Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas: Review

Dangerous BoysTitle: Dangerous Boys
Author: Abigail Haas
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository

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…(Goodreads summary)

If you didn't know, although I have said it a million times, I loved Dangerous Girls! It was mind-blowing, mind-boggling read and I absolutely loved the whole book. Haas is a seriously talented author and I knew instantly that she would be an author I would be following from then on. So when Dangerous Boys became available on Netgalley, I knew I just had to have it! Even better, I got to do another buddy read with Amanda over at Book Badger.

I am always honest in my reviews, so I will admit that Dangerous Girls is my favourite of the two. But Dangerous Boys gave me everything I had been looking for from this read. It kept me guessing and had me questioning myself so much that it was hard to keep up with my own theories. It had me so engrossed in the story that I read it in one sitting and stayed up way later than I should have. It gives you characters you can obsess over in your head because they're so complex that it's hard to figure them out.
Basically me for the entire book.

Dangerous Girls was all about figuring out who the killer was in the story, where as Dangerous Boys takes a different approach. From the very beginning we know that Chloe makes it out of a burning house alive and that she drags one of the Reznick brothers with her but, for the longest time, we have no idea which brother she chose to save. As the story unfolds we begin to see how Chloe became a part of the Reznick boys lives and how they all came to be in the house that night. Haas isn't one to give too much away though and I was left staying up until the early hours of the morning so that I could finally find out what the hell had happened.

Total bad boy alert! 
This book was dark and the characters were so twisted that it was a little hard to deal with at times. Chloe was a character that was hard to connect to because you don't come across many characters like her. She's struggling with so much, her father walked out on them after having an affair and finding out the other woman was pregnant. Her mother has slipped into a depression so bad that Chloe doesn't know how she can help her. Chloe has always dreamed of getting out of her small town, but she defers a year so she can help her mother. This is when she meets Ethan, a sweet guy who takes her mind off of everything, he seems like the perfect distraction. That's until Oliver shows up, Ethan's brother and probably the best definition of a bad boy... E.V.E.R! That boy, I have to admit for falling for his dark, brooding, overly confident attitude straight away. I didn't blame Chloe for being even a little tempted to go there.

Chloe's home life is definitely difficult and I could sympathise with her struggles with her mother. She was in a terribly deep depression but Chloe seemed to be the only one who could see how big a problem it was. Her father was probably one of the worst I have come across in fiction in a long time, he just didn't care at all. I liked how Chloe had stepped up to look after her mother and I think the resentment that builds because of it was very realistic. Chloe was trying her hardest but I liked how much she struggled to put her life on hold for her mother.

Ethan was a character that I felt so sorry for and pitied quite a bit. That boy is so oblivious that it's not even funny. He is utterly sweet, adorable and is basically the perfect boyfriend ever. But, in my opinion, I didn't really understand why he was with or even wanted to be with Chloe. I just felt I was never really shown the moments where she was nice to him. He talks about how nice she is, but we never actually see it. I kind of wanted the boy to just wake up and move on.

This book had the same addictive quality that Dangerous Girls had, you can't put it down. Haas knows how to build up suspense and she knows how to keep your attention 100%. I never got bored once reading this book, I had to continue, had to know what happened that day at the house. This has the kind of intense characters you struggle to understand but want to so bad that it's hurt. They don't seem to react or act how you expect them to or how you would yourself, but that's what works so well. I couldn't predict where the story was going or what these characters would be capable of doing next.



4.5/5 Butterflies

I love Haas and find her writing style is utterly addictive. She writes the kind of books that I find hard to put down, I lose sleep because I have to stay up until I have finished. She is the queen of suspense and keeps you guessing the entire time, I came up with so many wild theories it was unreal. Her characters are twisted which makes them so fascinating to read about. The hunting scene was one that was particularly powerful to me and was a stand out part of the entire book. I felt like I enjoyed it a lot but it didn't leave me as utterly blown away as Dangerous Girls did. Haas needs more books out, I am going to be stalking her Goodreads page for her next book because I have to have! If you are looking for an intense thriller that's going to keep you guessing then I highly recommend this (And, of course, Dangerous Girls too).



*I received a copy of this novel from the author/publisher/publicist via Netgalley in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.


22 comments:

  1. Thank you very much, good luck! Writer's are awesome people, and yes it takes quite an imagination to be one, Yeah!!!!

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  2. This definitely sounds like an author I need to check out. I loved your review, nicely done!

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    1. Thank you. Her books are amazing, I definitely recommend! :)

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  3. Eeeeeeeep! All your feelings, I share. All the love, is like mine! I can't wait to write my review for this, but I'm going to post mine closer to the release date, it might drum up well deserved notice for Haas and her work then, so I'm looking forward to it! Gah, Oliver, I have a thing for Fictional Oliver's, Oliver from The Statistical Probability, Oliver from The Geography and now, Oliver from Dangerous Boys, oops ;)

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    1. I kind of forgot how far away release day was, probably should have waited too! But I needed a review post and this one one was so easy to write because I had so much love for it. Oliver was good, until he went a bit too creepy ha!

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  4. This one sounds amazing. I can’t believe I haven’t heard about these book before. I loved your review. I definitely need to read this one. Especially when you say it’s very addicting. I love addicting books! :D

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    1. Very, very, VERY addictive! They just have this quality to them that pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the final page.

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  5. This is an author and book series I'm not familiar with but will definitely be looking them both up! Great review!

    Thea @ Gizzimomo's Book Shelf

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    1. They're not a series exactly, both are thrillers though and they are very well done.

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  6. Man, I think I need to check out these books! Thanks for your awesome review. Now I need to go and read these books and see just how amazing they seem to be!

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  7. Reading your review made me excited to read this one!! I love a good mystery and it sounds like this one was really suspenseful. Can't wait…great review! ~Pam

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    1. It's a really amazing book! Dangerous Girls is my favourite of the two but this one was really great as well.

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  8. I actually clicked this review because I had heard of Haas but didn't know much about her other than she was positively spoken about! So yes, this sounds like a good back. I love suspense and mystery, not knowing the full story but being hinted at it first. I definitely need to try this one out!

    http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2014/06/seraphina-book-review.html

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    1. It's a really amazing book and it kept me guessing the whole time I was reading it. I stayed up till the early hours of the morning just so I could finish. I highly recommend it! :)

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  9. I CANNOT WAIT TO READ THIS BOOK!!! I loved Dangerous Girls and didn't even know there was going to be another book until right after I finished it... which made me insanely happy. And I'm so glad it's about completely different characters and a completely different scenario. EEEE!!! So can't wait for this!

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    1. I hope you absolutely love it, it's another great mystery that keeps you guessing. I definitely preferred Girls, but this was still really, really great! :)

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  10. I too loved Dangerous Girls and can't wait to read Dangerous Boys! I'm pumped. I love that we don't know which brother she saves right away. :)

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    1. I know, it worked so well! I was kept guessing for so long.

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  11. Okay so just to be clear, how is this book related to Dangerous Girls? I haven't read both of them yet but is it a sequel, or...? Goodreads didn't really say it's a series. The premise of both sounds so so so interesting though! I'm putting them on my top tbr! :)

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    1. They aren't related, other than that they are both thrillers and written by the same author. The name confused me at first, it seems like it would be a part of a series or a sequel. But I guess it's so people know they're from the same writer.

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