The Devil You Know by Trish Doller | 2015 | Bloomsbury| $17.99
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.
Disclosure statement: I received a physical ARC, which I won a very generous giveaway managed by Lisa Schroeder.
I did not expect to rate this book so highly.
Books that open with teenagers drinking booze, fantasizing about sex, or pining after their ex-boyfriends tend not to hold my attention for very long.
(Please note that I’m not saying that books shouldn’t include those things or that real teens don’t do them. I’m just not interested in reading about it.)
But there’s always an exception to the rule, isn’t there? The Devil You Know is that exception in this case.
The main character, Cadie, really grew on me. She’s a very believable teen, complete with questionable relationship choices and impulse control problems, but she’s also not afraid to stand up for herself, be thoughtful, and take care of business when she needs to. There were several points in the book when she did or said something that made me think, “That’s right girl, you tell him how it is!”
The way the suspense is built up is perfect. The book starts out very much like any contemporary YA novel: teen gets bored, teen rebels just a little bit, teen’s rebellion takes an unexpected turn. But as Cadie’s adventure continues and the weird occurrences start to build up, the reader can’t help but want to shake her by the shoulders and shout for her to watch her back! Even though I’d easily guessed who the bad guy was well before the end, I stayed up until 1 am to finish because I just couldn’t handle the suspense, haha.
The whole Florida atmosphere and the feel of small Southern town life is spot-on. Of course, the author now lives in Florida (according to her website), so I guess that’s to be expected.
Also, I don’t want to be too spoilery so I feel like I can’t write too much about what goes down in this book — but I would have appreciated someone reassuring me of this: Yes, the dog lives!
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Publication information: Doller, Trish. The Devil You Know. New York: Bloomsbury, 2015. Print.
Source: ARC provided via giveaway managed by Lisa Schroeder.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.