The Kooky Bookworm: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Dare You To by Katie McGarry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Date Published: May 28th 2013
Genre: Young Adult Romance

Beth has one effed up life. Maybe not as effed up as Echo's and Noah's, but still effed up. She has a mother who is, for lack of a better word, insane in the mothering department. And not insane in a good way. Not to mention her bastard of a boyfriend who hits them both. So when she gets sent to her Uncle Scott's house I can tell it's a good thing for her.

And Ryan. Perfect boy has some issues of his own. His brother is gay and his family can' deal with it because their homophobes. I would give his family the middle finger and walk out, just like his brother did.

I can't say I feel sorry for Ryan about how he acts towards his brother and how he lets his parents control his world. He needs to grow a pair. I do feel a twinge of sympathy for him when his parents reject his writing abilities. But he has to stand up for himself, and in the end, he does.

When I first started reading this I resented the author for not putting Beth and Isaiah together as a couple. But I am appeased now by knowing that Isaiah will have his own love story next. I definitely liked Noah and Echo's story better, because they had actual problems, not just inner demons in their minds, though they did have some of that too.

Ryan kind of feels like a whiny baby to me. That being said, not everyone knows how to stand up to the people who should matter most in the world. Whether it makes Ryan weak for at first not standing up to his parents or just scared and confused, I don't really know. I'm biased, so it's really fair to judge him like that.

Beth... I liked her and I didn't. I didn't like her because she clung to her mother who would throw her away in a heartbeat if it meant her father would come back to her. At the same time, she's her mother, and how can you give up on the one person that is supposed to be everything? It would be extremely hard to let your mother go, but in the end she did and I like her for realizing that.

Overall, not as good as Pushing the Limits, but not totally bad either. I have an inkling that the next one will blow the first two to pieces. Isaiah was always one of my favorite characters, and I love a story with a girl who loves cars. So I am looking forward to reading Crashing into You.

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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....