Posts Tagged: ARC

Thursday, August 07, 2014

Review: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

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I received this book for free from Abigail Haas in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: Dangerous Boys by Abigail HaasDangerous Boys by Abigail Haas
Published by Abigail Haas on August 14th 2014
Genres: Psychological Thriller, YA
Source: Abigail Haas
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five-stars

Three teens venture into the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Caitlin Kasprov drags one Donnelly 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?
Caitlin 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…

My, my, my… what can I say? Abigail Haas has done it again folks! When I put down Dangerous Boys I sat there in a daze in my backyard just thinking about what it would be like to be in this woman’s mind for 24 hours. I imagine it to be very dark, full of twists, and yet somehow still beautiful and a place you would want to be lost in for days on end. Maybe I’m just a masochist though…

Anyway, back to Dangerous Boys. I will be up front and say that I went into this one with some sky high expectations because I was a huge fan of Dangerous Girls. I was prepared to meet some characters that would be really hard to get a read on and to be treated to some delicious twists and well, Haas did not disappoint in any department. In this one we are treated to the tale from the perspective of Chloe as she goes about life in the small town of Haverford, Indiana. This is the kind of town where everyone knows everyone’s business so of course they know that her father recently left her mother because he knocked some girl up. Chloe’s dreams of leaving for College in the fall are cut short after her mother falls apart following the separation and she makes the decision to stay behind and get a job to help keep her mom on her feet. Her one escape from the mundane and very stressful life that has been thrown at her comes in the form of Ethan, a boy who woos her at her job until they are officially a couple. But no one could predict the shit storm that would come to town when Ethan’s brother, Oliver, comes into town.

We get the occurrences of this story in three different timelines. ‘The End’ is a violent section where Chloe is in a room with Ethan & Oliver and there is a falling out of some sort but the particulars of this event aren’t fully revealed until the end of the novel. ‘Then’ are the events that take place leading up to the violent occurrence of ‘The End’ and ‘Now’ is following it. I can’t stress enough how much I loved the use of these timelines and how all the small threads of the whole picture were revealed to us throughout. Knowing where the story was heading, knowing that it wasn’t going to be pretty and people were going to be seriously hurt upped the tension ten-fold. I loved trying to sleuth my way through and put the pieces of the puzzle together by myself. But once I made it to the end I couldn’t have even fathomed things would work out the way that they did and that is what is so genius about the way Haas writes these novels.

Helping to leave the reader in the dark is the fact that it’s really hard to get a read on MC Chloe. I mean, she starts out the novel as this seemingly sweet, small town girl but Oliver brings out a dark side in her once he throws a wrench in her relationship with Ethan. I liked that there were so many sides of her personality and I enjoyed watching her maneuver her way in the relationships that she had with people. From the way that she treated her mother, to how she was with her boyfriend and even the close relationship she had with the Sheriff in her small town, I could never put my finger on what made her tick. The entire cast of characters that we meet in this one are complex beings that really leave you questioning what could have happened to lead up to the shocking events of ‘The End.’

Dangerous Boys is a fully engrossing tale that will keep you glued to the pages until the final moment and leave you thinking about it for a long time afterward. Haas is a genius when it comes to psychological thrillers and the only thing I can think right now is: I want more!

five-stars

5 Hot Espressos

Review: The Aftermath by Jen Alexander

Review: The Aftermath by Jen Alexander

Posted by on 08/06/2014 • 8 Comments

With a highly unique premise and complex world building, The Aftermath easily stands out in its genre. It’s very well thought-out with a lot to love for gamers especially, but it did fall flat in character development and plot progression.

