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Bad Graces
Yellowjackets meets House of Hollow in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s gripping and magical YA thriller following a group of young women as they face the stress of harsh elements, a mysterious monster, and an unraveling of secrets after their yacht is wrecked off the coast of North America.
Liv Whitlock knows she doesn’t belong there. But after years of stumbling between foster homes, often due to her own self-destructive tendencies, Liv desperately needs to change the trajectory of her life … so she steals her perfect sister’s identity.
Liv starts to rewrite her story, winning a prestigious internship on a movie set filming in Alaska, and finds herself on a luxury yacht alongside pop star Paris Grace, actress sisters Effie and Miri Knight, Olympic gymnast Rosalind Torres, and social media influencer Celia Jones. Liv tries to find common ground with her famous companions, but just as the group starts to bond, a violent storm wrecks their vessel, stranding them on an island in the North Pacific Ocean.
Among the threats of starvation and exposure, they learn there is a predator lurking in the forest, unlike anything they’ve seen before—until they begin to see it in themselves. Every injury they suffer on the island causes inexplicable changes in their bodies. With little hope for rescue and only each other as their final tether to humanity, can the girls endure the ominous forces at work on the island? Or will they lose themselves to their darker natures?
Liv Whitlock knows she doesn’t belong there. But after years of stumbling between foster homes, often due to her own self-destructive tendencies, Liv desperately needs to change the trajectory of her life … so she steals her perfect sister’s identity.
Liv starts to rewrite her story, winning a prestigious internship on a movie set filming in Alaska, and finds herself on a luxury yacht alongside pop star Paris Grace, actress sisters Effie and Miri Knight, Olympic gymnast Rosalind Torres, and social media influencer Celia Jones. Liv tries to find common ground with her famous companions, but just as the group starts to bond, a violent storm wrecks their vessel, stranding them on an island in the North Pacific Ocean.
Among the threats of starvation and exposure, they learn there is a predator lurking in the forest, unlike anything they’ve seen before—until they begin to see it in themselves. Every injury they suffer on the island causes inexplicable changes in their bodies. With little hope for rescue and only each other as their final tether to humanity, can the girls endure the ominous forces at work on the island? Or will they lose themselves to their darker natures?
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 6, 2024
About the author
Kyrie McCauley
5 books311 followersKyrie McCauley spent her childhood climbing trees in dresses and reading books during class. She is the author of If These Wings Could Fly, recipient of the 2021 William C. Morris Award.
Kyrie holds a Master of Science in Social Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, and has worked in advocacy and development for non-profit organizations. She lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her family, three rescue cats, and a dog that eats books and is never sorry.
Kyrie holds a Master of Science in Social Policy from the University of Pennsylvania, and has worked in advocacy and development for non-profit organizations. She lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her family, three rescue cats, and a dog that eats books and is never sorry.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews
June 26, 2024
Award-winning YA author Kyrie McCauley combines coming-of-age narrative with a queer love story. Her gripping, sensitively told piece brings in elements of mythic fantasy and gothic horror to explore the ways in which teenage girls might unite to support each other in getting past earlier traumatic experiences. McCauley builds on aspects of her own life here, as well as the advocacy work that grew out of her interest in gendered violence. On the surface the plot’s fairly familiar, six teenage girls are shipwrecked on a remote Pacific Island, cut off from the outside world and forced to fend for themselves. But they’re not alone, something or someone is watching them. Something not quite human.
McCauley cleverly incorporates references to similar narratives from Yellowjackets, to Lost, and The Lord of the Flies but her perspective’s far more optimistic, often unusually nuanced. Her central character Liv has endured a succession of disastrous foster placements; eventually reaching the Millers who quickly bond with her quiet, studious twin Everley. But rebellious, obviously damaged Liv remains an outsider. Her only outlet’s poetry and writing. When she wins an internship to go to Alaska to work on a film version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Liv sees an opportunity to run away and reinvent herself. Five other girls are also part of the film’s cast and crew: pop star Paris and her girlfriend Celia an online influencer; Rosa a former Olympic gymnast; and sisters Effie and Miri up-and-coming screen stars. But partway through their journey to Alaska unforeseen events leave them washed ashore miles from civilisation.
All of the girls have been stuck in some kind of survival mode, routinely preyed on by older men and other abusive adults. But the island, an abandoned military base, with its strange sounds and sudden mystical transformations unexpectedly offers a chance to bond, to heal and move forward. McCauley’s narrative's ultimately a fluid, lyrical exploration of “found family,” fantastical yet grounded in reality - her approach and style sometimes reminded me of Mona Awad’s. Although a few of the characters are slightly under-developed, Liv's a highly convincing figure, hard not to root for. A thoughtful page-turner that reaches a satisfying conclusion.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Magpie Books for an ARC
McCauley cleverly incorporates references to similar narratives from Yellowjackets, to Lost, and The Lord of the Flies but her perspective’s far more optimistic, often unusually nuanced. Her central character Liv has endured a succession of disastrous foster placements; eventually reaching the Millers who quickly bond with her quiet, studious twin Everley. But rebellious, obviously damaged Liv remains an outsider. Her only outlet’s poetry and writing. When she wins an internship to go to Alaska to work on a film version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Liv sees an opportunity to run away and reinvent herself. Five other girls are also part of the film’s cast and crew: pop star Paris and her girlfriend Celia an online influencer; Rosa a former Olympic gymnast; and sisters Effie and Miri up-and-coming screen stars. But partway through their journey to Alaska unforeseen events leave them washed ashore miles from civilisation.
All of the girls have been stuck in some kind of survival mode, routinely preyed on by older men and other abusive adults. But the island, an abandoned military base, with its strange sounds and sudden mystical transformations unexpectedly offers a chance to bond, to heal and move forward. McCauley’s narrative's ultimately a fluid, lyrical exploration of “found family,” fantastical yet grounded in reality - her approach and style sometimes reminded me of Mona Awad’s. Although a few of the characters are slightly under-developed, Liv's a highly convincing figure, hard not to root for. A thoughtful page-turner that reaches a satisfying conclusion.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Magpie Books for an ARC
August 16, 2024
Fantastic
September 17, 2024
“We are teenage girls. We’ve all been prey before.”
Bad Graces is marketed as Yellow Jackets meets House of Hollow and I couldn’t agree more. It has that same beautiful grotesqueness. A very similar aesthetic.
I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I started reading, so I was very pleasantly surprised. This whole book felt like a reimagining of the Lost Boys in Neverland: with fairies and mermaids and lost children.
The girls changed throughout the book, in more ways than one, and I found it exceedingly interesting to read. I’m a sucker for fantasy-horror.
I highly recommend!
Bad Graces is marketed as Yellow Jackets meets House of Hollow and I couldn’t agree more. It has that same beautiful grotesqueness. A very similar aesthetic.
I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I started reading, so I was very pleasantly surprised. This whole book felt like a reimagining of the Lost Boys in Neverland: with fairies and mermaids and lost children.
The girls changed throughout the book, in more ways than one, and I found it exceedingly interesting to read. I’m a sucker for fantasy-horror.
I highly recommend!
August 11, 2024
✰ 3 stars ✰
“Do you think people can change?”
“The right question is, can people stay the same? We keep adapting to our environment, even now.
We can’t help it.
We evolve.”
It is a gratifying feeling to see that it is one that the author, themselves, highlights as a critical one, as it continues to make its appearance known throughout the plot. An insignificant notice, for sure, but it's one that I noticed this time around. 😊 And when you take a group of girls who 'maybe we all did something to deserve this. Fell into someone’s Bad Graces, it definitely makes for a read that seems as compelling, as the way in which the author brings their stories to light, in a mystical and creepy setting of a mesh-up of Land of Pi meets Yellowjackets, with a twisted homage on Shakespeare's The Tempest. A fantastical horror story of survival that questions what it means to survive, and in the levels of which we strive to make our survival known? Do we change in our surroundings, or do we adapt to accept that change? And who is to say whether it is a good thing or bad thing, save for those who experience it? 😞
“I once read somewhere that no man is an island.
But I think maybe girls are.”
