ARC Review: Dangerous Lies

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Dangerous Lies
By Becca Fitzpatrick

Source: Gift from Anna @ Enchanted by YA - thank-you! (YALC), ARC
Genres: Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery, Romance, Contemporary

Goodreads Synopsis:
Stella Gordon's life is a lie.
She does not belong in Thunder Basin, Nebraska. As the key witness in a murder trial, Stella is under witness protection, living a life she doesn't want. No one can know who she really is. Not even Chet Falconer, her hot, enigmatic neighbour. But against her better judgement, Stella finds herself falling under Chet's spell ...
A storm is brewing. Is Stella really safe in Thunder Basin? And will Chet be her shelter, or her downfall ...? 

I went into this book a little nervous. I binge-read all of Becca Fitzpatrick’s books around this time last year, and while I really enjoyed them then, I’m not sure that I would feel the same way now. Though, I was pleasantly surprised, because I ended up really enjoying Dangerous Lies! It was in no way a perfect book, and was greatly flawed, but it was a really fun, quick read. I think it’s definitely her best book to date!

My favourite thing about this book was all of the family themes. The book explored the importance of family, and the unconditional love within families. I haven’t found this in Fitzpatrick’s other books, but it was done really well in this one. It could get quite sad at times, but Carmina - Stella’s foster Mum - was always there, which I thought was really important. The book would have been pretty miserable without the constant love of Carmina!

I really liked the direction the book went in. It could have been stuck in the past, trying to build up tension, but the unknown was sometimes forgotten so we could just enjoy what was happening. I liked how fast paced it was, because it meant I was never bored. There was always something happening, and if it wasn’t major, I wanted to read on to solve the mystery about Stella’s past. It made Dangerous Lies a really fun and quick read.

My main problem with this book was Stella, the protagonist. At the start, she was bratty, spoiled, and hideously stupid. Under the circumstances, she was extremely lucky to be in the position she was in, but seemed to be completely taking it for granted. I hated the way she was slut-shaming and putting down complete strangers and just being really rude. This was a bad setup, because it meant I really didn’t care about her at all! Though thankfully, she changed drastically throughout the book.

By the end, I had grown to like her. She had grown out of her immature behavior from the start, and was actually really likeable. She noticed her stupid decisions, and didn’t make them any more. I was actually very surprised, because in Fitzpatrick’s other books (and YA in general), this amount of character growth is rare! She had turned into a very likeable character, which meant I was really invested in what was to happen to her in the ending.

I was disappointed in the way the book ended. With about 20 pages to go, everything wasn’t rounded off at all, and we were no better for answers than we were about 100 pages ago! I was really worried that things wouldn’t be tied up well enough, so I was a little disappointed with the way it ended. It felt very rushed, and I think it needed longer so everything wasn’t just happening at the same time. An epilogue would have been nice too, because I would have liked to see a bit more of Stella’s life and what to come for her.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable read! I know that fans of Fitzpatrick’s other books will love this too, because the style is exactly the same, and in my opinion, this one is the best. There were a few things that bothered me, but I liked how everything came together at the end. I’ll definitely be reading more by Fitzpatrick in the future.

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6 comments

  1. I have to confess that I have never been a fan of Fitzpatrick's books (my last reads by her were the first two Hush Hush novels). It does sound that she's growing as a writer though, as I've heard a lot of positive things about this book, particularly in regards to the character development - as you have mentioned in your own review. I'll have to check it out sometimes when my TBR pile frees up!

    Aentee at Read at Midnight

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    1. Even though generally she's quite popular, I think most of us book bloggers aren't a fan of her at all. I like her though, and I'm not changing my opinion just to be the same as everyone else! I definitely think she's growing as a writer - the last book in the Hush Hush series, Finale, was by far the best in the series, and her other book, Black Ice, was even better (though not as good as this one though haha). I'd definitely recommend this one! It's very different to her other books so I think you'll be able to give it a go.

      Thanks for the comment, Aentee ♥

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  2. I loved this one actually, which really surprised me because I really didn't connect with her Hush Hush series. Stella was a brat in the beginning wasn't she, but her character growth really was awesome and I ended up really liking her in the end. I loved Chet. I thought their romance was a little too right place, right time kind of deal. She's the new girl and it was just convenient, but still enjoyed it nonetheless. I think she gets better and better with each book and can't wait to see what she's working on next. Awesome review Denise, really enjoyed it <3

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    1. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Yeah I really hated Stella too, but, like you, she did grow on me. Their romance was enjoyable but it did feel a little too convenient in places... I just overlooked that so I could enjoy the story more! I'm really excited for her future books too. Hopefully she'll continue to grow!

      Thank-you so much for dropping by! <3

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  3. I just wanted to let you know I am now following you on bloglovin! I did have to search it up because your bloglovin link is not working at the current moment? It doesn't take me to your page.

    THAT aside, I really have a similar review to yours on the blog :) This was my first Becca Fitzpatrick book and I really did like it, but almost DNFed it at the beginning because of how much I couldn't like the main character. I am so glad I decided to push through this once and see how things would turn out. I actually really liked the ending though, although it was pretty rushed!

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    1. Thanks for letting me know! I'll have to fix that ASAP. I'm glad you could find it through a search though. I think I'm already following your blog on bloglovin too :)

      I'll have to check out your review soon then! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it! I definitely agree - Stella was the worst at the start, but she changed so much. The ending definitely felt rushed too, but I'm pleased with the way it was ended. Thank-you so much, Olivia-Savannah!

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