Dangerous

By Shannon Hale

Maisie 'Danger' Brown needs excitement. When she wins a harmless-sounding competition to go to astronaut boot camp, that's exactly what she gets . . . But she never imagined it would feature stumbling into a terrifying plot that kills her friends and might just kill her too. Now there's no going back. Maisie has to live by her middle name if she wants to survive – and she'll need to be equally courageous to untangle the romance in her life too. A clever, suspenseful thriller-adventure by New York Times bestselling author and master storyteller Shannon Hale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Apr 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781408845486

Shannon Hale

Shannon Hale is the Newbery Honor–winning and New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Academy series, The Books of Bayern, Book of a Thousand Days, Dangerous, and the graphic novels Rapunzel's Revengeand Calamity Jack, as well as the Ever After High and Princess in Black series, and the upcoming The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl for Marvel. She also wrote three novels for adults, including Austenland, now a major motion picture starring Keri Russell. She and her husband, the author Dean Hale, have four children and live near Salt Lake City, Utah. www.shannonhale.com @HaleShannon

Reviews for Dangerous

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read other Shannon Hale books and my reactions have ranged from "pretty good" to "Nope, not going to finish this". So I went in cautiously and not at all sure I'd like it - but it was excellent. Surprisingly complex - I kept thinking I knew where it was going _now_, and it kept going off in a new direction. Maisie is a teenager, and she does lose her head over a boy...sort of. That usually annoys me, but Maisie handled it much the way I wish others would - this is wonderful but I have other concerns right now. And then it got complicated, and then much more complicated, and terrible...and better. The romance is an integral part of the story, not a side-plot or a distraction, but it's not the major or the only focus of the story (by a long shot). Funny the way the token-symbols flowed together - I wonder if the token-makers were protoplasmic and could meld? Lots of wondering left, at the end of the story. And all the strange tech more or less dealt with - not much changing in the world (rather to Howell and GT's dismay). Poor Dragon - wish we could have seen more of him. But I definitely want to read more of Maisie. And the handling of her disability, and other "differences", was beautiful - they were facets of her, but not the point. The fact that she had only one arm was important to the story at several points - but she was not "the girl with one arm", she was much more than that. I had seen some of Shannon's discussions of her "half-Latina, home-schooled, one-armed, female protagonist" and how Shannon had worried she'd be too far out for people to accept as the hero of the book - but that's not at all how she appeared in the book, she was Maisie (who had all those aspects, and a good many more). I'd forgotten about the discussions until I read the reviews here, actually. Excellent, and I'm looking forward to the next book.

[bryndahlquis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was so excited to read this. Shannon Hale is the best, and now she writes a scifi novel? What could be better?Well, a lot of things.There were lots of parts I enjoyed. I do love Maisie, and the other characters aren't so bad either. The plot is interesting and action-packed and you've got the steamy romance and a love triangle that isn't freaking obnoxious, which is always a bonus.But... it just... was difficult to get through. Everything seemed to happen either way too fast or way too slow. SO MUCH HAPPENED in just 400 pages, and it bothered me. The first half of the book is completely different than the second half, and I think it might've worked better if it had been more fleshed out over a few different installations.But still, it was good. It was edgy and tragic and sweet and all those great things. But it took me so freaking long to get through because the pacing was just weird. It's weird that the pacing alone can make such an impact on how enjoyable the book is, but it's true. I really wish it had been better paced, because then it would've been awesome.

[mirandalg14 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thanks to Netgalley.com and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for allowing me access to this.

4.5 stars. I went into this completely blind. I had no idea what to expect. This is NOTHING like her other books, and yet the writing and story are still just as amazing. I thought the little jokes the father told were pretty funny and helped show the positive relationship she had with her parents. I could have done with a little less of the teenager-y angst, "he loves me, he hates me" stuff, but it mostly came together for me and worked in the end. And it was nice to have a love triangle appear and get squashed just as quickly. It gets really old when they drag out, and sometimes friends are just never more than friends.

Overall, I think fans of Hale's other works will enjoy this one. I would also recommend it for fans of Pittacus Lore as it has a similar feel.

