Book Club Review: Dangerous Boys

DANGEROUS BOYS

by Abigail Haas

Pages: 336 (paperback)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books

Publication Date: August 14th 2014

ISBN: 9781471119163

Links to Mine and Emma's spoiler free reviews of Dangerous Boys

The YA's Nightstand & Mab Is Mab

Dangerous Boys

Book Club Discussion

**SPOILERS**

What were your first thoughts after finishing Dangerous Boys?

Mily: Oh. My. God.

What am I meant to do with my life now?

What the hell just happened?!?

This book was addictive but that last page changed the whole damn thing. I’ve never known an author to be able to switch my outlook on a character so dramatically. It was epic! I mean it was a complete and utter head f**k but I want more. I know it’s got nothing to do with Dangerous Boys but I need to read Dangerous Girls now because I need more of this ladies writing!

Emma: “wait… what? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”

I felt like I had just had the ground pulled from beneath me. I also realized I had been siding with Chloe the whole way without really knowing it! That and, like Mily says, “I need Dangerous Girls”. I had heard it was even better and I didn’t believe it could get any better!

How did you feel about the love triangle?

Mily: I went through several fazes with this one. To start with it felt a little predictable, like ‘oh sure start falling for the good guys bad brother’. But as it developed and the story became more about who Chloe was and having Oliver there to encourage her darker side made the love triangle aspect much more intense. It took on a new and twisted tone. Which in turn, made it exciting and disturbing all at the same time.

Emma: I am usually very “anti” romance and definitely don’t choose books with a strong relationship theme. However, it has got to be said that this love triangle was darkly intense and I loved it! I liked that Oliver was the rebel, the bad boy, and therefore, as tradition dictates, “the alluring, hot one”. However, nothing is as it seems in this book and everything gets flipped on its head and it was such a thrilling ride!

That said, blood kissing was 100% weird!

Mily: OMG! The blood kiss was really creepy. And yet, I don’t know about you, but it pulled me right into the story. I think that was the moment I realized that there was a much darker side to Chloe.

What did you think about the change in Chloe’s character through out the book?

Mily: It was unexpected! I mean you could see it wasn’t going to end well because of all the books layout. But it constantly kept me guessing. I didn’t know which brother she would save. I didn’t know why she did any of the things she did. This book turned from a generic love triangle YA to a dark and almost perverted look into human nature. The needs and desires that were unlocked with in Chloe made for an powerful and unpredictable book. As I said, I couldn’t have guessed the Chloe we read on the last page. It was like a whole new character.

Emma: It was clever and paced soooo well. I’m wary to say I kind of related to Chloe in the first half of this book – ha! The need to get out of a small town and experience a bit of the unknown…  I never went to university either and things can get monotonous and stifling. BUT, I would like to think I drew a line at rebelliousness before it hit a certain point! I thought Chloe’s actions under Oliver’s influence were unpredictable and at times shocking. I had absolutely NO idea which brother she was going to be saving at any point!

Mily: I was the same. It wasn’t until the told us which brother it was that I knew. A part of me hoped she was a good person and would safe the right brother but there was so much supporting her darker side. By the time we find out which brother was saved I was shocked that it wasn’t the other.

Would you want to hear the story told from one of the brother’s points of view?

Mily: Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!! I’d love a book from Oliver’s point of view. I think it would be fascinating to read what was going through his head and the reasoning’s he gave himself for all the things he did. It would literally be like stepping inside a psychopath’s brain and I think it would make for an intriguing and simply terrifying read.

Emma: No, I don’t think so. I think Dangerous Boys had such an interesting angle coming from Chloe – she was a completely open book, involved equally with both brothers, and perhaps even the “truest” psychopath of the novel.  I also felt I got a good enough sense of the brothers that new viewpoints wouldn’t give much in the way of new insight?! They’d just be more biased?!

What was your least favorite part of the book?

Mily: I always add in this question but I actually don’t think I have a least favourite part of this book! It was all epic and beautifully written.

Emma: Ethan! Haha! He’s just totally not my favourite kind of male character… When he walked into the diner at the start and I realized he would actually be a main character, I almost put the book down. Thank goodness Chloe didn’t instalove him else I’d never have made it to all the awesomeness that ensued!

Mily: Haha. Really? I found Ethan a little on the clingy side (as far as boyfriends go) but I didn’t dislike him.

Abigail has a unique writing style to her books. What did you think of the switching between past and present?

Mily: LOVED IT! The constant back and forth made it exciting. That’s not even mentioning the fact Abby has this way of lulling me into a false sense of security where I think I’ve figured it out and then with a sentence she can unravel and change the whole book. I can’t wait to reread this as I think it’s going to be like reading a completely different story.

Emma: It was brilliant! It kept me guessing the whole way through, revealing just enough to ensure I couldn’t put the book down before switching. So much fun! I definitely agree that the sense of false security is the biggest thing with Abigail’s writing style. And oh, the way she rips it from you!

What was the main thing you took away from the book?

Mily: That human’s a messed up and complicated! That it doesn’t take much to unlock that side of us… I’ve always believed in choice, and that we have the potential to be good or bad and it’s the choices we make that determine that. Well, this book shows that to the extreme.

Emma: Blood kissing?! I literally cannot forget that scene!

Chloe and Oliver’s relationship throughout the book was very dark, but do you blame Oliver for the change in Chloe’s character?

Mily: No. I think he flipped a switch but I think Chloe was always like that. I think it was only a matter of time.

Emma: Totally agree with Mily. Oliver definitely didn’t encourage light and sunflowers(!) but I imagine his game is setting things up to watch them tumble beneath their own weight. That’s what I think he did to Chloe; the darkness was there to manipulate from the beginning, he just watched it crack.

Mily: Exactly! I think that’s also what made Oliver all the more dangerous. He could see something in her and it was a game to him. He loved the power that came with being able to bring out Chloe’s darker side.

What was your favourite moment from Dangerous Boys?

Mily: The ending for sure! I know we (Emma and I) have spoken about it before and I’m still confused. This book messes with your mind and the very last page is so insanely brilliant that I don’t even care that I still have no idea what happened.

Emma: The ending. I seriously can’t fully process what it means - for the past or for the future! Can I have a sequel please?!

Mily: AGREED! Need a sequel.