Review: The Devil You Know

Title:  The Devil You Know
Series:  None
Author:  Trish Doller (Website | Twitter)
Age Group:  Young Adult 
Publisher:  Bloomsbury Childrens
Publication Date:  June 2, 2015
Source:  Bought

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.
A road trip fling turns terrifying in this contemporary story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

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So, this book would have been a lot better if Arcadia, our main character, hadn't made so many stupid decisions, the biggest of which being running off with two strange men that she knew for less than a day.  I just...my brain couldn't understand why.  Why, Arcadia?!?!  Why would you do something so completely idiotic?  I enjoyed the mystery aspect more than anything and the creep factor definitely got me.  It was a subtle and the sort of freaky that really crept up on me.  But still, I was pretty disappointed I hadn't liked this read more; I was really excited about reading it and it didn't quite meet my expectations.  It just left me kind of meh once I have finally turned the final page.

Like I said, my biggest problem with this novel was the main character.  Arcadia honestly just got on my nerves.  I didn't understand her reasoning behind almost everything she did.  Like, I got that she wanted a bit of freedom and adventure but this was just too much.  If you want freedom and adventure, go out with people that you know, not random dudes that you meet in the woods.  It was just so stupid, I couldn't bear it.  Even when things began looking really sketchy, Arcadia refused to admit that she may have done something wrong.  Her stubbornness and complete disregard for the feelings of her dad and brother really turned me off from liking her.  

Now, of course, the two random guys that Arcadia runs away with soon become potential love interests.  One, a bad boy with a violent past, the other, a goody-goody that is super caring and sweet.  I honestly didn't like either of them.  Mostly because their relationships with Arcadia were built around her stupidity and lack of self preservation and just felt all around too rushed.  I was suspicious of them both the entire time we were with them but guess pretty early what was going on with the creepy mystery aspect of this book.  It was fairly predictable with the way the guys acted and I wasn't shocked in the slightest when the big reveal happen.  I still enjoyed the mystery though and see it all unfold.  

Overall, I didn't really like this book.  The mystery aspect was the only part I thoroughly enjoyed and even that was fairly predictable and even felt a little rushed at the end.  Still, I was a pretty easy and fast read so if you don't mind some serious eye-rolling and a drive-you-crazy MC, it's worth check out.  

"I rationalized everything, telling myself that I earned this time away from home. But now, with too much time to do nothing but think, I wonder if I was just plain selfish. Just … stupid."

Two Teapots

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