Review : Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
Pages : 400
Genre : YA, Psychological thriller
Stand alone
My Rating : 4/5
About the Book :
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 harsh revelations about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love.
Awaiting the judge’s decree, it becomes clear to Anna that everyone around her thinks she is not only guilty, but also dangerous. And when the whole story comes out, reality is more shocking than anyone could ever imagine…
My Thoughts :
From where I stand in my little corner of the internet, Dangerous Girls seems to have had much less hype than it deserves. I had barely heard of it when I discovered that Abigail Haas was in fact no other than Abby McDonald; of the four contemporary YA novels penned by her hand that I had read, I had at least liked three of them. Since I’m always up for a good mystery, I could not pass this one up
Dangerous Girls is a YA thriller that greatly follows the current trend of psychological thrillers. Similar books on the adult side of the bookstore have had great success : Gone Girl, Before I Go To Sleep and Into the Darkest Corner have each received positive feedback from the readers. I enjoyed each of them and ever since, I have been hoping for a similar experience with a YA mystery. Dangerous Girls happens to be exactly what I had been looking for.
It was so easy to let myself be carried by Anna’s narration. Her story wasn’t told in a linear way, and I loved reading all the flashbacks of her and Elise’s friendship, her relationship with Tate or the trip to Aruba. I could feel Anna’s nervosity through her whole ordeal, and I had a really hard time letting go of the book. The 400 pages flew by; I just wanted to know the truth!
The setting is also a little scary and is, of course, very reminiscent of the Amanda Knox story. I would not want to be arrested ever, but if I had to take my pick, I’d rather get arrested in my home country, thank you very much. The way Anna was treated made it all so hopeless, I had no idea what to expect for her in the end. Plus the media circus felt very realistic.
And the whole novel is deliciously crafted, too. Abigail Haas does a great job of doing no obvious foreshadowing or heavy hinting, meaning that, as a reader, you are never sure of what really happened until you reach the end. This makes the game of « guess who did it » much more fun and unexpected!
There is so much I could say, but truly I really hope readers get into it and discover it for themselves. Dangerous Girls is certainly a more mature novel than those of Abby McDonald; there’s partying and sex and drugs and a lingering feeling of uneasiness., but it’s all supported by a really good mystery, I am already excited to read her next thriller, Dangerous Boys.
I always wonder why some good books go unnoticed while some mediocre ones get lots of press. This sounds good to me!
I know! It’s worth it sometimes to give lesser known books a chance. But this one was good, I’d happily recommend it!
This sounds really good! It takes me back to the Natalee Holloway case, which was in Aruba wasn’t it?
I am sad to say I had completely forgotten Natalee Holloway – that was a while ago! But, yes; I think this might have been part of the inspiration for the book, too.
This sounds really interesting. Thanks for the review. I’ll definitely be adding this to my TBR list. I have really been getting into the thriller / mystery genre lately!
This is a good one if you are getting into the mystery genre; but I would also strongly encourage you to read We Were Liars a chance! It’s different, but I had a strong reaction to it.