The overall story was interesting and kept you on your toes but I feel like it either needed to be shorter or longer but with more info one the front end.

Bad Vibrations by Lucy Leitner is a gripping contemporary romance that delves into the complexities of relationships and the impact of past traumas. The story follows the protagonist as she navigates a tangled web of emotions while confronting her fears and desires. Leitner’s sharp writing and authentic character development create an engaging narrative filled with tension and humor. With themes of healing and self-acceptance, this book is an enjoyable read for anyone seeking a heartfelt exploration of love and personal growth.

Tried way too hard to be funny and clever, but completely failed in my eyes. I couldn't get into this book at all.

Enjoyed this. Really appreciate the length. Thought the premise was really interesting. Think this will really appeal to younger horror readers or people who are dipping their toes into horror.

I had fun with this one. It’s a pretty wild ride with some twists that I wasn’t expecting and some moments that made me laugh. The plot kept me hooked and the characters reminded me of 90s horror movies which I loved.
Overall, if you want to read a thriller comedy book about cults then pick this one up.

3.5⭐️/5⭐️

This one was unique, not in a bad way necessarily but it did take a while for me to get used to the format/writing style. Cult stories are always fun for me, and the cults were culting for sure. A bit cringy and snarky, Bad Vibrations takes on cults, the world of healthy granola extremists, and social media influencers in a quirky way. It wasn’t really horror like I was expecting, but I didn’t hate it. Thanks to the publisher, Blood Bound Books, for my ebook.

You will have a good time if you come to the book for the right reasons.

Let's start with the "wrong" reasons.
1. You are looking for horror that resembles literary fiction.
2. You want to be blown away by the depth and complexity of a narrative.
3. You don't like horror, thrillers, or gore. (For the sake of everything good in this world, can those of you who DON'T like horror stop reading horror books and rating them poorly? Please explain your thought process to me like I'm 8.)

The "right" reasons.

1. You were fascinated/entertained by the NXIVM documentary (The Vow.)

2. "Wellness Culture" has always struck you as a vice for those who are distinctly unwell.
3. You enjoy campy cult horror.

"Bad Vibrations" brilliantly achieves what it sets out to achieve and I loved it for those reasons. I had a great time, was entertained, and found it to be wonderfully escapist.

I look forward to reading Lucy's other books because I like having fun. I'm zany that way.

Thank you so much to Lucy Leitner, Blood Bound Books, and Netgalley for an e-copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for this ARC. This book was fun and enjoyable to read. I love the cult vibes and getting a cure for all the illnesses! I really liked how this book portrayed the manipulation that goes behind. Someone wanting others to follow their lead regardless if it’s dangerous or not, and people want to become better versions of themselves, no matter the cost and the chances that they take.! I believe this was a relatable concept and I really wish the author would have given us a longer book! I will continue to read more from this author and I recommend this book!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

In the heart of rural Pennsylvania, where wellness retreats meet the unexpected, Lucy Leitner’s “Bad Vibrations” takes readers on an irreverent ride through the landscape of social media influencers, their blind followers, and the mindset of those who oppose them.

Plot: Valerie arrives at Doctor’s hidden utopia—a weekend haven promising true health. The retreat boasts hula hoop yoga, dynamic meditation, and fresh farm fruits. But there’s a twist: The doctor’s healing method involves drinking blood. Yes, you read that right. Blood. The same substance that cured cancer, leaky gut, and Hashimoto’s thyroid. Yet in rural Pennsylvania, this wellness craze isn’t exactly popular...

What Works:

The author's satirical edge: Leitner fearlessly exposes society’s underbelly, weaving hot-button topics into her narrative. Prepare for sex, yoga, and, of course, lots of blood.

Character Depth: Valerie’s journey is both absurd and relatable. Her quest for health becomes a darkly humorous exploration of extremes.

Twists and Turns: Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Leitner throws curveballs that keep you guessing.

What Could Be Improved:

Pacing: While the deliberate pace adds depth, some readers may prefer a faster tempo.

