The Mean Ones

by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

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

But the murders were seventeen years ago, back when her name was Sabrina. Now, she’s Sadie: a perfectly normal 29-year-old. She works as a physical therapist assistant and lifts weights with her boyfriend, Lucas, who’s the sweetest, most considerate man—as long as he’s not angry. But when Lucas spontaneously agrees to join a couples trip to a cabin in the woods, the visions get worse, a strange figure stalks her during the night, and that male voice in Sadie’s head keeps calling, asking her to do things she’s never fathomed.

Sadie’s not sure if it’s her paranoia or something else entirely . . . But she is sure of one thing—this time, she’s not going to sit idly by as everything starts to unravel.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Audiobook, Fiction, Mystery, Adult, Paranormal

Paperback

First published September 30, 2025

About the author

Tatiana Schlote-Bonne (Shh-low-tee Bo-Nay) is the author of What Feeds Below, The Mean Ones, and Such Lovely Skin. She has an MFA from The Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa. When she’s not writing, she’s either gaming, lifting weights, or teaching people how to lift weights. She is of Japanese, Mexican, and European descent, and lives in Iowa. Find her on IG @thebuffwriter

Reviews

[Brittany’sBoundByBloodBooks]

🪓 Book Review: The Mean Ones by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
Rating: 5/5 💀🌲🧠🩸🔥💐

This book slays, literally and emotionally.🪓 From talking dead animals to the voice in your head telling you to go full feral, The Mean Ones is a blood-soaked dive into trauma, identity, and what happens when a woman finally stops playing nice.

Sadie, once Sabrina, isn’t your average final girl. She lifts weights, works as a PTA, and tries to keep her past buried deep beneath the floorboards of her mind. But the past doesn’t stay dead, and neither do the animals. When a couple’s cabin retreat turns into a psychological meat grinder, the voice in Sadie’s head isn't just whispering, it's howling.

The pacing is killer (pun intended), and the dual timelines cut like a knife. The flashbacks creep up on you like a shadow in the woods, while the present-day tension twists tighter than a barbed wire hug.

But what really makes this novel shine like blood in the moonlight? The rage. The female rage. This isn’t your standard good-vs-evil tale, it’s about survival, about systems that tell women to stay small, stay silent, stay sweet. When Sadie finally says, “enough,” the world calls her monstrous. But really? She’s just done being prey.

It’s Midsommar meets The Silent Patient, but darker, stranger, and with way more bite. Atmospheric? Like a fog-choked forest. Emotional? Like screaming into the void and finding it screams back with a woman’s voice.

This is a “good for her” story sharpened to a deadly point. I rooted for Sadie/Sabrina with my whole chest, right up to the jaw dropping end.



🪓🪓🪓🪓🪓- Five out of Five for slashing my expectations in all the right ways.

Expected 30 Sep 25

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title/Author: The Mean Ones by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

Midsommar meets The Final Girl Support Group in this horror novel about a woman who survived cult killings as a child and is striving to be "normal," but a spontaneous trip into the woods and the voices in her head keep pulling her to the dark side.

Format Read: physical arc from Creature and audio/NetGalley
Pub date: September 30th, 2025
Publisher: Creature
Page Count: 272
Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/978195197...
Recommended for readers who enjoy:
-Dual timelines (present day adulthood and flashbacks to childhood)
- Strong, capable FMCs
- Midsommar + Mean Girls + The Ritual + Yellowjackets vibes
- "Don't go in the woods" and "deadly summer camp" and "cabin in the woods" tropes
- CULTS
- Psychic trauma/visions
- Shocking and gruesome scenes--pulls no punches
__
Minor complaints:
- Sometimes the visions and the intensity of them are a lot. In the audiobook, I didn't really like the way she voiced the entity that talks to Sadie in her mind

Final recommendation: 
I love the storytelling style. This book is character-driven--I love Sadie (bonus points for the name choice) and being in her head. The dual narratives work perfectly together-I never felt disappointed returning to one timeline over the other (which typically happens to me). In the present day narrative, Sadie and her partner Lucas are into weightlifting and have a magnetic sexual chemistry. Meeting up with their friends to stay in an isolated cabin in the woods and visit a cave was thrilling and gave me "HERE WE GO" excitement.
The past narrative with the Summer Camp leading up to a tragic event we know is coming, felt just as thrilling. The toxic friend group dynamic is so compelling. it felt authentic too.
The climax is WILD!! So satisfying! Everything any horror reader could want, actually. I really enjoyed myself.

