“You have to die Josanna. It doesn’t work if you don’t die.”

A millionaire YouTuber throws an elaborate 5 day party on an island he’s recently purchased. Influencers are invited, along with a handful of lucky fans. Over the 5 days there will be games, scavenger hunts, parties, and of course the whole thing will be themed for content. Ruth, along with her boyfriend, and 2 friends, are some of the lucky fans invited. But Ruth really doesn’t want to be there. She’s the only survivor of a famous cult, something she keeps completely secret. As she arrives on this mysterious island, the truth behind it all is revealed, and Ruth realizes she may have a deadly connection to this light hearted party, one that will have terrifying consequences.

Hitting shelves August 26th, Darcy Coates latest epic; How Bad Things Can Get.

“Welcome, guests, to Prosperity Island.”

I’m a big YouTube girly. I genuinely spend like 6 or so hours a day watching YouTube. So I was super excited to get this book in the mail. I had a lot of fun guessing who each influencer could be loosely based on, and also fan-casted everyone in my head. (Logan was totally iNabber for me) This is also felt like such a realistic story because we’ve basically seen parts of this happen in real life (I’m looking at you Mr. Beast and Fyre Fest).

Despite its length, this story reads incredibly fast and I devoured the 379 pages over two afternoons. I’m such a big fan of Darcy Coates because she takes common horror tropes and always brings something completely fresh to the table with them. We’ve all read books about ‘haunted’ islands, and cults, and parties gone wrong. But How Bad Things Can Get is a unique take of all of those tropes. While it’s less scary that some of her other reads (I still haven’t recovered from From Below), it’s definitely one of the most gruesome and violent of her books. The final arc of the story is a bloody, frantic race that’s a lot of fun to read.

There’s a lot of characters in this tale, but each one feels unique and fleshed out. Some of the deaths near the end had me in tears sometimes because I’d become so attached to everyone.

And I love a cult.

The cult in this story is fantastic and super creepy. And I loved the reveal at the end, pulling back the covers on how pathetic cult leaders truly are.

Overall, this was a fast paced bloody summer romp and I highly recommend picking up a copy when How Bad Things Can Get hits shelves August 26th. A massive thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.