Unconventional Themes: If you’re not open to unconventional wellness practices, this book might stretch your comfort zone.

Ultimately, Bad Vibrations” is a genre-bending cocktail—part satire, part thriller, and wholly unique. Leitner’s prose dances on the edge, daring readers to question their own boundaries. If you’re ready for a wild ride that defies expectations, step into this blood-soaked world.

1/5

Well that officially hit the "dumbest book I've read this year" award.

The gist: why not join a health nut, anti-vaxx cult? Eat your organic veggies, follow the advice of social media influencers, do some yoga....and drink some blood while you're at it.

Lets talk about why this is awful and you shouldn't read it:

1) it's clearly attempting to be satire - but then the author seems to know actually quite little about cults (eeeeeegaaaaawwd she spells NXIVM wrong, not once but twice, then makes fun of the NXIVM documentary in her "thank you" section).

2) the personality of the main character jumps around so many times, I have whiplash. Is she brave? NO she's a weak follower. NOOO she's a badass! WAIT WHAT.

3) I'm still confused on what the author actually thought about the COVID pandemic. *(And as someone whose partner is living with Long-Covid and has her life totally changed - this was kinda a problem for me personally)*.

4) There wasn't much reasoning behind the cults belief system.

5) The characters names literally change halfway through the book.

Can we just, like.....not.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All views expressed are my own.

Fun little read! This is not a deep or meaningful book by any stretch. There’s bountiful pop culture references, and I definitely laughed quite a bit throughout. The characters are not particularly lovable and are all fairly cliche. This is intentionally done as the entire book is satire, but I did think at times Leitner could have been a bit more subtle with the jests. A lot of the book is VERY on the nose with the quips which if distributed a bit more coolly would’ve likely improved the book for me.

There’s a blood drinking aspect but this isn’t a vampire book. Our protagonist, Valerie is hell bent on achieving her weight lifting and professional goals and has turned to the latest cult trend to assist. Upon finally visiting the cult (a la adult summer camp vibes) the local good ol’ boys decide to come interfere. And things naturally get pretty bad.

Most of the characters were fairly underdeveloped and we learn very little about almost all of them. The book is fairly fast paced and definitely more focused on action than world building. I think this will be a fun, quick read for most. I would love to read more from Leitner as I did enjoy her witticism and the overall vibe from this book. I would love for her future work to continue with the humor but ideally would add some more dimension into the characters.

i’m sure this was supposed to be a satire of cults which was pretty bold. for me, stories about cults can be absolutely delightful or atrocious. this book was the latter. i wasn’t expecting intelligent commentary on cults or anything but i wanted to have fun. this entire story was so random. like another reviewer said, reading this was pointless because i didn’t walk away with more knowledge or an enjoyable experience.

this is an arc so i won’t insert any quotes but the writing style isn’t my cup of tea. i found myself asking why to a number of sentences because they were so silly. additionally, the plot was all over the place. maybe if it focused more on the retreat, it could’ve been better but the whole “vampires” vs “humans” plot line was ridiculous & i didn’t find it humourous or entertaining.

This book was okay. The concept was better than the execution in the long run but I could see the vision. The idea was something I've seen a lot of lately and this is a solid entry in the toxic beauty industry genre but the addition of the towns people is what made this cheaper to me. It made this book feel more like a B-rated thriller than a solid horror book. It almost felt like the author had two different books going. Overall this book was okay and fun to read but not the greatest read ever.

Honestly I almost DNF this. The first half was pretty slow to me. The second half was a bit more interesting but wasn’t keeping my interest. It was a confusing read honestly. Too many characters and different backgrounds to keep track off. Idk, this just wasn’t it for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted copy

This book had a massive amount of potential and a fresh take on social media tying into a cult but fell a little short. The book was not near long enough to truly experience and allow one to draw conclusions about the cult and their ways. While I can appreciate a story that’s straight to the point, I feel that allowing the readers to experience more of what’s going on at the farm could have made all the difference and really question the cult’s intentions before the truth is revealed. Could have also potentially made the reader act like Eric and Phoenix do in the end with their chanting. The dialogue is also a little rough, sometimes you can’t tell who’s saying what.

