Dare You To by Katie McGarrySeries: Pushing the Limits #2
Published by: Harlequin Teen on May 28, 2013
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 304
Source: Blog Tour, NetGalley
Buy on Amazon • Book Details
Rating: ★★★★
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....
Dare You To is an emotional whirlwind of a book that fans of Pushing the Limits are sure to love! Was it as amazing as Pushing the Limits? Well, I personally enjoyed Noah and Echo’s story more. But Dare You To was still a strong book, riddled with family problems, emotional traumas, physical abuse, and a sweet and passionate first love.
My favourite thing about Dare You To was the way Beth and Ryan challenged each other. They pushed each other out of their comfort zones and called each other out—but in a supportive way. Many of you are probably wondering, “Why doesn’t Beth end up with Isaiah?!” Well Katie McGarry herself said it beautifully:
When I began to examine Beth and Isaiah closely, I realized that in order for them to find peace they needed to be challenged by someone else. Beth and Isaiah are very similar and Isaiah completely enables Beth’s behavior. The two of them had a lot to work through, and as I began plotting, I realized they couldn’t grow as individuals as long as they were together.
Katie McGarry
This is SO TRUE. And that’s also why Beth and Ryan are perfect for each other. They both have their own problems, but they’re not afraid to challenge the other person. Ryan doesn’t let Beth do whatever she wants; he doesn’t let her get away with running away and hiding. They force each other to open up and because of that they grow and expand emotionally. That makes them such an amazing couple.
There is actually a surprisingly large amount of baseball in this book. It was a side story that I really enjoyed! Ryan struggles between baseball as a career path—something he’s worked towards his entire life—and his newfound passion for writing. This made the book very relatable because so many high school kids go through this! We question our passions, our futures, and what we’re going to do with our lives. What if we change our minds? What if we no longer want to do the thing that we’ve always done? What if we want to move on or try something new? It’s scary as hell but I love how Ryan got the opportunity to explore this!
Beth did annoy me sometimes. She was just SO self critical. She was always putting herself down, she never thought she was good enough, and whenever someone said they cared about her or loved her she just immediately said “You’re wrong” or “You’re lying”. To a certain extent, I understood it. She had a hard life, was hurt a lot, and was brought down by people. But towards the end of the book, it started really getting under my skin. I think the problem was that because of the dual points of view, I knew that Ryan really cared about Beth. So to see her CONSTANTLY shrug it off was frustrating!
Besides, I’m not worthy of that type of love.
Beth, Dare You To
Guys like you don’t fall for girls like me.
Beth, Dare You To
Although I really enjoyed Dare You To, Pushing the Limits still holds the top position for me, but Dare You To was still a great book!
Katie McGarry has done it again, and I’m absolutely psyched for the third book, Crash Into You (which will be about drag racing, from what I gather—awesome!
The Verdict
About Katie McGarry
Katie 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, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.
Katie is the author of the full-length Young Adult novels PUSHING THE LIMITS and DARE YOU TO, and the e-novella CROSSING THE LINE. Her debut novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS, is a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and an RT Book Reviews 2012 Reviewer’s Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel.
Writing has given Katie an excuse to pursue her passions. Research for her books has provided her with the amazing opportunity to train with baseball players, ride along in a drag car at ninety-six miles per hour and experience boxing and mixed martial arts. The most memorable moments for Katie are when she speaks to groups of teenagers about her research, writing and the truth that no dream is out of reach. Katie would love to hear from her readers.
Giveaway
There are two separate prizes for this giveaway. One winner gets to choose a copy of Dare You To or Pushing the Limits. A second winner will receive the GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE shown below! Pretty awesome, huh?
