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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Dangerous Girls blew me away. Completely. I am a lover of thrillers and I live for murder mysteries. When Abigail Haas sat down to write this book, I am entirely sure she did so with me in mind. This novel has all the things I need to get fully lost in its pages: interesting POV switches between the MC and news broadcasts, with alternating timelines to keep me on my toes; a brutal killing with a whodunnit plot line; an author with the balls to take the story all the way.
I am so tired of novels being marketed as tough, dark, edgy, but when you finally get to reading them, they shy away from the brutality of the situation, they sugarcoat the raw, harsh emotion and treachery that humans are capable of. My guess is that this happens to me all the time because I read YA. But every once in a while I will come across an author who knows what teens are capable of handling and isn’t afraid to really push the boundaries on what has previously been called unacceptable in the category. Without divulging any real details, I will tell you that Abigail Haas blew me out of the water with her courage in writing this book. Dangerous Girls covers all sides of a great thriller – total creepiness; horrifying, brutal slaying of a young girl; and a totally psyched out reader. But not only that, I think that Haas was able to capture a real 17-18 year old teen. There was lots of partying, hooking up, drinking, skipping school, etc. I’m not saying that all teens do those things, but the kids who do are woefully underrepresented in YA right now.
What I loved most about Dangerous Girls was the various writing styles that Haas employed while narrating Anna’s story. First, there was Anna’s first-person present-tense narration of her time spent in prison and during the trial for Elise’s murder. I don’t think I’ve read a single YA thriller that actually deals with real life consequences in this way. When there is a murder, there is a suspect and that person has to stand trial. I really enjoyed that aspect of the story telling. The drama and tension were palpable during the questioning and I sat on the edge of my seat right alongside Anna while she tried to figure out what the judge was thinking. There were also parts of the story that showed the past – from Anna’s first time meeting Elisa, the blossoming of their intense, codependent friendship, Anna’s relationship with Tate, and of course, the days leading up to the murder. I thought these were great additions to the story because not only were they well written and paced expertly, they also gave up a glimpse into the characters’ background that made them pop off the page.
Finally, there were various transcripts, from anything from the 911 call to all the news broadcasts about the case. These were interesting because they got us out of Anna’s head for a bit. I liked being able to see what the outside world thought of Elise’s murder, and of course, the disparity between the facts and the sensationalism. It really shows you what news networks will do for a quick buck these days.
As with all thrillers, the greatness really lies in the truth coming out, which is obviously a spoiler. But the way Abigal Haas crafted this story was amazing. Every once in a while I was sure I had it figured out, but then I was thrown yet another curveball. At the last 75-ish pages, I had it figured out for sure, but there was still a niggling worm of doubt in the back of my head. The big reveal was absolutely delicious with its creepiness and genius though and will definitely send shivers up your spine, even if you figure out the truth from page one.
If you want my recommendation, I say go out right now and buy yourself a copy of Dangerous Girls. It’s a fast-paced thrill ride that is sure to shock you.
I am so tired of novels being marketed as tough, dark, edgy, but when you finally get to reading them, they shy away from the brutality of the situation, they sugarcoat the raw, harsh emotion and treachery that humans are capable of. My guess is that this happens to me all the time because I read YA. But every once in a while I will come across an author who knows what teens are capable of handling and isn’t afraid to really push the boundaries on what has previously been called unacceptable in the category. Without divulging any real details, I will tell you that Abigail Haas blew me out of the water with her courage in writing this book. Dangerous Girls covers all sides of a great thriller – total creepiness; horrifying, brutal slaying of a young girl; and a totally psyched out reader. But not only that, I think that Haas was able to capture a real 17-18 year old teen. There was lots of partying, hooking up, drinking, skipping school, etc. I’m not saying that all teens do those things, but the kids who do are woefully underrepresented in YA right now.
What I loved most about Dangerous Girls was the various writing styles that Haas employed while narrating Anna’s story. First, there was Anna’s first-person present-tense narration of her time spent in prison and during the trial for Elise’s murder. I don’t think I’ve read a single YA thriller that actually deals with real life consequences in this way. When there is a murder, there is a suspect and that person has to stand trial. I really enjoyed that aspect of the story telling. The drama and tension were palpable during the questioning and I sat on the edge of my seat right alongside Anna while she tried to figure out what the judge was thinking. There were also parts of the story that showed the past – from Anna’s first time meeting Elisa, the blossoming of their intense, codependent friendship, Anna’s relationship with Tate, and of course, the days leading up to the murder. I thought these were great additions to the story because not only were they well written and paced expertly, they also gave up a glimpse into the characters’ background that made them pop off the page.