Comps: Midsommar (2019), Yellowjackets (2021), Mean Girls (2004), The Ritual (2017) and the book by Adam Nevill

[TheConnieFox · Rating 5 out of 5]

The slasher camp book that I didn’t know I needed in my life till now. This book was perfection. As I was reading it, I was able to envision everything that was happening. I absolutely loved the dual timelines in this one because it gave me insight as to what she experienced when she was young. I was able to understand why she struggled with her mental health and how she handled her horrific experiences that she had endured. This book is very dark and full of mystery! It includes horror, gore, trauma and murder. This is a fast paced read that has both unlikable and likable characters in it. Lucas annoyed me sometimes throughout the story, but I can understand him because of the lack of communication from the female main character in the story. This also deals with friendships and how toxic they can be! It is written in the female main characters’ perspective. I really enjoyed the pop culture references and the camp setting!

“The Mean Ones” is about a young girl named Sabrina that watched her best friends get murdered at camp, when she was young. She is older now and goes by the name Sadie. Her and her boyfriend named Lucas go on a trip to a cabin in the woods. As the story unravels, a big twist comes along and left me in shock! Overall, I give this a 5 out of 5 stars rating! I highly recommend this to anyone that likes to read horror books that have gore and a camp/cabin scenery! This is a fictional novel that you do not want to miss out on!

Content warnings include grief, murder, death, violence, mental health (primarily PTSD), abuse and gore.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Tatiana Schlote-Bonne and Creature Publishing for this digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This is set to be published on September 30, 2025!

[Sidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

i don't know what Mrs Tatiana sprinkles in her books but i'm convinced i've been drugged somehow. it must be crack because the way i get GLUED to the pages every time!!! i'm addicted & i will continue to pick up her work.

I read her YA horror debut Such Lovely Skin & flew through it & this one does not disappoint! Tatiana writes such fun horror. they're not too serious or over the top gory, just a fun time. the writing is easy to follow & i related to sadie so it was easy for me to get sucked in.

between the weightlifting, curly hair, rock/alternative music, anime & fighting our inner demons i'm pretty sure i am Sadie & Sadie is me.

the dual timelines come together perfectly & that ending?!?! i was on my balcony yelling "LET'S GOOOOOO!" *chefs kiss*. the Other Place gave The Upside Down vibes, which i loved. it was definitely creepy & i, for sure, would not like to go there. Allie is such a Regina George, i'm so sorry but like....she kind of deserved it ??? 🤷🏽‍♀️

this was cozy campy goodness! if you like demonic (was he?), cultish horror or summer camp slashers this is for you!

thank you netgalley and creature publishing for the arc!

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A return-to-camp slasher. Return to the campgrounds where Sadie (then Sabrina) encountered what terrorized her and killed her friends 17 years ago.

An occult ritual in the woods, a vessel, and an oracle.

Sadie lifts weights to cope with PTSD, she has a boyfriend, even though something is 'off' about their relationship, and she seems to be trying to keep her life as status quo as possible so no one suspects the dark voices she is hiding. She also harbors a history of extreme mean-girl bullying.

The timelines alternate between past Sabrina and present Sadie, who has returned to the woods. The first third of the book takes its time setting up the character. I didn't think I was going to love it at first, but it gets much more propulsive, especially halfway.

Her friends who encouraged her to go on this trip seem to have another agenda. Things begin to get more sinister and pieces of her past she tried to keep hidden are unraveling and she is completely exposed. The voices Sabrina has been hearing are real, and now years of gaslighting by therapists cannot hide that. The voice is an entity, the voice needs a vessel. The voice already has its Oracle.

[Chewable Orb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mean Ones by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
Narrated by Annalee Scott
Dreamscape Media, Audiobook
Est. Pub. Date: Sept. 30, 2025

4.25 rounded down to 4🔮🔮🔮🔮 orbs

Orb’s Prologue: The cult follower wielded a knife whittled from a human femur. As I rose through the bully's vein, I erupted through the jugular provided by a timely slash. My globular fluidity rolled down the victim’s leg onto the dirt-ridden cabin floor. As if opening into a silent trash compactor, I stared down into a vacant darkness. I slinked over the edge, my crimson body filled with hemoglobin and various chromosomes screaming to adhere to a surface. Free-falling into the abyss, I was greeted by a voice that let me know I had purpose. As one drop of measly blood, I often wondered about my destiny, but rest assured, dear reader, I was part of a master plan.

Tatiana Schlote-Bonne, author of The Mean Ones, presents readers with Sabrina, a girl navigating her teen years, ravaged by awkwardness and insecurity. Latching on to the popular girls, who prove to be not only best friends but also her worst enemies. That unenviable position of trusting friends who use subterfuge to commit acts of subtle cruelty. The jokes the bully plays to mask their own insecurity ring true throughout this novel.

