Name: Very Bad People
Rating: 4.111111111111111 (9 reviews)
ISBN: 9781534449749

Kit Frick

Sixteen-year-old Calliope Bolan joins a powerful secret society at her new boarding school, hoping to find answers about her mother's death, but she becomes involved in a dangerous campaign for revenge that threatens her new friendships.

Very Bad People

In this dark academia young adult thriller for fans of The Female of the Species and People Like Us, a teen girl’s search for answers about her mother’s mysterious death leads to a powerful secret society at her new boarding school—and a dangerous game of revenge that will leave her forever changed. Six years ago, Calliope Bolan’s mother drove the family van into a lake with her three daughters inside. The girls escaped, but their mother drowned, and the truth behind the “accident” remains a mystery Calliope is determined to solve. Now sixteen, she transfers to Tipton Academy, the same elite boarding school her mother once attended. Tipton promises a peek into the past and a host of new opportunities—including a coveted invitation to join Haunt and Rail, an exclusive secret society that looms over campus like a legend. Calliope accepts, stepping into the exhilarating world of the “ghosts,” a society of revolutionaries fighting for social justice. But when Haunt and Rail commits to exposing a dangerous person on campus, it becomes clear that some ghosts define justice differently than others. As the society’s tactics escalate, Calliope uncovers a possible link between Haunt and Rail and her mother’s deadly crash. Now, she must question what lengths the society might go to in order to see a victory—and if the secret behind her mother’s death could be buried here at Tipton.

I feel like Calliope and Cadence from We Were Liars would be besties. I did not vibe with this. It does not have a satisfying ending, and I think there was more to be said in terms of the conversation about claims of sexual harassment/grooming/inappropriate conduct. 

Holly

This book. Wow! I loved this book and it’s what I needed. I’ve been wanting something to fill the hole after finishing another YA book series in this same drama. I kind of what to see what happens after the ending but also I like the ending and I like everything about this book. 

Desiree Wills

kendall p

release march 5th 
•••
when i say i love YA mystery, this is what i mean. 
The twist, the turns, the unreliable narrators - everything.
calliope bolan is starting at tipton academy. she’s looking to leave her small town and move on from her mothers tragic death, but ends up finding answers that she didn’t even know she wanted. 
the dark academic atmosphere mixed with fall is everything I need. I loved the secret society aspect, along with the mix of her mother. 
The characters are written so well to the point where you trust them all, just to be completely mind blown by what’s to come. you feel actual betrayal and confusion, which is something i love in a book. 
kit fricks draws you in so well, and creates such a perfect setting then it all twist and turns so fast that it’s perfect. 
The short chapters, mixed with fast pacing make for an epic read. This book is on the longer side at a little over 400 pages but it needed every last page. I never once was bored, or thought information could be left out of the story. The author set everything up perfectly for the big reveal at the end. 
Speaking of the ending, OMG. I was So mad. 
We better be getting a second book because I’m not ready to leave these characters or this story behind yet.
Kit Fricks is definitely going on my radar, and this is going down as one of my favorite ya mystery books. I recommend. 


- e- arc provided by simon and schuster for my honest review. all opinions are my own!

Zoe Smolen

4.5 rounded up. 

I really like that this felt like a contemporary novel until the last 25% or so when twists started happening left and right. This book centers around a group of 20 upper classman at a boarding school who pull pranks to cause change around campus but our MC quickly sees how it can go awry and that good intentions do not equal good impact. (view spoiler)[There's some great foreshadowing of what's going to happen with some mythological references used as names.  (hide spoiler)] There's lots of character growth from our MC and she handles the challenges realistically. 

My only complaint is the non-white characters weren't given any meaningful storylines. I think this could have been an interesting discussion as the book centers around an elite boarding school. However, there is already a lot going on in this book and it may have gotten messy to do that.

Thanks to the publishers for an eARC and finished final copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sara Bean Duncan

I fell into reading Thrillers (both adult and YA) as a palate cleanser between high fantasy and epic series. Very Bad People was precisely what I was in the mood for and was a quick, gripping read that left me wanting more – can we have a sequel, please?
“Our mother loved all magical stories and consulted a variety of sources when naming her daughters, My name, Calliope, was drawn from ancient Greek myth. Lorelei owes her to German Folklore. Serafina is from seraphim, angels of the highest order in Abrahamic religious lore. Put us together, and we are part survival story, part fable, part cautionary tale.“
– VERY BAD PEOPLE, PAGE 2
Calliope transfers into Tipton Academy to escape the stares and the stigma around the death of her mother’s accidental actions. By attending her mother’s alma mater, Calliope hopes to unravel the mystery of why her mother drove them into the water and connect to a side of the family that she has grown apart from. Once at Tipton, she gets recruited to a secret society run by her peers, built on bringing a sense of justice to the injustices they see on campus. Calliope has quite a bit of navigating between her willing (and not-so-willing) participation in the group’s acts, her own exploration of friendships and relationships, and the secrets those alive are still protecting.
“The society’s purposes will be to haunt and rail, that is to clandestinely observe injustices, inequities, and bad actors at Tipton Academy, and to rail against these wrongs.”
– VERY BAD PEOPLE, PAGE 64
This book moves along at a breakneck pace, with a full cast of characters surrounding Calliope and her family. I would have loved to see fewer side characters in exchange for a handful of more fleshed-out ones. Still, I absolutely adore Kit Frick’s writing of Calliope. This book also did a much better job capturing her fellow classmates’ diverse lived experiences than most written in a private school setting. 
One of my YA pet peeves is when writers write the teenagers as mini-adults – instead of the intelligent but often impulsive and fixated teens that I see in my life (and that I was!). Very Bad People avoided this! I was frustrated and worried about the characters and sometimes face-palming lousy decision-making. 
Without spoiling anything, I will say that the ending felt incomplete – though I am not sure that was because I didn’t want to leave these characters behind or that I wanted a cleaner resolution to all the plot lines. All in all, I cannot wait to read another by Kit Frick.

I revived this book from the publisher as part of a book tour in exchange for an honest review. 

Very Bad People

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