Thank you Inkyard Press and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I’m a fan of Gabriella Lepore and I think this is my favorite so far! Eva, Colton, and Piper, along with their friends go to a remote lodge for Spring Break. A friends uncle owns it but it’s not open yet. There’s nine of them but their really two separate friend groups with some cross over. Off the bat things are awkward as Piper and Danny (Colton’s twin) broke up and now she’s dating Javier, but are things really over? Also Miles recently got into some trouble and they are steering clear of that, but does someone know more about the situation then they let on? Things are going great until the morning of their last day and they wake up to the cops. Also someone’s missing and clearly one of the remaining eight knows something. Can they figure it out before they all go down? Full of twists, turns, and secrets that it kept me guessing! Likeable characters that you can’t help but like even if they are untrustworthy! You do have a wait a bit for this one to come out but highly suggest checking out Gabriella’s other books!

Jam-packed with high stakes, a fast-moving plot, and a mystery that leaves you second guessing yourself, Lepore's Bad Like Us is the perfect read for fans of Karen McManus. The isolated cabin setting paints an incredible backdrop for non-stop twists with nowhere to run and the overall sense that no one can truly be trusted—even your friends. Even the people you desperately love.

Lepore did a great job of keeping me on the edge of my seat. Her prose is perfect for thrillers—clear and consice to create steady pacing while unique enough to keep me interested in Eva's story. Will definitely read more from her in the future!

Easy read and very entertaining story of two groups of teenagers whose worlds collide. Good character development and exploration of the differences between the kids. Good young adult story.

[3 stars]

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a person who enjoys a classic murder mystery like this, so the premise intrigued me. Since the book only takes place over a handful of days while at an off-the-grid beach house on spring break, I expected it to be character-driven as the teens grapple with the before-and-after drama they are thrust into.

Two friend groups merge into one when two members of separate quartets start dating. Not all of them like each other, though, and a dramatic breakup a few months prior has things tense even before the characters arrive at their spring break destination: an off-the-grid beach house where they're the only people for miles.

I found this to be an entertaining, quick read that can be done in one sitting. The plot moves quickly, the chapters are short, and enough things happen that there's no boring lull.

I wish the characters were more fleshed out. To me, they felt one-dimensional at best, and for some of them, I couldn't even tell you a single thing about their personalities. I liked Eva the most, as we spend the most time in her POV, but I wish I knew more about what drives her, what her motivations are in life, and just more about her in general. Is the fiercely loyal? Clever? Witty?

As for Colton and Eva's dynamic, I just couldn't feel the chemistry between them. We are told that they feel a connection, but I certainly couldn't. I wonder if this is partially due to how flat the characters are in general— I couldn't tell what things they had in common aside from surfing. More background info would also have been nice— have the friend groups just not talked since middle school? Or do certain members cross over, just not that often? Knowing these things would have made Eva and Colton's instantaneous click seem more understandable.

And then the location. The off-the-grid beach house is a cool setting, especially since they have crappy cell service... or do they? There are several group chat conversations that seem to go on without a hitch. This could have added to the suspense in the story, but it didn't really amount to anything.

I don't understand why nobody was told about the body until the police showed up and had the sheet over it. The fact that the characters weren't immediately woken up and alerted by the character who found the body was odd. Due to the setting being so remote, it would have taken a WHILE for the police to arrive, so there was plenty of time to tell the others.

Some of the chapters were unnecessarily short with random endings that cut off in places that are supposed to add suspense, but only do so superficially, like someone knocking at a door. The next chapter would then pick up exactly where the previous one left off, in the same POV, so I was confused about why the other one ended.

I also felt that there could have been more tension between the characters for turning on each other. Eva was adamant that Miles didn't do it, but Colton proposed the idea that he did, and Eva was fine with that??? More mistrust would have raised the stakes.

I am underwhelmed by this book. I expected it to be different. It was predictable and cringey at times. I liked the writing style but it wasn’t anything special. If you’re a fan of YA books that read for a younger audience or Truly Devious, try giving this book a chance.

I should start this off by saying I love a teen slasher. I love a whodunnit where it isn't too difficult to figure out whodunnit. These reasons made me so excited for this book.
It was exactly what it sells itself to be. The creepy cabin atmosphere, secretive untrustworthy "friends" and secrets everywhere made me feel like I was watching a teen slasher.
The story was fun and I tore through it, finishing it in just a few hours.
Was it predictable? Yeah, a little. But, for me that didn't take away from the fun.
I'd recommend this for slasher lovers who are looking for a quick read.

Look for this one in March of 2024.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

“Bad Like Us” by Gabriella Lepore is thrilling YA novel that centers around a group of seven high-schooler’s taking a spring break trip to the remote coast of Oregon. Told from the perspectives of two of kids, Colton and Eva as they try to piece together what happened one night when Piper wound up dead. Everyone has secrets they’d do anything to protect. Are any of Eva’s friends who she thought they were? Perfect read for fans of Karen McManus and the Truly Devious series.