Sabrina attends a camp with her two “best” friends. What transpires is an endless supply of backstabbing. With Sabrina reevaluating her choices, she witnesses the untimely demise of her friends. Why had the murderers left her alone? Found alone with blood-soaked hands, she might be the main suspect, although there is only one problem: the bodies of her friends are nowhere to be found. Labeled by society as a survivor, Schlote-Bonne has fast-forwarded Sabrina’s life to 2023, where PTSD has taken hold of her life.

In 2023, Sabrina is now Sadie, in an attempt to start anew. A voice is calling to her, and the nightmares have yet to cease. On another camping trip with boyfriend Lucas, best friend Heather, and Heather’s boyfriend Eli, readers are again visited by an episode of cult-following individuals on the prowl, out for blood to satiate the thirst of an otherworldly being. The story transpires in some devilish scenes bound to bring satisfaction to the most ardent horror aficionado.

Loved it! As I consumed this dark novel, I was mesmerized by narrator Annalee Scott’s voice. Clear emotional annunciations brought the tale to life. Feeling every emotion as if living in the protagonist’s own body. It was an ethereal experience and one I can easily recommend.

Orb’s Epilogue: As the chapters wound down, nearing their end, I wiped the sweat from my brow. Choices in life can be difficult. Being accepted into society can be an arduous task. Perhaps the simplest solution is being comfortable with one’s own uniqueness. For peace of mind, realize that placating to peer pressure rarely leads to a positive outcome. This novel has an underlying sense of survivability through emotional growth. How much pain and suffering can one endure, yet remain resilient? An excellent story overall, and especially tasty in audiobook format.

Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the publisher, Dreamscape Media, for the audiobook through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Nenia Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I were to describe THE MEAN ONES as a comp, I'd say it's like a cross between Evil Dead and Heathers. And if you're seeing this and thinking to yourself, "That's a weird combination," well, yeah. It's a weird book. Told in dual timeline, half of the book is about the FMC's middle school journey to summer camp with her two mean best friends that ends up in a blood bath from which she is the only survivor. As an adult, Sabrina-- now Sadie-- is locked into an emotionally abusive relationship, where working out and lifting weights is her only solace. When her boyfriend suggests a couples' trip to the woods, Sadie is horrified. Is this trip going to be what finally breaks her?

I love a good unreliable narrator and as a device, it's employed particularly well here. Even though we know the end game of Sadie's past, there are so many unanswered questions: is she mad or did she really see something otherworldly and horrifying? Did she kill her friends or did someone-- or something-- else? Her emotional breakdown and trauma were portrayed with a lot of nuance and sensitivity, and were sometimes harder to read than the overt trauma and gore. This is definitely one of those books that leaves you feeling, like, "Good for her."

I read and loved Schlote-Bonne's YA debut but it went to such dark places that I honestly found it to be almost more terrifying than my poor little wuss-brain could handle. I felt the same way about her adult debut: still just as terrifying, still just as raw. As an author, she's an A+ tour guide and I'll keep going on her journeys, but I'm not sure I'm up for a repeat trip to the same destination. Still, if you're looking for something that will GENUINELY terrify you? Read this book. With the lights on.

4 stars

[Kurryreads (Kerry) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6mqErqk/

[Susan Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mean Girls goes to summer camp but make it dual timeline and horror. 🔪🫣
THIS NEEDS MORE READERS!!!

Sadie is a 29-year-old woman with a "perfect" boyfriend, Lucas, and a perfect little friend group through him. Sure, it's terrifying that she hears dead animals trying to talk to her in a strange alternative existence, but it's fine. Sure, she has a creepy, yet somehow comforting, voice in her head telling her what to do. But she's okay...right? She has to be okay because her former therapist told her this is purely a PTSD response. After all, it would be normal for anyone who witnessed the murders of her best friends to have a few issues to work out.

This story takes starts in present day, Sadie's, life and takes us back 17 years prior, just leading up to the terrible incident. The writing was honestly fantastic and really worked for me. I was hooked from about page two, and I honestly never, until the very end, knew where the story was going. I was just along for the ride and loving it! And that ending is fire🔥. This book has so much intrigue and mystery, and there's so much there to read between the lines as Sadie/Sabrina really comes to terms with her reality. All that growth and understanding and so much female rage. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to see what's next for this author in the adult space. (I will be checking out her YA debut, Such Lovely Skin while I wait for her new novel this fall.)

