Monday, June 3, 2013

Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Dare You To

Author: Katie McGarry

Publication Date: May 28, 2013

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Genre: Contemporary

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Synopsis:

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....


My Thoughts: So I think I liked this even more than Pushing the Limits, which was pretty good. Heck I know I liked it more because I loved Dare You To. For some reason I found it to feel more realistic than Pushing the Limits. I know both books cover issues that could really and do really happen in real life, but I would guess that the issues in Dare You To are a lot more common, therefore easier to imagine for me.

I really liked Beth's story and think that it's a very common one. There are a lot of kids out there who are in similar situations. I felt bad for Beth because she has had a rough go of it. She has complete trust issues because anyone she has ever trusted has left her. Isaiah is the only one that she has who she can trust. He's her best friend. Then everything changes and she ends up living with her uncle, who also abandoned her. She is bitter towards him and hates that she's been moved to a new town, her hometown, back with all the people who judged her family to begin with.

Ryan is a sweet guy. He's a jock, which makes you think he's going to be a jerk, Beth sure thinks that, but he turns out to be really nice and actually really likes Beth. He has his own issues at home, which whilre they aren't as bad as Beth's, they are still not ideal and very realistic. His dad is pushing him into going pro, his brother announced he was gay and his dad basically disowned him. Life gets pretty crappy for Ryan.

Luckily, Katie McGarry does another wonderful job with creating a story that you can get lost in. I certainly had a hard time putting it down and again the ending was somewhat heart breaking. There were some pretty tough decisions to be made but I love how it turned out in the end. I'm really looking forward to the next book which is in Isaiah's PoV. It really is a wonderful read!

4 comments:

  1. I need to get caught up! I haven't read Pushing the Limits, but I really really want to. :(

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    1. They are both really good! This one was better though IMO :) I hope you get a chance to read them and like them!

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  2. Great review, Jenn! I think I have an ARC of this somewhere .... I did really like the first book in the series! This one sounds great, too! :)

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    Replies
    1. This one was much better for me! I could relate and imagine it a bit more than Pushing the Limits :)

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