This novel begins as a standard slasher story. A girl is the only survivor when her two best friends are brutally killed at summer camp when she was a child. Now, years later and having effectively changed her identity, her past will catch up with her.

But it's not what you might think. This isn't your traditional slasher. Sadie is the main protagonist and we experience certain episodes which she attributes to her PTSD from watching her friends get slaughtered. But are they really hallucinations?!

Sadie is a great character. She's traumatized and finds solace in being with her boyfriend who is not really a nice man. He's narcissistic and temperamental often engaging in childish outbursts. But she finds protection in the familiar.

When her boyfriend decides they are going camping with another couple, Sadie's anxiety and fears bubble to the surface. But what's going to happen there is a twisty turny event which leaves you with your mouth hanging open.

This is a fantastic novel of survival, trauma, and feminine rage told in a blood chilling narrative that will have you guessing the terrifying secrets throughout. I highly recommend it.

I was so impressed by this book. I finished it in a matter of hours, it was so good.

The book focuses on Sadie/Bina as she is trying to navigate a normal life where the trees and dead animals don’t talk to her. As a young girl she witnessed her two best friends be murdered. Diagnosed with PTSD she used the gym and lifting as a form of keeping the voices and visions of the other place at bay until her and her boyfriend Lucas are invited to stay in the woods with their friends.

I was intrigued by Sadie’s past and what followed after the tragedy. The author did an amazing job with the representation of mental health. I do wish Sadie would have stuck up for herself more; Lucas was grating on my nerves at all times.

The ending I wasn’t expecting at all, it came as a shock but I 100% enjoyed how it finished. You won’t expect it just like I didn’t.
A definite must read, you have to add it to your TBR list, I will be recommending this to everyone I know.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Creature Publishing for the copy of this arc in exchange of my full honest review.

A big 4.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher & Netgalley for approving me to read this, I’m rating it 4.0 stars.

This a short horror story with cult-y slasher themes. We get two time lines during this book which I enjoyed, felt like reading two versions of the story playing out in a way that had symmetry.

The mixture of mental health and supernatural themes gave this a fever dream like vibe. It’s hard to know what’s real for our FMC and what’s her trauma controlling things.

That ending caught me off guard, but I’m not even mad at it. Feminine rage for the win.

I I had such a good time with this book. I finished it in one day because I could not put it down. The book follows Sadie, as she navigates her traumas of a summer camp horror haunting her on her adulthood. The book flips from adult to child timeline every chapter slowly revealing to the read what happened back then and how it directly connects to Sadie's present. There is also some top tier monster designs to look forward to as well while reading. The ending was also satisfying.

This was very well written.

A story about a woman whose best friends were tragically murdered... Now she hears, things. Diagnosed with PTSD, she uses exercise and weight lifting to take her mind off of her hallucinations.

After she goes on a trip into the woods with her boyfriend, we find out there is more going on as things unravel.

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc!

I was so engrossed in this book right away. Sadie/Bina was such an interesting main character and it was fascinating to see her childhood and how that led to her self-consciousness and people pleasing. There was a solid balance of supernatural unease and real-life horror - the dual timeline really added to this and kept me reading. The book did a great job of capturing the fraught and emotionally charged friendship between preteen girls, and the hierarchy that exists there.

ARC Review✨️

🖤💀 You had me at Midsommar & cult. This author writes the stories I want to read!! Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is my new favorite author! Two 5 star reads back to back from her and I'm obsessed!

🖤💀 The Mean Ones gripped me from the very first line. "The dead raven on the doorstep is not a good sign."

🖤💀 I hated Lucas and the fmc drove me crazy with her inability to stand up for herself but it was all so purposefully crafted and I wouldn't change a thing. I love a well-written unlikable character!! 

🖤💀 I took my time cause I was loving every second and I just didnt want it to end. This is the kind of book that I would love to see adapted into a film distributed by A24! The imagery was vivid, dark, and chilling 😍 and omg the ending was so satisfying! I literally read the last line and said "fuck yea!" Lol I want to give this book a standing ovation 👏🏽

🖤💀 Now I'm heartbroken because I have to wait for Tatiana to write more books and this one isnt even technically out yet 😅 Do yourself a favor and pre-order this book. The countdown to Sept 30th, 2025 begins now.

This was thoroughly creepy and thoroughly enjoyable. It's a fantastic merging of forest horror and demon horror.

My main thoughts on this book, is that is was fun.
A little bit crazy, and quite gruesome at times, but mostly fun.

“There were mean girls and there were nice girls, and one couldn’t exist without the other.”