This came out last fall but is the absolute perfect summer horror novel, so I feel my lateness at getting to this read/review has really paid off for me this time as we head into summer.

Thank you Creature Publishing and NetGalley for my honest opinion in exchange for the ARC.

[Lia's Haunted Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won’t lie—I went into this one a little skeptical… and holy shit, it did NOT disappoint.

We follow Sabrina, a survivor who witnessed her friends murdered at camp, and now we see how she lives her life after the trauma. At first, it sounds like a sad, straightforward survival story… but here’s the thing: maybe Sabrina isn’t exactly a nice person. Hm.

What I loved is how we watch her story unfold, and—at least for me (everyone’s POV can be different)—I ended up rooting for her. By the time we got toward the end, I was literally yelling, “LET’S FUCKING GO.”

One of the strongest parts of this book is how it doesn’t simplify anything. It’s not just “good vs. evil” or black and white. Some people have families, communities, and cultures that shape them—and what looks horrifying to an outsider might feel normal, protective, or supportive within those systems. Sometimes we fight against the current. But what happens when we stop fighting?

And then there’s the female rage. This story is unapologetic in showing how women who settle, who get bullied or abused, are judged. And when they finally stand up for themselves? Suddenly they’re “evil.” I LOVED IT.

This book won’t be for everyone—it’s messy, it’s angry... but in a nice way (does that make sense?)

PS this is also a great love story. Firmly standing my ground.

[Brend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fan-fucking-tastic, Tatiana. I'm gonna need two books a year from you. Thank you very much.

''So what if Sadie hears talking dead animals and a strange, comforting male voice in her head? ''
Girl, is it Hozier?

[Aubrei K (earlgreypls) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Such Lovely Skin by this author and enjoyed it a lot so I was stoked to read The Mean Ones! Unfortunately I kind of ended up hating it.

The Mean Ones is about Sadie - a 2o something PT assistant who enjoys weightlifting with her terrible PT boyfriend. She also hears a creepy voice in her head and sometimes has weird visions.

Before all of this, her name was actually Sabrina and she was the witness to two of her friends being murdered at summer camp. Because the summer camp horrors became a popular true crime story/hulu special/etc., she changed her name and hasn't told anyone in her life about her past. One weekend Sadie and her boyfriend Lucas go on a weekend camping trip with another couple, and the horrors of Sadies past come back to haunt her in the woods.

We get two timelines here - Sadies current POV and her POV back at camp as a young kid. I didn't like either one. The camp timeline was just filled with stereotypical petty mean girl drama, and the current timeline was all about an abusive boyfriend and Sadie's appalling inner monologue and lack of respect for herself.

My biggest issue though was with the writing. Ok stick with me here. You know how disney stars go crazy when they try to end their child actor image and become adults and then they overcorrect by sexualizing themselves in a way that is embarrassing to witness? That was how this authors transition from their previous YA novel into this adult one felt. The writing style remained simplistic and juvenile (not necessarily a bad thing - just very YA), but with a few weird sexual lines and swear words thrown in to try and make it feel more adult. It read like a 16 year old trying to write how they think someone in college would write.
Here are some examples:
"Why can't Lucas propose to me already? We're coming up on three years. Maybe I should've given him that cave blowjob!" LMAO
"I can't believe all the vulnerable things I've told her, like how Lucas is the first man I've been in love with, how my asshole ached for hours after Lucas and I tried anal for the first time, how Lucas likes it when I suck on his nipples." Girl, be so for real. To be clear I have NO issue with sexual content in a book - where it makes sense. It was just forced in here at extremely random and inappropriate times in unnatural ways.

Also - quite a bit of fatphobia from the characters which was very unnecessary:
"Bina's already had her first period. She has two options: lose the fat or be a loser."
"Cottage Cheese Legs called our names" referring to their camp counselor
Also - some homophobia:
"'Don't tell us you're a dyke', Blakely said. 'Eww!' Allie shrieked."
Also this?
"Dad wasn't ugly, but he was half-Mexican."

*Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Stacy (Gotham City Librarian) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this one a read because of the badass cover and the promise of a strange voice inside the main character's head. I love stuff like that. It's told in dual timeframes, past and present, with a bloody murder that you already know about going in and other mysterious aspects that unfold as you go along. 

