Bad Things Happen Here by Rebecca Barrow
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Luca Laine Thomas lives on the island of Parris, a playground for the wealthy and a place with a history of unsolved deaths.
There are rumors amongst the locals that the island itself is cursed. After the tragic death of her best friend, Polly, three years before, Luca fully believes in the curse.
When her sister Whitney goes missing after a night out, Luca believes the curse may have struck again and in this case she’s sort of correct.
Whitney is dead. Another mysterious death that the town will no doubt sweep under the rug and forget in no time, but not Luca. She’s going to get to the bottom of these tragedies once and for all.
In the midst of all of this, Luca is navigating normal life things like her feelings for the new girl next door. As soon as Naomi moved into Polly’s old house, Luca was intrigued.
Initially, due to Whitney’s prodding, the two develop a tentative friendship, but after opening up to one another following a few drinks at a party, the friendship quickly escalates.
Luca can hardly believe her luck when this beautiful girl seems to be into her as well.
The two work together to try to solve the mystery surrounding Whitney’s death and of the town in general.
What I wrote above sounds interesting, right? I think so. An island town with a history of unsolved deaths, a possible curse, amateur detectives solving mysteries, teen angst; it all sounds great to me.
Unfortunately, the execution of Bad Things Happen Here failed to deliver for me.
I’m not quite sure what happened but this just was not for me. It wasn’t what I expected and I didn’t enjoy what was served up in replacement of what I was expecting.
I was relieved when it was over and that’s never a good sign.
Initially, I loved Luca. I thought it was going to be great because I felt so connected to her right away, but then the narrative just fizzled out for me.
I became so bored with it that I began to lose my focus. I didn’t get the atmosphere or sense of mystery that I was hoping for at all.
Additionally, I felt the investigation taken on by Luca was weak. It didn’t stand out to me as a prominent point to the story and I would be hard pressed to recall any of the clues, or avenues of investigation, she was following.
I wanted a dark mystery with rich island vibes. Atmosphere is so important to me and for me, this was a complete miss. This could have been anywhere U.S.A. The town was a non-factor in this story.
The tone is morose, moody and for me, a little dry. Yeah, it just wasn’t a good fit for my tastes.
With this being said, I know a lot of Readers are loving this one though, so just because it didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.
If the synopsis sounds intriguing to you, absolutely give it a go. What do you have to lose?!
Thank you to the publisher, Margaret K. McElderry Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
While it wasn’t quite the book for me, I know it is going to be a big hit with many Readers!