Sixteen-year-old volatile, violent Violet's less-than-honorable motives of landing an internship - 'a means to an end—a place to go, connections to make, new cities to explore' - working on the movie set of Shakespeare's The Tempest immediately make you stand on guard as in how much of her deceit will eventually play a hand in making her fall out and feel even more out of place with the other five popular teenage girls she is accompanying - 'they’ve traveled together. They’re friends, the five of them. More than ever, I know I don’t belong here.' 😔 Bouncing from one foster home to another with her more beloved twin sister, she's always felt out of sync and place with the others - never quite fitting in with her self-destructive tendencies and reclusive inclinations. And disaster strikes, when their shipwrecked yacht finds them marooned on an island, it becomes a matter of survival, as they struggle to find a way to not only wait out the expectant hope of rescue, but also fending for their lives against a mysterious predator that lurks in the shadow. 😨
But, what was remarkably rewarding was how supportive and understanding each of the girls - a pop idol, an Olympic gymnast, a social media influencer, and a sister duo of actresses - were of each other's situations. 🫂🫂 How they recognized a kindred spirit in each other and they knew innately if they argued, it would disrupt the unsettling harmony of the island. 'We realized it before the sweet oblivion of our monstrosity could pull us down into that fever dream forever.' Each of the girls offered their own set of uniqueness and intrigue; I liked the idea that the injuries they sustained would manifest in a more gruesome fashion, but would evidently be something that would heal a part of themselves - cultivate into something richer and more fulfilling for each of them that they could thrive on - 'every injury is graced by a transformation' - in the long run. The author depicted the island as the illusion of one that - in its own twisted way - wished to help the girls achieve their full potential - even if it was to take shape in something that would change their physiology. 😥
“We laugh so we aren’t sobbing. We laugh to remind ourselves that we are here. We are alive, for now.
But for now it is enough. We are undrowned, and together. That has to be enough, because it’s really all we’ve got.”
Horror is not a genre I generally gravitate towards, but having been a fan of the author's writing, I was curious enough to give this YA magical realism-thriller a shot. And what I read was an intriguing, if not complex story that centered on depicting a magical way in which those who have had wrongs inflicted on them, have the chance to right those wrongs. A way to stave off the loneliness and sadness that they've faced, by finding hope in those who shared their own personal sorrows and guilt. 'I think that’s all I’ve been doing for years, too. Just surviving. It was aching. Lonely. It hurts to never belong to anyone.' 💔💔 And the strength and courage that emerged in Liv and her fellow stranded souls was written well; a story that took awhile to start off, but once the knowledge that they aren't alone on island sunk into their claws, made for a very tense and suspenseful read, which had me wondering what the eventual ending would be? Were they destined to remain on this island forever? Would the dangers that threatened them - both physically and mentally - kill them off one by one. Or would they become one with the island - content to live out their lives on a place without prejudice or judgment - one that allowed them to reach their true potentials and have no need to hide in secret or meet expectations - simply be? Or is it enough to hope and dream that this was only a mark in their journey for them to achieve greater heights in their futures? 🥺
“Because I am a survivor. I made it through the shipwreck. The monster’s attack. Having my arm scraped down to the bone. I want to live, and no man or beast is going to take that from me now.”
I liked how descriptive and vividly haunting the details were in painting the image of the presence that inhabited the island; it was eerie and frightening, but in a way of not knowing or understanding what it really was - compelling them to see the beauty in surviving here. 👍🏻👍🏻 'It is both the hunger and the ache, digesting the parts of us it finds most tender.' And seeing how Liv and co. embraced and acknowledged that entity - how they realized that being marooned on a cryptic, if not enchanting island was probably a gift and a blessing, rather than a curse, instead. For the lives they left behind in the real-world had been far from perfect - one in which they were being challenged and mocked, attacked and scorned, simply for who they were. 'That girl is an island. She’ll be alone forever. I don’t want to be her anymore, and that means no more secrets. No more secrets.' ❤️🩹❤️🩹 The island and the mystical creatures offered these girls a chance to heal - a safe sanctuary where they could explore their own personal traumas and find a way to overcome the loneliness and shame they had experienced in the world they left behind.
What surprised me was how it did not start off on that footing, but as the danger and suspense thickened, I was drawn into their issues. I liked how their dynamics shifted and their relationships blossomed into something more - a sense of belonging and love that they had never felt off the island. 😟 I was concerned for their safety and well-being and didn't know whether or not they would get off the island - if they even wanted to. For it is in the face of these challenges - from fighting starvation, the risk of exposure to toxic and detrimental forces, as well as the daunting fear of being taken away by the fierce creature, that they were able to show signs of resilience and perseverance - ones that prevented them from falling victim of the attractive lull into their own darker feelings. 'But that was before the island changed us.' And the way the author led up to that final test that would decide their ultimate fate kept me going. It kept my interest and I wanted to be surprised - I wanted to taste the fear - I wanted to feel the triumph. And I did. 🙏🏻
“Do you think people can change?”
“The right question is, can people stay the same? We keep adapting to our environment, even now.
We can’t help it.
We evolve.”
It is a gratifying feeling to see that it is one that the author, themselves, highlights as a critical one, as it continues to make its appearance known throughout the plot. An insignificant notice, for sure, but it's one that I noticed this time around. 😊 And when you take a group of girls who 'maybe we all did something to deserve this. Fell into someone’s Bad Graces, it definitely makes for a read that seems as compelling, as the way in which the author brings their stories to light, in a mystical and creepy setting of a mesh-up of Land of Pi meets Yellowjackets, with a twisted homage on Shakespeare's The Tempest. A fantastical horror story of survival that questions what it means to survive, and in the levels of which we strive to make our survival known? Do we change in our surroundings, or do we adapt to accept that change? And who is to say whether it is a good thing or bad thing, save for those who experience it? 😞
“I once read somewhere that no man is an island.
But I think maybe girls are.”
Sixteen-year-old volatile, violent Violet's less-than-honorable motives of landing an internship - 'a means to an end—a place to go, connections to make, new cities to explore' - working on the movie set of Shakespeare's The Tempest immediately make you stand on guard as in how much of her deceit will eventually play a hand in making her fall out and feel even more out of place with the other five popular teenage girls she is accompanying - 'they’ve traveled together. They’re friends, the five of them. More than ever, I know I don’t belong here.' 😔 Bouncing from one foster home to another with her more beloved twin sister, she's always felt out of sync and place with the others - never quite fitting in with her self-destructive tendencies and reclusive inclinations. And disaster strikes, when their shipwrecked yacht finds them marooned on an island, it becomes a matter of survival, as they struggle to find a way to not only wait out the expectant hope of rescue, but also fending for their lives against a mysterious predator that lurks in the shadow. 😨
But, what was remarkably rewarding was how supportive and understanding each of the girls - a pop idol, an Olympic gymnast, a social media influencer, and a sister duo of actresses - were of each other's situations. 🫂🫂 How they recognized a kindred spirit in each other and they knew innately if they argued, it would disrupt the unsettling harmony of the island. 'We realized it before the sweet oblivion of our monstrosity could pull us down into that fever dream forever.' Each of the girls offered their own set of uniqueness and intrigue; I liked the idea that the injuries they sustained would manifest in a more gruesome fashion, but would evidently be something that would heal a part of themselves - cultivate into something richer and more fulfilling for each of them that they could thrive on - 'every injury is graced by a transformation' - in the long run. The author depicted the island as the illusion of one that - in its own twisted way - wished to help the girls achieve their full potential - even if it was to take shape in something that would change their physiology. 😥
“We laugh so we aren’t sobbing. We laugh to remind ourselves that we are here. We are alive, for now.
But for now it is enough. We are undrowned, and together. That has to be enough, because it’s really all we’ve got.”
Horror is not a genre I generally gravitate towards, but having been a fan of the author's writing, I was curious enough to give this YA magical realism-thriller a shot. And what I read was an intriguing, if not complex story that centered on depicting a magical way in which those who have had wrongs inflicted on them, have the chance to right those wrongs. A way to stave off the loneliness and sadness that they've faced, by finding hope in those who shared their own personal sorrows and guilt. 'I think that’s all I’ve been doing for years, too. Just surviving. It was aching. Lonely. It hurts to never belong to anyone.' 💔💔 And the strength and courage that emerged in Liv and her fellow stranded souls was written well; a story that took awhile to start off, but once the knowledge that they aren't alone on island sunk into their claws, made for a very tense and suspenseful read, which had me wondering what the eventual ending would be? Were they destined to remain on this island forever? Would the dangers that threatened them - both physically and mentally - kill them off one by one. Or would they become one with the island - content to live out their lives on a place without prejudice or judgment - one that allowed them to reach their true potentials and have no need to hide in secret or meet expectations - simply be? Or is it enough to hope and dream that this was only a mark in their journey for them to achieve greater heights in their futures? 🥺
“Because I am a survivor. I made it through the shipwreck. The monster’s attack. Having my arm scraped down to the bone. I want to live, and no man or beast is going to take that from me now.”
