The bad ones by Melissa Albert

Small town in winter and four people vanish in a single night without a trace... Nora's best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. Nora is determined to find her, and after discovering a string of coded messages Becca has left her, she begins to unravel a decades old mystery. Thirty years ago, another girl went missing and a sinister urban legend, a goddess figure, played an eeire role in Nora and Becca's own childhood games... As Nora looks further into the mystery, it's clear there are dark forces at work in her town - and they'll stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried deep.

This intensely dark thriller reads well with even pacing, timeline flashbacks that enhance the story and realistic dialogue. The story mainly follows Nora, with some of it following Becca mainly in flashbacks, and then other characters in further flashbacks. There are several mysteries in the story to solve, a look at semi toxic best-friendship, the line between make-believe and belief and a look at the occult. Relationships are looked at through a variety of lenses, covering family, friends, romantic and inappropriate relationships. The author handles this all very well and everthing informs the story. It would be good for fans of House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson.

Themes: YA, Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Supernatural, Relationships, Occult, Belief, LGBTQIA+.

Melanie Pages