Review by yvo_about_books - How Bad Things Can Get

yvo_about_books 's review for:

How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates

3.25

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Finished reading: July 15th 2025

"Her dreams were always vivid. Sometimes so vivid they bled into reality, but never for more than a few seconds. Just long enough to make sure she wouldn't forget them."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I really enjoyed the two Darcy Coates books I've read so far, and I've been meaning to read more of her work ever since. I was going to turn to her backlist next, but I couldn't resist the temptation of a shiny new book with How Bad Things Can Get... Then again, that premise did sound absolutely fantastic with its tropical island setting and the promise of games turning deadly. I was intrigued by the cult element as well, and I have been looking forward to pick it up ever since a copy appeared on my kindle. Unfortunately, I didn't quite enjoy this story as much as I thought I would.

So, How Bad Things Can Get. There is no doubt that the premise itself is excellent and it has a lot of potential. The different elements to turn this story into a success for me are definitely there: the tropical island setting, the cult element, the games, the promise of something more sinister going on... But somehow I wasn't as taken away by the story itself. This had nothing to do with the setting: I loved the idea of Prosperity Island, a fictional island in the Caribbean, and especially its dark history turning it into the perfect backdrop for this sinister game.

I was a bit disappointed by how the cult element was incorporated into the plot though. Sure, we get glimpses of what it was like, but a little more background and fleshing out would have been nice. As it is, the whole cult element was kind of buried under everything else for a very long time... Except for the constant mention of Ruth not wanting the truth about her past to come out that is. And with this we have arrived at another issue: the characters. There is a huge cast of them, and they were all so incredibly one-dimensional and bland that it was extremely hard to keep them apart. Our key player Ruth basically doesn't have any personality at all beyond being a paranoid wet blanket, and her fears of being discovered were repeated over and over again. This only made me like her even less... In fact, I was actually actively hoping for her not making it as soon as things turned deadly.

How Bad Things Can Get uses a multiple POV structure, often switching between POVs within the same chapter, and this could get quite frustrating. Like I said before, the characters are considerably one-dimensional, and it took me a long time to start keeping them all apart... To make things worse, some chapters only briefly show a new character before their untimely demise, muddling things up further. The bland characters also ment that it took me a long time to become invested in the story, and the pace in the first half is considerably slower than expected as well.

I guess this lack of connection might also have had something to do with the fact that I'm not always that big of a fan of a big focus on social media/influencers, and basically the majority of the characters fall under this category. To make things worse, a lot of cliches are involved along the way... And the games themselves (or at least the ones Eton organized) where surprisingly dull to read about. I was actually starting to wonder where the proper horror came in and was about ready to give up, but the second half went VERY dark and gory indeed. Seriously, this book isn't for those with a weak stomach, because once that game of hide-and-seek starts things become BRUTAL.

I can't deny that that How Bad Things Can Get ended with a (very bloody) bang, and things got very bad indeed. It just took the story way too long to get there, and the characters weren't nearly interesting enough to keep you entertained until then. It's without doubt not my favorite Darcy Coates book, but still interesting enough if you can look past the issues and have a strong stomach.

Content Warnings