I liked how descriptive and vividly haunting the details were in painting the image of the presence that inhabited the island; it was eerie and frightening, but in a way of not knowing or understanding what it really was - compelling them to see the beauty in surviving here. 👍🏻👍🏻 'It is both the hunger and the ache, digesting the parts of us it finds most tender.' And seeing how Liv and co. embraced and acknowledged that entity - how they realized that being marooned on a cryptic, if not enchanting island was probably a gift and a blessing, rather than a curse, instead. For the lives they left behind in the real-world had been far from perfect - one in which they were being challenged and mocked, attacked and scorned, simply for who they were. 'That girl is an island. She’ll be alone forever. I don’t want to be her anymore, and that means no more secrets. No more secrets.' ❤️🩹❤️🩹 The island and the mystical creatures offered these girls a chance to heal - a safe sanctuary where they could explore their own personal traumas and find a way to overcome the loneliness and shame they had experienced in the world they left behind.
What surprised me was how it did not start off on that footing, but as the danger and suspense thickened, I was drawn into their issues. I liked how their dynamics shifted and their relationships blossomed into something more - a sense of belonging and love that they had never felt off the island. 😟 I was concerned for their safety and well-being and didn't know whether or not they would get off the island - if they even wanted to. For it is in the face of these challenges - from fighting starvation, the risk of exposure to toxic and detrimental forces, as well as the daunting fear of being taken away by the fierce creature, that they were able to show signs of resilience and perseverance - ones that prevented them from falling victim of the attractive lull into their own darker feelings. 'But that was before the island changed us.' And the way the author led up to that final test that would decide their ultimate fate kept me going. It kept my interest and I wanted to be surprised - I wanted to taste the fear - I wanted to feel the triumph. And I did. 🙏🏻
July 10, 2024
House of Hollow fans this is one for us! I loved this book - I'd give it 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5) as it just fell short of 5 stars as I wanted a bit more out of the ending
This is a sapphic horror story following six teenage girls stranded on an island. But they aren't the only ones there and the longer they stay the more the island starts to change them...
This is a sapphic horror story following six teenage girls stranded on an island. But they aren't the only ones there and the longer they stay the more the island starts to change them...
June 18, 2024
Oh, how I devoured this book! I was hooked from the start, and it ended up taking a very different road than I expected but in the best possible way. And there is so little I can say about it without giving stuff away so... I will tread carefully and keep it brief.
It's comped as Yellowjackets meets House of Hollow, and while I don't know what the latter is, there is definitely the YJ vibe I was hoping for but another very big vibe I got was The Wilds, which um, yes please! Let's just say that the atmosphere and overall feel was a complete win, yeah? The whole book is full of mysteries and excitement and trying to survive. Main character Liv is even a mystery in her own right, as she is not who the others think she is. She is, however, a character you will definitely root for- all the girls really are, which I found refreshing. Even though some are famous and they obviously have flaws, they weren't the stereotypical "rich kids". The author did a great job of fleshing them all out and giving them their own stories.
There is a big survival element too, which I am always a fan of. The stakes are immeasurably high, and while I didn't fully understand the "why" behind some of the potentially more paranormal parts, I still loved the story so much that it didn't matter. There were twists upon twists, secrets and mysteries to unfurl, and I could not put the book down.
Bottom Line: Bad Graces feels like such a fresh take on YA Horror, and I absolutely loved every second.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
It's comped as Yellowjackets meets House of Hollow, and while I don't know what the latter is, there is definitely the YJ vibe I was hoping for but another very big vibe I got was The Wilds, which um, yes please! Let's just say that the atmosphere and overall feel was a complete win, yeah? The whole book is full of mysteries and excitement and trying to survive. Main character Liv is even a mystery in her own right, as she is not who the others think she is. She is, however, a character you will definitely root for- all the girls really are, which I found refreshing. Even though some are famous and they obviously have flaws, they weren't the stereotypical "rich kids". The author did a great job of fleshing them all out and giving them their own stories.
There is a big survival element too, which I am always a fan of. The stakes are immeasurably high, and while I didn't fully understand the "why" behind some of the potentially more paranormal parts, I still loved the story so much that it didn't matter. There were twists upon twists, secrets and mysteries to unfurl, and I could not put the book down.
Bottom Line: Bad Graces feels like such a fresh take on YA Horror, and I absolutely loved every second.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
May 28, 2024
"Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises." - The Tempest, Act III, Scene II
What a fascinating nod to Shakespeare's "The Tempest". I actually didn't expect it in a YA Fantasy. And it was a pleasant surprise. Well done.
"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here." - The Tempest, Act I, Scene II
Liv Whitlock doesn't exactly fit the mold in her family. She's a quirky writer and is skeptical about everyone. She's also been in and out of foster homes due to her own self-destructive behavior. In an attempt to make a change for the better, she steals her sister's identity to enter a writing contest for an internship on a movie set for a modern adaptation of "The Tempest". She doesn't have the grades or reputation to represent herself. After winning, she travels to Alaska and finds herself on a luxury yacht with an Olympic gymnast named Rosalind, a pop star named Paris Grace, a social media influencer named Celia Jones, and actress sisters Effie and Miri Knight. Reluctantly, Liv begins to form a bond with them all and then a storm hits, wrecking their boat. Now, they are stranded on a mysterious island in the North Pacific Ocean. Besides the threat of starvation and exposure, they quickly learn of a strange predator lurking in the forest. As the young women fight for survival, they attain curious injuries which cause unique changes to their bodies. These ominous forces at work challenge the women to fight for their concept of reality and freedom.
I had NO idea this would be such a nod to "The Tempest" when I requested this book as an ARC. And once the concept of shipwrecking on a deserted island was introduced, I actually thought the storyline would segue into a modern retelling of "The Tempest". Though it did not, there were definite similarities. It was quite a magical experience to encounter the unfolding of each piece to this mystery. I really loved the ominous "Ariel"-like creature living on the island. Her character was beautifully written.
A special thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and Kyrie McCauley for this magical eARC in exchange for an honest review.
What a fascinating nod to Shakespeare's "The Tempest". I actually didn't expect it in a YA Fantasy. And it was a pleasant surprise. Well done.
"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here." - The Tempest, Act I, Scene II
Liv Whitlock doesn't exactly fit the mold in her family. She's a quirky writer and is skeptical about everyone. She's also been in and out of foster homes due to her own self-destructive behavior. In an attempt to make a change for the better, she steals her sister's identity to enter a writing contest for an internship on a movie set for a modern adaptation of "The Tempest". She doesn't have the grades or reputation to represent herself. After winning, she travels to Alaska and finds herself on a luxury yacht with an Olympic gymnast named Rosalind, a pop star named Paris Grace, a social media influencer named Celia Jones, and actress sisters Effie and Miri Knight. Reluctantly, Liv begins to form a bond with them all and then a storm hits, wrecking their boat. Now, they are stranded on a mysterious island in the North Pacific Ocean. Besides the threat of starvation and exposure, they quickly learn of a strange predator lurking in the forest. As the young women fight for survival, they attain curious injuries which cause unique changes to their bodies. These ominous forces at work challenge the women to fight for their concept of reality and freedom.
I had NO idea this would be such a nod to "The Tempest" when I requested this book as an ARC. And once the concept of shipwrecking on a deserted island was introduced, I actually thought the storyline would segue into a modern retelling of "The Tempest". Though it did not, there were definite similarities. It was quite a magical experience to encounter the unfolding of each piece to this mystery. I really loved the ominous "Ariel"-like creature living on the island. Her character was beautifully written.
A special thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and Kyrie McCauley for this magical eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Read
October 27, 2024Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
-The Tempest 1.2
I once read somewhere that no man is an island. But I think maybe girls are.
It's been a few months since I've read a Shakespeare retelling, hasn't it? Well this week, I was studying The Tempest for class (not for the first time), was craving a horror read, and figured maybe it was time for me to pick up this sapphic Tempest-inspired story with Yellowjackets vibes.
Now, I was expecting more of a direct retelling, which this story wasn't. It's not so much that it's reimagining The Tempest but holding a conversation with it. Certain elements feel superimposed upon each other, but don't follow direct parallels in regards to the narrative or characters.
In this book, we follow Violet Whitlock: a "volatile" child in foster care who struggles with school and relationships, feral and sharp in all the places little girls should be tame and obedient. So Violet borrows the name and academic resume of her golden child twin sister to apply for a summer contest with the Shakespeare Center, with one lucky winner getting to accompany a group of teen celebrities to the filming of a new movie adaptation of (you guessed it, reader,) The Tempest. But when their slimy male director decides to take them on a whaling journey instead of a direct plane flight to the set, the ship finds itself in the middle of a (there's literally no other way I can word this, you must understand) tempest and ends up washing the girls and their director ashore on a remote island off the Pacific Coast. But the island isn't everything it seems and the girls find themselves metamorphosing in their fight for survival.
