I found “Nothing Bad Happens Here” by Rachel Ekstrom Courage to be a gripping thriller. It pulled me into a world of secrets, deception, and shone a light on the unsettling realization that safety is often just an illusion. I thought the novel blended psychological depth with suspenseful storytelling well, keeping me hooked from start to finish.

The story revolves around a seemingly idyllic town where tragedy strikes, challenging the notion that bad things only happen elsewhere. Courage crafts a compelling narrative by delving into the perspectives of multiple characters, which allowed me to piece together the truth while questioning assumptions. The authors ability to create tension and unpredictability ensured the plot remained engaging throughout.

Fans of psychological thrillers will appreciate Courage’s nuanced approach to character development. The protagonists feel real, flawed, and deeply human, making their struggles more immersive. The book doesn’t rely on conventional twists; instead, it builds a steady sense of dread that lingers long after the final page.

Whether you're a seasoned thriller enthusiast or new to the genre, this read delivers an unforgettable reading experience. Its atmospheric setting, clever plotting, and emotional depth make it a standout novel worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

From the blurb I thought this book would be a great fit for me but unfortunately I struggled getting through this YA Thriller. The writing style just wasn't for me.

A fun summer read filled with powerful men being taken down and the women who want justice to be served. Ultimately, they are the ones to get their form of justice, whatever that may be.

I enjoyed Lucia's journey of both discovery of who the true killer was and within herself in healing her past traumas. I thought this book dragged slightly in parts, and it didn't drive home just how capable of murder or deceit the three girls were. They were the most interesting, and I still want more from them. I'm slightly proud of myself for guessing the true culprit, although it coming at the very end didn't feel as earned to me.

I love YA thrillers but I struggled with this one . The story is quite predictable and I was bored most of the time until the maybe the last 25%z The characters were not likeable at all in that mostly they were annoying and got on my nerves . there was a twist at the end but again predictable. And some paranormal elements that could have been explored and made this one much more compelling

My rating ⭐️⭐️💫

This is a great YA read for summer. Lucia recently lost her best friend, and her mom wants to take her to Nantucket for the summer to live with her new boyfriend, who she saw for about 10 min. My only hang up is this; not the best parenting to move your teenage daughter into a stranger's house and start bossing her around. I find that a little unbelievable, but overall. this was a good book.

While walking on the beach, Lucia finds the body of a dead girl. She also befriends three girls who we are not sure if they are good or bad people. Her mom's boyfriend's son Eric is a great boy and is always looking out for her. As Lucia moves forward in life, she is dealing with trauma and typical teenage stuff.

Lucia starts investigating the girl that died, realizing Nantucket likes to cover these things up so their Island seems peaceful. Who killed Ari and how are all these people connected?

This was an insane read. The fact that we never find out what happened to Sam as well as what actually happens in Nantucket is just insane. I really enjoyed it though lol. Lucia has such a hard time, and I honestly don't know what I would have done in her place. I really like how it ended, and I totally agree with what she did at the very end, but I also don't think she did what was right with everything. To be thrown into a new location just because her mom met someone would have been so hard, I think her mom doesn't give her enough credit for going with the flow or helping hide certain traits her mom does not have from said boyfriend. This was such an interesting read that kept you wondering who committed the crimes until they are revealed. I can say I did not expect the reveals of who did what. Honestly a good book that is suspenseful and mysterious.

I have to admit, that I did have to DNF "Nothing Bad Happens Here" for a few reasons.

One of the things that really stuck with me was how often Lucia's friend Sammi was mentioned, despite her not being part of the story. There were some chapters it felt like every page had another anecdote about her. Rather than continuing the story, Lucia was stuck in the past. It was difficult to make connections with the existing characters when only one was continuously mentioned.

Another reason I had to DNF was I really did not care for what felt like what was going to be a forced romance, and the vibes were really questionable. I'm not sure how it grew, as I made it 38% before calling it quits.

I think the mystery had potential, but it was drowned out by the weird relationships and the stilted story telling. I know the book has it's readers, I just happen to not be one of them.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Rachel Ekstrom Courage for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Nothing Bad Happens Here coming out March 18, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really enjoy murder mysteries. I thought the setting was really good. I loved the New England vibes. This book definitely felt familiar to me. I’ve read similar stories. I really enjoy YA mysteries. I think the book was pretty fast paced. There are some things at the end that dragged a little for me. But overall, I really enjoyed the story. I would definitely check out more books by this author!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries!

