Review: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Book Title: Dangerous Boys

Author: Abigail Haas

Publish Date: August 14th, 2014

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Genre: YA Thriller

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Link: The Book Depository 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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…

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Review:

Abigail Haas is a diabolical GENIUS. It's no secret that I loved her previous book, Dangerous Girls. I honestly didn't know what to expect with this book, but I hoped that it could measure up to Dangerous Girls.

And it did just that. Actually I think I enjoyed it more than Dangerous Girls, but I'm not exactly sure why that is. Two completely different ways of telling a story, but they both had the suspense, the mystery and the intrigue. I really loved how the story was told with two separate timelines. One was present day and one was everything leading up to that day. That way seems to be a new way of telling stories and I'm digging it big time. One of my other favorite books of 2014, Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang, also told the story in the same way.

In Dangerous Boys, we meet a girl by the name of Chloe who is living in her own personal hell. She's taking care of her mom who had fallen into a deep depression after her husband left her for his pregnant mistress. I had complicated feelings about this scenario. On one hand, I was frustrated that Chloe didn't go away to college like she planned because she felt like her mom needed her. It was not Chloe's responsibility to take care of her mother. Her mom was an adult for goodness sakes. Yet, I am extremely close to my mom and she went through her own bout of depression 4 years ago and I could never have left her to fend for her own. I would never have forgiven myself for leaving her.

See, what did I tell you. Complicated.

Chloe meets Ethan and his older brother Oliver. Ethan makes her feel safe, protected and adored. Whereas Oliver challenges her, and awakens a part of her that she didn't even know existed. Chloe remains torn on these boys even as her relationship with the younger Reznick brother, grows. She cannot shake the feelings she is having for Oliver.

When something happens to Chloe, she calls Oliver and I think it's because two of them would have handled the incident the same way. If Ethan had been made aware of what had happened, things would have been handled much differently and both Oliver and Chloe realize that.

The ending was amazing, and full of suspense as we, the reader is finally given the full picture of what happened on that night. Which boy survived? Which boy did Chloe leave to die in the burning inferno.Was it murder or self defense or a terrible accident. I can say that I absolutely didn't see so much of this coming. Abigail Haas has definitely earned herself a spot on my auto-buy list. 5 stars for this book full of mind fuckery.