It's important to note that in the flashback/2003 chapters, the protagonist goes by the name Sabrina and in the current day/2023 chapters, she has changed her name to Sadie. Though the names are so close that I honestly didn't catch on immediately that she was even hiding her identity. I thought the 2023 chapters were a bit more fun to read, for the most part. (Aside from the boyfriend.) The flashbacks felt a little more in tune with a younger narrator and they were probably written that way on purpose. But O-M-G, they had so many pop culture references. Like at least one on every page. I figure this was likely done to generate nostalgia and set the scene as well as show us Sabrina's personality, but it was still a LOT. And there was also some awkward homophobia in those chapters, too. Sabrina’s two BFF's were garbage and I was counting down the moments until they died violently.

When it comes to the adult part of the story, Lucas sucks and Sadie just makes excuses for him and stays in this toxic and gross relationship. I almost DNF’d the book a couple of times because of that, and also because parts of it felt very close to glorifying/romanticizing potential mental illness. Also, in the 2023 storyline as soon as Sadie let her boyfriend’s buddy take everyone’s cell phone away on their weekend trip and didn’t object, I was pretty much done with her. (And annoyed at the author, because that’s a little too convenient.) I had a very hard time sympathizing with her even after everything she had been through, because she kept simping and apologizing for this absolutely garbage person. It also felt off that she kept saying things like, "I have to be Normal Sadie, and Normal Sadie would do this instead."

I guess that basically, I wasn't in love with the writing style. But I stuck around because of all the weird, nightmarish imagery. I was definitely into that and there was enough of it to keep me interested. There was definitely a dark romance aspect to this story that typically isn't my thing, but I can definitely see a lot of other people loving it. (I'm just jaded, lol.) Very cool that Sadie/Sabrina is a bodybuilder, though! I don't think I've ever read a book with a protagonist like that before, and it looks like the author was drawing from real-life experience.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

This book completes my 2025 goal of 60 books for the year, but of course I'm going to keep reading more!

Biggest TW: Bullying, Body shaming, Animal Harm/Death, Chronic Illness, Hate speech/slurs/Homophobia

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars.

Writing wise is great but there were a few times I cringed a little. The book goes by super fast and it's one of those ones where I kept finding myself on the next chapter wanting to know what happened.

My complaint on the story's length is that it doesn't feel fleshed out enough on certain aspects of the storyline and the lore. I would have loved more!

Also, being in Sadie's head was a nightmare. Wanted to shake her so bad, and I say this as a girly with ocd and massive anxiety. I don't want to twin right now damn :/

The ending was so much fun though. Truly made the choice to go with four stars easy.

Thank you to netgalley and publishers!

[CarlysGrowingTBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you do when the past catches up with you.

Book Stats:
📖: 272 pages
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Creature Publishing
Format: eARC from publisher
Series: Standalone

Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 7 hours 41 minutes
🎤: Annalee Scott
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Format: Singular POV / Singular narrator
I enjoyed the narrator quite a bit. The voice was pleasing to listen to.

Themes:
💫: Toxic relationships
💫: Leaving the past behind

Representation:
🪽: Weight Lifting FMC
🪽: PTSD, anxiety, hallucinations

Tropes:
💗: Cult group

🥵: Spice: 🚫
Potential Triggers: **check authors page/socials for full list.

General Thoughts:
I found this book to be extremely unique and interesting as far as the premise goes. It's a hallucinogenic fever dream into a cultish group unlike any I've ever read about before.

I did have some slight problems with the pacing. There were times where I had a hard time paying attention because it seemed to be just long periods of inner monologue with the main character info dumping. But honestly, those were minor concerns because the mystery and bits and pieces of the story we were getting were super compelling and kept me reading. I came up with numerous theories as to how this book would end and I'm happy to report back that I was never completely right. I definitely knew some things were not as they seemed and was partially right with some of my guesses, but I never actually nailed down what was going to happen. At a certain point I did stop trying once my theories proved to be inaccurate the more information I got and just kind of enjoyed the ride.

I did really enjoy this author's writing style as far as how they presented the information and the various forms of representation within the novel. I'll read more by this author. I feel like it was a pretty fun ride overall.

Disclaimer: I read this book as a gifted eARC from the publisher and a gifted audiobook from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Brooke 𝜗𝜚 · Rating 3 out of 5]

╰┈➤ 𝟹.𝟽𝟻 ✰

❝𝐴𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑙𝑑, 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒, ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑: 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.❞