[foggidawn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Maisie Danger Brown dreams of going to space camp, but she knows her parents could never afford it. When she wins a contest she read about on the back of a cereal box, she is ecstatic -- she'll get to study advanced physics and quantum mechanics, and learn about space from the creators of the Beanstalk, the world's first and only space elevator. At space camp, she's grouped with three other campers into a "fireteam" who complete challenges together. It's a camper outside her fireteam who most intrigues her, though: Jonathan Wilder, a rich young playboy who becomes Maisie's space camp romance. When Maisie's fireteam wins all of their challenges, they are taken on a special trip to see the base of the Beanstalk. Jonathan, as best performing individual camper, is also invited. And it's at the Beanstalk where things start to go in directions Maisie could never have anticipated. Bonnie Howell, the Beanstalk's eccentric creator, allows the campers into the space elevator and then takes them on a joyride up into space, where she allows them to explore the docking station and even handle some mysterious, possibly alien technology mined from an asteroid that traveled into Earth's orbit. When the alien tech reacts unexpectedly with the five teens, they are bound together for a purpose they could never have anticipated: they must save Earth from a coming alien attack.This book has plenty of action and, yes, danger (Maisie's middle name is a source of much hilarity), and even some romance, though nothing readers on the young end of the YA spectrum won't be able to handle. I enjoyed the read, but it fell short on a few points. The characterization of some of the adults really didn't work, for me -- they made some decisions that just didn't make sense. There were a few weak spots in the worldbuilding, too, that could have used a little more clarification. I think young teens going into this book without a lot of expectations will really love it, but more experienced readers, especially those who have read a lot of sci-fi, will find this book lacking in some ways.

[acargile-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dangerous by Shannon Hale is a page-turning science fiction adventure.Maisie Danger Brown receives a scholarship to a space camp. She has wanted to be an astronaut since she was small, but she was also born without a right hand. Does this even matter? Excited, Maisie goes to camp and is part of a team who wins many competitions. As the winners, she and her teammates travel to visit an elevator that goes from the equator to an orbiting astroid in space. They end up actually riding the elevator. Did they get parental permission? Not exactly. While in space, she begins her journey. Wow! I would love to say more about her journey, but it would give the surprises away. Needless to say, you will be guessing as to who can be trusted as Maisie is burdened with literally saving the entire planet. I read this novel in one day and it was a fun reading experience! It's imaginative and exciting!

[jwarbler-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hale's writing is always, always, always fabulous, and Dangerous was no different. Maisie is one of my favorite heroines of all time, and I love how this story played out. Everyone must read it.

[deweyever · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Maisie wins a cereal contest to attend astronaut camp and becomes one of a select few to travel up the 'Beanstalk' to a space station. While there, the teens are infected with alien nanotechnology that turns them into superheros. All of them turn bad, however, and only Maisie remains to save the world from an alien invasion. This book is action-packed and would be great for teens who love superhero stories; the characters all have really cool superhero powers. That said, I was disappointed with Hale's effort for this novel. I felt that the characters themselves never became more than their superpowers; even Maisie didn't feel like a real person to me. The love triangle involving Maisie is also poorly depicted. For another novel about space technology and aliens, this time with a horror film feel, try 172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ms. Hale can always be relied on for a good tale, well told. Maisie is such a likable character - brave when she wants to run and hide, firm even when she wants to give in, with good friends and great family. She makes the story of alien invasion interesting and exciting.

[swingdancefan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After reading the first couple of chapters for free on my Kindle, I knew two things:1. I was going to pre-order the book immediately.2. This would be my read-aloud to my freshman classes this year.The book came, and kept me up all night. Then kept my 25-year-old daughter, 24 year-old-son-in-law, and several tween-aged friends up all night, too.Maisie is a real, sheltered teenaged girl. She also happens to be missing half her right arm. Her yearning to enlarge her world takes her to astronaut camp where she is infected with alien technology. Eventually, it becomes up to her to save the world. There is drama. There is fighting. There is teen-aged romance. Her voice is strong and real.My freshmen beg for more every time I stop.This book had BETTER become a movie some day.

[kdf_333_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

it had aliens, body invasion, lots of betrayal, teamwork, world saving, cool names, super powers, murder, tragedy, and love. the teenage angst wasn't annoying and the teenage infatuation wasn't too sappy. and i am sooooooooooooooo glad the cover is not a boy or girl cover since both would love it.

[lilibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Maisie "Danger" Brown was born without a right hand, and is thrilled when she wins a scholarship to attend astronaut camp, run by a private entity. When she and her friends accidentally are infected by what appears to be an alien technology, their lives are in danger from a variety of sources.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

DANGEROUS was an excellent science fiction story with touches of romance and touches of humor too. Maisie Danger Brown is a pretty normal teenager except for the fact that she was born missing her right hand. She has been home-schooled and is the child of two scientists. Her mother is Paraguayan which makes Maisie fluent in both English and Spanish. Her dad is most known for his really bad puns. Maisie has always wanted to be an astronaut. When the chance comes to enter a contest to win time at space camp, Maisie is all over it. Her home-schooled, isolated life is starting to be a tight fit for her. She wants to see more of the world. To her surprise, she is selected for the space camp where she meets a number of fellow campers including Jonathan Ingalls Wilder who is the son of one of the world's richest and most ruthless men. They form a relationship that confuses Maisie. He gives her her first kiss and then also ignores her. He is really manipulative. The camp is run by eccentric genius Dr. Bonnie Howell who is the founder of Howell Aerospace and the inventor of the "beanstalk" that helps humans get into space. It turns out that Howell has a plan and needs a group of teenagers to accomplish it. Maisie, Wilder, Mi-Sun, Jacques, and Ruth form a team that wins the challenges and gets to visit the beanstalk. They even get a quick trip into space where Howell shows them an artifact that was found on the asteroid that is the beanstalk's anchor in space. Howell shows them the artifact which then is absorbed into their skin and causes both physical and mental changes for all the team. Wilder becomes the leader - the Thinker. Maisie becomes a technological genius. Mi-Sun develops the ability to use electrons generated by her body to turn any projectile into a weapon. Jacques develops the ability to form an armor made out of polymers created by his body. And Ruth becomes super-fast and super-strong. But everyone doesn't adjust well to their new enhancements. Ruth becomes overwhelmed by hers, has anger issues, and becomes a murderer.Meanwhile, all of them are wondering what the purpose of these alien artifacts are. They also have to deal with the fact the Wilder's dad really wants to control all of them to better his business. Maisie isn't sure that she can trust Howell either. Events show that she definitely can't trust Wilder. Maisie is left with a problem way too big for any teenage to deal with.The story was action-packed. Between threats from a ruthless businessman and an invasion by aliens who want to take over the Earth, Maisie has a lot to do and a lot of decisions to make. I loved the relationship between Maisie and her parents. I loved her best friend Luther. I hurt for her as she tried to figure out what her relationship to Wilder could and should be. Maisie was a great character who, while sheltered, wasn't naive. She was smart, focused, and well-balanced. I really enjoyed this story and can't wait to share it with my students.

[pabkins · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Contrary to what I rated Dangerous, with 2 stars, for the right reader I think it would have been a much more enjoyable read.

The points that I believe might have helped find the right readers:

- If the book description for Dangerous were more forthcoming about the content, theme and or plot line of what it actually was about! - Then it would have been better able to appeal to the right readers.
- My opinion on the target audience for this book would be tweens, not teens, because originally I had thought this book was supposed to be young adult and yet it felt more like some of the outrageous adventure plot lines I normally see in middlegrade fiction. In addition to the fact that the kids are actually around 14 or less, go to space camp, then end up with crazy super hero like powers (with a sci-fi twist). Albeit there is more violence and death in Dangerous then I've normally seen in other middle grade books, I still think that is where this book belongs and should be targeted.
- Dangerous is a mix of science fiction, comic book style super hero/villain fiction and romance. Now ask yourself folks, did you get that indication from the book description? I sure as heck didn't.

Things that didn't work for me:

- The adults. Some of their actions, dialogue and overall behavior was just ridiculous. I can not realistically see some of these things going down. Immediately things like that would pull me out of the story.
- Super smart children I can absolutely believe as there are definite prodigy kids out there. But their personalities coupled with the plot line just didn't mesh well. It would have been better for me if either one or the other were toned down.
- The bad jokes and puns. They were cute for awhile, but the further I along I read the more tiresome I found them.

Ultimately, I don't think Dangerous was a bad book I just thing it was the wrong book for me. Almost half of what I read is young adult fiction and the other half is adult, then maybe a very few middle grade books each year. This particular one I likely wouldn't have picked up if I'd had a more accurate idea of what was in store for me.

[jennybeast · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Maisie Danger Brown! What a fantastic heroine! One handed, super smart Latina with a love of science wins a cereal box trip to space camp. Enter nefarious plot involving a juggling genius, a compelling/disturbing boyfriend, superpowers and alien invasion. Awe-some! And it reads like a pulse-pounding page-turning thriller with excellent best friend and a really great dog.

My favorite one of Maisie's powers? The ability to nickname and have it stick. Read it!

