I really enjoyed The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert! It was engaging and well-paced with a likable main character, Nora. I’m not sure I would classify this book as horror though but more of a magical mystery/thriller.

The prologue gives this book a strong start by introducing us briefly to the four people who disappear in one night. Considering that the book starts off slowly with Nora only piecing together that four people have disappeared after the first few chapters, the prologue ensures that the reader at least knows that four people have disappeared right off the bat. Nora slowly discovers more about the three people other than her best friend, Becca, and each revelation is spaced out enough to keep me wanting to read more. 

The ending is probably the weakest part of the book as we have

Becca basically explain her entire side of the story from a hospital bed. The toxic friendship between Nora and Becca remains unaddressed with Nora seemingly forgetting about it with Becca’s return.

I wished that Nora had a stronger character arc as I felt like the book was moving towards Nora realizing

how manipulative Becca was and how poorly she treated Nora at times. I really disliked how Becca’s trauma was basically used to justify her behavior towards others, especially Nora, and the harm that she caused.

The book also does a pretty bad job of explaining why

the entity that possessed Nora was so bad. Obviously, I’m not condoning murder but there’s no reflection on how Becca/the entity literally prevented a school shooting and stopped a child predator/groomer. It's not clear that Becca or frankly Nora really learned anything from their experience or how to deal with evil in the world.

If the ending was stronger and the toxic friendship between Nora and Becca was explored more, I think this could have been 5 stars. As it is, this is a solid 4-star read.