📚: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐞-𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞
📜: 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: 𝟸𝟽𝟸
🏷️: 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝙷𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛
📖: 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭: 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎
📆: 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 𝟾/𝟷𝟹/𝟸𝟼-𝟾/𝟷𝟼/𝟸𝟼
💬: 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬
「 ”So what if Sadie hears talking dead animals and a strange, comforting male voice in her head? The therapist insists these are just symptoms of PTSD. It makes sense considering that she hid under the bed and watched as her best friends were slaughtered. But the murders were seventeen years ago, back when her name was Sabrina. Now, she's a perfectly normal 29 year old. She works as a physical therapist assistant and lifts weights with her boyfriend, Lucas, who's the sweetest, most considerate man-as long as he's not angry. But when Lucas spontaneously agrees to join a couples trip to a cabin in the woods, the visions get worse, a strange figure stalks her during the night, and that male voice in Sadie's head keeps calling, asking her to do things she's never fathomed. Sadie's not sure if it's her paranoia or something else entirely... But she is sure of one thing; this time, she's not going to sit idly by as everything starts to unravel.”」

[Anahita Karthik]

Tatiana has the ability to write the most skin-crawling, dark, and humorous horror books, and I don’t know what it is about her prose, but I’m convinced she imbues crack in every word, because how is it that I finish every book by hers in under 24 hours? I went into this one with high expectations because I loved SLS so, SO much, it’s one of my favourites, ever, but I didn’t know WHAT it was that I was expecting.

Reader…my expectations were exceeded, and I was blown away once more. The Mean Ones is a very different vibe from Such Lovely Skin. While the latter is YA, with a solid YA voice, this is firmly adult, with very adult themes and plot. And while SLS was a techno horror, with gaming and twitch streaming woven in, this one is very camp. It is atmospheric and creepy, and it’s also much, MUCH darker. There were certain much awaited scenes in the book that made my jaw drop and forced me to set my kindle down because they were so horrifying (in the best way possible). They truly made me sick to my stomach because of how brutal they were but how DESERVED, given who these things were happening to, lol. Middle schoolers from the early 2000s are an evil, evil brand of people.

I was so surprised when Tatiana told me her books usually clock at about 65k to 75k words, because while I read them fast, they feel so fleshed out and expansive. They truly suck you in. Both the timelines in this book were equally intriguing, and I usually find myself wanting to read one timeline more than the other in other dual timeline books, but in this one both gripped me by the throat. But my favourite has to be the past timeline, with the murders that started all of Sadie’s trauma, and felt like reading a very creepy camp horror in the vein of Christopher Pike or R.L. Stine with an 80s or 90s setting (and far more fucked up than books by either of these authors). I also loved the millennial references.

And that ending, oh my god. This is going to go down in history as one of the most unhinged endings EVER, but it’s so perfect given the satirical dark comedy voice of the book. I absolutely ate that shit up! Like there were scenes where I was finding myself recovering from a particularly gruesome moment, and then Sadie would say something totally out-of-pocket in her head and it would be so ridiculously funny I would burst into shocked laughter.

“For all the dirty demented little girlies” should be the dedication of this book for real, because Sadie is so fucked up and I LOVE her for it. This is truly the morally black female-driven feminist cult horror book I never knew I needed.

..

Edit 8/2/25: ARC ACQUIRED I AM ACTUALLY SCREAMING TATIANA IS MY FAVOURITE HORROR AUTHOR AND SUCH LOVELY SKIN WAS A TOP READ OF 2024!!

Edit 22/12/24: I will read anything and everything written by Tatiana

[Maegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️I promised myself more horror this year, and this story slithered under my skin in the best way. A macabre, cult-soaked labyrinth of shadows and whispers, laced with a touch of morally grey romance that felt unsettling at times. The main character was easy to relate to, flaws and all. The flashbacks to her younger years were perfectly weaved into the present day plot, each memory more chilling than the last. This book definitely gave me the creeps. It was exactly what I hoped it would be.
Thank you Netgally for allowing me to ARC read this one.

[Gareth Is Haunted · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat, well drawn slasher horror from Tatiana.
This was one of those books where I went in completely blind and was happily surprised by how good it turned out.
The story is told through two timelines and focus' on Sabrina whose life was turned upside down as a teenager, and now as an adult has built a stable life. Thats until friends ask her and her boyfriend to go away for a weekend. Here things start to get crazy as you would expect.

The author did a fantastic job at juggling many underlying themes throughout this novel. There is a lot going on if you read between the lines.
There is the whole slasher element to deal with, intertwined with folk horror that dominates but there are also more cosmic feeling moments and those that deal with more down to earth, day to day subjects.
This story will pull you along at quite a speed, jumping from time line to time line each chapter. This seemed to help keep things feeling fresh and also to keep me guessing. Yes, I'm one of those people who wants to figure out what will happen, way before it happens.
Yet again, I'm rambling on and on.
This was a fantastic read from start to finish. It was maybe going to be a five star review but I can't overlook how much I hated many of the characters. I don't know if it was intentional but all the male characters were awful human beings. Anyways, that's my rant over.
You should check this out. Its a wonderful book!!

