Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick Series: Stand-alone
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on November 10th 2015
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
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Rating:
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Stella Gordon’s life is a lie.
She does not belong in Thunder Basin, Nebraska. As the star witness in a murder trial against a drug dealer, Stella is now in the Witness Protection Program. The small-town locals can never know who she really is. Not even Chet Falconer, the one boy who makes her want to reveal her true self. She knows that telling the truth will only bring violence to this safe haven.
Despite how hard Stella tries to stay under the radar, danger is fast approaching. Criminals have a way of getting rid of witnesses, and Stella may have made the one mistake that could lead the cold-blooded men hunting for her right to her doorstep.
Estella Goodwinn has witnessed a terrible crime and upon agreeing to testify against the man who is sitting in jail, she must enter the witness protection program in order to keep her from the dangerous crime world the man is involved with. Because Danny Balando is pissed, and his connections in the cartel will want to find the girl who tossed him in jail.
I am completely stunned by this book, Becca Fitzpatrick really blew this one out of the water for me. She took the main character, made her utterly unlikable and through careful character development and growth, swiftly changed how I felt about Stella. At the beginning I wanted to grow at how inconsiderate and ungrateful Stella was. These people were putting their lives on the line to protect her and kept hitting the wall of snob that this character came built with. I wanted to throttle her. I literally put the book down for a few days because I was so angry at how she was handling her situation. After calming down, I plowed on, because despite my utter hate for Stella’s character, Becca Fitzpatrick’s writing was absolute perfection. Her way with words really knows how to pull you in, and her talent for writing really shines through the book. Once I was engrossed and trapped, I could NOT put this book down.
Mystery, secrets, lies and the mix characters of Thunder Basin, Nebraska made this book a real page turner. I loved seeing Stella grow and develop as a character. I love seeing her shed her jaded ways and accept Thunder Basin for what it was and the people surrounding her as friends. I also came to admire her as a character. In the end, I saw her for what she was, at the beginning a scared and lost girl who lashed out at everyone because she was losing her identity and growing into a strong and remarkable woman. I was glad to see her refuse at being pushed around when she ran into her troubles with Trigger and proud that she took action instead of letting the guy get away with everything he was getting away with, just because of who he was to the town.
I admired the way she treated the character’s close to her, including Inny and Chet. The growth of trust and relationship building between her and Carmina, the woman who took her under her wings when she entered the protection program.
There was just so much going on, never really a dull moment. The secrets and lies Stella told really were taking a toll on her and made her question her morals.
Learning about Carmina’s past, really made you feel for the character. It’s devastating, it’s poignantly sad and it touched my emotions on so many levels. It left me a bit startled that after everything she went through, she wasn’t a more jaded character.
The romance in this was slow-burn and I loved it. I was so glad because it was such a refreshing change from all the recent insta-love. Because of Stella’s previous relationship that she had to leave behind, and all the lies she has to keep secret, her and Chet’s relationship starts as friendship that very slowly blooms into something more. It was believable and fantastic because I totally adored Chet. He has his own share of demons in the closet, things in the past that he has to live with because a part of the town does not seem to want to let him forget. He is such a strong, moral character with a heart of gold. The way he felt he needed to take care of his brother was both as heart breaking as respectable. The ending only made me love him ever more.
Chet was a good guy - a great guy. He didn’t deserve the deception and heartache that would come from getting involved with me.
Despite Stella’s mother being a sorry excuse for a human being and bringing all this trouble coming down on top of her daughter’s head, there was still a strong sense of family in this book, especially when Carmina and Stella started to form a deeper bond. The care was obviously there, especially a moment that moved the bonds of their relationship and made it stronger.
Another part wanted to hug her. Maybe even shed tears of gratitude. She had my back. I wasn’t alone.
I didn’t like Stella’s mother’s character, she was a junkie who Stella as a minor ends up taking care of because the drug addiction and depression was so strong she could not function as a normal mom.
A glimpse of blue sky, a singing bird on the windowsill. Or, in my case, not having the weight of caring for my mom dragging me under. What if Thunder Basin was my chance to come up for air?
I think the only reason I did not give this book 5 stars is because everything happened in the end so quickly, all the actions and the sense of forbodding that was happening in this book exploded and wrapped up rather quickly. I was also confused with what happened to Reed, the author never really touched on that in the wrap up.
Outside of that. I really enjoyed the masterfully writing that kept me turning the pages late into the night. Even if it did give me a couple of black circles under my eyes, it was totally well worth it. I adored it all and can’t wait to see what Fitzpatrick has in store for me next.
I leaned my back against the wall and shut my eyes. I rested a hand on the windowsill and let the cool air wash over my clammy skin. I breathed deeply, trying to plant my feet solidly in Thunder Basin.
My problems receded into the shadows and life seemed simple again. I felt cool, sweet relief. Tonight Thunder Basin didn’t feel like a prison. It felt like a set of open doors at the end of a long, painful road, beckoning me closer.