As a horror novel alone, this book was compelling and exciting and unbelievably nauseating. The body horror alone had me swallowing down bile on the tube. I'm sure many people in public wondered why I looked so green. In contrast to the dizzying gore, this book had incredibly lush and stunning atmosphere and descriptors. The island was haunting and unnerving, sure, but like Caliban's speech about his own island, was enchanting and alluring and abundant in its beauty. It was dream-like, yet viscerally easy to picture. This is a book that calls for a gorgeous adaptation or at least some beautiful fanart. (If I have time amidst grad school life, I'll try, I promise.)
But the best part of this book is its allegorical applications. See, this story is about trauma. It's about the claws and armor that young girls have to build in order to keep themselves safe from prying eyes and roaming hands. And it would've been enough to make the survival efforts of the shipwreck girls a parallel for the perpetual state of survival they embody in the real world. But McCauley takes a step further through the more speculative elements of this story to hold questions about trauma and healing, leaning into the ways that the scars can change people inside and out.
I did leave the book craving just a few more Tempest parallels, especially since the application of Shakespeare onto the text was quite heavy-handed. (Not only was the play constantly quoted, but generally, the girls seemed to be named entirely after Shakespeare characters. Which I thought would perhaps lean into a commentary about the way female characters in Shakespeare are treated, a la Enter The Body, but one of them wasn't even named after a female character, and the traits or experiences of said characters had no relation to McCauley's, so it seemed more of a surface-level choice for a wink and a nudge.) There was also a brief line towards the end that does work to parallel some of the book's plot to The Tempest. I had mixed feelings about this, as in some ways, I think it would have been more advantageous to leave that interpretation up to the reader. Especially since this reading of the play called Sycorax the "villain" and implied that the girls were Prospero, which unsettled me considering a lot of the contemporary discussions involving race and land interpretations of the original text. I forgive McCauley because not everyone is neck-deep in Shakespeare scholarship every day like I am, but I just wish it had been open for those parallels to be assigned by the readership in personally impactful ways, especially with the connections to the play being as loose as they were. BUT. That being said, the relationship of the land to the girls, the conversations about bodily autonomy, and the themes of freedom and survival provided this story with plenty of comparative elements to the original play, all of which I thought were utilized beautifully.
Overall, just a really good YA horror with allegory, atmosphere, sapphics, and Shakespeare.
CW: body horror, blood & gore, violence, drowning, injury detail, adult/minor relationship, grooming, emesis, death, suicide, animal death, character death
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
-The Tempest 1.2
I once read somewhere that no man is an island. But I think maybe girls are.
It's been a few months since I've read a Shakespeare retelling, hasn't it? Well this week, I was studying The Tempest for class (not for the first time), was craving a horror read, and figured maybe it was time for me to pick up this sapphic Tempest-inspired story with Yellowjackets vibes.
Now, I was expecting more of a direct retelling, which this story wasn't. It's not so much that it's reimagining The Tempest but holding a conversation with it. Certain elements feel superimposed upon each other, but don't follow direct parallels in regards to the narrative or characters.
In this book, we follow Violet Whitlock: a "volatile" child in foster care who struggles with school and relationships, feral and sharp in all the places little girls should be tame and obedient. So Violet borrows the name and academic resume of her golden child twin sister to apply for a summer contest with the Shakespeare Center, with one lucky winner getting to accompany a group of teen celebrities to the filming of a new movie adaptation of (you guessed it, reader,) The Tempest. But when their slimy male director decides to take them on a whaling journey instead of a direct plane flight to the set, the ship finds itself in the middle of a (there's literally no other way I can word this, you must understand) tempest and ends up washing the girls and their director ashore on a remote island off the Pacific Coast. But the island isn't everything it seems and the girls find themselves metamorphosing in their fight for survival.
As a horror novel alone, this book was compelling and exciting and unbelievably nauseating. The body horror alone had me swallowing down bile on the tube. I'm sure many people in public wondered why I looked so green. In contrast to the dizzying gore, this book had incredibly lush and stunning atmosphere and descriptors. The island was haunting and unnerving, sure, but like Caliban's speech about his own island, was enchanting and alluring and abundant in its beauty. It was dream-like, yet viscerally easy to picture. This is a book that calls for a gorgeous adaptation or at least some beautiful fanart. (If I have time amidst grad school life, I'll try, I promise.)
But the best part of this book is its allegorical applications. See, this story is about trauma. It's about the claws and armor that young girls have to build in order to keep themselves safe from prying eyes and roaming hands. And it would've been enough to make the survival efforts of the shipwreck girls a parallel for the perpetual state of survival they embody in the real world. But McCauley takes a step further through the more speculative elements of this story to hold questions about trauma and healing, leaning into the ways that the scars can change people inside and out.
I did leave the book craving just a few more Tempest parallels, especially since the application of Shakespeare onto the text was quite heavy-handed. (Not only was the play constantly quoted, but generally, the girls seemed to be named entirely after Shakespeare characters. Which I thought would perhaps lean into a commentary about the way female characters in Shakespeare are treated, a la Enter The Body, but one of them wasn't even named after a female character, and the traits or experiences of said characters had no relation to McCauley's, so it seemed more of a surface-level choice for a wink and a nudge.) There was also a brief line towards the end that does work to parallel some of the book's plot to The Tempest. I had mixed feelings about this, as in some ways, I think it would have been more advantageous to leave that interpretation up to the reader. Especially since this reading of the play called Sycorax the "villain" and implied that the girls were Prospero, which unsettled me considering a lot of the contemporary discussions involving race and land interpretations of the original text. I forgive McCauley because not everyone is neck-deep in Shakespeare scholarship every day like I am, but I just wish it had been open for those parallels to be assigned by the readership in personally impactful ways, especially with the connections to the play being as loose as they were. BUT. That being said, the relationship of the land to the girls, the conversations about bodily autonomy, and the themes of freedom and survival provided this story with plenty of comparative elements to the original play, all of which I thought were utilized beautifully.
Overall, just a really good YA horror with allegory, atmosphere, sapphics, and Shakespeare.
CW: body horror, blood & gore, violence, drowning, injury detail, adult/minor relationship, grooming, emesis, death, suicide, animal death, character death
September 9, 2024
I received an ARC from Edelweiss
TW: arson, attempted suffocation, grooming, gore, child abuse (burns), graphic emergency medical procedure, buried alive, drowning, attempted suicide
4.2
As any fan of McCauley's would expect, this is a deeply atmospheric, haunting story of girlhood. I love the mix of Shakespeare and mythos at play here too, it feels its own, but it also goes hand in and with its influences.
I was especially excited when I saw this announced because I knew McCauley's take on horror was going to be something to see, and I was right. There is a level of eeriness throughout, which works well on its own, but I also really loved the actual gore of the island itself.
For me, I just wish more of the plot had been used to its advantage. Things come up, and then disappear without really being used for their impact. The stolen identity of a twin was clearly used for the Twelfth Knight allusion, but it also lent itself to some real tension that we just don't explore. It's this, and other plot points, that feel criminally underused. I'd say the same thing about the horror elements, as they slowly stop feeling prevalent in a way that feels less like a narrative choice than like a loss of focus. The opposite, however, can be said for the "predatory men" part of this story- while it could have been developed more as a total focus and maybe I wouldn't have taken issue, it was also the one thing constantly hammered in, which made it feel sort of repetitive.
Pre-review comments below
IT'S KYRIE MCCAULEY AND SHAKESPEARE AND MONSTER SURIVIVAL AND A COMP FOR HOUSE OF HOLLOW AHHHHH
TW: arson, attempted suffocation, grooming, gore, child abuse (burns), graphic emergency medical procedure, buried alive, drowning, attempted suicide
4.2
As any fan of McCauley's would expect, this is a deeply atmospheric, haunting story of girlhood. I love the mix of Shakespeare and mythos at play here too, it feels its own, but it also goes hand in and with its influences.
I was especially excited when I saw this announced because I knew McCauley's take on horror was going to be something to see, and I was right. There is a level of eeriness throughout, which works well on its own, but I also really loved the actual gore of the island itself.
For me, I just wish more of the plot had been used to its advantage. Things come up, and then disappear without really being used for their impact. The stolen identity of a twin was clearly used for the Twelfth Knight allusion, but it also lent itself to some real tension that we just don't explore. It's this, and other plot points, that feel criminally underused. I'd say the same thing about the horror elements, as they slowly stop feeling prevalent in a way that feels less like a narrative choice than like a loss of focus. The opposite, however, can be said for the "predatory men" part of this story- while it could have been developed more as a total focus and maybe I wouldn't have taken issue, it was also the one thing constantly hammered in, which made it feel sort of repetitive.
