Review: Dare You To by Katie McGarry

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...

I picked up Dare You To because I loved Pushing The Limits so much, and I figured that Beth's story might be an okay read. I felt that I wouldn't love it, since there was no way that McGarry could make Beth and Ryan characters that I would love as much as Noah and Echo. I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

I read this book in one sitting, I absolutely devoured it. McGarry is an awesome writer and manages to keep you gripped even at the slower parts of the book. I didn't think it was possible, but McGarry has actually improved her writing since Dare You To  and I can't wait to see how much further she improved in Crash into You. There is never a break in this book, it's either the swoonworthy, cute romance, the heartbreaking angst or the action and danger that has you gripping your seat in absolute terror and you won't realise how much you've been holding your breath near the end until you finish the book and let out a massive sigh of relief.

What I was really worried about is that Ryan and Beth just wouldn't match up to the awesome of Noah and Echo, or that their romance will be very samey. I was wrong on both counts - Ryan and Beth stand out as their own characters, I disliked Beth when I read about her in Pushing The Limits but in Dare You To I started to really feel for her, and Ryan starts out as a stereotypical jock, yet McGarry develops him to be much more than that. Sure there's the 'good' one (Ryan and Echo) and the bad one (Noah and Beth), but McGarry manages to make each character their own, and I am so looking forward to reading Isaiah's story in Crash Into You.

Overall, Dare You To was an amazing addition to a fantastic series. I honestly can't fault McGarry here as the writing, the characters and the pacing were all brilliant. Now I have to sit around until Crash Into You come out (thankfully that comes out in November!). Read It!

Book released 7th June 2013 by Mira Ink (UK)/ 28th May 2013 by Harlequin Teen (US) *Cover shown is UK cover)

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (NetGalley)

Reviews for other books by this author:

Pushing The Limits (#1)