Dare You To

I've read a lot of YA and this is one of the best.

Real and raw and riveting, I read it in a day. Couldn't put it down.

Ryan is a strong alpha baseball hero with vulnerabilities that make him infinitely appealing.

Beth is bold and tough and ultimately flawed.

Their relationship is wonderful as it develops.

Loved it!
Can't wait to buy Crash into You and read Isaiah's story!!!

I grabbed the chance to read Dare You To simply because of my love for Pushing The Limits. I adored PTL's main characters and the smidget of hope that I had of Noah and Echo making a cameo in Dare You To fueled my desire to read it. I didn't even know anything about Dare You To except for the fact that it was Beth Risk's story. When I finally bothered to read the blurb I was a bit shocked- I really expected Beth to be paired up with Isaiah. I was also a bit worried because it instantly felt like it was going to be one of those cliched books; popular and perfect jock asks the punk rock emo skater chick because of a dare? Doesn't that sound like a scene from Not Another Teen Movie? Thankfully, Katie McGarry's books never fall into that category; they transcend and overcome it because they give you so much more.

I have a complicated history with Beth Risk. I hated her in PTL and thought that she was an annoying bitch and I didn't know anything about her except for the fact that she's one of Noah's best friends. Dare You To introduced me to the real Beth; all her faults, scars and horrifying experiences, and all the things that makes her Beth Risk. Beth always lived in a dark world trying to protect her alcoholic mother with a history of abusive relationships but her uncle saved her from that mess and takes custody of her, taking her back to the small town that Beth grew up in before her life got ugly. Beth doesn't want that though. All she wants is to go back to Isaiah and Noah and her mother, so she deliberately disobeys her uncle and badmouths his aunt. She runs away from a potentially bright future and runs back to her dark life, but she eventually matures enough to learn her mistakes and correct them. Beth starts to get over her trust issues and breaks down her walls by reconnecting with her childhood friend Lacey and developing feelings for a boy she never thought she would have such a connection with- Ryan Stone.

Beth described Ryan as too perfect to be true, and I agree with her, but not in the way you think. Ryan Stone was the golden haired and blue-eyed all-stare baseball jock with an assured ticket to go pro after high school with a perfect future all written out for him and basically set in stone. As expected, his life isn't so perfect after all. Beyond that facade, his parents are having problems and his brother is gay and basically disowned by his father, and Ryan constantly has to choose which side he's on. His English teacher helps him realize that he has an actual talent for writing and can go to a really good college if he wanted to, but his father wants to hear nothing of it and is insistent on him going pro even if Ryan isn't sure anymore. Getting dared to ask out the new girl seemed like another problem to add to his life, but Beth Risk turned out to be anything but that. Because of her, the boy who always played it safe is finally willing to take a risk.

Beth and Ryan both came packaged with heavy baggage that they had to get through, turning Dare You To into one very angst-filled book. Beth and Ryan were the best things to happen to each other and they helped the other get through whatever problem they had on their plate. They accepted each others' faults and loved unconditionally; they fixed each other. I have to admit that the scenes where Beth continuously but unconsciously broke Isaiah's heart wounded me, but I admired Beth for setting things straight with him early on and not leading him on.

I finally learned to love Beth Risk; faults, flaws, and all. I admired her strength, spirit, rebellious demeanor, and undying devotion for her mother. Dare You To gives us a glimpse as to why Beth was taken into foster care and it brings everything full circle, making you understand her right to the core. She is undeniably selfless and brave, but she needs someone to care for her too. Ryan was surprisingly very easy to love because he was such a sweetheart. I usually go for the bad boys and he is anything but that, so this makes him very special in my book. He isn't as complicated as Beth but keeps up with her more than anyone. These two may come from different worlds, but were brought together by hope, love, and trust.

Again, Katie McGarry didn't fail in bringing life to each and every one of her characters. Every single conversation and movement felt so real and packaged up with raw emotion. This was a love story, but it doesn't focus on that alone. Reading about how Beth and Lace's friendship grew was so beautiful every step of the way. It was also such a treat to read about Beth patching up her rocky relationship with her Uncle Scott. Reading Dare You To was like watching someone's life unfold right before my eyes. It was that well-written. It was so much more fluid than Pushing The Limits and I instantly connected with the characters. I think I loved Dare You To more because it gave me an emotional experience that I never knew I could go through.

I really enjoyed Dare You To, but it still had it's flaws. It was filled with cliches and stereotypes, and although I don't necessarily care about those if the book is well written, it was just too much and it bothered me a bit. The pace was more fluid than that of Pushing The Limits, but it was still choppy at some parts and there was a rough transitioning between chapters.

Dare You To is compelling and raw and real. Every word oozes with intense honesty and emotion. McGarry is unmatched when it comes to this book and I will never hesitate to read any of her books ever again. I believe that no one can ever be fully prepared for the intensity, passion, and raw sincerity that is the core of Dare You To, because this book is one hell of an emotional ride. You just have to experience it yourself though- I dare you to.

