Review: Very Bad People by Kit Frick

Author: Kit Frick

Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry Books

Publication Date: April 2022

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.

 In Very Bad People, Calliope transfers to a private school to escape her small town and the memories it holds of her mother's tragic death.  All she wants to do is fit in at Tipton.  When she is tagged to join a secret society, she finally feels like she fits in.  If you are a fan of stories with very unlikable characters with ambiguous endings, then this is the book for you.  Unfortunately, I'm not a fan. 

I really wanted to like Calliope.  but I couldn't get behind some of her decisions.  I found the rest of the kids obnoxious and unlikable.  Their drive to right wrongs was often misguided and not well thought out.  The mystery of what happened to Calliope's mother was underwhelming.  But what really made me dislike this book was the ending. A huge pet peeve of mine in books is when I invest time in a story and then I get an ambiguous ending.  I want to know what happened.  I don't want to have to make it up on my own.  If that is the kind of book you like, then pick this one up.  But I can't recommend it.