Growing up is hard to do
Kindle Edition, 400 pages
Expected publication: November 10th 2015 by Simon & Schuster
Becca Fitzpatrick has a bit of a following as young adult writer with her ‘Hush. Hush’ series. In her latest offering of Dangerous Lies, Fitzpatrick will certainly keep her legion of fans glued to the pages.
Having witnessed a brutal crime Estella is renamed Stella and finds herself bundled into witness protection, cut off from a life she loves and ripped away from Reid her true love. Stella is not sure things could get much worse until she finds herself stuck in Thunder Basin, Nebraska which is a backwater town. What is meant to be a safe haven becomes a world of trouble for Stella who finds that she continually swimming against the tide. Not only does she have to contend with a criminal trying to ensure she does not testify, a local town bully takes an instant dislike and then there is Chet Falconer. He makes Stella question all she believes is true and her love for Reid.
There is no doubt about Stella is angry, confused, self-centred and awful. Don’t let that put you off because as character she grows and that’s what makes the story work. The young lady at the start of the book is not the same one at the end. She has to face a series of harsh truths and comes to accept what is really in her control.
Fitzpatrick has created a strong set of characters that all have their own intriguing backstories. The writing is snappy with some nice deft character descriptions for example Theo had a ‘constellation of acne’. The world of Thunder Basin lifts off the page and had me looking it up to see if the place was real.
What I liked was though this is a young adult’s novel it is gritty, it deals with tough issues and it does not patronise the reader. This is a young woman who has to face up to the choices she has made and the choices she will make. It is good reading.
For the Fitzpatrick’s fans they will love the book and I am sure it will bring a host of new fans.
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