Book Review~Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Title: Dare You To

Author: Katie McGarry

Series: Pushing The Limits #2

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Pub Date: May 28th 2013

Format: e-book

Pages: 304

Genre: Romance, Drama, YA, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction

Links: Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Book/Author Site

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....

Rating: 9/10

Source: Netgalley. Thank you to the publishers for giving me a chance to review this amazing book!

Cover Talk: Katie McGarry knows how to pick perfect models for her covers! The models are exactly like Ryan and Beth. I love the cover! The rain ♥ It holds great importance in Beth's and Ryan's relationship and I'm glad they showed that on the cover. And Beth's ripped jeans, how Ryan looks like a jock even at first glance. I think the cover is perfect!

My Thoughts: Katie McGarry has definitely made it to my intant-buy author list. She stole my heart with Pushing The Limits and she was able to keep it with Dare You To.

I will make something clear before I start my review. Pushing The Limits is in my top ten list. I love that book! So my expectations were pretty high for Dare You To. Though Dare You To was not able to meet those expectation, it wasn't that far behind.

The writing was, as usual, amazing! There were so many great descriptions that I even jotted them down in my vocabulary bank (which I keep for writing purposes.) I love how Ms McGarry builds up emotion and her writing just reels me in. I lose myself in the world she creates. I love books that do that to me, and not many are able to do it. Despite this, there were times when I found myself losing interest. But it happened only a few times. You see, I read Pushing The Limits in one go. That book kept my attention for so long. Reading this book, I had to take breaks in between so I read this in parts. 

The story was really good! The mystery, the romance, I loved everything about it! Still, in the beginning some things felt childish... immature. But that feeling went away half way through the book. One thing I really don't like is that this book didn't leave an impact on me. I mean, I enjoyed reading it. But after I had, I forgot about it. Even now, I'm struggling to remember. I don't know if this is my fault or the book's...

I love Beth! As a character she's pretty bad-ass. She's flawed but is also beautiful in her own way. I understand her insecurities and I really feel sorry for her for all that she went through. Ryan was likable. I did not get a crush on him nor did I find him that swoony. But I did like him and he felt very real. I felt sorry for Isiah but I did believe when Beth said that it wasn't romantic type love that Isiah felt for her. Beth's mom really annoyed me. Like seriously, I wanted to beat her up if she was't already getting beaten up by her boyfriend! I really liked Scott. Just like the other characters, he was flawed too but he really did love Beth.

I know this was a really bad review, but I couldn't stop myself from comparing Dare You To to Pushing The Limits. And compared to that, this didn't make it to my favorites. I enjoyed only the second half of the book. I think I just had my bar set up too high and ended up getting disappointed. I can't wait for Isiah's story though! Out of Noah's friends, Isiah was definitely my favorite. And my love for him grew after Dare You To. So I really can't wait to read his story!

Favorite Quotes:

“That must be love: when everything else in the world could implode and you wouldn't care as long as you had that one person standing beside you.”

“How many more of us are faking the facade? How many more of us are pretending to be something we're not? Even better, how many of us will have the courage to be ourselves regardless of what others think?” 

“This overwhelming, encompassing feeling is love. It's not perfect and it's messy as hell. And it's exactly what I need.” 

About The Author:

KATIE MCGARRY was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, and reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

Katie would love to hear from her readers. Contact her via her website, katielmcgarry.com, follow her on Twitter @KatieMcGarry, or become a fan on Facebook and Goodreads.