Reviewing: 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 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... 



Let me just tell you something before I get into the review. Before I started reading, I had heard all about the shocking twist. About how horrifying the ending was, and how they hadn't seen it coming. So I decided to make a list about who I suspected, why, and, when I crossed some of them out, why I crossed them out.

Spoilers are between these: [   ]. You'll have to highlight to read them. And, because I don't want to spoil anything, all of what I say about each person on the list counts as a spoiler. You have been warned.

1. Melanie 
2. Juan [This guy is just... creepy. I'm still creeped out by him.]
3. Tate  [I changed my mind because I decided that he was too weak to actually kill her. He just seemed so drained and shakey and downright vulnerable that I put him aside soon after I put him on the list.]
4. Dekker [I decided that he was just obsessed with Anna being the killer than WHY Elise had actually been killed]
5. AK
6. Niklas
7. Elise [the reason why Elise was on this list is because when she was talking about how she would kill herself, she mentioned that she would slit her wrists and bleed out all over the carpet. Also, she was reckless. Someone that reckless, someone that just... treated people so harshly and spoke behind their backs like she did... She was so drunk on life. Someone like that doesn't kill themselves.]
8. Anna [the reason is because the entire time everything just felt so wrong. About Anna. About how obsessed she was with Tate. When she became extremely possessive, I heard warning bells go. I didn't think she was the killer until nearing the end of the book. Everything just felt so wrong that I couldn't help but think that maybe the killer was her. She was just so very, very damaged.]

With my ginormous list of suspects, I don't think I would have fared too well with finding out who was the actual killer if I was put in a situation where I needed to. I'm usually not so great at finding out things anyways. I'm usually in a constant state of shock after reading books like these.

The reason I'm not flailing and screeching and typing in all caps is because this book just... just...

It did blow my mind. In fact, my mind is still a jumbled mess. Everyone in this book is messed up. EVERYONE. (except the rare gem. And even then, you can't be sure if they're actually rare gems.)

Pardon my language.

This book has given me trust issues.

So while I'm re-reading the last sentence (which is seriously so disturbing and haunting and CREEPY) while my heart pounds and I'm trying not to freak out too obviously, I'll just say that I have never ever read a book like this.

I like to stay away from horrifying books about murders (I have a very, very wild imagination that sometimes likes to make sure I don't sleep). Because of that, I haven't read any up til now. I'm not sure I'll keep reading them. (I also like to stay away from heart problems, and I'm pretty sure this book has also amped those up quite a bit.)

You start the book thinking Anna is innocent and that this book is a story of her proving that she didn't do it while simultaneously proving who DID. You think, or at least I did, "oh maybe this is one of those books that's creepy while also being sort've lighthearted." Either way, I thought that at least the killer would be brought to justice.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO THINK ANYMORE. (oh, look, there's my usual caps-locks-screeching)

But if I say anything more there's sure to be spoilers.

Also, I get the feeling that this book was aimed for an age group slightly higher than my own. It's got sex and drugs and drinking and ALL THAT. (my use of caps also shows how unprepared I was for "all that")

But, hey. If you think you want to read this book (and you're pretty sure you won't die of shock) then good Lord READ IT.