3 Stars

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.

Asking for It

Top Five Friday #11: Yet to be Released Books I'm Most Excited For

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Top Five Friday is a meme hosted at Katieemay which lists our top 5 choices based on a bookish theme of my choice.

*****

There always seem to be so many books that aren’t released yet that I’m super excited for, so this topic just makes me even more excited for these books! My most anticipated are always in my calendar, so I’ll have to flick through that and see which ones I’m super hyped for!

1. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Expected Publication Date: October 6th 2015
I think I’m with most people reading this post: Fangirl was amazing! Obviously I’m super excited for the spin-off book. I also love Rainbow Rowell’s writing, so I practically know that I’m going to adore this book when it comes out!

Goodreads Synopsis:
Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.

2. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Expected Publication Date: March 8th 2016
I am a massive fan of all Cassandra Clare’s books, so when I heard that she’d be releasing another Shadowhunter series, I could not contain my excitement! This is going to be pre-ordered as soon as I can - this is going to be another amazing series by her. Why did it have to be moved to 2016?!

Goodreads Synopsis:
Los Angeles. It’s been five years since the events of the Mortal Instruments when Nephilim stood poised on the brink of oblivion and Shadowhunter Emma Carstairs lost her parents. After the blood and violence she witnessed as a child, Emma has dedicated her life to to discovering exactly what it was that killed her parents and getting her revenge.

Raised in the Los Angeles Institute with the Blackthorn family, Emma is paired as a parabatai with her best friend, Julian Blackthorn. A series of murders in the city catch her attention — they seem to have the same characteristics as the deaths of her parents. Could the murderer be the same person? And her attention isn’t the only one caught: someone has been murdering Downworlders as well. The Fair Folk make a deal with the Institute: if the Blackthorns and Emma will investigate the killings, they’ll return Mark Blackthorn to his home. The catch: they have only two weeks to find the killers. Otherwise it’s open war between faeries and Nephilim.

The Shadowhunters of the Institute must race against time to catch the killers, even as they begin to suspect the involvement of those closest to them. At the same time, Emma is falling in love with the one person in the world she’s absolutely forbidden by Shadowhunter Law to love. Set against the glittering backdrop of present-day Los Angeles, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches from the warlock-run nightclubs of the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica.

3. Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

Expected Publication Date: November 10th 2015
All of Becca Fitzpatrick’s books are such guilty pleasures for me... I know I really shouldn’t like them, but I end up loving all of them. I definitely will be buying this book as soon as possible, because although the plots always seem a bit on the iffy-anti-feminist side, I always end up really enjoying Fitzpatrick’s work.

Goodreads Synopsis:
Stella Gordon is not her real name. Thunder Basin, Nebraska, is not her real home. This is not her real life.

After witnessing a lethal crime, Stella Gordon is sent to the middle of nowhere for her own safety before she testifies against the man she saw kill her mother’s drug dealer.

But Stella was about to start her senior year with the boyfriend she loves. How can she be pulled away from the only life she knows and expected to start a new one in Nebraska? Stella chafes at her protection and is rude to everyone she meets. She’s not planning on staying long, so why be friendly? Then she meets Chet Falconer and it becomes harder to keep her guard up, even as her guilt about having to lie to him grows.

As Stella starts to feel safer, the real threat to her life increases—because her enemies are actually closer than she thinks…

4. Asking for It by Louise O'Neill

Expected Publication Date: September 3rd 2015
I really loved Louise O'Neill’s other book Only Ever Yours, so I’m anticipating loving this one just as much. Again, it’s on a really hard-hitting and important topic, so obviously I’m going to read it. A feminist book by one of my new favourite authors? Yes please!

Goodreads Synopsis:
It's the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O'Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there's a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma. The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can't remember what happened, she doesn't know how she got there. She doesn't know why she's in pain. But everyone else does. Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don't want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town's heroes...

5. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Expected Publication Date: September 1st 2015
It wouldn’t be a real most-anticipated list without Queen of Shadows. Ever since I finished Heir of Fire at the start of March, I’ve been dying to get my hands on this book. I adore Sarah J. Maas’s writing style, and I’m in love with the Throne of Glass series, so I just know that I’m going to love this book.

Goodreads Synopsis:
Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

What are the books that are yet to be released that you are most excited for? Let me know below!