[margaretpemberton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not the most memorable book by this author, which is a shame as I have really enjoyed some of her previous books. This is obviously a 'marmite' type of book and I quite like marmite in small doses.

[bookbrig-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Great diverse cast of characters, plenty of action, almost a cinematic feel to the story - didn't care for the love interest, but appreciated the scene with discussions of both consent and protection - really wish the cover featured the main character

[wrightja2000 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3 1/2 stars to the people who didn't finish this book because they were annoyed/upset/bewildered by the beginning- it actually gets better. There is a pretty good twist toward the end I didn't see coming. Not at all like anything she's written before do I think I would have liked it better not having expectations of what a Shannon Hale novel is like. Reminded a bit of the Alex Rider books

[tsana_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dangerous by Shannon Hale is a YA science fiction book and the first I've read by the author. I picked it up a while ago (I think it was as part of my "let's read all the books with disabled protagonists" thing in the lead up to Defying Doomsday). I finally got around to reading it, partly because I was in the mood for some YA, and partly because of the recent announcement that she'll be writing Captain Marvel and Squirrel Girl tie in novels. I figured I should make sure her writing was all right before getting too excited.The thing that stood out for me most, reading Dangerous, was how not formulaic it was. For whatever reason, I was expecting a fairly formulaic read set in space about a girl with no arm. It wasn't set in space either, except very briefly. It was about a girl with no hand on one of her arms, so that part was right, although note how it's not mentioned in the blurb while the space bit is. No wonder I was surprised. Actually, the only expected element of this book was the part with the world being saved. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.Maisie is a smart teenager whose two scientist parents have decided to home-school her. (And hence she has one friend, a fellow home-school-ee.) She enters a competition on the back of a cereal box to go to astronaut boot camp and wins a spot. I always enjoy female protagonists that are into science and Maisie definitely doesn't disappoint on that front. In terms of plot, I was surprised that the astronaut boot camp was over pretty quickly and was just a set up for the next phase of the novel. Even more surprising was that the next phase was also fairly transient. (I realise these statements are vague, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers.) The story does not take the most direct route to get to the end, which kept me wondering what would happen next until more than half way through (at which point the saving the world part became more obvious).I liked the romantic story line in Dangerous for a few reasons. First it was absolutely not the main part of the story, second, it wasn't a love triangle, despite how it first may have appeared. Most importantly, Maisie prioritises saving the world and the safety of her family over any boys she may or may not have feelings for. She's also not too blindly trusting, especially once she has reason to be suspicious, which I appreciated.Oh and I should mention the science. There was only one physics thing the author got wrong that bothered me (the space elevator trip did not take them high enough to be weightless, they would have felt a diminished gravitational pull the entire time). Which did bother me but didn't make me angry, just disappointed. It's at the level of physics knowledge that the characters themselves should've had, which is the most irritating part. But everything else was fine or at least hand-wavingly explained away by alien magic.I quite enjoyed Dangerous and I am definitely interested in reading more books by Shannon Hale. I'm not sure all her books are for me — for example, I'll stick with the movie of Austenland and probably won't bother with the books for younger readers, but I am definitely up for Captain Marvel and Squirrel Girl. Marvel tie-ins aside, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any future books from Hale that align with my interests. I definitely recommend Dangerous to all fans of YA science fiction.4.5 / 5 stars

[nbmars · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a book marketed as YA that seemed more Middle Grade or Tween to me. The protagonist is a young girl named Maisie Danger Brown who has always wanted to be an astronaut in spite of having only one hand because of a congenital disorder. That would never stop Maisie, however, and she enters and wins a contest to attend Howell Astronaut Boot Camp created by billionaire Bonnie Howell “to ignite the love of science in the teenage mind.”At the camp, Maisie brushes off cruel remarks about her hand, meets a cute boy, and gets her first kiss. All that is great. But the deal breaker for me is the part about the adults who are running the camp. They are not only absurdly eccentric (fine perhaps for being scientists but not for running a big successful business) but also they inexplicably and amazingly allow Maisie and five of her camp mates to handle some secret alien artifacts, about which they claim to know nothing. The objects invade the bodies of the kids, endowing them with superpowers (but of course, could have infected them lethally instead). Holy X-Teens! Where is the Hazmat Team? More importantly, where are the lawyers?Evaluation: The premise of this book is just too absurd in too many parts for me to carry on reading. The adults are stupid in ways often common in Middle Grade books, but not really believable once you get past that level. It hurts to feel let down by Shannon Hale, although she doesn’t disappoint in terms of providing yet another plucky, admirable female heroine. It’s possible the story gets better, but I couldn’t get past the ridiculous, almost campy [pun intended] set-up. Note: Speaking of puns, this book has some great ones. Maisie’s father is a punster (hence Maisie being named so that she could say “Danger is my middle name….”), and I wished we readers could spend more time with him . . . .