In few words: Claudia is a character in a post-apocalyptic game, being controlled by the person playing her (who is most likely a psychopath). Cool, right? I thought so. This concept is really intriguing, but how it was executed could have used a little more… oomph. It didn’t take long for me to grow frustrated with our heroine, Claudia. Not her personality itself, but how easily she clued into this wild concept we’re thrown in. After only a few clues, Claudia puts it all together, even asks herself how she…

Review: Girl Defective by Simmone Howell

Review: Girl Defective by Simmone Howell

Posted by on 08/01/2014 • 10 Comments

Upon seeing the references to both Empire Records and High Fidelity in the blurb for Girl Defective I was quick to read this one as soon as it showed up on my doorstep.  Empire will forever be in my top 5 favourite movies of all time list because I am a huge music junkie.  I love the feelings that music captures and how it can evoke so much emotion from me as a listener.  I was a big fan of how Howell conveyed the importance of music in the lives of the Martin family but since a lot of the references to bands and such weren’t ones I had ever heard of I didn’t fall as in love with that aspect of the story as I had hoped to.

Girl…

Review: Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

Review: Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

Posted by on 07/31/2014 • 16 Comments

Having been introduced to the world of verse writing by Ellen’s Crank series, I was excited to read some more of her work. While the Crank series will likely always remain my favorite, Rumble was very emotional and touches on important issues.

Ever since his brother committed suicide, Matthew and his family seem like a lost cause. We’re introduced to this broken, angry teenage boy who, despite his flaws, burrows into our hearts from the very start. His brother’s death has made him extremely angry – angry at his parents for not accepting his brother’s homosexuality, at the kids that bullied him, at god for turning his back on him. It’s a very angry novel, and one that is miles deep with a level of maturity that would make this…

Review: Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

Review: Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

Posted by on 07/28/2014 • 12 Comments

When you want a book to escape reality for a few hours, Let’s Get Lost is what I would hand you. A road trip, intriguing characters, wild adventures, and, of course, a healthy dose of romance – this is the perfect beach read!

I’ve read a few road trip books and this one is just as much fun, yet different in many ways. We follow Leila’s trip to Alaska, but we follow it through others’ eyes – the story is told using the point-of-views of the people she gets to meet during her trip. I found this very unique and it allowed us to get to know Leila through different perspectives. We start with Hudson who quickly becomes the love interest. I can see why some have different reactions towards…

Review: The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

Review: The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

Posted by on 07/25/2014 • 13 Comments

Even with the great premise and creepy as heck scenes throughout, I can’t say I liked this one much, unfortunately. Though this is all due to the writing, and if you’re a fan of it you will have a much better experience with this book than I.

The writing is one that, although may work for some, I could never get used to. The narrative voices (plural because I “think” there were more than 1, but I’m not 100% sure…) are in 3rd person which is always harder for me to connect with regardless, but in this case even more so because of this particular all-knowing perspective the author adopts. Then when you add in the fact that the perspective changes – often abruptly without a chapter change or even…

Review: Can’t Look Away by Donna Cooner

Review: Can’t Look Away by Donna Cooner

Posted by on 07/24/2014 • 10 Comments

What an interesting book this was to read for someone who has an online presence. Granted, my online presence is nothing compared to the thousands upon thousands of fans beauty vlogger Torrey Grey had in this book, but I do put myself out there for the public just as she did in the novel. Can’t Look Away was a pitch perfect contemporary that features a lot of honesty, a sweet romance and just enough heartbreak to really pull at your heartstrings.

We meet Torrey Grey right after her family moves from Colorado to Texas. They decide to make the move shortly after Torrey’s younger sister, Miranda, is hit and killed by a drunk driver. From the very first pages of this book I knew that it was going to be…

Review: The Fever by Megan Abbott

Review: The Fever by Megan Abbott

Posted by on 07/22/2014 • 13 Comments

The Fever ended up being quite the interesting read, especially psychologically speaking. It’s both a puzzling mystery as well as a look into the rashness of teenage girls burning with jealousy.

What I noticed almost immediately was the writing style, to which I can’t say I’m exactly a fan. Megan tells this story with the help of three family members who are each given a perspective in the story. We switch back and forth from father, son, and daughter in a very spastic manner, each perspective lasting from a mere paragraph to no more than a couple of pages. While, in a way, I enjoyed the style in which it told the story with quick back-and-forth glimpses from several point-of-views, constantly being pulled in all directions made me feel very…