Pre-review comments below
IT'S KYRIE MCCAULEY AND SHAKESPEARE AND MONSTER SURIVIVAL AND A COMP FOR HOUSE OF HOLLOW AHHHHH
October 9, 2024
The vibes are *chef kiss* girl power. Fuck men.
August 15, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I was so surprised by this book but I had such a great time! I didn't realise how in the mood for creepy horror I was but this was exactly what I wanted. It's very mysterious and tense; I love any kind of story that involves being shipwrecked and ending up on an island (you have the Grey's Anatomy plane crash episode to thank for that), so I really enjoyed that aspect of the plot, and then it got even better when each injury they face heals in a very strange way. There's quite a bit of body horror, which I both love and hate at the same time (because I'm squeamish lol).
Our characters are a group of teenage girls, all very different from one another, thrown into this survival mode, and I felt like they were well fleshed out. I admit that a couple of the side characters, I kept getting mixed up. I also do think that the ending felt quite rushed, although I have to say that I didn't figure out the reason behind their injuries healing in the way they were until the moment the author wanted the reader to figure it out, which was fun!
Very easy to read, perfect for spooky season, a great time!
I was so surprised by this book but I had such a great time! I didn't realise how in the mood for creepy horror I was but this was exactly what I wanted. It's very mysterious and tense; I love any kind of story that involves being shipwrecked and ending up on an island (you have the Grey's Anatomy plane crash episode to thank for that), so I really enjoyed that aspect of the plot, and then it got even better when each injury they face heals in a very strange way. There's quite a bit of body horror, which I both love and hate at the same time (because I'm squeamish lol).
Our characters are a group of teenage girls, all very different from one another, thrown into this survival mode, and I felt like they were well fleshed out. I admit that a couple of the side characters, I kept getting mixed up. I also do think that the ending felt quite rushed, although I have to say that I didn't figure out the reason behind their injuries healing in the way they were until the moment the author wanted the reader to figure it out, which was fun!
Very easy to read, perfect for spooky season, a great time!
Read
January 25, 2024digital arc from netgalley
this was so stupid godbless. three mentions of a character throwing their hair up in a messy bun within the first 15%. baby's first porcelain ivory steel etc
this was so stupid godbless. three mentions of a character throwing their hair up in a messy bun within the first 15%. baby's first porcelain ivory steel etc
August 24, 2024
Um grupo de seis raparigas perdidas numa ilha. Uma criatura que as assombra. Todas se conectam através dos seus traumas. É uma história de sobrevivência, mas também de coragem e amizade.
Liv sempre se sentiu sozinha, mas vivendo junto com a sua irmã numa família de acolhimento. Ela nunca realmente se sentiu aceito. Apenas quando ela se conecta com estas raparigas, todas grandes estrelas, Liv encontra um lugar onde realmente pertence.
A atmosfera da ilha é repleta de cogumelos venenosos. Fungos dispostos a tudo para atacar os seus intrusos. Transformando os seus novos habitantes em seres míticos. O livro também explora "A tempestade" de Shakespeare e "Odisseia". Gostei de observar a união das raparigas. Pensei que haveria rivalidade entre elas, mas existia uma verdadeiro companheirismo e o isolamento da ilha apenas intensificou esse sentimento.
Liv sempre se sentiu sozinha, mas vivendo junto com a sua irmã numa família de acolhimento. Ela nunca realmente se sentiu aceito. Apenas quando ela se conecta com estas raparigas, todas grandes estrelas, Liv encontra um lugar onde realmente pertence.
A atmosfera da ilha é repleta de cogumelos venenosos. Fungos dispostos a tudo para atacar os seus intrusos. Transformando os seus novos habitantes em seres míticos. O livro também explora "A tempestade" de Shakespeare e "Odisseia". Gostei de observar a união das raparigas. Pensei que haveria rivalidade entre elas, mas existia uma verdadeiro companheirismo e o isolamento da ilha apenas intensificou esse sentimento.
August 3, 2024
➳ 3.5
TW:
Loved the vibes and overall message of this, just feel like the execution was a bit messy.
I wanted a bit more from the story, in terms of depth and development (as well as resolution). It's a really fast-paced, short book which meant it was incredibly easy to breeze through but also a bit rushed - particularly when it came to the romance and the ending.
Still though, I enjoyed this and I look forward to reading more of Kyrie McCauley's books in the future.
TW:
Loved the vibes and overall message of this, just feel like the execution was a bit messy.
I wanted a bit more from the story, in terms of depth and development (as well as resolution). It's a really fast-paced, short book which meant it was incredibly easy to breeze through but also a bit rushed - particularly when it came to the romance and the ending.
Still though, I enjoyed this and I look forward to reading more of Kyrie McCauley's books in the future.
August 21, 2024
4.5⭐️ rounded up. 2 for 2 YA horror hits from Kyrie McCauley! I read this in one sitting. I could not put this down! It’s a survival story turned weird.
You may start this thinking we will get some petty, rich girl drama but it’s not that. I truly cared for these characters and their growth and wellbeing. They are smart and powerful! You also know I love a sapphic read!
This brings horror! Seriously creepy and intense scenes especially related to body and eco horror. I can’t get over how this YA was more spooky than many adult horrors I’ve read recently.
The only critique I had was that the end wrapped quickly. I wanted a little bit more there.
So happy about this bizarre story. Definitely recommend! It would be great to get you out of a slump or to test YA horror if you think it’s not your thing.
You may start this thinking we will get some petty, rich girl drama but it’s not that. I truly cared for these characters and their growth and wellbeing. They are smart and powerful! You also know I love a sapphic read!
This brings horror! Seriously creepy and intense scenes especially related to body and eco horror. I can’t get over how this YA was more spooky than many adult horrors I’ve read recently.
The only critique I had was that the end wrapped quickly. I wanted a little bit more there.
So happy about this bizarre story. Definitely recommend! It would be great to get you out of a slump or to test YA horror if you think it’s not your thing.
May 16, 2024
As with most of the books I read, I go in blind, only knowing the genre of book. So when I first started reading this story, it felt a little too young for me and like it was going to be about a group of annoying, obnoxious, rich, famous girls. I realised it has more to it than that. The more I read, the more I really felt for the group of girls. Their characters progressed and transformed throughout the story into truly likeable people. The whole book, you see it through the main female characters' eyes and experiences, Liv. She is a strong person who has had a tough life. I don't want to go into too much detail as I feel it would take something away from the story.
However, the bulk of this book for me was how the group of females sll with big personalities bonded through trauma, building a solidity and solace amongst themselves in order to survive.
Throughout reading Bad Graces, there is a good balance between character development, plot, and love story. I like that the latter wasn't the main focus of this book. It builds the suspense where needed and gives a sense of foreboding throughout. Kyrie McCauley describes the forest beautifully. The magical and mystical element really came alive inside my mind, I could sense what the girls were feeling around them.
With the flow of this book, you could quite easily read this in one sitting. It has short chapters, which helps. It held my attention and was quite captivating in parts.
This would be a perfect story for any teens wanting to venture into a book with a bit more of an adult feel. It does tackle some heavy themes and has some gory parts in it, too.
All in all, I did really enjoy reading this book.it makes for an eerie, fascinating, and mysterious read. The only thing that niggled me was I felt the ending a little rushed and I wanted it to delve into the magical side a little more. A good solid read.
Synopsis
A group of young girls get stranded on a deserted island and try to find a way to survive. When all is not what it seems, and unusual, mysterious occurrences happen, they find themselves entwined with the island.
Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Collins UK and Harper Fiction for this eARC
My opinions are my own
However, the bulk of this book for me was how the group of females sll with big personalities bonded through trauma, building a solidity and solace amongst themselves in order to survive.
Throughout reading Bad Graces, there is a good balance between character development, plot, and love story. I like that the latter wasn't the main focus of this book. It builds the suspense where needed and gives a sense of foreboding throughout. Kyrie McCauley describes the forest beautifully. The magical and mystical element really came alive inside my mind, I could sense what the girls were feeling around them.
With the flow of this book, you could quite easily read this in one sitting. It has short chapters, which helps. It held my attention and was quite captivating in parts.
This would be a perfect story for any teens wanting to venture into a book with a bit more of an adult feel. It does tackle some heavy themes and has some gory parts in it, too.