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Publicado Originalemente: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Esta es la historia de Beth. Sé que muchos se preguntarán: ¿Beth no quedó con Isaiah? ¿Quién es ese Ryan que viene a malograrlo todo? Si tuviste un ataque de celos como yo (ojalá, porque no quiero sentirme la única loca), aquí viene la respuesta, a Katie le encanta hacer sufrir a su lectores. Personalmente tenía una valla muy alta con tRompiendo las Normas, la historia tomó los tópicos de toda la vida y lo hizo algo bastante diferente, así que Dare You To lo tenía un poco difícil conmigo.

La narrativa de McGarry sigue siendo muy entretenida, con un lenguaje fluido y muy buenos diálogos. Solo que el libro no me gustó tanto como el anterior. Ryan me parece demasiado simple, no porque sea “un chico bueno”, sé que tengo debilidad por los bad boys, pero eso no tiene nada que ver, solo que Ryan como personaje protagonista no me convenció, no me hizo surgir ningún apasionamiento hacia él. La verdad es que Ryan no tiene mucha gracia. Es lindo, pero ahí nada más.

Yo sé que una gran preocupación para gran cantidad de los que esperaban el libro era Beth-Isaiah. Luego de leer la sinopsis ya me veía odiando el libro, a Beth y/o Katie. Yo tengo un trauma con la traición (tan solo de pensar en una me hace doler el corazón) Katie lo supo manejar bien, no sé si me hice a la idea muy rápido o qué, lo lamenté por Isaiah pero citando a otro libro: “When is right...“

No lo tengo especialmente ningún voto negativo o alguna razón importante para criticar el libro, sinceramente me gustó pero no logré conectar completamente con los protagonistas. Rompiendo las Normas conquistó mi corazón de una manera que Dare You To no pudo, quizá porque tenía algunas semejanzas con Noah y Echo, algo que no pasó en ésta segunda parte de la serie.

Katie no exagera con los clichés, dándonos una trama directa, con un argumento que con muchos otros escritores pudo ser tan solo uno más pero que ella vuelve memorable. Si bien Dare You To no se ha vuelto mi favorito, pasé un buen momento leyendo y espero ansiosa la tercera parte de la serie: Crash Into You (Pushing The Limits #3) ¡La historia de Isaiah! Que dicen será extremadamente dolorosa ¡Yay!

Reseña completa: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Katie McGarry writes great books. Point blank. I don't even know how to express my love for this author.

Beth Risk
Beth is rough. Just plain rough. She likes to swear, doesn't care to be friendly, doesn't trust at all, drinks, and smokes cigarettes and pot... You get my drift. It's not easy to like Beth. In fact, I often found myself wondering why Noah and Isaiah liked her so much and why Ryan kept putting up with her crap. Little by little you start to understand why Beth is the way she is. Little by little she begins to see herself in a new light. Little by little the reader begins to be on team Beth until you can't help but to wish her all the best at the end.

Ryan Stone
Ryan is perfect. There is no other word to describe this kid. He is perfect. He is a rare breed and I kind of liked how vanilla he was. Why? Simply put, Beth needed vanilla. Ryan has a lot going for him. He's pretty popular, nice, has decent grades, and he's on the baseball team and contemplating whether he should go pro or continue on to college. So yeah, Ryan, as a person, is pretty perfect. He is a true gentleman and sees things with different eyes than many of the people around him. His home life, though, not so perfect.

I personally am glad these two were paired together. I was a bit surprised that Beth wasn't with Isaiah because it felt like this is where the story was heading. I might be the only one on this but I wasn't at all sad about the fact Beth didn't end up with Isaiah. I truly felt she only saw him as a bestie.

Ryan and Beth balance each other out. Well, maybe not... Beth is just a handful. Yet it just works out. Ryan offers normal and makes her see her worth on a different level than anyone else could.

I think someone else that needs to be given a shout out is Beth's uncle, Scott Risk. Although it took him 10 years to come back into Beth's life, he made it very clear he wasn't leaving her again anytime soon. He was trying to provide Beth with an opportunity to be a regular teenager with regular problems and more importantly an opportunity to dream and hope.

This is definitely fast paced, it will keep you turning the pages and it will have you intrigued until the end. World and character building seems to always be on point. I personally don't like contemporaries with heavy material in it and not because I can't handle it. If you've read enough of my reviews you'll know it's because the authors fail to deliver a realistic read that deals with heavy material. McGarry is not this kind of writer. There are actions and there are consequences in each of her reads with lessons learned and more importantly leaving the reader with hope.

Yet, I gave Dare You To 4 stars. Yep, I did.

I would have liked to see more interaction between Beth and Uncle Scott. As I mentioned before, Scott refuses to give up on Beth once back in her life. At one point Scott tells Beth that she is to report to the kitchen every morning at a certain hour in which he will make her breakfast, they will study for school together, and talk about school life. I would have liked to read more about those interactions because as much as Beth needed a guy like Ryan in her life, she needed a parent like Scott even more. From the beginning I felt this excitement while reading. Perhaps it's because I knew Beth had a chance to have a wonderful life or maybe it was because there were a lot of dares in this book or maybe because Beth was such a little wench most of the time... I don't know what it was but I didn't feel as big of an emotional connection as I did with Pushing the Limits and Crossing the Line.

Regardless of this, I can't wait for Crash into You, which by the way, has a much cuter Isaiah on the cover than in my head. :-D

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via Netgalley.