[rvhatha · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

ILet me begin by saying that I love Shannon Hale's work. _Goose Girl_ and _Book of a Thousand Days_ are particular favorites of mine, and I've also enjoyed the _Princess Academy_ books. Hale has an instinctive sense of what aspects of an older tale are still going to resonate with contemporary readers, and she draws on those aspects to create three-dimensional characters and situations that evoke both times gone by as well as timeless emotions and conflicts. So, I was eager to read _Dangerous_, which is set in the present, and which features a typically Shannon-Hale-esque protagonist: a smart, sensitive, witty young woman who's in the process of discovering the depth of her own strength.In this case, that girl is Maisie Danger Brown (yep, that's her real middle name), the daughter of a microbiologist father and a physicist mother. With that kind of pedigree, it's no wonder Maisie gets excited when she sees a contest to win a spot at billionaire Bonnie Howell's "astronaut boot camp" on the back on a cereal box. One small problem: Maisie was born with only one hand, and though she has a prosthesis and is a homeschooled genius, she's pretty sure she won't be allowed to go, even if she wins.But she does win, and she does go, and from that point on, the plot accelerates like a rocket ship.At the camp, Maisie meets several other kids who become part of her "fire team": the groups campers are put in to solve various problems in simulated environments. Maisie's team performs so well that they're selected to go up to Howell's space lab--but once they've arrived, the kids' bodies are overtaken by alien "tokens" that give them various superpowers.At this point, _Dangerous_ shifts into dystopian mode: the kids discover they're being used by competing forces, they attempt to escape, they struggle to figure out who the "good guys" and the "bad guys" are, and they eventually agree to lead the battle against the alien beings responsible for a mysterious world-wide pandemic dubbed the "Jumper Virus."It's hard not to read this story as pretty derivative of other popular YA books and films in recent years: it's part _Hunger Games_, part _X-Men_, part _Uglies_…you get the idea. I don't have a problem with that, really, since that's kind of a reading sweet spot these days, and I'm all for giving kids more of what they like to read.What bothered me as the story went along, though, were issues of pacing and tone. At times, big stretches of time would pass and we'd just get a brief summary of what happened, while other bits get drawn out too long. I'm thinking in particular of the romance between Maisie and fellow space camper Jonathan. Again, it's kind of a standard trope of dystopian YA lit these days that you have to have a forbidden/dangerous romance thrown into the mix, and that the male character has to be ambiguous: can our heroine trust him or not? Will he kill her or kiss her? At least in the first _Hunger Games_ book, the budding romance between Katniss and Peeta didn't develop until they were hidden away in the relative safety of their cave; here, Maisie will stop virtually mid-battle-to-save-the-planet to wonder what Jonathan really thinks of her, or to moon over a recent make out session. That kind of thing not only undermines her strength, but seems even more unrealistic than the most fantastic elements of the plot! And that's related to my issues with the tone: Maisie often delivers completely wack one-liners out of nowhere. They're intended to be funny (and sometimes they are), but more often than not they're disruptive, taking the reader out of the flow of the story to wonder, "Wait--what's going on here?" For example, at one point, Maisie and Jonathan are spying on the arch-villain who seems to be trying to kill them, and Jonathan starts biting her neck (what? bad timing, dude) and then calls her "brutal"…which leads to this exchange: Maisie: "'You wanna see brutal?' I leaned over and picked up a steel dumpster. Jonathan: "If that's an attempt to turn me off, it's having exactly the opposite effect."That's actually one of the wittier non sequiturs, but others are just annoying. Once Maisie and crew enter into direct battle with the aliens, though, things pick up, and I found the last hundred pages or so much more fluid and readable. And also a lot creepier: the description of the adult aliens silently swinging on park swings in a town that's been infected by the alleged virus is seriously disturbing. And Hale's ending also avoids the pitfalls of so many dystopian-YA lit these days: it actually ends with order more or less restored, and the kids able to return to some kind of normal life. And best of all, this appears to be a standalone novel: no dragging this story out over two more increasingly dissatisfying sequels.So, I'm kind of on the fence about this one. It's definitely NOT the first Shannon Hale book I'd mention to someone who asked me for book recommendations. And I'm not even sure it'd be among those of this genre that I'd recommend. But then, I'm not the target audience here--I'm a grownup, and one who likes fairy tales, not one who likes superhero stories or science fiction. Maybe I missed the point…but sorry, Maisie: you may have had your friend Luther "at