Um, wow. That’s my first thought after finishing this. I was so torn between 4.5 and 5 stars but I felt this deserved a five stars for just the overall feeling, reading experience and creativity!!

This book was a wild ride from beginning to end. It did an amazing job with both the past and present POVs and having them line up together. I felt the mental health talk was well done, and there were even coping mechanisms being used all throughout the book! There is a toxic relationship warning in here and some of what the main character talked about feeling wise, the side effects of certain experiences if you get what I mean, hit a little too close to home at times but I still couldn’t put this down.

Also the pop culture references were so fun, and the way the character talked about the gym and weight lifting. I relate so deeply. I loved the vibes of watching a classic horror movie while reading this at times.

AND THIS ENDING. The ending I didn’t fully predict and oh boy did I love it.

I found this overall such a creative story, and the gore was goring and it weirdly gave me Hellraiser vibes at times. Please tell me if anyone else reading this got those vibes too.

Thank you again to the amazing author for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest review! I can’t wait to get a physical copy to live on my shelf!

The Mean Ones is grotesquely vivid with an intricate past and present structure that redefines identities. This satisfies the supernatural craving for presence that Yellowjackets skates around. Go camping with Sabrina to find out what secrets lurk beneath the surface of our minds. The attention to detail in her writing and accurate early 2000s dialogue really brings the narrative to life. I will review this further on my blog, https://brujerialibrary.wordpress.com in early May :) !

Thank you Net Galley and Creature publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for a review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was fun, I'm glad it fully embraced where it was headed and didn't switch out at the very end. The writing has definitely improved from this authors last book, and she's really hitting her stride. All in all, well done!

ARC 📖 Review: The Mean Ones by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m pretty sure she put something addicting in this book because I could not put it down! The physical therapy and gym representation, the past and present timelines, the short chapters, and the way each one ends with something that keeps pulling you in… WOW. 100% add this one to your TBR. It publishes on September 30, 2025.

Thank you to @netgalley and @creaturepublishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🦌🌲🏕️🔪

So what if Sadie hears dead animals talking and a strange but comforting male voice in her head? Her therapist insists these are just symptoms of PTSD. And honestly, it makes sense—considering she hid under the bed and watched as her best friends were slaughtered.

#themeanones #horrorreader #demonbooks #books #cultyvibes #bookish #bookworm #read #booksbooksbooks #horrorbooks #booknerd #netgalley

Skull: crushed
Flabber: gasted

This was such a fun read I blew through it in only a few hours. The writing was immaculate and creepy in a good way. It delivers exactly what I expected it to based on the blurb.

I loved this book! I have had a dnf phase lately. This book changes that. I blew through this book in 2 days. So fun. This novel has 2 timeliness are happening back and forth. Cool cults in the woods, demons, hellish dimensions, and camp!

This was creepy, shocking, but also darkly funny. In other words, everything that I like in my horror novels. Just such a fun horror book to read!

I loved Such Lovely Skin, it was a fast-paced, scary, and meditative look at guilt through the lens of a creepy ass doppelgänger/cursed video game story.

So I was psyched to read The Mean Ones so much (and look at that cover!!) and it did not disappoint at all! This is folk horror, camp horror, relationship horror, friendship horror, and it is disturbing! There is a scene near the end that is terrifying, sad, shocking, and just overall everything you want from a horror novel. And the ending….pitch perfect. This book is going to resonate with anyone that has dealt with mean friends or narcissistic partners. Get those preorders in, this is a good one!

Rating:4.5/5 Stars
Pub Date: 9/30
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I am a huge sucker for not only camp slasher stories, but camp slasher stories that are dual timeline between the past (the murders) and the present. I absolutely love how unhinged this story was and how unreliable Sadie was with her "visions" and ability to speak to dead animals. The entire premise of this story was unique and refreshing that i absolutely devoured this one in one sitting.
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This is a stead to fast paced story that will have you constantly guessing what is going to happen next. The dual timeline is weaved together seemlessly to give just enough information as to what happened to have made Sadie who she was in the present but enough to keep you questioning just what happened that fateful night. The ending is wild and it is so far from what I imagined and so different from the norm that I absolutely loved it; I thought it was brilliant!
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Tatiana Schlote-Bonne once again created a addicting and unique horror that will have you hooked right from page one. It is eerie, creepy, suspenseful and will keep you up at night. I cannot wait to see what Tatiana comes up with next! All of my horror friends need to check this one out!! Huge thank you to NetGalley, Tatiana Schlote-Bonne and Creature Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!