Whew. This book is very much in Lucia's head. Her thoughts and actions are what pulls the story along. She is a very realistic, grieving teenager and there were so many times that I just wanted her to listen to her mom.

If you like mysteries, Nantucket, teenagers being involved where they have no business to be (think PLL, Riverdale- like, come on, call the police 😅) and good endings, read this one. I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to buy a copy for my shelf.

Pleasantly surprised by this summer YA thriller! It did take a while for me to get invested, but once I got maybe 25% into it, the story began to move faster for me. I did like the small supernatural elements, and the twist did get me. I'd say teenage readers will enjoy this even more than me. There were some pieces I found somewhat annoying. Ok, honestly, I found Lucia to be too much. I think if I had liked her more as a character, I would have been more invested in the book sooner.

It’s been a long time since a book had me so hooked that I wasn’t thinking about anything but the book and then was completely shocked by the plot twist. And that’s where I was with this one. I saw none of this coming and I hope y’all won’t either to get the full experience.

Ok so in my review on Goodreads I said I didn’t even want to put the tags on there because I didn’t want to spoil anything for anyone. That’s how surprised I was. I don’t even know if anyone else was as surprised as I was lol But whatever. I DID have to look them up tho because I had never heard of them before. And I think that was the part that got me. I am a SUCKER for mythology and adding those elements into the story. So when i came across that, I legit had to rewind it back to make sure I heard it correctly.

The mystery was cool tho. I caught on to most of it which disappointed me. But then it was hilarious because that made what happen come even more from out of left field. Without giving too much away, just know that you don’t have anything figured out. And even though you might have it figured out, you don’t know the whole thing. This book doesn’t end until the end. And I mean that 1000%

And even tho this mystery was good, the characters, well some of them, were terrible. I knew something was going on with those girls as soon as they arrived in the story. And I knew I hated that one guy as soon as he was introduced at that dinner. I think the only person I liked in the book was the main character. Even her mom was bad. And that dude was getting on my nerves lol He basically was like trying to do too much when he first met her. And I didn’t like the way she just had to go along with it. It bothered me a bit.

I realize now that I’ve gotten to the end of this that I just repeated a lot of stuff lol But it’s because I don’t want to be the one who spoils things if you actually look for these things. And my apologies if you read this because of me and you don’t actually care about the surprise lol I know this might possibly just be a me thing, but still. So I’ll just say this, as someone who loves summer stories and mysteries, and feminist stories, I enjoyed this and you will too if you love these things.

A thoughtful summer thriller with a touch of the supernatural. Main character was easy to sympathize with, supporting characters were reasonably well constructed, and the resolution of the mystery was satisfying and felt earned.

ARC Review!!!
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Lucia finds out that for the summer that she's going to spend it at Nantucket with her mom's new boyfriend. After going through a tough time, losing her friend, Lucia's mom believes that a summer away from Pittsburgh will be good. As they arrive at Nantucket and the first couple of days there are good until Lucia meets 3 girls. She refers to them as the "Three" and these are girls who are outgoing and do whatever they want.
As time goes on Lucia notices that they're something off about them and Eric, her mom's boyfriend son, also notices. There's one morning where Lucia goes on a walk and finds a dead body. The police are called and it brings a bunch of previous old memories from her best friend's death.
No one knows who this mystery girl is and no one is able to identify her. Lucia is going out of her mind trying to find answers. She's constantly being told "Nantucket is perfect and nothing bad ever happens here".
The story developed very good, that plot twist was insane. The ending was cool, a cliff hanger but cool none the less. I hated Lucia, lol. I found her very annoying.
3 stars!!!

Nothing Bad Happens Here was such a fun summer thriller! I really enjoyed the setting, mystery, and characters!

A surprising ride!

Lucia has been a recluse ever since her best friend passed. Now, her mom has met someone and Lucia is whisked away to spend the summer with him and his son in Nantucket. While Lucia thinks the summer will be boring because nothing ever happens in Nantucket, she’s in for the surprise of her life when she finds a dead body washed ashore on the beach. Due to her past, she becomes obsessed with trying to find out more about the girl. Meanwhile, she makes friends with three gorgeous girls who are keeping secrets of their own. L

I wouldn’t call this a thriller necessarily, but to call it anything else would give the story away. I pretty much had everything figured out early on, but the story was still fun. I liked that the plot was clear and that it wrapped into Lucia’s past. However, I felt like it was a lot of buildup for the end to be a little unsatisfying.

