The Bad Ones out now from Flatiron Books; 382 pages
Content Warning: Foul language, death, murder, blood, mention of sexual assault, bullying, homophobia, murder, religious intolerance
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” (Bio from author’s Goodreads).
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Since the age of eight, Nora and Becca have been attached at the hip. That is, until a fight nine years later causes them to ignore each other for months. When Nora receives a questionable text from Becca in the middle of the night, she shows up to her house only to discover that Becca is nowhere to be found. The only things left of her were her phone and a half-drank cup of coffee sitting on the pool deck. But Becca isn’t the only person missing in Palmetto: a freshman girl vanished from a slumber party, a teacher disappeared into thin air while sitting in his running car, and another student dissipated in the center of the cemetery. Soon Nora starts receiving clues from Becca, leading her down a path of childhood games and small town horrors as she is determined to bring her friend home.
I have been on a YA-thriller binge for quite some time now, but this novel easily snuck its way into my top three. The first thing I noticed was how easy it was to flow through the story without confusion. This was something I was especially grateful for, since the novel is constantly switching between point-of-views and time periods. Nora’s character is so admirable, but also entirely normal–aside from the supernatural elements surrounding her throughout the book. Albert gracefully captured the struggles of a lonely teenager with people-pleasing tendencies and a caring determination. When reading thrillers, I often find it easy to piece together the clues as the story progresses; however, while reading The Bad Ones, I found myself unable to solve the mystery on my own. This was something new to me, and something I admired Albert as a writer for, as it successfully kept me guessing. Towards the last few chapters I was worried the ending would be disappointing due to the slower pacing, but I was pleasantly surprised when the secrets unraveled and the novel came to a close. I would recommend The Bad Ones to your typical mystery-lovers, but I also think it could serve as an introductory book for fans of supernatural elements looking for more puzzling reading material.
Callie Andrews, Pine Reads Review Writer, Social Media, and Web