Bad Intentions by Iliana Xander

There’s a lot to appreciate in Bad Intentions. This is clearly a very thoughtfully constructed story, with plenty of twists and surprises along the way. I definitely had a few moments where I thought, okay, I did NOT see that coming!

For me, though, it was a very slow start. It took me getting to approx. the 55% mark before I felt like the story really started picking up, and by then I was having a hard time getting fully invested.

I also found the timeline jumps a little tricky at times, especially when they weren't clearly signposted, which made it harder for me to follow the story.

Once things started rolling, there were definitely some interesting developments. I could see how much thought and effort went into the story, and I really wanted some of those twists to hit me a little harder than they did.

That said, I always think it's interesting when a book can be ambitious and take some big swings, even if it doesn't completely land for every reader. And this one certainly did!

Thank you to Iliana Xander for the story, Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC, and NetGalley for facilitating it all.