Review of Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick


Published by Simon & Schuster
on November 10, 2015

Plot Summary for Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick 

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…

Review of Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

I'm a huge fan of thrillers and very happy that they seem to be more of a thing now in YA. That said, I almost didn't read this. I read Fitzpatrick's prior thriller last year and had my issues with it. I thought Black Ice had an excellent premise, plus good suspense and plotting, but really unlikeable characters and Stockholm-syndrome-creepily-masquerading-as-romance.

Weirdly, I though Dangerous Lies had the exact opposite strengths and weaknesses:  likeable characters (Stella starts out a little bratty but goes through a lot of growth) and a sweet romance, but was seriously lacking in the suspense department for a book that was supposed to be a thriller.

Overall, I preferred Dangerous Lies to Black Ice because, to me, connection to the characters trumps plot. But as I lay on the couch flipping pages, I wished Dangerous Lies had been a little more thrilling. 

Stella, who is in witness protection because a scary drug dealer wants to kill her, seems in danger for about 5% of the book. The rest of the time, she's working as a carhop, playing softball, and going to church. 

There's technically a love triangle, but for some reason it didn't bother me. At the opening of the book, Stella and her boyfriend are sent to different witness protection locations and I guess in my mind, that was the equivalent of a break-up. But if you have love triangle issues, be forewarned. 

The plotting wasn't bad, but wasn't as twisty as Black Ice. I guessed one of the two main plot twist but did think they were well set-up.

All in all, I thought Dangerous Lies was a pretty good read, but I'd call it romantic suspense rather than a thriller.


Comments

  1. Glad you loved this one. I didn't find it to be a love triangle though because the boyfriend excited for the first chapter and than well..what she found out..yeah.
    The writing was awesome, but I can see how this could have used a bit more thrilling moments.

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    1. Ha - I did see that coming, which was maybe why it didn't seem triangle-y...

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  2. I wasn't even aware of this book - looks interesting!

    Kate @ Ex Libris

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    1. If you like romantic suspense, you should definitely give it a try!

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  3. I agree with you. I wanted it to be more thrilling as well, but overall Iiked the characters and the romance quite a bit for me to bother me.
    Glad you liked it too, Jen!

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    1. As romantic suspense, I thought it was pretty good!

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  4. I agree that characters trump plot a lot for me. Still when I read a thriller or suspense I want it to be really page turning and have me on the edge of my seat. Still sounds like a good read. Great review!

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    1. Definitely no edge-of-seat here. But still a fun book!

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  5. I agree with you about the thriller aspect of it. The romance was more of a focal point than I expected, but it was a very good read nevertheless. I actually preferred her Black Ice, but this kept me very entertained.

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    1. Oh, Black Ice and I had such huge issues!!

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  6. I enjoyed Black Ice, so I'm thrilled you enjoyed Dangerous Lies! It is funny how they sorta swapped the romance and suspense strengths though. Black Ice had me on edge, still this sounds great.
    Thanks for the lovely review, Jen :)

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    1. Black Ice was definitely more suspenseful!

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  7. Oh Oh I totally agree! Black Ice drove me nuts...>_> I can't take characters making stupid decisions ALL of the time. And Stella's first 100-pages made me want to basically throw the book...but awww, it melted in the end and IT WAS SO NICE. :') I loved her and Carmina's relationship!! Definitely not hugely thrilling? But a really super good read. :D

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    1. I loved that part of the book, especially since Stella had such issues with her mother!

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  8. Oh I've got this one up next. A little disappointed about the lack of suspense, but there's more to love, I see. :)

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  9. I didn't like Black Ice, so it makes me nervous to read this one...

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  10. Well...OBVIOUSLY there must be something wrong here. I remember reading Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush, and hating it with a passion. Unlikable characters? That sounds like her. But hey, either this is a completely different person, or she is EVOLVING. Its great that you found Dangerous Lies to be a complete twist of Black Ice. The problems you described with Black Ice are the ones I had with her Hush, Hush series, so its kind of hard to believe that there's a believable romance here, lol. But you've made me want to read it now, because EXPECTATIONS.

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  11. I got it for review too and I was kind of afraid to read it because...well you remember us discussing the other one lol I'll let you know what I think once I finish.

    Karen @For What It's Worth

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  12. Ah, I haven't read anything from this author before - heard some pretty critical things which make me think she might not be for me, but I enjoy suspense-y books, so I may give this one a go!

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  13. The only thing I've read by Becca Fitzpatrick is, of course, her Hush, Hush series. I've been really interested in her other work but just haven't picked any of it up, though. I am also one of those people who think characters trump plot, so I might have to give this one a shot before Black Ice. Thanks for the great review!

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