Happy new year everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and new year, whatever you did. My new year was just a quiet night in with the husband, the dog and a takeaway. But for me, this was the perfect way to see out 2025.
Ok, so due to the shit show of 2025 for me, I was pretty terrible with my site and Instagram. This means I have a lot of Netgalley books I have read but not reviewed. So, for the first part of the year you will see a mixture of reviews from more recently read books alongside books I read in 2025.
So, to start things off, this is a book I read during the spooky season of 2025.
Having previously read From Below and Gallows Hill by the same author I was looking forward to reading her new novel, How Bad Things Can Get.
This novel is primarily set on Prosperity Island, an exclusive location owned by renowned online influencer, Eton. He has invited a randomly selected pool of guests, who entered a raffle, along with some VIPs to what should have been the party of the century.
One such guest is Ruth, our female MC who also happens to be the sole survivor of a cult from her childhood, several decades ago, something which she has concealed from the world for all these years through a name change and sealed court records.
With the food and drink flowing, games galore with exciting (valuable) prizes to be won, the festival starts off with a bang. But, before you know it, things start going wrong, guests go missing, and the island’s bleak and mysterious past comes to light, turning this very quickly into the dark, thrilling horror fest we have come to know and love from Darcy Coates.
I love books about cults, and this one didn’t disappoint. The experiences Ruth goes through both as a child and on this island are horrific, gory and utterly chaotic. Just like Coates’ previous novels the pacing is perfect and will keep you hooked until the end.
From the very first game where contestants win large sums of money by walking along a rickety wooden frame suspended above the ocean, to the last supper, this story is dark and twisty throughout.
Our female protagonist is fascinating. As we progress through the novel we hear more about her past and the things she went through and witnessed during her time in the cult as a child, and the proceeding court cases where they were able to anonymise her identity due to her age. This meant she was able to live in secrecy her whole life without the world realising who she was.
The tension and suspense is built up during the first part of the book with subtle suggestions of something not being quite right, but it isn’t long before we really see what this island is made of.
I love isolated settings in horror as it adds that sense of despair and hopelessness of any chance of escape. The whole concept of the novel being set on an exclusive island in the middle of ocean with nobody else around, added an extra layer of creepiness and desolation.
This book is a rollercoaster of twists and turns and all I can advise is settle down, strap in, and hold on tight, because if you are into horror this is one ride you won’t want to miss.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ – A fantastic yet horrifying read full of twists. How bad things can get will leave you with a sense of discomfort and unease but the story and writing, superb!
Darcy Coates has done it again, highly recommend this for any horror fan.
Have you read any of Darcy Coates books? Which is your favourite?
Let me know in the comments below.
Much love x
Lizzieslittlebooknook 