Saturday 12 October 2013

Review: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
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...




Title: Dangerous Girls
Author: Abigail Haas
Series: None
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: August 1th 2013

Rating: 5 stars!

Thoughts:


Wouldn't we all look guilty, if someone searched hard enough?
Oh. My. God. This book, guys, this book. After I saw Melanie (YA Midnight Reads) raving over this, I knew I had to buy this... And boy, am I glad I did! After that ending, I had a complete breakdown, let me tell you!'

Dangerous Girls tells its story in an unique way: the narrative flips from 'before' to 'after' to 'the trial' to... you get the idea. We see little pieces of the story in one big build-up to the final verdict... and a  little piece after it. Haas handled this style masterfully: I was never confused what had happened when, and although the scenes are generally short, they provide plenty of information. It also is really pleasing to read when you have a hard time focussing on a book or are in a hurry but want to read for a bit. I was afraid it would be too short and jumpy for me, but I found myself really enjoying the style and marvelling at Haas' talent!

The characters are those characters you love to hate... I disliked every single one of them, except Elise (more on that later) and Anna (half of the time). I thought the dynamics in this group of friends resembled reality quite well. And Mel! I totally recognized one of my former 'friends' in her. (Although I must say that we get along fine now that we're no longer in the same circles!) Her clingy behaviour was EXACTLY like how it was then... So props, Haas, for making it realistic! And then there's Elise... Everyone I know who has read Dangerous Girls hated her, and I'm quite sure that everyone who is going to read it will hate her as well. Of course, I am the odd one out! I really liked her character, even though she was a complete and utter bitch. She's that stereotyped slutty girlfriend, but there was something different about her, so I didn't mind at all (maybe it was that she was dead, haha). She was... fascinating, really. I really liked her!

This book also does something unique with its romance: instead of seeing a girl fall in love, we see her falling out of love. Although the story is mostly focused on Elise's murder and Anna's trial, we got to see quite a bit of the romance between Tate and Anna. Throughout the novel, Anna's feelings for Tate seem to ebb away, and it's done in a believable way. Although I disliked Tate from the start, I could feel myself falling out of love with him right along with Anna. Does that make sense? Probably not.

Another thing handled really well: the way you suspect everyone. Like, literally everyone. At first, I was like: Yeah, it's totally them. No wait, it's them. No wait! It's THEM, I'm sure. And then the ending happened. THE FREAKING ENDING. Oh my God, it was totally awesome! I actually had a little breakdown (I kept yelling on the internet in all caps and saying "Oh my God. Oh my God."!). Hehe. Yeah, that ending is so confusing and you just want to laugh like a maniac and maybe cry and keep saying "Oh my God". Trust me. Just read this and you'll know what I'm talking about!

In all, this was a wonderfully crafted novel with characters you're going to love to hate, a reverse romance, the feeling that everyone's guilty, and THAT ENDING. Read this, I swear you won't regret it!


12 comments:

  1. Je hebt me nieuwschierig gemaakt naar dit boek! (:

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    1. All the better, haha. Het einde was zo onverwacht en verrassend! Ik hoop dat je tijd vindt om 'm te lezen ;)

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  2. I've never heard of this one yet, but it sounds really interesting. Love the cover!

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    1. Oh, it's a complete mindfuck! I hope you get to read it, it's SO GOOD. And yes, that cover is gorgeous. I had to have this one and not the other edition!

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  3. Thanks for the mention! <3 This is definitely one of the under appreciated novels, we must spread the greatnesssss!! This book just messes with people, I mean I hated but loved the characters, this book was basically just about hate and love and what happens when these emotions get insanely severe.

    Fabulous review, Celine! <33

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    1. We do have to do that! It's pretty unknown and that saddens me :( And yes, IT MESSED WITH MY MIND SO HARD. Oh God. Well, you witnessed my breakdown, so you know what I'm talking about :P

      Thank you! <3

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  4. You shouldn't have done this to me. Now I want to read this book. Yet another book in my massive TR pile. *sighs*

    LOL.

    The reverse romance is interesting...I've just looked the book up on GR, and no one of the reviews I read mentioned it. I'm glad you did. Also, I don't have problems with "characters you're going to love to hate". So yeah - I added "Dangerous Girls" to my pile!

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    1. Haha, I'm sorry! (but not really)

      I really hope you'll like it! The 'reverse romance' is pretty subtle, but it's there.

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  5. Wow this just sounds freaking amazing, I wanted to read it ever since Melanie's review but now possibly even more! Great review, I will have to pick this up soon!

    Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

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    1. Yay! I love it when people want to read books b/c of my review :D I hope you'll get to this, it's SO good!

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  6. This book looks freaking amazing. I must have this book!

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