Review: The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal

Title: The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek

Author: Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal

Publisher: Crown

Publishing Date: October 29th, 2019

Pages: 324
Audio Length: 10 Hours and 44 Minutes

Genre: YA Mystery Thriller
TW: N/A

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

It's 1992 in Bleak Creek, North Carolina, a sleepy little place with all the trappings of an ordinary Southern town: two Baptist churches, friendly smiles coupled with silent judgments, and a seemingly unquenchable appetite for pork products. Beneath the town’s cheerful façade, however, Bleak Creek teens live in constant fear of being sent to The Whitewood School, a local reformatory with a record of putting unruly teens back on the straight and narrow—a record so impeccable that almost everyone is willing to ignore the mysterious deaths that have occurred there over the past decade.
At first, high school freshmen Rex McClendon and Leif Nelson believe what they’ve been told—that the students’ strange demises were all tragic accidents. But when the shoot for their low-budget horror masterpiece, PolterDog, goes horribly awry—and their best friend, Candice Boykins, is sent to Whitewood as punishment—Rex and Leif are forced to question everything they know about their unassuming hometown and its cherished school for delinquents.
Eager to rescue their friend, Rex and Leif pair up with recent NYU film school grad Janine Blitstein to begin piecing together the unsettling truth of the school and its mysterious founder, Wayne Whitewood. What they find, with Candice’s life hanging in the balance, will leave them battling an evil beyond their wildest teenage imaginations—one that will shake Bleak Creek to its core.

What made me pick this book up: 

I am OBSESSED with Rhett and Link. I love their youtube videos and I love them. I might actually be IN love with them. 

Anyway, I saw that they were writing a book and I freaked out more than a little bit. Once I read the synopsis and realized that it's not only a YA book but also a horror/thriller/mystery type thing I knew I had to read it. 

I got this book the day it came out! I don't do that often.

What did I like about the cover: 

The cover matches the book well. It's set in the 1990's and I feel like the it looks like an old torn up novel from the 90's. Not only that but the hand in the water match so well. 

What made me read this book: 

As I said, Rhett and Link + YA + mystery thriller = I HAD to read it. 

What did I like the most: 

Okay so I read this back in October and I'm just now writing a review. So bear with me while I try to get my thoughts together. This might be a very scattered review.

I absolutely loved this book first of all. I went into this hoping for the best but expecting the worst because a lot of books written by celebrities like this... well they kind of suck. Usually. So I went in with an open mind and I just really wanted to have fun reading this.

I think the best thing about this book is the humor. It is a very dark and twisted book, but the humor in it is straight up Rhett and Link. I felt myself laughing- and feeling really bad for laughing- more than I thought I would. It was dark humor, but still definitely classic Rhett and Link. I feel like with these types of books there has to be a little bit of humor in it or it's just way too much. 

The characters were written really well. They were all easy to love and had such big personalities. I felt connected with them and didn't want anything to happen to them. I did have a hard time knowing the difference between Rex and Leif at some points- but I'll talk about that down in the what I didn't like section. 

I loved them both though and I felt myself wishing I had friends like this.

They were also filming an at home horror movie about a poltergeist dog and that made me really happy. I don't know why, but it really did. 

Anyway.

The mystery of it was written really well. I found myself not wanting to put the book down. I just had to know what the f was going on. I didn't want to wait any longer than I had to. It was one of those staring off in space, mouth slightly agape, leg jiggling type of books. You know the ones. The ones that your husbands look at you like you're crazy but you just don't care because the book is so good you can't stop.

It was definitely a very unique and interesting read. I had all kinds of emotions while reading this, which is the best kind of read. The story is completely different than anything I've read before. 

What didn't I like: 

As I said above I had a hard time remembering which was Rex and which was Leif. The POV kinda changed randomly and even when it stayed I was like was it Rex or Leif who did *insert thing here*? It was a little bit confusing. But that's the worst of it so it's really no big deal.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
YES! Please let them write more books!

So much better than I ever thought it would be

"I'm not used to people thinking I'm a bad kid. It's kind of exhilarating."
- The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal

Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, raised in North Carolina and best friends since the first grade, are a comedy duo known for creating the Internet’s most-watched daily talk show, Good Mythical Morning; their award-winning weekly podcast Ear Biscuits; and the instant #1 New York Times bestseller Rhett & Link’s Book of Mythicality. They share an office at Mythical Entertainment, the company they cofounded, but live separately with their respective wives, children, and dogs in Los Angeles.