extraterrestrial nanorobots," but you'd lost me long before that.I read this as an e-ARC I received from Bloomsbury via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: This novel was enjoyable and fun, but nothing I would reread.Opening Sentence: The warehouse was coffin dark.The Review:Dangerous by Shannon Hale is the story of Maisie, a girl born without her arm, who is homeschooled and dreams of being an astronaut. Maisie knows the odds of getting her dream job are not in her favor, but something compels her to fill out a form on a website that advertises the chance to win a scholarship to Astronaut Boot Camp. It has the professional technology, and the billionaire who owns it also owns the world-famous space elevator, that goes directly from Earth onto a comet that revolves around the planet in space. But soon Maisie realizes that not all is right in the camp, and with her new (boyfriend?) Wilder, she must set out on an adventure with aliens, a plague, love, adventure, and Maisie Danger Brown is the only chance of saving the world.Before starting this book, I was pretty psyched. After all, I’ve read Princess Academy and that book was my childhood. I didn’t feel the same sparkle from Dangerous. There were certainly some positive things about it, but honestly, there was a lack of the same feeling that compelled me to love Princess Academy. Maisie was a good character, and her emotions were described with an eloquent rawness. Wilder confused me, quite bluntly. His feelings seemed to turn off and on at the push of a button, and I look for a consistency in the love interests that Wilder didn’t have. A minor character, Dragon, was actually my favorite.The whole plotline was set out well, but the pacing just irritated me. For the most part it was okay, but sometimes when you were reading something important to the story for the first time, it went too fast. Often it would be clarified in the next chapter, but not all of the time. And the description of physical surroundings — very, very brief. I really like to get a feel for where the character is and form a picture in my head, but Hale’s description is so lacking it was hard to do that sometimes. Especially when they were in space, you’d think you’d hear more about it. Yes, what it looked like was written down for you, but it didn’t connect with the characters emotions as it should of (considering it’s been her dream all along) making the setting seem kind of flat.But not everything was disappointing. The ending was very strong and exceeded my expectations, and the main character had a unique personality. Hale’s style of writing was very to the point, but sometimes it worked with the novel very well. And the book as a whole was enjoyable, only getting boring in a few instances.Dangerous by Shannon Hale is bursting with mystery, betrayal, love, and tragedy. It’s a great novel for science fiction lovers and fans of other space themed novels. Check it out when you can, you will enjoy it even if you don’t love it!Notable Scene:We could see lights down the highway.“The good guys will take over from here,” said Wilder.“Wait…” the woman propped herself up on her elbows. “Who are you kids?”Wilder turned back, his helmet under his arm, his figure dark and dramaticd against the piercing headlight.“We’re the Fireteam.”FTC Advisory: Bloomsbury USA Children’s provided me with a copy of Dangerous. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[bduke_15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Let me start by saying I'm not a Shannon Hale fan. I read and didn't like Austenland , I read The Princess Academy and The Goose Girl and only mildly liked them. So when I saw this one, I thought I would give it a try because I'm not really fond of princess-y books, so maybe this one would be more up my alley. It definitely was. So probably the intense Shannon Hale fans will like it less :). While there were definite flaws in the story - it starts out so quickly that it is hard to form relationships with Luther and with Maisie's parents because they were suddenly gone and we moved on to the next part of the book - I really enjoyed it once we got to the tokens. So here's how it fanned out for me: First part was kind of blah, after the tokens came into force I thought it was really exciting and good, then the whole alien thing came into force and I thought it was a little weird. However, on the whole I quite enjoyed the book. I really liked the characters, especially Maisie Danger Brown, and I appreciated that she had a really good relationship with her parents, although several of the other characters had lousy ones.Areas of concern: There is quite a bit of kissing, a couple find themselves staying in a one room apartment sharing the same mattress on the floor. Nothing happens beyond kissing, although it is discussed and the male character assures the girl he has "protection". One of the male characters is a real player and hook-ups are mentioned. Quite a bit of violence - several key characters are killed by other key characters, and there is a lot of bloodshed and tension about loved ones.No bad language, although one character cusses alot, but the author uses bleepity-bleeps saying that the main character doesn't like the language. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book