The Bad Ones: A Novel by Melissa Albert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars**
The Bad Ones is the latest from beloved YA-author, Melissa Albert. I was immediately drawn to this stunning cover.
It screams beautiful darkness and that’s definitely the mood that this story delivers. The dark atmosphere was a hit for me, as well as the moody, yet fluid and engaging prose.
In this story we mainly follow Nora, whose estranged best friend, Becca, goes missing at the very start of our tale. We also learn of some other residents of their town who all go missing on that same night.
While many adults in her life feel like Becca, who has had a tumultuous life, has most likely run away, Nora knows that isn’t the case.
It’s not just the cryptic message Becca left her on the night she disappeared, Nora can just feel in her heart that something sinister is afoot.
The Reader follows along with Nora as she steadfastly searches for the truth. As Nora begins her investigation, she receives what she believes are coded messages from Becca.
These lead her to examine a local legend, known as the goddess, whose forgotten origins, even played a roll in Nora and Becca’s own childhood games.
I really enjoyed this. I found the premise so interesting and enjoyed learning about the local lore that helped to build out the heart of this story.
I feel like Readers are going to be hit or miss on Nora’s narrative voice, but for me, I really enjoyed her. She’s blunt and a bit morose, but personally, I felt like that helped develop the overall tone of the story.
I did have the pleasure of listening to the audiobook and I feel like the narrator, Emma Galvin, did an incredible job bringing Nora to life. I truly felt like I was listening to this character relay her story. It was so well done.
Nora does end up making a new friend, James, who aids her in her search for truth. I enjoyed their relationship. Nora is the type of character who pretty much keeps to herself, but James was able to help break down some of her walls.
At first I wasn’t sure if I trusted him. He seemed too cool for school, but I liked the way his character was able to draw Nora out of her shell. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of their relationship, I feel like he played his part by giving Nora the confidence boost she needed in her search.
There were a couple of small things, in the reveal of the truth, that structurally, I may have preferred formatted differently, but who am I to judge how this author chooses to tell this story? I might not have written it this way, but then again, I’m not a writer, so what do I know?
I’ll be honest, not a lot, but I do know that I really enjoyed the reading experience. It delivered me the dark, supernatural vibes and ‘small town full of secrets’ atmosphere that I was hoping for. It kept me engaged and guessing throughout and it made me even more excited to read future works from this author.
Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
Melissa Albert continues to impress me with her captivating concepts, interesting characters and beautiful writing. The Bad Ones is available now!!