A review by swalk
Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen

dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The story begins in Newport, Rhode Island, where we are thrown into the traumatic upbringing of Saffy, who was abused by her stepfather, until she took matters into her own hands after he tried to move on to her sister Susie. Present day, an older Saffy Huntley-Oliver now uses those skills to target men she deems as "bad” and has been doing this for some time, that is until she moves to London and thinks she has found “one of the good ones’ in author and true crime podcaster John.

I found the plot line from the start VERY similar to the film Promising Young Woman. The premise is intriguing, but I found Saffy, unlikable, her abuse of animals, manipulation and holier than thou attitude is just grating and to be honest if I was John, I would have been pissed off that she wouldn’t leave me alone from the start when I repeatedly asked her to; she comes across as pushy and irritating. The flaws do add depth to her character and I suppose if you are as attractive as Saffy is portrayed to be, you can get away with most things.

I very much appreciated the side story involving the politician, I think we can all guess where the inspiration for that came from! I also enjoyed the antihero elements to this, overall a solid dark thriller but I just couldn't get behind Saffy. 

I know the protagonist is supposed to have a transatlantic accent and overall the narrator did a good job, but I found it flip flopping at times to English and back again to American, which was distracting for me.
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