Review (of sorts): Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

Goodreads

Amazon

Paperback, 400 pages

Published May 6th 2014 by Simon Pulse (first published July 16th 2013)

Source: Purchased

My Rating: I don’t even know. Just read it.

From Goodreads:

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 hard truths about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love. As she awaits the judge’s decree, it becomes clear that everyone around her thinks she is not just guilty, but dangerous. When the truth comes out, it is more shocking than one could ever imagine..

Well. Holy crap. Where am I supposed to begin with this one? I figured I’d sleep on it, decipher my thoughts. That didn’t really work out. So then I thought I’d give it a couple days. Nope, still not going great. So let’s just go for it, okay?

I spent a good majority of the book screaming at the Aruba judicial system. How corrupt! And I wondered how much the media really does sway opinions: Mine, yours, the judge, jury, everyone. And of course, can you even comprehend the hellish nightmare it would be to be stuck in an Aruban prison, completely alone and innocent, but without any real resources? It scared me. A lot.

I spent the entire book doing two things:

1. Staying up too late reading it because I could not put it down. Seriously, be prepared to just keep on reading.

2. Trying to guess who did it. (I never did, at least, never for sure.) Try to stop yourself from doing this. It made me annoyed with myself. Just read the book.

This book was really well written. It jumps all over the place, from the trial, to the trip, to before the trip, and everywhere in between. But it completely works. I didn’t know what to make of any of the characters, except that I was mad at them for how they were treating Anna. I think that was kind of the point though, because if too much had been revealed, well, it wouldn’t have been the absolute mindfuck (sorry, there is literally no better word) that it ended up being. I don’t even know how to rate it. In fact, I am not even bothering, just read it!

I won’t tell you any more. I will, however, insist that you read it. Immediately. And while you do, here are some of my feelings: