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pinkletaro 's review for:
Bad Blood
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
This book just felt so forced, and honestly I’m beyond disappointed because… what the hell was this?
From the second All In hinted that the finale would dive into a cult setting, I had mixed feelings. A plot like that can be amazing if it’s executed well, but here? It wasn’t. The information was just thrown at me, scattered everywhere, and for more than half the book I was flat-out confused. On top of that, so much of it felt dragged out, repetitive, or downright unrealistic—and then suddenly everything happened in the last 50 pages.
And the big twist? Don’t even get me started. How did none of these Naturals—literal human lie detectors, emotion readers, and profilers—see through someone right under their noses? It made zero sense.
What makes it worse is that the cult storyline could’ve been the perfect way to explore Lia’s background (which I was dying to know more about), but instead, we were stuck with Cassie. And I’m sorry, but Cassie has got to be one of the most boring MCs I’ve read in a while. She spends the whole book repeating things, spiraling into yet another identity crisis, and rehashing the same thoughts we’ve already read across the series. That worked in the first couple books, but by book four it was beyond exhausting.
And can we talk about the endless reminders of who the Naturals are and what they do? I get it—it’s a YA series, but did we really need that many refreshers? Instead of retelling me the same info, give me some depth into how the cult actually functions. Something useful.
Overall, this book was a struggle to finish. The first three books were entertaining (I even gave book three five stars because that plot was so well done!), but this one completely missed the mark for me. It’s such a shame that the series ended here, in such a messy and unsatisfying way.
From the second All In hinted that the finale would dive into a cult setting, I had mixed feelings. A plot like that can be amazing if it’s executed well, but here? It wasn’t. The information was just thrown at me, scattered everywhere, and for more than half the book I was flat-out confused. On top of that, so much of it felt dragged out, repetitive, or downright unrealistic—and then suddenly everything happened in the last 50 pages.
And the big twist? Don’t even get me started. How did none of these Naturals—literal human lie detectors, emotion readers, and profilers—see through someone right under their noses? It made zero sense.
What makes it worse is that the cult storyline could’ve been the perfect way to explore Lia’s background (which I was dying to know more about), but instead, we were stuck with Cassie. And I’m sorry, but Cassie has got to be one of the most boring MCs I’ve read in a while. She spends the whole book repeating things, spiraling into yet another identity crisis, and rehashing the same thoughts we’ve already read across the series. That worked in the first couple books, but by book four it was beyond exhausting.
And can we talk about the endless reminders of who the Naturals are and what they do? I get it—it’s a YA series, but did we really need that many refreshers? Instead of retelling me the same info, give me some depth into how the cult actually functions. Something useful.
Overall, this book was a struggle to finish. The first three books were entertaining (I even gave book three five stars because that plot was so well done!), but this one completely missed the mark for me. It’s such a shame that the series ended here, in such a messy and unsatisfying way.