All in all, I did really enjoy reading this book.it makes for an eerie, fascinating, and mysterious read. The only thing that niggled me was I felt the ending a little rushed and I wanted it to delve into the magical side a little more. A good solid read.
Synopsis
A group of young girls get stranded on a deserted island and try to find a way to survive. When all is not what it seems, and unusual, mysterious occurrences happen, they find themselves entwined with the island.
Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Collins UK and Harper Fiction for this eARC
My opinions are my own
May 15, 2024
4.5 stars... I'M OBSESSED
In my review of All the Dead Lie Down I said I could see the potential for Kyrie McCauley to spiral into madness even deeper and trust me... SHE DELIVERED!!
This was such a bizarrely fantastic, yet deeply tragic story. Please check for trigger warnings as this is a story about trauma and FULL of body horror. If maggots and fungi creep you out, be warned!
I almost finished this in one sitting! That's how easily readable it is, the plot moves fast and the mysterious nature of what was truly going on on this Island literally made me feel trapped alongside the girls in the story!? I HAD to know where this story was going to go.
I will say though that yes, I did see some flaws. Parts of the dialogue or descriptions made me cringe (If I remember, I'll come back and update with quotes once the book is published) I truly think Kyrie McCauley is held back by the YA label because her themes are pretty heavy and could be explored sooo much further if given the freedom to do so without having to cater to a younger audience.
And no, I'm NOT saying YA books cannot handle heavy themes and discuss trauma well (The Honeys is a perfect example) but for a story like this, with a group of girls stuck on island, I think an extra 50-100 pages or so would have been perfect to really dive into the girls' minds -maybe even a POV switch?- whilst also giving us that sense of isolation, and more time to witness their personalities change the longer they're stuck on this island? I don't know!? I still LOVED it anyway so there's that haha.
The eerie atmosphere was EVERYTHING, some of the body horror truly made me feel uneasy, I felt the pain of the girls' trauma, and I could feel the sand on the beach, the cold wind, the creepy forest, and this genuinely creeped me out! From today I'll be silently praying that Kyrie McCauley decides to write an adult novel one day...
If you're a fan of House of Salt and Sorrows + House of Hollow... I think you'll enjoy this!
*Thank you to Netgalley + HarperCollins for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review
-Sarah
---> Book Blog
In my review of All the Dead Lie Down I said I could see the potential for Kyrie McCauley to spiral into madness even deeper and trust me... SHE DELIVERED!!
This was such a bizarrely fantastic, yet deeply tragic story. Please check for trigger warnings as this is a story about trauma and FULL of body horror. If maggots and fungi creep you out, be warned!
I almost finished this in one sitting! That's how easily readable it is, the plot moves fast and the mysterious nature of what was truly going on on this Island literally made me feel trapped alongside the girls in the story!? I HAD to know where this story was going to go.
I will say though that yes, I did see some flaws. Parts of the dialogue or descriptions made me cringe (If I remember, I'll come back and update with quotes once the book is published) I truly think Kyrie McCauley is held back by the YA label because her themes are pretty heavy and could be explored sooo much further if given the freedom to do so without having to cater to a younger audience.
And no, I'm NOT saying YA books cannot handle heavy themes and discuss trauma well (The Honeys is a perfect example) but for a story like this, with a group of girls stuck on island, I think an extra 50-100 pages or so would have been perfect to really dive into the girls' minds -maybe even a POV switch?- whilst also giving us that sense of isolation, and more time to witness their personalities change the longer they're stuck on this island? I don't know!? I still LOVED it anyway so there's that haha.
The eerie atmosphere was EVERYTHING, some of the body horror truly made me feel uneasy, I felt the pain of the girls' trauma, and I could feel the sand on the beach, the cold wind, the creepy forest, and this genuinely creeped me out! From today I'll be silently praying that Kyrie McCauley decides to write an adult novel one day...
If you're a fan of House of Salt and Sorrows + House of Hollow... I think you'll enjoy this!
*Thank you to Netgalley + HarperCollins for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review
-Sarah
---> Book Blog
June 6, 2024
Review coming soon.
July 22, 2024
I want to start this review by stating that I know this is a book a lot of people will love. It's nicely written, atmospheric and the concept is really, really cool. Unfortunately, it was one of those books that just couldn't get along with, despite trying my hardest.
What I liked:
As I said previously, the setting is fantastic. An abandoned island, horror lurking in the woods, strange blue fungus growing across every surface - it's a really fun stage for this story to play out on.
I also liked the creature itself - I won't put any spoilers, but it's good stuff.
Unfortunately, what I didn't like massively outweighed the good.
What I didn't like:
The general set up of the novel is so ridiculous - there's genuinely no way that this trip would ever happen, especially without security, identity checks, etc. It's just bizarre and feels really lazy.
The whole first few chapters are riddled with cliche. The main character has such a strong "not like other girls" thing going on that she's very hard to root for. Looking back, there's absolutely no reason why certain plot elements take place, and the story feels like it doesn't really commit to a lot of the foundation built up in the first quarter.
The characters are, for the most part, incredibly forgettable. They're all super famous and amazing, but also completely interchangeable and don't feel real. There's also a lot of quoting shakespeare from heart, reading shakespeare (from a tome that's casually washed up and is still readable) and other general nonsense that would never happen, feels very forced and is genuinely very silly indeed.
All of this would've been more easy to get on board with if it weren't for the dialogue.
I don't know about you, but if I learned someone had been brutally murdered, my first response wouldn't be to quip about how teenage girls "should be used to fear as they've always been prey". It's unrealistic in the circumstances and about as subtle as a punch to the face - literally no one in the world would react like this, and if they did I'd find them incredibly callous and untrustworthy. This little quip is then repeated throughout as if it's some deep truth we've all missed. Not great.
Ultimately, it's one of those books that didn't click with me and that's fine. I'm arguably not the target audience, and, like I said above, this will be loved by many. I just need to have a foundation of belief to get on board with stories like this, and this in this case, it was impossible.
What I liked:
As I said previously, the setting is fantastic. An abandoned island, horror lurking in the woods, strange blue fungus growing across every surface - it's a really fun stage for this story to play out on.
I also liked the creature itself - I won't put any spoilers, but it's good stuff.
Unfortunately, what I didn't like massively outweighed the good.
What I didn't like:
The general set up of the novel is so ridiculous - there's genuinely no way that this trip would ever happen, especially without security, identity checks, etc. It's just bizarre and feels really lazy.
The whole first few chapters are riddled with cliche. The main character has such a strong "not like other girls" thing going on that she's very hard to root for. Looking back, there's absolutely no reason why certain plot elements take place, and the story feels like it doesn't really commit to a lot of the foundation built up in the first quarter.
The characters are, for the most part, incredibly forgettable. They're all super famous and amazing, but also completely interchangeable and don't feel real. There's also a lot of quoting shakespeare from heart, reading shakespeare (from a tome that's casually washed up and is still readable) and other general nonsense that would never happen, feels very forced and is genuinely very silly indeed.
All of this would've been more easy to get on board with if it weren't for the dialogue.
I don't know about you, but if I learned someone had been brutally murdered, my first response wouldn't be to quip about how teenage girls "should be used to fear as they've always been prey". It's unrealistic in the circumstances and about as subtle as a punch to the face - literally no one in the world would react like this, and if they did I'd find them incredibly callous and untrustworthy. This little quip is then repeated throughout as if it's some deep truth we've all missed. Not great.
Ultimately, it's one of those books that didn't click with me and that's fine. I'm arguably not the target audience, and, like I said above, this will be loved by many. I just need to have a foundation of belief to get on board with stories like this, and this in this case, it was impossible.
June 23, 2024
"I think that’s the wrong question, Liv. (…) The question is; can people stay the same?” she tells me. “We’re all just animals, we’re all growing, learning, adapting to our environment. I don’t think we can help it. We evolve…”
I was fully prepared to raise all my hackles in skepticism at the comps of “Yellow Jackets meets House of Hollow”. Because: of course, let’s throw in 2 of the most beloved “wilderness-set-female-lead-things we can think of, just so our book will sell, right? Let me tell you: this time, the comparison held up. In fact, I’ll do you one better: Bad Graces to me, was Yellow Jackets meets Wilder Girls, flirting with The Tempest all the way through…
The Story:
When their yacht is shipwrecked near a mysterious island off the coast of North America, a group of 5 teenage girls is thrown together into a desperate survival situation. Faced with not only the threat of the elements, but a mysterious predator lurking in the dense forests around the beach, and a strange affliction causing changes to their very own bodies, the girls must rely on each other and their own strength, in order to survive.
