Review: The Bad Ones: A Novel by Melissa Albert

The Bad Ones: A Novel by Melissa Albert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an audio ARC of this book via Netgalley and Macmillan Audio, all opinions are my own.

This was an interesting YA thriller.  It has a bit of an occult vibe as best friends Nora and Becca utilize the myth of the local goddess myth in their childhood games as a way to deal with Becca's grief after losing one of her parents.  The girls use this goddess in their make believe games as elementary school girls typically do, but as they grow into high schoolers, the goddess takes on a different role in Becca's life.  The goddess game has been a staple for the kids in the town with a more innocent version for the younger group, and a more dangerous version for the older kids.  Becca, a talented and aspiring photographer may have uncovered the origins of the game and may have gotten herself entangled in something in something she never anticipated.

When Becca as well as four other people disappear on the same night, Nora is left to discover what happened to her best friend though the breadcrumbs Becca left for her before her disappearance.  Nora begins experiences strange dreams and losses of time.  She can't figure out how Becca is tied to the others and she can't explain what is going on.  As she follows the clues Becca left she keeps coming back to the goddess game they played as kids and knows that they are some how connected.  Nora and her friends begin to look into the history of the town and the game they have all played and slowly put together the puzzle they have been left with.

The plot was a bit slow paced for me and what I like to see in a horroresque type thriller.  I didn't find this super suspenseful but it is atmospheric and strange.  The lore of the goddess worked well to tell the story, but when we get to the reveal there wasn't much explanation on how that all worked.   The lack of details works find in a YA book, but I would have liked a bit of explanation on how that all worked.  The ending and reveal were a bit rushed in my opinion.  Albert does develop the toxic friendship between Nora and Becca very well.

I loved Our Crooked Hearts but this was missing something for me.  This has the same dark atmosphere and mystery elements, but I didn't find it quite as engaging.  I think this will be a great read for readers especially younger readers who are looking for a lighter horror or thriller.  This doesn't have any gore and is very light on romance.  

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