I would’ve really liked if it explored the magical side a little more. I wonder if there’s going to be a number two?

Overall, I think this was a fun read, and it kept me reading till the end. I think this will appeal to a large audience!

I love Nantucket so when I seen that this book was set up in Nantucket I just had to read it. I loved every moment of this book. It was part mystery and part fantasy.

Lucia and her mother are going on vacation to Nantucket to be with her mother's boyfriend. At first Lucia doesn't want to go but she soon warms up to the place. It is at her summer job she meets three girls who are mysterious and fun living a care free life. But then one day Lucia discovers a body on the beach and it brings back terrible memories for her.

This is when she becomes suspicious of her new friends and follows them out to see where they are going. It is once she has been caught by the three that she finds out they have been looking for their friend and that is when Lucia tells them that she is dead.

This is where the story takes off and there are so many twists and turns that you go for the craziest ride. Plus that ending is just freaking amazing! I was like no freaking way did it go down like that. This is one of those books that is a must read.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this one but unfortunately I was ultimately bored. I wasn't able to get into it at all. It didn't hold my attention, nothing was happening and there were no thrills or anything happening for that matter. I had to DNF.

I loved the Nantucket atmosphere and island life and enjoyed the lore around selkies. Lucia was frustrating at times, but I liked seeing her come out of her shell with Selah's crew. There were some loopholes webbed throughout the story which dropped my overall rating down. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

Actual Rating 2.5

<b>THANKS TO THE NETGALLEY AND PUBLISHER FOR THIS DIGITAL ARC IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW</b>

Lucia had a terrible and sad year. She just wanted to stay in throughout the summer. But her Mom had other plans, and now they are in Nantucket to stay with her new boyfriend, who lives with his son. Nantucket is a small and safe island with nice people and many summer visitors. Life in Nantucket is not bad until Luica stumbled upon a corpse on the beach which brings back a lot of the trauma. The identity of the corpse is a mystery and apparently, no one knows her. Lucia really wants to know the dead girl's story. But this is not an easy task when no one is giving away anything.

I won't label this book as a mystery, as it took 80 pages to find the corpse. Then the story rotated around several other things so the mystery element was like 30% of the book. I really liked the world-building of the story and a few relationship dynamics. Lucia's mom's idea to stay with Todd didn't make sense as their chemistry wasn't convincing. Lu is one of the stupidest MCs, I've encountered, her moral compass is really skewed. The trio and their character were one-dimensional, and why everyone enabled their actions? The story was slow-paced so after 150 pages I skimmed a lot. The ending was so lacking and the story had several loopholes. Ending also proved that, Lu is not only stupid but also a HUGE hypocrite.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 (4.5)

NOTHING BAD HAPPENS HERE by Rachel Ekstrom Courage
Thank you so much Netgalley and GetUnderlined for the earc(Mar 18)

When Lucia's mom drags her to New England to meet her boyfriend, Lucia is reluctant. Her mother says it will be good for her, help her dwindle less on the past. When Lucia finds a body on the beach, she's taken back to the accident, and all she wants to do is figure out who and what happened to Jane Doe. As she investigates, she becomes entwined with The Three and their world.
NOTHING BAD HAPPENS HERE was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025, and I was happy to get a early copy. It was everything I wanted and more.
This book delivered. Like capital delivered. Everything that happened was nonstop boom, boom, boom as the mystery grew deeper and more things happened. This book was thrilling and it gripped me. Though it took me longer than I would have expected to read, it was great. Interesting, mysterious, and twisty. Oh the twists. The first one I sort of called when said character was introduced because it felt obvious. I even called another one, though that was never proven to be true (mystic and supernatural). Now, when I tell you my jaw hit the floor when that final twist flashed across the page. For real!? How? Why? Shocking.
I loved this. I loved that it was intriguing and action packed. I even loved how the ending left room for the reader to decide what happens next. 10/10 would recommend to thriller lovers and even supernaturally lovers.