Bad Vibrations
by: Lucy Leitner
Blood Bound Books
2022
5.0 stars

This was right up my alley. I really liked this satire of the wellness craze, social media and conspiracy theorists. It was fast moving, had twists of delight and opened your eyes with the satire, some of it was brilliant. Definately not for everyone, but this one worked for me.

Valerie has become a health nut, and has committed to living a healthy lifestyle, and eliminate all toxins from her body. It is important to her. So naturally, when she hears of a wellness retreat, lead by the Doctor, whose followers believe that by doing yoga with a hula hoop on a mini trampoline, while practicing "screaming" and drinking blood is the road to super healthy living. Free of toxins. The blood is the life.
However, the easily triggered rednecks living in this rural part of Pennsylvania are not happy with the group of health-nut hippies that have invaded their town, and corrupt them.
Short and funny, this made some excellent points.
Thanks to Net Galley for sending this e-book ARC for review.
#BadVibrationscultthebloodisthelife #NetGalley

Valerie becomes disillusioned with the direction of her life and becomes involved in a wellness movement led by an charismatic figure known as "the Doctor." The group promotes the avoidance of toxins, the embrace of positive energy, and the use of unconventional practices. As Valerie gets more involved, she becomes more aware of dangerous activities. Tensions rise between the outsider group, who appears to be self-righteous and superior, and the locals, who feel threatened, leading to violent confrontations. The fast-paced story keeps you guessing about where their loyalties should lie, which side is the good and which is the bad, maybe both bad?

Thank you to NetGalley and Lucy Leitner for a review copy of Bad Vibrations (it's not technically an ARC since the book seems to have come out two years ago, but I'm not going to argue!)

I am very interested in horror, cults, and weird wellness culture, so the premise alone was right up my alley. It moved at an incredibly brisk pace, and I devoured the book in just a few days. My one complaint is that the book moved a bit *too* quickly, I would have loved more time to explore the commune, a slow-burn realization of the illusions that Doctor and his congregation put forth. I feel like I was missing some context as Val swung so suddenly from true believer to sobering reality.

It was a fun ride, but I would have loved some deeper exploration and fleshing out of the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blood Bound Books for providing this title in exchange for an honest review.

“Sex. Yoga. Blood.” Interesting, right? I thought so.

In “Bad vibrations”, we ride with Valerie to a rural Pennsylvania town for a weekend retreat at a new wellness community that sprouted after the COVID-19 pandemic, where residents are committed to clean living and energy nurturing… and the newly discovered miraculous properties of blood drinking.

This satire makes fun of the current wellness craze aided and abetted by social media; of the mental hoops people jump through to believe in conspiracy theories and justify horrendous acts in the name of the greater (selfish) good; of the willingness of people to follow someone who tells them what to do; of gentrification.

It was a fast-paced, entertaining read and, as a very short book, you can’t expect much depth, but it read like a crack premise that wasn’t taken very seriously. All the characters seemed stereotypical cartoonish - the cult members: mostly rich, white Millennials with no identifiable jobs except for the protagonist; the cops: ignorant rednecks; all of them talked like they were in a parody. And I suppose they were! But I felt dumber by reading it, like when you watch Scary Movie.

I almost DNF’d near the beginning when the protagonist and the first cult buddies she meet are confronted by two of the townspeople and she thinks they’re “surrounded by enemies, like the Israelis”. I was confused for a sec - did the author mean the cult members were like the Palestinians surrounded by enemy Israelis? But of course she didn’t. Given that the protagonist, while slightly smarter than the rest, was still a brainwashed idiot with rotten opinions, I decided to let it go, but it still left a bad taste tbh.

All in all, this was an ok read; I didn’t hate it but I don’t think this type of satire works for me because it didn’t feel particularly clever.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick read and had me gripped. I loved the main character and the satirical tone of the series. It reminded me a lot of “youthjuice” between the cult and the blood. I do wish it had been LONGER because I enjoyed it a lot and I’m sad to be finished!!