Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Dare You To
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age Group: Teen
Source: Publisher through Netgalley
Good Reads  |  Amazon
Release Date: May 28, 2013

Summary from GoodReads:

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

4.5 out of 5

My Thoughts

For anyone who’s followed my blog for awhile, you have probably heard me state over and over again how much I loved Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry.  So of course I couldn’t wait to read McGarry’s next book, Dare You To, and I totally did a little happy dance when I was approved for it via Netgalley.  But all the same, I was still a little nervous about reading Dare You To.  It’s just that Beth wasn’t the most likable character in Pushing the Limits.  I was afraid that I wouldn’t like Beth, but, you guys, seriously, McGarry knows what’s she doing.  I had absolutely nothing to worry about!!

I loved what McGarry did with Beth’s character.  She has sooo many layers; that onion metaphor would work really well for our main character.  When we first meet her in Pushing the Limits, Beth is tough as nails.  She cusses like a sailor, parties hard, drinks hard, and does drugs.  And at the start of Dare You To, Beth is still that girl.  But when her circumstances change, we start to see another side to Beth.  McGarry does such a wonderful job of showing us that someone who’s so rough around the edges can also have many soft spots..  People aren’t all one thing or another, and Beth certainly isn’t.  I absolutely adored seeing Beth become a little flustered and blush at things Ryan would say.  She’s still Beth, but that doesn’t mean she can’t get embarrassed, especially by someone she kinda likes.

Okay, so those fans of Pushing the Limits, you might be a little sad to see that the love interest in Beth’s story isn’t Isaiah.  I love Isaiah, but I thought Ryan was absolutely perfect for Beth.  I think Beth needed some distance from that life, and being with Isaiah in that way wouldn’t have given that to her.  And I feel the same way about Isaiah.  I can’t wait for his story.

Okay, so let’s talk about Ryan, since half the story is from his point of view.  Yeah, he’s pretty darn amazing.  He life seems pretty perfect, but of course it isn’t.  He’s got some issues he’s working through, although I wouldn’t say they are quite as dire as Beth’s problems.  Ryan is an all-around good guy.  He’s not perfect (but who is) and he certainly makes mistakes (who hasn’t), but you just get this feeling that Ryan would have your back.  He’s the perfect compliment for Beth.

Dare You To is absolutely a YA romance, but what I love about McGarry’s books is that Beth and Ryan getting together doesn’t mean all their problems are solved.  They aren’t at all, and sometimes it causes a few more issues.  But their being together makes each of them a little bit better of a person, and helps them solve their own problems.

Of course all the secondary characters are as fleshed out, and interesting as Beth and Ryan.  I was really fascinated by Beth’s uncle, and I really liked Ryan’s friends (although Chris did get on my nerves at one point).  And we get to see glimpses of Noah and Echo which was totally awesome and made me want to reread Pushing the Limits.

Basically, if you like YA romance you need to check out Katie McGarry’s books.  If you liked Pushing the Limits, you will love Dare You To.  Even if you want Isaiah and Beth to get together, you should read Dare You To.  I do admit to liking Pushing the Limits more, but just by a hair’s breadth.  Dare You To is an amazing Sophmore novel by McGarry and she has become one of my auto-read authors.

Be sure to check out my Just Because Giveaway!

Life Tidbits

• Do you guys like the new blog design?  I LOVE it.  Nancy from Nancy’s Blog Designs did it.  She was great to work with, and had it installed in less than a week.
• Bout of Books starts today!  Woot, woot!  I’ll been reading, reading, reading.
• I can’t believe it is May 13th already.  How is that possible?  I feel like Christmas was yesterday.
• In less than a month I will be saying goodbye to my twenties.  It’s kind of a scary thought, turning 30.  But at the same time, it’s exciting.  It’s not like my twenties were all that great.  I’m hoping my thirties rock.