Bad Blood Book Review
Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes book review and recommendation with NO SPOILERS
Date: 4-07-25 Post Written By: MK Overall Rating: 8.9/10
Book Cover Rating: 6.8/10
(My personal opinion)
Title: Bad Blood
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Pages: 384
Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Mystery
Subplots: Thriller, Cults, Romance
Romance Level: 1/3
Series: The Naturals #4
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Published: 2016
Number of Editions: 22
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook, Audio
Goodreads Rating: 4.37/5
# of Goodreads Ratings: 102,868
Amazon Rating: 4.6/5
# of Amazon Ratings: 6,447
Common Sense Media Age Recommendation: 13+
Movie/TV Show?? : No
Book Type: Standard
POV Type: Multi, First/Second Person
Pacing: Fast
Generally: Serial killer ‘cult,’ cold cases, thrilling
My Review
Going Into It:
Going into this book I was HOOKED from the last book, All In, and was hopeful this would wrap up the series FABULOUSLY.
Main Characters:
Cassandra Hobbes- Cassie is the main character of this book. She is eighteen. She’s a Profiler (she can basically look at someone and see the little things they do and decide things about them: job, family, personality, wants, interests). She is kind and truly wants to make people happy.
Dean Redding- Dean is nineteen, and is also a Profiler. He pretends to be the person he is profiling in order to truly understand them. He struggles to get close to people because he thinks he will hurt them.
Lia Zhang- Lia is eighteen. She’s basically a human lie detector. She can effortlessly lie, and often uses this to mask her real emotions. She also had a VERY rough childhood.
Michael Townsend- Michael is eighteen. He can read others’ emotions. Michael rarely (if ever) shares his true emotions. He is daring, and sometimes, stupid with his actions. He tends to purposefully rub people the wrong way, but in reality has a caring side as well.
Sloane Tavish- Sloane is seventeen. She’s basically a human wikipedia. She is constantly overflowing with facts, statistics, and data. She can also remember (almost) everything she sees and hears. She is really sweet, but sometimes insecure.
These characters were AMAZING (as always). I loved hearing how their stories wrapped up and were completed. Couldn’t love them more!!
Character Rating: 10/10
Setting:
This book takes place in Oklahoma.
Wow! This jumped from the setting of the main character, to the setting of a side character. I loved trying to unravel how the one setting connected to the other. That being said, it (not unusually), wasn’t a massive focus for this book.
Setting Rating: 8.0/10
Plot:
WOW WOW WOW!! This DEFINITELY stepped up the horror/death/cults part of the book. I found this book to be more graphic when it came to horror than any of the previous books. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it was certainly more present than previous Naturals books. I LOVED the plot as a whole.
Plot Rating: 9.1/10
Writing:
At this point do I even need to write my comments on Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s writing? It’s always the same. ENTHRALLING, ADDICTIVE, CLEAR, FABULOUS!! (Side note: the worst ratingI’ve ever given Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s writing was a 9.8/10, so that’s clearly saying something).
Writing Rating: 10/10
Ending:
To be honest, I HATED this ending right after I read it. I was upset because part of the ending didn’t end happily. But, the more time passes, the more I’m actually okay with it. It DID tie up ALL the loose ends we have learned throughout the series.
Ending Rating: 7.4/10
The Overall:
Overall, this was an AMAZING ending to The Naturals series. The characters were FABULOUS (as always), and I really enjoyed the setting. The plot was more graphic when it came to horror/cults, but not necessarily in a bad way. In the end, Jennifer did an AMAZING job wrapping up not only Bad Blood, but the whole Naturals series.
Overall Book Rating: 8.9/10
I would obviously recommend this book
Support independent bookstores by buying on Bookshop: Bad Blood
Or buy on Amazon: Bad Blood
-
She often goes by Jen
She has written over 20 books
She has received degrees from both Cambridge and Yale.
When she was just 19, she became a published author
She has a dual appointment in Psychology and Professional Writing.
For more information, view Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s website: jenniferlynnbarnes.com
-
-