[Horror Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.

[Yvonne (the putrid Shelf) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mean Ones by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is a dark, unsettling psychological horror that plays with trauma, memory, and that horrible question of whether you can actually trust what’s happening inside your own head.

Seventeen years after witnessing the brutal murder of her best friends, Sadie has rebuilt herself from the girl she used to be. Except she hears dead animals talking, there’s a mysterious male voice living in her head, and she’s never entirely sure where PTSD ends and something much darker begins. Naturally, throwing a cabin in the woods into the mix is only going to make things worse.

There was a lot I liked here. The atmosphere is genuinely creepy, particularly when Sadie’s visions start bleeding into reality, and I loved the uncertainty surrounding what was real. There’s an almost dreamlike quality to parts of the book where you’re just as unsure as Sadie about whether you should be frightened of what she’s seeing or frightened for her. The talking dead animals were also wonderfully weird and probably one of my favourite elements.

I did struggle with the pacing, though. There were sections where I wanted the story to push forward faster, particularly because the premise had me expecting something a little more relentless. Some of the relationship dynamics also frustrated me, although I suspect some of that discomfort is very intentional, especially when it comes to Lucas and the way his “sweetness” can change depending on his mood.

[Dove · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, I really did. It’s like a sick fantasy I wouldn’t want to admit on dreaming... wanting. Definitely written for the girls that felt subhuman in life and not worthy of love. Truly a fun read, and an honest protagonist. From childhood to adulthood, she just needed a push. Another "good for her" story that really focuses on the emotions of one sole female character, loved everything down to the end.

(Kinda wished for straight up demon sex in this, can’t win them all.)

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read the author’s other YA horror story, “Such Lovely Skin” and really enjoyed it. In this new book, geared more towards adult readers, I was initially pretty creeped out.

I liked the setup, the eerie flashbacks, the weirdness in present day. I can’t say I was a fan of the explanation or ending though. It just left me hungry for more details and follow through. Why is Sadie the one who has these experiences/encounters?

The fact that Tatiana always incorporates her interests and parts of her life into her works is awesome (gaming, lifting, etc).

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Creature Publishing for a copy!

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25 stars.

The Mean Ones takes place in dual timelines: 2023 and 2006. We start in the present. Sadie's about to go lifting with her boyfriend and it's laid out from the very first page that her childhood friends were murdered. She was diagnosed with PTSD induced hallucinations. Unfortunately… She isn't a likable character. She's an obnoxious people pleaser incapable of telling people no. (Not a big sin on its own but the flaws pile up fast). She doesn't stand up for herself or anyone else. She lets her abusive boyfriend treat innocent servers like shit without trying to help or signal outwardly that she thinks it's wrong. She has no self respect.

I won't judge Sadie for staying with her boyfriend. But I do judge her and hate how she treats others. One of the running themes throughout the novel is that there's mean girls and nice girls and one can't exist without the other. It's almost like Sadie wants us to believe she's a nice girl. But, imo, she's not. She's incredibly judgy and two faced. Shallow. She has a comment about her father that's straight up racist??? There's also a bit of fatphobia throughout and while I'd say most of it doesn't come from Sadie... I definitely side eyed her. It feels quite baked into the book. Oh! And Sadie is a physical therapy assistant who complains that her regular clientele are middle-aged men who are considering hip replacements they don't need. Essentially, Sadie is the type of medical professional that I'd be dreading getting. Because who wants treatment from someone who LITERALLY calls their clients lazy (not to their face, sure, but behind their back)??? That's what she says in her own words! Sadie, who is totally able-bodied, has the audacity to call people who are in chronic pain lazy without knowing the full extent of their everyday existence. And I find that insufferable. I'm sorry, what's this book trying to tell me? Does the narrative think Sadie is right or does it think she's wrong? It's really unclear.

Oh oh! I can't forget about the homophobia. The comments aren't said by Sadie, thankfully, they're said by other kids in 2006 but I still found it tiring after awhile. That paired with how aggressively heterosexual everything was in the present, it just didn't feel like a book that thought about queer people beyond “ew, icky"? I'm not saying I need main characters to be queer to have a good time! But some indication that being queer is normal or ok in the present would have helped my reading experience.

Horror is subjective but I didn't feel an inkling of dread while reading The Mean Ones. I wasn't unnerved. I certainly wasn't scared! I was just frustrated because I didn't care about the characters enough to be invested. I don't need to like a character to enjoy a horror novel. But if I hate the characters the novel better bring the scares and, for me, this one didn't.