Finally, there were various transcripts, from anything from the 911 call to all the news broadcasts about the case. These were interesting because they got us out of Anna’s head for a bit. I liked being able to see what the outside world thought of Elise’s murder, and of course, the disparity between the facts and the sensationalism. It really shows you what news networks will do for a quick buck these days.
As with all thrillers, the greatness really lies in the truth coming out, which is obviously a spoiler. But the way Abigal Haas crafted this story was amazing. Every once in a while I was sure I had it figured out, but then I was thrown yet another curveball. At the last 75-ish pages, I had it figured out for sure, but there was still a niggling worm of doubt in the back of my head. The big reveal was absolutely delicious with its creepiness and genius though and will definitely send shivers up your spine, even if you figure out the truth from page one.
If you want my recommendation, I say go out right now and buy yourself a copy of Dangerous Girls. It’s a fast-paced thrill ride that is sure to shock you.
dark
tense
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
my real question is how the fuck did she keep the necklace all this time? did she bury it or something like............... girl
Sometimes the most shocking revelations are the unacceptable truths.
This might be another "Red Queen" to me, a book all really love but some hates; but this case, this case is underrated, WAY underrated. And once again after reading and watching a lot of crime novels, the twist here ain't shocking at all. Plus a lot of YA novels which have a twist in the end, revealing the killer - the killer must be (a) someone we know, (b) someone that that is related to the MC, (c) someone the readers might take pity or find a "bond", and (d) the killer of course is either manipulative or have another identity. (But still a lot of my favorite films are like that -
Spoiler
Shutter Island and IdentityAs much as I wanted to give this more stars than Red Queen, I really can't. The book is similar to the TV series and movies, I watched even the motives the events happening, they are just placed on another island. The "killer" is my suspect from the start (actually the only one suspect). I think multiple POVs will be better for this book.
If you want to read this try watching these instead
Spoiler
Primal Fear, Identity, Gone Girl (read the book, too), Shutter Island (read the book, too) and maybe the original The Tale of Two Sisters)
what
this book was in fact pretty good but then again it kind of dragged but then again i ate this up.
in my honest very gay opinion anna and elise should´ve just teamed up against tate, not that i would ever encourage murder.
Spoiler
now i kind of expected the ending to turn out like that BUT THEN AGAIN I DIDN´T,,this book was in fact pretty good but then again it kind of dragged but then again i ate this up.
in my honest very gay opinion anna and elise should´ve just teamed up against tate, not that i would ever encourage murder.
I didn't have super high expectations for this, I think I've been reading too much of the genre. That ending though!
3,5 ⭐
“Veo cómo el orgasmo pasa a través de ella; lo siento en mis huesos. Como un despertar. Como la muerte. Y todo el rato, nuestros ojos permanecen fijos en los de la otra.
¿Cuánto me quieres?”
Le hubiera puesto 4 estrellas pero necesitaba saber cómo sucedió el asesinato. También habían cosas que no terminaban de coincidir, quiero saber que se dijeron antes de que Ana la matara. Igual desde antes de la mitad del libro, sabía quién era la persona culpable de todo, es obvio y más con los datos que te van soltando. Tengo que decir que a pesar de todo, siempre estuve del lado de Ana, quería que fuera libre.
Fue una lectura atrapante, desde que lo comencé, no lo solté hasta terminarlo.
“Veo cómo el orgasmo pasa a través de ella; lo siento en mis huesos. Como un despertar. Como la muerte. Y todo el rato, nuestros ojos permanecen fijos en los de la otra.
¿Cuánto me quieres?”
Le hubiera puesto 4 estrellas pero necesitaba saber cómo sucedió el asesinato. También habían cosas que no terminaban de coincidir, quiero saber que se dijeron antes de que Ana la matara. Igual desde antes de la mitad del libro, sabía quién era la persona culpable de todo, es obvio y más con los datos que te van soltando. Tengo que decir que a pesar de todo, siempre estuve del lado de Ana, quería que fuera libre.
Fue una lectura atrapante, desde que lo comencé, no lo solté hasta terminarlo.