Dangerous Girls
by Abigail Haas
2 out of 5 stars
Meh. That's right, this book was "meh". I even forgot to write a review for it. Because it was that forgetful.
I love to read straight up murder mysteries.
Heck, I even read the adult crime/detective ones and enjoyed them.
This read was not only that but also young-adult.
The prologue got me hooked.
Then, completely lost me with the backstory.
SYNOPSIS
From what I remember... There's two besties: Elise, the old rich, and Anna, the new-rich-soon-to-be-pauper. They meet when Anna was made to transfer from a perfectly good public school to a prep school by her dad, who's really keen into working rich PTA members. Although the story starts with an ill-fated Aruba vacation, with Elise ending up murdered in her bedroom, we get to see all the backstory between Elise/Anna. The rest of the story is on Anna's trial for Elise's murder. Is the trial riveting like "A Few Good Men"? I leave that to the reader.
WRITING STYLE
Props to the author who chose to write a non-linear story line. Every chapter happens in a different time in Anna/Elise's life. Don't worry. There's a very helpful heading at the beginning of each chapter to keep you on track. But you don't need it because it's so obvious. For one, Elise is alive in the backstory and Elise is dead in Anna's trial. I find that non-linear story lines fascinating. It keeps you on your toes. But this book didn't need it. In fact, I believe it worked against it because the thrill of watching Anna's trial is cut abruptly in the next chapter, instead of it organically building up the story. It might have worked with shows like "How to Get Away with Murder". But that's because of masterful story telling and great acting. You don't really know what's going on. Plus, every single backstory in that show is a WHAM (show-changing information). This book's backstory is not only un-wham. It's also full of things I don't care about. It's supposed to cement Anna's deprived situation and expound Elise/Anna's friendship. Again, I could do without it.
CHARACTERS
Forgettable. Obvious. Uncomplicated.
POLITICS
Anna is a U.S. citizen. She kills another U.S. citizen in a house owned by U.S. citizens. But the attache can't pull them out of Aruba and relinquishes control of the investigation to the local authorities. Living in a country with a clear U.S. political presence, this would never happen. Aruba is dutch, btw. Meaning under the Kingdom of Netherlands, which is super famous for their political neutrality. And has no obvious political power nor a standing army. Yet, the U.S. government cannot ship everyone out of Aruba and cannot take a hand in the investigation? Wow. I already know the verdict is NOT GUILTY based on her citizenship. I mean, a few years ago, an American soldier was accused of rape by a Filipina. Based on ate's testimony, he's really guilty. I forgot the details but the army takes him away, and gives the ate and her family US citizenship in exchange for their cooperation. Alright, Anna is not part of the army. But the political repercussions of letting Aruba jail a US citizen is unimaginable. The U.S. government would never EVER let this happen. This leads me to believe that this trial is a ruse. It was too effing unbelievable that it would even occur. The highly likely real-world scenario is that this creepy local guy is proclaimed guilty within a few days, goes to jail for a few months, and is released a happy and wealthy man. Or, he goes to jail forever without perks, in a few days time. Not months. No public trial. And, definitely no local investigation not already manipulated by the U.S. embassy. Come on! Anna's no pedophile nor a drug syndicate. And she was in jail for months. Pfft.
MEDIA
The media eats up black propaganda about Anna, who is a U.S. citizen, and watches it on TV. She's a minor who is supposedly wrongly accused of killing another minor, who is her bestie. I don't understand how the U.S. media can believe Aruba info than that of their own citizen. Also, the U.S. government would never allow for that.
SHOULD YOU READ IT?
I personally don't recommend it. The narrative is bad, the characters are blah. Mainly, because it doesn't feel real to me.
Originally posted on GoodReads here.
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