#bad graces

underrated reads of 2024

books I read in 2024 with under 1000 ratings on goodreads // MG/YA/graphic novels

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No Holds Bard Vol. 1 by Eric Gladstone

This technically is an adult book but I think it would easily have YA appeal, and just for easy sorting, I’m throwing this graphic novel in with YA. Essentially, Shakespeare if he was Batman! This really silly campy graphic novel is a blast and has gorgeous art and I want so many more.

Call Forth a Fox by Markelle Grabo

*finished copy from the publisher

A really sweet and atmospheric retelling of Snow White and Rose Red! Definitely on the younger YA side and maybe should’ve been MG.

Death’s Country by R.M. Romero

*ARC from the publisher

A YA polyamorous retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice in prose! I love everything R.M. Romero does and this story was no exception.

The Tale of the Flying Forest by R.M. Romero

*ARC from the publisher

Again, everyone is sleeping on Romero! This MG novel is essentially Jewish Narnia, and has absolutely gorgeous illustrations. I wish I had a kid in my life I could read this to.

Bad Graces by Kyrie McCauley

A YA horror reimagining of The Tempest with Yellowjackets vibes! Honestly this really surprised and impressed me. Really intense body horror, gorgeous descriptions, sapphics, and Shakespearean allusions galore!

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid

*ARC from the publisher

This won’t be under 1000 for long, but it’s just unreleased! I think it’s just safe to say I’m not a big fan of dystopians, but I am a big fan of the way Ava writes enemies-to-lovers and I desperately want more of that dynamic from her.

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Other underrated reads of 2024:

plays

non-fiction

adult fiction

books i read in 2025:

“bad graces”

kyrie mccauley

Bad Graces

By Kyrie McCauley.

Design by Joel Tippie.

Bad Graces: following a group of young women as they face the stress of harsh elements, a mysterious monster, and an unraveling of secrets after their yacht is wrecked off the coast of North America

The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands: Passengers brave enough to face The Wastelands are travelling from Beijing are heading to Moscow via the Great Trans-Siberian Express, hoping they'll survive the journey

The Glassmaker: a rich, transporting story that follows a family of glassmakers from the height of Renaissance-era Italy to present day

Little Rot: from the author of Pet, this is about five friends trying to outrun and outmatch a powerful, underground world in Nigeria

Of Jade and Dragons: Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate an engineer guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial after her father's death

Rating: 3.5 /5

Book Blurb:

Yellowjackets meets House of Hollow in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s gripping and magical YA thriller following a group of young women as they face the stress of harsh elements, a mysterious monster, and an unraveling of secrets after their yacht is wrecked off the coast of North America.

Liv Whitlock knows she doesn’t belong there. But after years of stumbling between foster homes, often due to her own self-destructive tendencies, Liv desperately needs to change the trajectory of her life . . . so she steals her perfect sister’s identity.

Liv starts to rewrite her story, winning a prestigious internship on a movie set filming in Alaska, and finds herself on a luxury yacht alongside pop star Paris Grace, actress sisters Effie and Miri Knight, Olympic gymnast Rosalind Torres, and social media influencer Celia Jones. Liv tries to find common ground with her famous companions, but just as the group starts to bond, a violent storm wrecks their vessel, stranding them on an island in the North Pacific Ocean.

Among the threats of starvation and exposure, they learn there is a predator lurking in the forest, unlike anything they’ve seen before—until they begin to see it in themselves. Every injury they suffer on the island causes inexplicable changes in their bodies. With little hope for rescue and only each other as their final tether to humanity, can the girls endure the ominous forces at work on the island? Or will they lose themselves to their darker natures? 

Review:

Yellowjackets meets House of Hollow in this story about a group of young women who get stranded on an island off the coast of North America and begin experiencing new transformations... and trying to survive a predator that lurks in the island. Liv Whitlock was a problem child, she was volatile, a lone wolf, and she yearns for escape. When she takes her sister's identity and uses it to apply for a prestigious scholarship on a movie set to film in Alaska, she wins and finds herself on a luxury yacht alongside Paris Grace, actress sisters Effie and Miri Knight, Olympic gymnast Rosalind Torres, and social media influencer Celia Jones. Liv tries to befriend the girls and then they are suddenly ship wrecked due to a violent storm, leaving them stranded on an island in North America. While trying to survive starvation, exposure, and the deadly predator that lurks on the island... something else is in the water that is beginning to change the girl's bodies... from growing gills to wings... can they survive and make it back or will they die there? This was definitely a quick easy read that captures a bit of body horror and the fun of Yellowjackets. The body horror was fun and the threat of a deadly creature on the island was a fun twist to the story, I wish there was a bit more and it dived into the girls' time on the island rather then just go with the "oh she's dead, oh no she's actually alive" thing that kept happening. Overall its an easy read and if you enjoy stranded island stories give this one a go!

Release Date: June 18,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)