Review : Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Dangerous Girls
Author : Abigail Haas
Publication Date : July 16th 2013
Publisher : Simon Pulse
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Paradise quickly gets gruesome in this thrilling page-turner with a plot that’s ripped from the headlines and a twist that defies the imagination.

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 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 ever imagined...

Personal Thoughts

Holy hell! I did not expect THAT when I went into Dangerous Girls. What an intense, drama-filled and mind-blowing read Dangerous Girls was! I can't express how I glad I was to have discovered this book that kept my brain spinning throughout the day trying to figure out who on earth the murderer could be.

Anna was a character who the reader got to really know. We get to know what kind of person she was like before she met Elise and we also get a lot of insight as to how her mind works during the trial for Elise's murder. She was easy to sympathize with because she was thrust into this world of trials, questioning, detectives and prison, all of sudden during her summer vacation. However, I can't say I identified with her. Anna was the kind of girl who let herself be easily manipulated by Elise and she gave in to peer pressure rather easily. Before she met Elise, she was a smart and hard-working young girl. But Elise pushed her into a life of drugs, alcohol and partying. She became the sort of person who I failed to understand, but that was exactly how the author wanted her to be portrayed. The emotional turmoil that Anna went through during the trial was so well-written that I, myself, felt like I was going through it.

Although Elise was dead in the book, a victim of a brutal murder, we become acquainted with her through flashbacks. I honestly thought she was a good person, helping Anna out during her times of difficulties, but we slowly get to see how conniving she could be at times. It was subtle, but it was there for sure. She was such a negative influence on the people around her. She was like a leech, sucking the goodness out of people sometimes. Her life goal was to party, do drugs and get drunk to the point that she can't remember what she's doing. The friendship between Anna and Elise appeared all fun at first, but as the story progressed you realize how twisted and dark it was, what with all the backstabbing, jealousy and cheating going on. Their relationship was unhealthy. Despite everything, I did not think that she deserved to die the way she did.

There are tons of YA mystery books out there, but what made Dangerous Girls a unique one was the way the plot was executed. Abigail Haas painted a realistic picture of a murder investigation. The questionings, the involvement of the media and the actual trial were presented in a realistic way. I actually felt like I was watching the whole thing on TV because the author's writing was vivid and brilliant. In addition, Dangerous Girls kept me guessing until the very end who the murderer was and I honestly, for the life of me, could not figure out who it was. When it was finally revealed, my jaw dropped to the floor because it was not what I was expecting at all. I'm actually still reeling from the outcome of Dangerous Girls. If I had one complaint it would be that I wanted more details on the final confrontation scene between the murderer and Elise, but other than that, this book was a tense and thrilling read that had me on the edge.

I wish I could go more into the plot, but I can't because I'm pretty sure I will give away way too many spoilers. To experience the awesomeness of Dangerous Girls, you need to go into it without knowing much about it. One of the best YA mystery books I've read this year, Dangerous Girls is a YA mystery that those of you looking to be flabbergasted at the end need to read.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5