Melissa AlbertThe Bad Ones [Paperback] Melissa Albert [Paperback] Albert, Melissa [Paperback] Albert, Melissa [Paperback] Albert, Melissa

A sprinkle of dark magic in the darkness descends upon the town, driving them into madness. "Goddess, goddess, count to fiveIn the morning, who’s alive?"A young girl has gone missing and the police are questioning everyone in school, town and more. But the answers only ly with the best friend (Becca), and when she decides to go looking for her sole friend, she uncovers a gloominess that has been shadowing this town for decades now and it all started with just a Goddess Game.If you are looking for uncanny spooky tales, dark games that go wrong mixed with nefarious men, this book is for you. There is murkiness, there is a conundrum and it is all situated in a contemporary world of school-going students. Besides these, I enjoyed the angles of toxic friendships, obsession and the zeal for survival that were combined well with the town's folklore background. I find this book good for beginners, interested in venturing into these genres.

absolutely loved the story writing. the amazing descriptions made the writting very interesting to read. the storyline might be slow but i think i was in mood for that and it fit me perfectly. the suspense is decent after half tge book one can actually guess the ending but nonetheless it was very very interesting. overall i loved the book.

Nora's best friend Becca has gone missing along with 3 other people. They vanished late at night and no one has an inkling of what might have happened except maybe Becca herself. Nora knows that Becca knew something about the strange things happening in their small town but they hadn't talked to each other for 6 months and now she is gone. But then Nora starts finding little clues that she is sure Becca has left behind for her and that somehow connects these disappearances to an urban legend of a vengeful goddess and her little game. As Nora starts connecting the dots, she realises that the secrets Becca held were much more dangerous than she could have ever imagined and their little town is not at all as it seems.I'll be honest, I didn't have much expectations from this book. I hadn't read anything from Melissa Albert before and I am not a big YA horror reader but this book took me absolutely by surprise and I am now a @melissaalbertauthor fan! If all her books are as atmospheric as this one, I am sold 🤌🏻Firstly, this book has one of the most stunning covers. It fits right into the vibe of the book and that should be enough to convince you to read it👀The Bad Ones is a dark and sinister and atmospheric tale of co-dependent female friendships and female rage with Nora and Becca at the centre of it. I loved the writing style, it was lyrical and haunting. I love a good small town with lots of secrets setting so that worked perfectly for me. The little romance plotline we got was also done really well and I really liked it too.There were a lot twists throughout the book and it kept me guessing and at the edge all the time. I did rightly guess some of the plot twists while some took completely by surprise! (love that for me). This book made me want to read more horror (YA) and more of Melissa Albert books because if they are like this one, then I would totally love them! 💘Thank you so much @penguinindia for sending this my way 💖

This book is so far from what I expected. I read the majority of it with a slack jaw! It was very imaginative and original, but I would probably classify it as more horror than fantasy. Which isn't normally my cuppa. However, that being said, the characters reel you in, as does the storyline. Definitely wasn't leaving without seeing it through. Weird and edgy with bite. I'm curious if we'll get another one with all the physical changes happening to Becca........

The story is populated with complex characters that draw you into a story whose conclusion you can't guess. The writing is rich and beautiful. It was the kind of book you wish you could forget and read again for the first time.

This book is suitable for teens who enjoy horror, fantasy and mythology. I would steer away from buying this for younger teens due to the language and the horror content, but for older teens and young adults it's an interesting read. The world draws you in and the characters are dynamic. Great for fans of Point Horror etc.

Suspense just isn't my genre, first of all. I want to like it and keep reading it, but I'm just too anxious to really enjoy it. That said, I really enjoyed this author's writing, the level of detail and clever analogies came off effortless while painting a very detailed picture and allowing me to be immersed in the story. But it was also a painfully slow read for me (possibly because of the anxiety) and I found myself more often than not counting the pages until it was done. The reveal at the end also seemed long and overly complicated to the point of being somewhat eye roll-inducing. I like the bones of this, it just felt flat overall and TBH, I wouldn't recommend it to a friend.

I was drawn to The Bad Ones by the creepy cover and the description that references A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, which I loved, so I settled down to read and it all felt a bit ‘meh’.It’s a good story with some nice elements of mystery but I found the pacing to be quite slow and none of the characters really drew me in. I might not have been in the mood for it so I wouldn’t let my review put you off, however, if you’re looking for a gripping mystery I wouldn’t particularly recommend The Bad Ones.