full control of Nora and does so at points, yet for the majority of the time Nora remains in control and ultimately is able to do something to oust the demon. And the demon allows it.
I almost DNFd this several times throughout. Especially in chapter 19 when the author opts to use the word "worser", which is a word but it is archaic and feels wrong. Worse or worst would have been fine, this really hammered home the overuse of a thesaurus and the flowery unnecessary language throughout. Which for me, pulled me frequently out of the story.
All in all there are gaping plot holes, the ending is unsatisfying, this book is at least half too long and does not live up to its potential.
There are some possibly feminist themes but they aren't well visited or fleshed out.
I finished it to see if anything was explained and not only were most things not but other stuff continued to happen without satisfactory explanation
This book isn't a horror or a supernatural thriller in reality. It's more a dark story about teenage friendship.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment