Why I am probably the world's biggest coward: AKA, my review of DANGEROUS BOY

Dangerous Boy
By: Mandy Hubbard
Reported by: Julianna Helms
Source: ARC via tour
Release date: Aug. 30th, 2012 via Razorbill/Penguin

A modern-day retelling of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with a chilling twist.

Harper has never been worried about falling in love, something she is skeptical even exists. But everything changes when Logan moves to town, and to Harper's shock, the two tumble into an intense romance. It's everything she never thought she wanted.

Then she meets Logan's twin brother, Daemon, who was expelled from his last school. True, he's a bad boy, but Harper can't shake the feeling that there's something deeply sinister about him--something dangerous. When Logan starts pulling away, Harper is convinced that Daemon's shadowy past is the wedge being driven between them. But by the time she uncovers the truth, it may be too late.

The author of Prada & Prejudice, You Wish, and Ripple delivers a modern-day retelling of a famously gothic tale, full of suspense, lies, and romance.

-Summary from Goodreads
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Having never read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and not knowing anything about the story, I was massively unprepared for Dangerous Boy. For those of you who have read my Scary School review... this book is definitely type 1 scary for me. It's a thriller that's punctuated by staccatos of humor painted against a background of simmering horror. It's got great, developed characters and shocking twists for the reader to revel in.

And it's got one heck of a scary story that was never meant for me.



Anyone who knows me will tell you that I never bluff except in the field of fears. At school, when the girls are squealing because a bug just flew into the room, I'll be all nonchalant and say, "it's just a bug, guys. It's not going to hurt you." But at home, I'm either frozen up in fear if I see a flying bug, or I'm asking my brother to kill the darn thing for me. Clearly, I am a coward. Which is why I would make a very bad pirate. (I have no idea where that came from.) And why it was a bad idea for me to read this book.

It's not that there is bloody murder going on (though there is), or that there are strange occurrences labeled to leave a chill (though there are). It's more that the abusive Daemon's behavior got to me instead. He's scary as heck and, thank goodness, Harper doesn't "fall in love" with him to "transform him into a country gentleman." She runs. You gotta give props to that girl for having the basic survival instinct that many books, especially YA, lack.

So I suppose, to sum it all up, that the truth is that this book was good but sadly a disappointing fit for me. It's like Stephen King for teens with an originality that's sure to intrigue. Only, as much as I love The Master, some of his books also scare me to almost-but-not-quite-death.

For fans of horror and resignation with doses of creativity and wry humor in between, Dangerous Boy is one heck of a novel that's selective but effective.