Thursday, December 17, 2015

Book Review: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Title: Dangerous Girls
Written by: Abigail Haas
Published: July, 2013 by Simon and Schuster

(Amazon / Goodreads)

Synopsis: It's Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off to a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives. But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations. 

As Anna sets out to find her friend's killer; she discovers hard truths about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love. 

As she awaits the judge's decree, it becomes clear that everyone around her thinks she is not just guilty, but dangerous. When the truth comes out, it is more shocking than one could ever imagine...

I have the distinct impression that this review is going to be very short. Not because I didn't like this book because, oh wow, I loved it. No, this review is going to be really short because I don't want to give anything away. So much of this book's charm is the lack of understanding.

You may know that I love mysteries and thrillers. I pride myself on being able to solve mysteries in books. I probably tout my detective skills on an almost annoying level. To me the best mysteries however are the ones that I can solve but not until the very end. With Dangerous Girls, I honestly had no idea who the culprit was. What the author did so well is show every side of the story. A lot of the plot of this book was the trial the main character is subjected to. And because we hear from the prosecutor as well as the defense attorney, every option seemed plausible. So much so that through most of the book I maintained a perpetual state of confusion. I honestly didn't think I would like that so much but it's such a rare experience for me that it was really refreshing.

The other thing I really liked about this book was the tone. It's not a bright and happy contemporary story. It's really gritty. Part of the book has the main character in prison and it is not fun in there. I mean I've never been, it just doesn't seem like a good time. That's what the author shows you. A bleak and gritty setting with a character who is already in a bad situation. It has this great effect where it allows you to feel uncomfortable and still empathize with the character.

And that empathy is huge because there is something not very likable about these characters. Like every single one of them is obnoxious, spoiled, and selfish at times. The book takes you through the past and present of the characters and their relationships with one another. There is something really codependent about their interactions but also really nice at the same time. It's very confusing. There were just so many weird interactions throughout the book. And because there was no clear cut villain or culprit, I found myself suspecting just about everyone which always makes for interesting characterization. When that happens for me, I'm untrusting and doubtful so I keep them at arms length which is just what happened here.

Okay, that's about all I want to say about this book. On the whole it was an absolutely brilliant mystery. It was gritty and confusing with characters who kept me suspicious despite my empathy towards them. It was seriously some Gone Girl level craziness and if you are a fan of mysteries or thrillers you should definitely check it out.

I give Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas 9.5 out of 10 stars



Buy/Borrow/Bypass: BUY! A must read for fans of mysteries and thrillers. I would especially recommend this to people who like books with unlikable characters or books that mess with your head. If you liked Gone Girl or like police/legal procedures with a gritty tone like Law and Order: SVU check this book out.

Have you read Dangerous Girls? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

13 comments:

  1. I was SO happy you liked it!! These are the types of Contemps I like. The ones that are NOT about getting a boyfriend or being in love. I like something that messes with my head, or makes my heart hurt. I also loved that this book was full of characters that were just NOT good people, and yet I still loved the book. That's a fine line for me because if the characters are too loathsome, it's harder for me to get invested in their stories. But yeah, I'm just so happy you liked the book!!

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    1. ME TOO! They're my favorite books period. Crazy messed up plot twists and characters that are terrible people? Sign me up. A lot of my favorite fantasies are like this as well. Which now that I think about it, makes me want to recommend some fantasies to you.

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  2. This sounds amazing! And it kind of reminds me of that story of the American girl (I can't remember the girls name) that a while back was in school in Italy (I think it was Italy) and one of her roommates was murdered. She went on trial for it and everything. I don't remember the details unfortunately, but this sounds a little bit similar so I'm really interested!

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    1. Yes! It reminded me a little bit of that story as well. It's such an interesting story, both that one and this one. Also it is amazing!

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  3. WOW! I've never even heard of this one, but I'm so glad you loved it! I don't read a lot of contemporary fiction, but that's mostly because I can't get into the cheesy high school love stories. This one sounds like a contemporary I could definitely enjoy. I'm not quite sure about how to feel about the characters though... Maybe I'll have to read to find out! Great review! :D

    Tracy @ Cornerfolds

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    1. Tracy! You must read it. I don't like cheesy high school love stories either. This is definitely not that kind of story. It's really dark and gritty. Much more thriller, much less romance. I think you might like it.

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  4. Sounds really different. I'll add it to my list. Could be a fun one for my YA book club.

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    1. Just went to Goodreads, and it's actually on my list already. Haha. Hopefully I'll get to it soon.

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    2. Cool! It would be a great book for a book club. Although it is a little intense so it might not be for everyone. But the right kind of group would be all about it.

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  5. I absolutely adoooored this one and it kept me going back and forth on theories and like you was surprised, shocked and amazed at the ending! A brilliant book that needs to be explored with as lil info as possible!

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    1. Yay Pili! I totally kept going back and forth with theories too! I changed my opinion so many times which made the reveal all the more interesting.

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  6. I feel like I really need to pick this one up now! If you can't solve the mystery then I probably can't either!

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    1. YES! I would definitely recommended it. It's a really great mystery. I hope you pick it up and enjoy it.

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