The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert Review

Title: The Bad Ones

Author: Melissa Genre

Genre: YA Fantasy/ Horror

Publisher: Penguin UK

Pages: 400

Release Date: 22 February 2024

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Hello fellow book lovers and a very Happy International Women's day to you all! Today I'm sharing my review for The Bad Ones. The new deliciously eerie, House of Hollow meets Pretty Little Liars-style, Supernatural YA Thriller from one of my fave authors, Melissa Albert.

Which skilfully blends the complex growing pains of adolescence, toxic friendships and R. L. Stine-worthy playground legends into a lush, hauntingly addictive tale of goddesses and revenge that I thoroughly devoured!

Synopsis

 Goddess, goddess, count to five

In the morning, who’s alive?

In the course of a single winter’s night, four people vanish without a trace across a small town.

Nora’s estranged best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to untangle the truth of Becca’s disappearance, she discovers a darkness in her town’s past, as well as a string of coded messages Becca left for her to unravel. These clues lead Nora to a piece of local folklore: a legendary goddess of forgotten origins who played a role in Nora and Becca’s own childhood games...

Review

Satisfyingly sinister and creepy in the best of ways, this is the fifth book by Melissa Albert that I’ve read and, it’s definitely my favourite soo far!

The prose was quintessentially Albert: atmospheric, suspenseful and soo utterly compelling that I honestly despaired at having to put it down.

Each of our POV characters (Becca,Nora-and later on Rita) were vividly depicted and well developed, with unique voices that not only worked for their respective personalities, but also felt genuine enough to be real teenagers. However, it was the emotionally bereft Nora, struggling without the guidance of her (take charge) best friend that I found most compelling.

Delving into her intense and complicated friendship with Becca, and the ways in which childhood bonds can shift and develop over time was incredibly fascinating—especially when juxtaposed with the relationship dynamics of other characters we encounter.

James, a classmate of Becca’s (and the love interest to Nora’s role as Heroine) was another character I really enjoyed getting to know. Not as in depth as our protagonists, his budding friendship/relationship was a guiding light for Nora at such a dark and turbulent time. And his easy, almost laidback demeanour worked perfectly in easing Nora into social situations she’s usually relied on Becca for.

The piece de resistance of course, was the lore and supernatural elements that surround the Goddess, the goddess game (which was kinda reminiscent of the Light As A Feather game), and the mystery of the Goddess’ origins. Propelling our narrative into several plot twisty and magnificently well timed revelations that I was thoroughly in awe of.

The ending was really enjoyable if not, completely satisfying in explaining all the supernatural aspects. But, this does give me hope that we’ll see more stories set in this world, or involving shadowy god-like beings who may (or may not) have their own playground rhymes and slumber party games.

Overall, an intoxicatingly immersive read that gothic-esque fantasy or small town paranormal lovers and fans of Melissa Albert are bound to enjoy. Just be sure to check the TWs first.

Also, a huge thank you to Nina Douglas and Penguin UK for the proof

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

About The Author 

Melissa Albert is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of the Hazel Wood series and Our Crooked Hearts, and a former bookseller and founder of the Barnes & Noble Teen Blog. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and included in the New York Times’ list of Notable Children’s Books. She enjoys swimming pool tourism, genre mashups, and living in Brooklyn with her hilarious husband and magnificently goofy son.

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