What I loved:
The comparison to Wilder Girls was deliberate, as Bad Graces has all the same elements I enjoyed in that book too: a survival story with an all-female cast filled with strong characters and great friendships. The “women-supporting-women”-vibes don’t get much stronger than this, and I’m all here for it. Another similar element is the exploration of trauma and it manifesting through physical changes in the girls, which happens to be another trope I love. Although I felt Wilder Girls does it a little better, I really liked the inclusion of the islands “transformations” inflicted on the girls, and their reluctant acceptance and embrace of these changes. It’s a powerful metaphor which works wonderfully as such.
It’s probably a strange compliment to give to an author, but McCauley knows how to write trauma and survival like few other YA-authors. She proved that for me in If These Wings Could Fly and All the Dead Lie Down, and affirms it here. Her characters have experienced things, but rather than gratuitously exploiting the thing itself, we see how it’s scarred the characters, and how these scars have subsequently healed over; rough and callous and sometimes less than pretty, but strong and functional.
The story itself takes a while to get started. Frankly; the first 20% or so almost felt like a different novel entirely. Once we arrive on the island however, I couldn’t put it down: atmosphere, setting, mystery and character-development all worked together to make this a gripping read.
What I didn’t love:
This book is marked clearly as YA, and so I feel a little bad for criticizing it for doing typical “YA-things”. Still, some of it was like nails on a chalkboard to me, so I’m going to mention it. I named the female friendship as a strong point, but the quick development of it (especially the way a “regular girl with a bad past” is seamlessly integrated into a clique of celebrities) feels unrealistic. The same goes for the insta-love romance, which progresses to soul-mate-level declarations in a matter of days. For the love of God, I understand that trauma-bonding is a thing, but let’s not romanticize it for the teens please…
My dislike for the main romance wasn’t helped by how insufferable I found the love-interest. Without spoilers; picture the most bratty, pretentious English Rose, who looks like a pixie but insists she isn’t cute (*stomps little foot adorably…) and quotes Shakespear unironically… It’s a no for me, sir… It didn’t help that the audio-narrator did this over-the-top posh-English-accent for her lines, and took on a strange husky voice. It was clearly going for mysterious, but landed in cringy…
Also, targeting a teen-audience doesn’t mean throwing all subtlety out the window. Teens get context and subtext; we don’t need lines like “we’ve all been teenage girls, so we know what it’s like to be prey” to be spelled out literally. That was all perfectly clear from the cast’s individual backstories. Trust your audience to have a brain and use it to piece your message together themselves.
Fans of Wilder Girls, or a good female-lead YA-survival horror novel in general: don’t sleep on this one. Despite its flaws I had a perfectly enjoyable time with it.
I was fully prepared to raise all my hackles in skepticism at the comps of “Yellow Jackets meets House of Hollow”. Because: of course, let’s throw in 2 of the most beloved “wilderness-set-female-lead-things we can think of, just so our book will sell, right? Let me tell you: this time, the comparison held up. In fact, I’ll do you one better: Bad Graces to me, was Yellow Jackets meets Wilder Girls, flirting with The Tempest all the way through…
The Story:
When their yacht is shipwrecked near a mysterious island off the coast of North America, a group of 5 teenage girls is thrown together into a desperate survival situation. Faced with not only the threat of the elements, but a mysterious predator lurking in the dense forests around the beach, and a strange affliction causing changes to their very own bodies, the girls must rely on each other and their own strength, in order to survive.
What I loved:
The comparison to Wilder Girls was deliberate, as Bad Graces has all the same elements I enjoyed in that book too: a survival story with an all-female cast filled with strong characters and great friendships. The “women-supporting-women”-vibes don’t get much stronger than this, and I’m all here for it. Another similar element is the exploration of trauma and it manifesting through physical changes in the girls, which happens to be another trope I love. Although I felt Wilder Girls does it a little better, I really liked the inclusion of the islands “transformations” inflicted on the girls, and their reluctant acceptance and embrace of these changes. It’s a powerful metaphor which works wonderfully as such.
It’s probably a strange compliment to give to an author, but McCauley knows how to write trauma and survival like few other YA-authors. She proved that for me in If These Wings Could Fly and All the Dead Lie Down, and affirms it here. Her characters have experienced things, but rather than gratuitously exploiting the thing itself, we see how it’s scarred the characters, and how these scars have subsequently healed over; rough and callous and sometimes less than pretty, but strong and functional.
The story itself takes a while to get started. Frankly; the first 20% or so almost felt like a different novel entirely. Once we arrive on the island however, I couldn’t put it down: atmosphere, setting, mystery and character-development all worked together to make this a gripping read.
What I didn’t love:
This book is marked clearly as YA, and so I feel a little bad for criticizing it for doing typical “YA-things”. Still, some of it was like nails on a chalkboard to me, so I’m going to mention it. I named the female friendship as a strong point, but the quick development of it (especially the way a “regular girl with a bad past” is seamlessly integrated into a clique of celebrities) feels unrealistic. The same goes for the insta-love romance, which progresses to soul-mate-level declarations in a matter of days. For the love of God, I understand that trauma-bonding is a thing, but let’s not romanticize it for the teens please…
My dislike for the main romance wasn’t helped by how insufferable I found the love-interest. Without spoilers; picture the most bratty, pretentious English Rose, who looks like a pixie but insists she isn’t cute (*stomps little foot adorably…) and quotes Shakespear unironically… It’s a no for me, sir… It didn’t help that the audio-narrator did this over-the-top posh-English-accent for her lines, and took on a strange husky voice. It was clearly going for mysterious, but landed in cringy…
Also, targeting a teen-audience doesn’t mean throwing all subtlety out the window. Teens get context and subtext; we don’t need lines like “we’ve all been teenage girls, so we know what it’s like to be prey” to be spelled out literally. That was all perfectly clear from the cast’s individual backstories. Trust your audience to have a brain and use it to piece your message together themselves.
Fans of Wilder Girls, or a good female-lead YA-survival horror novel in general: don’t sleep on this one. Despite its flaws I had a perfectly enjoyable time with it.
August 8, 2024
I picked this one up because I can’t resist a good stranded-on-an-island story (I figured out I wasn’t straight while watching an episode of Lost), and thought that the premise of six girls cast away on a mysterious island together sounded extremely compelling. And for the first third of the book, it definitely was that. While a lot of the premise of this book feels more contrived than it needs to be–a main character who steals her identical twin sister’s identity in order to do an internship on a movie set, which somehow ends her up on a whale watching cruise from California to Alaska with a five other girls–it kept me interested, especially when the six girls find themselves stranded on an island in the North Pacific with the movie’s predatory director. I even found some of the ideas that the author was playing with to be pretty cool and different: the girls quickly realize that any injuries they sustain on the island mutate and change in inexplicable ways, and this, to me, was the most interesting part of the novel, as was the mystery of the terrifying beast who lives somewhere deep in within the forest.
Unfortunately, this novel was extremely weak in places that mattered. Some of these issues are logical ones: I had a hard time believing that, after only a few days since the wreck of their yacht, nobody would be looking anymore for a crew that includes two famous actresses, a famous musician, an Olympic gymnast, and a well-known social media influencer. Somehow this was nevertheless a continuing concern for the castaways. I also struggled to believe that people would be looking for them “in all the wrong places” because their ship was slightly off-course when it crashed. This, like on Lost, could be explained by the magical elements of the book, but until those elements became apparent it seemed ludicrous to believe that a boat that was essentially still on course to Alaska would be unable to be found.
You would think that being the only “normie” stranded on an island with five famous, influential teenagers would make for an interesting situation, but I really wouldn’t know; the personalities of these characters are severely underdeveloped. Miri, one of the two Knight sisters who are actresses, is a little bit more fleshed out because she’s the main character’s love interest, but I couldn’t tell you much more about the others except that Rosa is strong and athletic (due to being an Olympian), and Celia, the social media influencer, is extremely smart. Even Liv, our main character, is still a puzzle to me after 300 pages. We learn from the beginning that she and her twin sister, Everly, had a rough childhood in the foster care system, and that Everly despises Liv for making it rougher by fighting, setting fire to a foster home, and other acts of juvenile delinquency. Yet we never really learn why Liv felt compelled to behave this way, especially since Everly’s experiences in the system seem completely different. The relationship between the twins, while not really a focal part of the novel, forms a backbone to Liv’s life and experiences on the island that we have a feeling is important, but isn’t really explored to satisfaction.
This isn’t by any means a bad book, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m dunking on it. It entertained me in many ways and was doing something creative, different, and interesting. I enjoyed its multiple nods to The Tempest and, to a lesser degree, The Odyssey. It had a thought-provoking through line about how feeling like prey is inherently wrapped up in girlhood that, while again I thought was underexplored, was impactful. The whole just didn’t hold up to that promise.