Oh my God, and the third act??? The ending??? Rushed. And certain aspects were not properly developed, so I felt nothing. It was simply unbelievable. And one of the characters felt like a groomer, so. That wasn't fun.

I'm not sure who I'd recommend this book to but don't be discouraged if you were interested as I have the minority opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

[domsbookden · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5

This is the first adult novel written by Schlote-Bonne and I could tell. The inclusion of sexual content in an otherwise YA novel does not make it an adult novel—it just makes it feel weird and tonally inconsistent. The “adult” veneer didn’t elevate the story, it only highlighted how much of the book still read like YA at its core. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with YA literature, I just don’t want to be told something is adult when it is very clearly YA.

The horror elements felt like they were sprinkled throughout the story rather than being built into the atmosphere as a distinct, creeping force. They were isolated scary beats dropped into a story that didn’t sustain them. I never got that sense of dread or immersion. The prose also left a lot to be desired, further supporting the sense that Schlote-Bonne’s writing style is still much better suited to YA. The simple language and structure lacked the depth or nuance that could have given this novel more maturity and weight.

The central themes also didn’t help separate this supposedly adult work from the author’s YA novels. Childhood bullying and adolescent insecurities drive much of the FMC’s motivations, and while these themes can absolutely be explored in adult fiction successfully, I don’t think this book managed to pull it off. Instead, the handling of those themes kept circling back to a tone and perspective that felt firmly rooted in YA. Even the eventual reveal of what “the mean ones” actually refers to struck me as juvenile; it read like a twist I would expect from YA horror rather than something aimed at an adult audience.

The concept was there, but the execution was not, and in the end, the story never convinced me that it had truly crossed the line into adult horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Natalia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this book did the thing where it reads like a YA book with some swear words thrown in

[Stephanie Hryb · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Julie Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it - it really scratched that internal vengeful itch

[RoseDevoursBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I’d love this book after devouring Such Lovely Skin, and this one was just as creepy, and completely addictive. I couldn’t put it down! Every spare moment I had, I spent flying through pages.

We follow Sadie, a 29-year-old still haunted by the ritualistic murders of her childhood friends at summer camp. Ever since, she’s been plagued by strange visions and a dark, persuasive voice in her head she can’t seem to resist. 17 years later, when she joins her boyfriend on a cabin getaway, the line between past and present begins to blur and Sadie is forced to confront the terrifying truth she’s been running from her entire life…

This book is excellent in so many ways. The dual timelines shifting between the present and that fateful summer are executed perfectly, building tension with every chapter and keeping the pace sharp. The forest setting oozes dread, and the imagery is burned into my brain: hair dolls with teeth, diseased deer walking upright, a strange woman lurking in the woods, and the voices of the dead whispering through the trees. And The Other Place is awesomely creepy. Reminiscent of Stranger Things ‘Upside Down’ but feels older, sicker, and more dangerous. Upside-down trees sprouting open mouths, the laws of reality bending just enough to make you question everything. It’s vivid, it’s beautiful and I kinda want to live here- even though I know I shouldn’t 🤭

Sadie is such a layered, compelling character- I was rooting for her from the start, even as the story takes some jaw-dropping turns. Her inner monologue felt raw and authentic, especially her struggle to live up to the version of herself she thinks she should be, and the constant feeling of being different. I also loved her passion for weightlifting (clearly a nod to the author’s own) was such a cool, grounded contrast to the darkness of hearing a demon in your head. Also, the music references were perfect. Korn and Atreyu? Hell yeah! Instant win. And let’s talk about that ending!! So perfectly fitting and fantastically creepy- I love when a story leans into the darkness and doesn’t hold back.

If you’re craving psychological and supernatural cult horror wrapped in camp slasher energy, laced with gory, folk horror–infused imagery and toxic friendships, this is the one. Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is a rising horror queen and I’m hooked on everything she writes. Don’t sleep on this one!

[Shu Wei Chin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost feel guilty about how much I love this book, and especially that *chef's kiss* ending. This book is for traumatised, former people pleasers who have had enough. This is for people who love demonic and cultish horror set in forests. This is for the slasher lovers but want social commentary in their thrillers.

Would you like a book that you will want to read in one sitting because the pacing is absolute perfection? Would you want this for Halloween this year? This is it. 30th September 2025. Pen. It. Down.

Thank you to the author, Creature Publishing (they are very passionate about feminist horror✨✨✨), and NetGalley for this eARC. I leave this review voluntarily.