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Published Apr 2022
416 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
In this dark academia young adult thriller for fans of The Female of the Species and People Like Us, a teen girl's search for answers about her mother's mysterious death leads to a powerful secret society at her new boarding school - and a dangerous game of revenge that will leave her forever changed.
Six years ago, Calliope Bolan's mother drove the family van into a lake with her three daughters inside. The girls escaped, but their mother drowned, and the truth behind the "accident" remains a mystery Calliope is determined to solve. Now sixteen, she transfers to Tipton Academy, the same elite boarding school her mother once attended. Tipton promises a peek into the past and a host of new opportunities—including a coveted invitation to join Haunt and Rail, an exclusive secret society that looms over campus like a legend.
Calliope accepts, stepping into the exhilarating world of the "ghosts," a society of revolutionaries fighting for social justice. But when Haunt and Rail commits to exposing a dangerous person on campus, it becomes clear that some ghosts define justice differently than others.
As the society's tactics escalate, Calliope uncovers a possible link between Haunt and Rail and her mother's deadly crash. Now, she must question what lengths the society might go to in order to see a victory—and if the secret behind her mother's death could be buried here at Tipton.
"Frick, who treats her protagonist's trauma with care, considers ethical quandaries about corrupt systems and moral vs. political authority while providing ample twists and references to fairy tale archetypes. Nuanced and startling in turn, this is a satisfyingly smart and thrilling tale." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A doozy of a ride, with thrills and chills aplenty." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Very Bad People has it all: family secrets, mysteries, lies, romance, a secret society, activism, mischief, and more. So perfectly paced, so well-wrought, I was kept guessing until the end. A twisty, deeply satisfying ride." - Sara Shepard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars
"A multi-layered mystery and a razor-sharp indictment of privilege in all its forms, Very Bad People is a stunning thriller." - Kara Thomas, author of The Cheerleaders and That Weekend
"Very Bad People is a chilling dive into the dangers of dark academia and family secrets. Kit Frick spins a propulsive tale that twists through hidden rooms and the shadowy wooded edges of an elite boarding school where secrets must be protected at all costs. A startling and addictive thriller!" - Jennifer Moffett, author of Those Who Prey
This information about Very Bad People was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kit Frick is a MacDowell Fellow and International Thriller Writers Award finalist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. She is the author of the poetry collection A Small Rising Up in the Lungs and the young adult thrillers Before We Were Sorry (originally published as See All the Stars), All Eyes on Us, I Killed Zoe Spanos, and Very Bad People.
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