Unfortunately, this novel was extremely weak in places that mattered. Some of these issues are logical ones: I had a hard time believing that, after only a few days since the wreck of their yacht, nobody would be looking anymore for a crew that includes two famous actresses, a famous musician, an Olympic gymnast, and a well-known social media influencer. Somehow this was nevertheless a continuing concern for the castaways. I also struggled to believe that people would be looking for them “in all the wrong places” because their ship was slightly off-course when it crashed. This, like on Lost, could be explained by the magical elements of the book, but until those elements became apparent it seemed ludicrous to believe that a boat that was essentially still on course to Alaska would be unable to be found.
You would think that being the only “normie” stranded on an island with five famous, influential teenagers would make for an interesting situation, but I really wouldn’t know; the personalities of these characters are severely underdeveloped. Miri, one of the two Knight sisters who are actresses, is a little bit more fleshed out because she’s the main character’s love interest, but I couldn’t tell you much more about the others except that Rosa is strong and athletic (due to being an Olympian), and Celia, the social media influencer, is extremely smart. Even Liv, our main character, is still a puzzle to me after 300 pages. We learn from the beginning that she and her twin sister, Everly, had a rough childhood in the foster care system, and that Everly despises Liv for making it rougher by fighting, setting fire to a foster home, and other acts of juvenile delinquency. Yet we never really learn why Liv felt compelled to behave this way, especially since Everly’s experiences in the system seem completely different. The relationship between the twins, while not really a focal part of the novel, forms a backbone to Liv’s life and experiences on the island that we have a feeling is important, but isn’t really explored to satisfaction.
This isn’t by any means a bad book, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m dunking on it. It entertained me in many ways and was doing something creative, different, and interesting. I enjoyed its multiple nods to The Tempest and, to a lesser degree, The Odyssey. It had a thought-provoking through line about how feeling like prey is inherently wrapped up in girlhood that, while again I thought was underexplored, was impactful. The whole just didn’t hold up to that promise.
August 21, 2024
This book was not at all what i expected it to be and i adore it for that. I'm not entirely sure what i expected but at no point throught the entire book was it even close to anything that actually happened within it😂 please bare with it for the first few chapters, if it at first youre not sure about it, PLEASE bare with it until the island!
It had me on my toes the entire way through and i loved that i was never able to predect what was going to happen next. I completely devoured this in one sitting and it is a book i will definitely be going back to once I've forgotten some of it. Absolutely beautiful gothic thriller/fantasy book with island of doctor moreau vibes with lots of girl power💙
It had me on my toes the entire way through and i loved that i was never able to predect what was going to happen next. I completely devoured this in one sitting and it is a book i will definitely be going back to once I've forgotten some of it. Absolutely beautiful gothic thriller/fantasy book with island of doctor moreau vibes with lots of girl power💙
June 18, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Tegen Books, and HarperCollins Children's Books for this advanced copy! You can pick up Bad Graces on June 18, 2024.
What an eerie, thrilling book. This was a new genre for me (survival? thriller? suspense? speculative fiction?) and it was really fascinating! I loved our main six girls and the various relationships developed between them. I almost wish the book had been longer so we could've seen the relationships go through more tumult, as I would expect to happen when you're marooned on a dangerous island for months. But overall, I really loved the writing and the way the characters were fleshed out! It definitely left me feeling unsettled, and I'm curious to explore more books in this genre now!
What an eerie, thrilling book. This was a new genre for me (survival? thriller? suspense? speculative fiction?) and it was really fascinating! I loved our main six girls and the various relationships developed between them. I almost wish the book had been longer so we could've seen the relationships go through more tumult, as I would expect to happen when you're marooned on a dangerous island for months. But overall, I really loved the writing and the way the characters were fleshed out! It definitely left me feeling unsettled, and I'm curious to explore more books in this genre now!
August 3, 2024
The “sapphic girls in an unnatural horror world” genre is one of my favorites- and it’s better when the books are indie
Will definitely be reading this authors other books
If you liked this I would recommend Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah
Will definitely be reading this authors other books
If you liked this I would recommend Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah
June 23, 2024
If you liked the tv show lost then this is the book for you... and just like lost the end was super rushed. I did enjoy this though and just wish the end had been a bit drawn out.
August 15, 2024
4.5. I really enjoyed this weird little story of lost girls on a strange island.
October 17, 2024
I think this book achieves what it sets out to do. It’s only 300 pages, but I think it does a brilliant job at setting up a found family dynamic. I rooted for Liv from the start, her backstory made her impossible not to empathise with for me and I loved how there was so much discussion on trauma and healing from it, recognising that it changes you but knowing that sometimes the changes aren’t negative - sometimes you’re just evolving and growing into what you need/needed to be to survive. My biggest critique is that the the characters could’ve had a bit more depth if this book had been slightly longer, the pacing could’ve been better & then the ending wouldn’t have felt as rushed. But i loved all of the girls in this and their relationships, even down to the ‘monster’ on the island <3
I will say the relationship between the main character and love interest is very much insta attraction / liking? I wouldn’t go as far to say love but there’s little reason to why the girls are attracted to each other at the beginning other than surface level, which I’m more lenient with considering the short length and it being YA. Overall I reccomend this and I thought all the commentary of the experiences of teenage girls just trying to survive was really well written. I’ll definitely read more by this author!
I will say as a personal gripe, some of the dialogue (only a few lines really) felt a bit unnatural, namely as it’s clear this author isn’t british and the british characters and attempts at slang don’t always land well. But it wasn’t bad enough to massively impact my enjoyment. I will say that there was at least two lines of dialogue that felt forced and very unnatural, especially for teenage girls. I also wish the side characters had got more development and had more unique voices and i’d understood them all the way I understood Liv. This likely would’ve benefited from being multi POV, but I appreciate 6 POV’s likely wouldn’t work in this intimate setting and would get repetitive. But even 2 or 3 could’ve helped them feel more distinguishable from one another.
If you’re a fan of the winds. yellowjackets, strong female friendships, female resilience, body horror & island settings I think you’ll really like this!
I will say the relationship between the main character and love interest is very much insta attraction / liking? I wouldn’t go as far to say love but there’s little reason to why the girls are attracted to each other at the beginning other than surface level, which I’m more lenient with considering the short length and it being YA. Overall I reccomend this and I thought all the commentary of the experiences of teenage girls just trying to survive was really well written. I’ll definitely read more by this author!
I will say as a personal gripe, some of the dialogue (only a few lines really) felt a bit unnatural, namely as it’s clear this author isn’t british and the british characters and attempts at slang don’t always land well. But it wasn’t bad enough to massively impact my enjoyment. I will say that there was at least two lines of dialogue that felt forced and very unnatural, especially for teenage girls. I also wish the side characters had got more development and had more unique voices and i’d understood them all the way I understood Liv. This likely would’ve benefited from being multi POV, but I appreciate 6 POV’s likely wouldn’t work in this intimate setting and would get repetitive. But even 2 or 3 could’ve helped them feel more distinguishable from one another.
If you’re a fan of the winds. yellowjackets, strong female friendships, female resilience, body horror & island settings I think you’ll really like this!
March 8, 2024
This has been one of the best books I've read in 2024 so far! The premise and the fact that it was written by Kyrie McCauley made this an instant need-to-read for me, and the book lived up to and BEYOND my expectations. I'd say the comps are mostly accurate, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is a book about young women banding together and supporting each other through most everything, something the 'Yellowjackets' comparison made me unsure of. This is such a gorgeous book, from the writing to the character-building to the way it resolves interpersonal conflicts and human threats. The supernatural threats are another matter entirely, and this book delivered scares aplenty on its course to make some very solid feminist points. And while the climax didn't 100% make sense to me, it worked and FULLY justified the very end. I love this book. It's what I wanted Yellowjackets to be. I must have a copy once it's released.
July 15, 2024
feral lesbians monsters girls healing their traumas c'est ma vie
June 22, 2024
This is the book I needed as a teenager to open up the weird little reader in me. I would have eaten this up. The grossness was much appreciated by adult me, but there was a lot that irked me about Bad Graces. I wish the narrative had been more vague, I wish they'd each had a unique voice, I wish they'd just bloody talked to each other, teenagers are infuriating. There were some solid ideas here, but it felt a lot like plot over substance. House of Hollow is a prime example of YA Horror/Thriller done right, but this had a major disconnect from the horrifying context to the dialogue that felt too light. I would still recommend it if you're looking for a weird little YA book to drag you out of a slump.
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