Reviewing: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Three teens venture into the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding; the other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder?

Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece together the story of how they got there-a story of jealousy, twisted passion, and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful of faces…

Before we start, I'm just gonna say that I didn't like this as much as Dangerous Girls. I'm not really sure why, even. Maybe it was just that Chloe was a tad less psychotic than I wanted at first, or the action/suspense didn't really start for me until halfway through. I'm gonna try to have absolutely zero spoilers, but a few teenie ones might slip through.

There is insta-love, which I loathe in books and believe very few can actually pull off. (I like a slow burn). Even more than I hate insta-love, I hate love triangles where the girl knows she likes the other guy more, yet stays with the sweet, oblivious one. Both happened, although I'm not really sure it could be called insta-love for the following reasons.

The "Love" Triangle 

The apostrophes are there as reminders that there isn't really any love in this book. Just a lot of manipulation and obsession.

Ethan did not make Chloe happy in the relationship. If she'd broken it off as soon as she realized that she couldn't be 100% happy with him, I wouldn't be angry at her for leading him on. If their relationship wasn't literally based on the fact that Chloe wanted a distraction, I wouldn't be angry at her for leading him on. But it was and so I am.

Was he a little clingy? Yeah, a little. Was it unbearable? No. She's his girlfriend. He wanted to spend time with her. In my opinion, he was adorable. Sweet. Innocent. (And yeah, completely oblivious). Everything that Oliver, his older brother, was not.

Oliver was the "bad boy" of the love triangle, but really it runs a lot deeper than that. He's not just moody and snarky. He's evil. He's possessive and violent, but more than anything he's manipulative.

Oliver didn't make Chloe happy. He made her thrilled. The rush of adrenaline you get, the way you're suddenly aware of everything touching you, of the air rushing into your lungs, of your stomach in your throat and your heart pounding so hard you can feel it-- that is what Oliver made Chloe feel like. Like when you ride a roller coaster and it's about to drop. That crazy feeling of being wild and free and terrified at the same time. From the very moment she lays eyes on him, from the very first words he says to her, she feels like he knows the deepest, darkest parts of herself that even she is too afraid to get to know. She isn't wrong.

The Main Character

Chloe herself is rather hard to describe. At the beginning of the book (or rather, before things start to happen) Chloe is sweet and hardworking. That isn't to say she isn't angry. She just keeps it covered. She cares for her depressed mother while trying to get ready for college while keeping her job. Yeah. She's got a lot on her plate. What is different about this book other than Dangerous Girls (amongst a whole lot of other things) is that there is no questioning what happened. You know. While I did like that, I feel like it took away some of the dawning horror that I felt in DG.

Overall Thoughts

This book (in fact, so is Dangerous Girls) is very character-based. I feel like the author's main intention was making the characters as layered and incredible as possible. She succeeded.

Another thing that I really dig about Dangerous Girls and Dangerous Boys is telling the ending before telling anything else. It does keep me reading, even if I get a little bit bored or lost. Serious props to Abigail Haas.

Also, THE ENDING. Was it just me, or was the last bit of the book by far the best? I was feeling quite bad because I was going to rate this book quite poorly, but then the ending came and whacked me in the face. I have nothing but love for the reveal. And the last couple of lines. GAH. *flails aggressively*