A Danger to Herself and Others — Alyssa B. Sheinmel

TITLE: A Danger to Herself and Others
AUTHOR: Alyssa B. Sheinmel
RELEASE DATE: February 5, 2019
GENRE: Contemporary
AGE RANGE: YA

It was just a mistake. One big misunderstanding, that’s what landed Hannah here in the Institution, and soon enough, her best friend’s parents and the doctors and the judge will all realize it. While she’s stuck here, though, Hannah’s going to do what Hannah does best—persuade people.

Mystery books aren’t my top preferred genre—not even in my top 5, really—but the fact that Danger is more of a mystery shrouded within a story of a young woman’s struggle with mental illness was enough to sell me on the synopsis, plus we don’t get a ton of Jewish rep in contemporary stories and Hannah is a young Jewish girl.

It wasn’t my fault. Accidents happen.

Right from the start, I felt like Alyssa B. Sheinmel’s narrative voice suited the story perfectly, as there’s something a little rough around the edges about the way she tells a story (and I mean this as a good thing). She really managed to immerse me in this world Hannah’s living in while she’s there in the Institution, despite the fact that it’s established early on that we can’t be certain Hannah’s telling the truth in her descriptions.

If you enjoy unreliable narrators, you’ll love Hannah, because she thrives on keeping the reader in the dark as she recounts her memories of what happened to land her in this place to begin with. She’s an extremely manipulative (and fairly narcissistic) character, and the most intriguing part of that is how she manages to extend that manipulation into the storytelling, too.

There’s not much of anything I can say about the plot without risking spoilers, because there are twists scattered throughout the story that you’ll want to meet for yourselves. All I’ll say is that I thought Alyssa B. Sheinmel is a tremendously enjoyable writer and I will happily be coming back for more of her work in the future.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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