Thursday, July 9, 2015

The Devil You Know by Trish Doller

Arcadia (Cadie) has always wanted adventure.  Her life at home taking care of her little bro and working in her dad's grocery store, is anything but exciting.  One night while out at a campground party, she meets 2 cousins that are passing through Florida on a road trip.  They offer her an escape from her life, which she desperately needs right now... even if it is just for a few days.  They're new and exciting, with a little edge.  With Noah there's an immediate attraction, but Cadie can't deny that there's something about Matt that is enticing too.  Throwing her better judgement to the wind, Cadie goes with the boys on an adventure to remember.... but all the memories from this trip won't be good.  Some of them will be deadly.













This is my 2nd Trish Doller book, the first one being Where the Stars Still Shine.  I had mixed feelings about that one, and I'm kind of in the same boat here.  I almost feel like WTSSS was better thought out, but the romance in TDYK was much more tolerable.  This story is definitely more of a thriller type of book.  Not completely because we really don't get the intensity until right at the end.  Although, I knew with her going off with 2 strangers something bad was bound to happen.

I liked the set up of the book.  It really made Cadie's questionable choices a lot more understandable. After her mother dies of cancer, Cadie's been helping to hold her household together.  She's basically been raising her baby brother, while also doing most of the house chores, AND working in her father's struggling grocery store.  All the while, her dad doesn't talk to her about things, like her mother's death for example, and just expects she will be responsible.  I can totally see how someone with a life like that would just want to break free and do something a little crazy.  And if I'm being honest, when I was Cadie's age I totally would have gone with Matt and Noah without a 2nd thought. I always felt I could handle myself and that nothing bad would ever happen to me.  Basically- I was stupid and lucky to make it out alive.

There is a romance in it, and it was an okay part of the book.  It was insta-lovey at times.... for instance:

"The state park has regulations about dogs being on leashes, but Molly rarely ventures away from Noah.  I mean, who can blame her?  I've only known him a little more than a day, and I want to follow him everywhere."

Yeah.  Umm you've only known him for a day, calm down.  But asides from a few small moments like that, I enjoyed the way Cadie and Noah were.  I also liked the way the sexy-times were thought about in Cadie's mind.  It felt really positive to me.  Another high point was the way Cadie, Noah, and Matt got along during their road trip.  All 3 of them had good chemistry and it kept it interesting.

The Florida setting made things a lot more creepy, especially with the alligators swimming in all the rivers they were paddling in.  They did a lot of water activities in this book, so the fact that there always seemed to be a presence of something deadly in the water added to the atmosphere.

The part I wasn't wild about was the ending.  I figured out who the bad person was right off the bat.  I mean, it was pretty obvious.  And I wanted there to be more of a twist than just that.  I kept waiting for that 2nd surprise to blow me away (like Dangerous Girls), and that never came.  There was also a really sappy ending chapter that I really didn't care for or find realistic.  I think I would have liked it better if the romance wasn't pushed as hard.

OVERALL: A fun mystery/thriller book that I was halfway into.  It definitely took me back to my Fear Street days in a way, but I wanted more surprises than what I got.  I don't think it's something I will remember 5 books from now.

This Book Contains:

  • Florida
  • Road trip!
  • Adventure
  • A '69 Cougar
  • Camping
  • Romance
  • Sex
  • Kayaking
  • Pie

My Rating: 2.5/4












Date Published: 6/2/2015
How I got this book: Bought it
Publisher: Bloomsbury



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15 comments:

  1. I also had trouble with this one too but Michelle I LOOOOOOVED her debut, Something Like Normal. If you liked I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios you will love that one too.

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    1. Well that's good to know!! I like her writing a lot... just neither of the 2 books that I've read of hers had stories that clicked with me.

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  2. I nearly bought this the other day. Great review! I'm in Florida, and I can't imagine swimming here (excluding the ocean, of course)!

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    1. Yikes!! Yes I don't think I would swim in waters in Florida either! Especially after reading this book!

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  3. Yeah, we had the same reaction on our blog. It wasn't our favorite read, and Kara was very upset, because she loved the first book by the author.

    I would have liked this book a lot more if Cadie would not have been so STUPID about some things. Like, when the other girl in the group just winds up missing? That wasn't a red flag? Seriously, really??!! It was the small things such as that example that turned me off of the story.

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    1. Yes I agree... at first it didn't seem like a big deal because she got that text, but when her friend TOLD her that the girl never came home, I thought there should have been more of an alarm there!

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  4. I actually liked this book a bit more than you. I enjoyed it. I don't look for too much in thrillers. Just want to be thrilled and this one did it for me. Like you said the thriller part didn't come to the end but the entire book was just creepy knowing something horrible was going to happen. I have to say though its been a long time since I read a book where I was constantly thinking "how could you be so stupid"

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    1. She definitely did a lot of stupid things!! The only redeeming thing was that her life was so stressful, so I could buy her wanting to do something crazy to get away from it all.

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  5. Hmm, I'm conflicted on reading this one, I've seen a lot of mixed reviews but the positive aspects sound good. The trio dynamic seems fun, and I like road trips. But the romance and being able to guess the ending takes the thrill out, so I'm not sure. Maybe I should check out Dangerous Girls instead.

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    1. Dangerous Girls was !!!!!! So good! If you like road trips, this was interesting though.

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  6. I saw this one on NetGalley and it looked like it might be interesting, but I think I'll skip it based on your review.

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    1. Yeah it's not one of those "must read" books :(

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  7. Nice review. I am still unsure about this book and whether I want to give it a try or not. It sounds okay, but not amazing read. I'm not in a rush to read it. but might give it a try if I get a chance.

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    1. It's not bad, it just didn't do the surprise thing at the end for me and that was a bummer :(

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  8. I definitely agree with you. I was halfway into it the whole time. I just didn't connect with this one on the level that I wanted to. However, I did enjoy the setting and other aspects of the novel.

    Great review.

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