Author: Trish Doller
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery/Thriller
Source: Bloomsbury Australia
Goodreads
Eighteen-year-old Arcadia wants adventure. Living in a tiny Florida town with her dad and four-year-old brother, Cadie spends most of her time working, going to school, and taking care of her family. So when she meets two handsome cousins at a campfire party, she finally has a chance for fun. They invite her and friend to join them on a road trip, and it's just the risk she's been craving-the opportunity to escape. But what starts out as a fun, sexy journey quickly becomes dangerous when she discovers that one of them is not at all who he claims to be. One of them has deadly intentions.Review by Nara
A road trip fling turns terrifying in this contemporary story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
*minor spoilers for the book*
I really think that Trish Doller's books must just not be for me. I didn't really like Where the Stars Still Shine, and I liked The Devil You Know even less. Which is a bit disappointing, because a lot of people seem to like her books. Definitely sad I'm not one of them.
To be frank, Cadie was a freaking moron.
1. She goes on a road trip with a friend and two complete strangers, one of whom has a past history of crime and violence, and has tattoos and a dangerous-looking "Frankenstein" scar. I don't mean to stereotype here, but seriously.
2. She gets sent a ridiculously sketchy text from her friend who for some reason goes home on the second day of the road trip despite being super excited about it, and thinks everything is fine.
3. When she calls back home, said friend's parents think that she's still with Cadie, and Cadie does nothing to question or try to find out where the friend is.
4. There are literally at least 10-15 points in the book where something dodgy happens, and she has absolutely no thoughts of going home despite seeing all those warning signs.
Okay, I'm going to stop there before I get any more spoilery, but I can tell you now, Cadie does a heck of a lot more idiotic things throughout the second half of the book. I just cannot believe that someone could be so ignorant of things happening around her. It's not even dramatic irony, because any reasonable person in a similar situation would be able to see how dodgy the situation is.
I either disliked or felt nothing about all of the characters. Every. Single. One. As I've already said above, Cadie is a moron. The two strangers Matt and Noah were both beyond dodgy. I really couldn't get behind the romance either. Such a massive instalove. On both sides. Basically, I just felt like bashing my head on the wall the entire time I was reading the book because everyone in the book made such poor decisions.
And oh my god, this book is so ridiculously predictable. Literally from the start, I was like "yep that character is the villain" and lo and behold, when the "twist" came, it was indeed that character I'd picked. There was also something about the realism of the story that bugged me, and I'm actually finding it really hard to put my finger on what it was. It wasn't necessarily unrealistic per se, but it wasn't the most believable story either. I think mostly because of how idiotic the protagonist was. No one who can singlehandedly run a three person household for several years can be that stupid.
You know, after writing this review, I realised I really don't like this book. There's basically nothing positive I can say about it apart from that the quality of the writing itself wasn't terrible. Other people have rated it highly though, so do give it a go if it interests you.
Didn't like it
RatingsOverall: 2/10
Plot: 1/5
Romance: 1/5
Writing: 3/5
Characters: 1/5
Cover: 2/5