This was an easy read. Typical YA thriller that kept me interested enough. There were a ton of characters to follow which sometimes can be a pain in the butt but it was easy to follow.
There were a couple of plot holes I still have questions about but overall if you are looking for a quick lifetime YA thriller, this was fun. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read and review

*****SPOILERS AHEAD**********




This was a predictable whodunit YA mystery with a little twist. The writing was good, the plot itself was meh… however it was easy to read and quick to get through, I read it all in one sitting.

It was pretty obvious who was going to end up murdered, the characters- while there were alot of them- were pretty one dimensional, there was no real build up, and I didn’t feel attached to any of them. The romantic situations were a let down, the reader was told they like eachother but there was nothing for the reader to really get invested in, so it fell flat.

It also really pissed me off for some reason that Eve Lied to the police… it would be different if there was a solid reason, but she had no reason whatsoever to lie? Why couldn’t she say she was waiting for Colton but he didn’t show up? It didn’t make her look less guilty to lie, if anything it made her look more guilty- and I’m not even talking about the phone, which again makes no sense why she hid it from the cop- I felt this kinda just took away from the book because the lies were unnecessary. If she only lied about the phone because she was scared to look guilty, that would have been fine but she lied about basically everything…

For the actual mystery itself, it kinda reminded me of one of those hallmark mystery movies where it's kind of predictable and also some how family friendly? Because the way it was described, murder probably wouldn’t of been the first thing people thought about, in the real world…. Teen girl gets drunk and decided to check out a cave and falls into the water and bumps her head causing death could had been the tagline here. There was really nothing that screamed murder, so I don’t know why the first instinct here would be to jump that, and take a teenage boy into custody without his parents, knowing there’s a storm, for what reason? At that point there isn’t even an autopsy done to prove anything? The whole thing is based on a scream that one drunk teenager apparently heard? This isn’t how cops work.

And that will lead me into this.. there is quite a lot of plot holes in this novels such as when Danny found the body, there was no service in that cave( they said this multiple times) so he would have had to go back to the house to get service to call the police and they were apparently in the middle of nowhere, so why didn’t he wake up the rest of the people and let them know what was happening before the police arrived?? Because they would have taken at least a few hours to arrive if they really were out in the middle of nowhere, right?

Also when miles went ’missing’ he didn’t take a car, so again in the middle of nowhere hours from a town, in a storm, Miles was able to get to a town and hop on a bus back home when apparently all the roads were flooded?? And no one else could get there???

Also what happened to Danny at the end? Did he lose his acceptance into college? Is Colton using the money he saved for himself? Did Miles get his acceptance back from Harvard? Was he ever vindicated? Why did the police take Javier into the police station and no one else? Was there a reason?

Despite all of my cons of this book, it was still a decent filler read between my more darker horror novels, so if you're looking for a quick YA mystery, this is still worth a read.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, everything above is of my own opinion.

Completely captivating and just what I needed to read. This will keep your mind guessing and your head spinning. Highly recommend to readers of all types.

This book wasn't horrible by any means, but the plot was just a bit mundane.. it was underwhelming, and I was easily able to predict what was going to happen.. the writing itself was good and this author could probably go far if the plot had a little more to it.. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this air seat in exchange for an honest review.. a solid three stars, and I would recommend for anyone that likes a very easy to read ya mystery/thriller.

I think this book would be a good fit for anyone who enjoys reading a solid YA Mystery "Whodunnit" Thriller. The author crafted an intriguing storyline that had a nice flow to it.

It was easy to distinguish between the multiple narrators because each had their own voice and added something to the story. I've come to enjoy the different perspectives while reading Thrillers.

I was able to predict a few key plot points but it didn't really detract from the reading experience.

I'd recommend this to someone who enjoys reading in this genre.

Thank you Gabriella Lepore, Net Galley and Inkyard Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

This was a typical whodunit YA mystery/thriller novel. It had an interesting premise and was pretty easy to read and get through. We have an array of characters-some you trust, so you don't. It was pretty obvious who was going to end up murdered based on the lead-up to the incident. Despite the tragedy, I still didn't feel attached to any of the characters, not even our narrators. They weren't bad by any means, just not overly interesting. I also feel like the authorities could've played a bigger role, as I felt that their presence didn't feel strong enough even though a murder took place.

For the actual mystery itself, it felt a bit underwhelming. All the secrets that were revealed by the characters didn't exactly live up to the build-up they were given, but I will say they were woven into the mystery rather well and it kept the plot going.

Despite my share of cons of this book, it was still a pretty good read, so if you're craving a quick YA mystery thriller, this is still worth a read.

This was okay but definitely reeked of YA thriller and that made it hard for me to get interested. The suspense/mystery part just didn't deliver as well as I had hoped and the characters felt bland. The writing was fine and there were some intriguing moments but not enough.