Tour Schedule
Monday, April 29th – Bewitched Bookworms
Tuesday, April 30th – Harlequin Blog
Wednesday, May 1sh – The Irish Banana
Thursday, May 2nd – Review – Tyngas Reviews
Friday, May 3rd – Evie Bookish
Monday, May 6th – YA – Bibliophile
Tuesday, May 7th – Review – Real of Fiction
Wednesday, May 8th – Book Swarm
Thursday, May 9th – Review – Nose Graze
Friday, May 10th – Alice Marvels
Monday, May 13th – Xpresso Reads
Tuesday, May 14th – Review – Chapter by Chapter
Wednesday, May 15th – Book and A Latte
Thursday, May 16th – Review – Blog Girl
Friday, May 17th – Supernatural Snark
The Verdict
Most times YA is a easy enjoyable read. Easy to escape into for any age, and I’m certainly not a YA
I so agree. I liked the first book better but this was still amazing. I really, really liked Beth. Her story was so interesting and her attitude was so fun to experience. I like mean people. 🙂
Oh and I love YA Contemps the most for their sweet romances.
I still have to read this one.
Do you make those banner thingies yourself?
I love me some romance!
I definitely love the romance!
I like escaping from my responsibilites~
Love the review and Dare To You! It’s been a while since my YA days, but I still love reading stories of young love and it usually involves lots of personal growth.
I’ve been really into contemporary lit lately, and I think it’s because I connect with the characters more and it’s less about world building and more about emotion. It kind of just hits a place inside of me that makes me a happier person. =)
I love how sweet and innocent young love is.
Sounds fantastiC! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I love NA b/c they are so gritty and original 🙂
I LOVE the angst and emotion that YA/NA books bring. I LOVE to cry, so if it’s really good, I get too. 🙂
I feel like the black sheep, because I read about a third of this and just could NOT stomach any more. I couldn’t stand Beth, or Ryan. Maybe if my library gets this one, I’ll pick it up when I have a little more time and try to read it again, since you liked it so much, Ashley! I’m glad you were able to enjoy it, and get caught up in Beth and Ryan’s story.
PS. It’s my first time visiting with your new layout. I love it, of course!
I love YA Contemporary because it kind of brings me back to “real life” in a way. I read A LOT of dystopian and sci-fi so I’m pretty much always in another world…but a good contemporary reminds me that there’s plenty of awesomeness in THIS world too!
What I love the most about YA Contemporary’s is how relatable they are. I’m so excited to read Dare You To, I just know its going to be one of those novels that I’m going to want to read again an again because its so realistic an you kind of hope that it might happen to you.
love their optimism!
the characters
Well I’m 17 and they give me hope of finding a boy who will give me mutant pterodactyls and catch rain in a bottle for me. Well really who needs a real man when you can have a book boyfriend. Ha-Ha
Because they’re funny and cute or very emotional
Ya know, I don’t read a ton of YA Contemporaries, but when I do, I am always so pleasantly surprised by how relatable they are.
I like how they use real world situations. 😀
I loved Dare You To, I think I even liked it better than Pushing the Limits and that was one of my favorites of 2012. I had no problem with Beth, maybe because I’ve been reading so many books with weak pathetic girls so Beth was a nice change. My heart broke for poor Isaiah and I can’t freaking wait for his book, I think it will be my favorite out of all 3.
I love contemporary YA because it deals with real issues that the young adults are facing today’s. Another thing I love about YA is that this genre is clean and I can recommend these books to my sisters’ and friends’ kids to read.
Oh boy, I can’t wait to read this one. I really enjoyed Pushing the Limits, so I know I will enjoy this one too. Thanks for the review – I hope I can get to it asap!! 🙂
I have read Dare You To, and rated it with a 5/5 stars! What I loved most about Katie Mcgarry’s novels, are the intense emotions and true-to-life events. YA contemporaries are fun in a sense that they are get-away from the Sci-fi and fantasy genres I am always on.
I love the realistic people and issues portrayed in the books. 😀
I love how realistic the situations and characters feel. I love that I can connect to them and feel the emotions.
I love how the relationship between the characters develops, in a romantic way, I think that’s my favorite part. Whether they’ve known each other forever or they recently meet.
I love being able to relate so closely with the characters and their trials and tribulations 🙂
Love the romance and ahhh, young, intense love 🙂
I love how they’re easy to relate to, even if you are not YA anymore.
The romance and relating to the characters so easily 😀