{Review} of Dare You To by Katie McGarry

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

GENRE: Young Adult
THEME: Contemporary Romance
RECEIVED: NetGalley
AUTHORS BLOG: Katie McGarrys' Site

BLURB:

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....

REVIEW:
I applaud McGarry, she has done it again, creating a story of two young teens who find out that they need each other and help pull through all the hardships with their families’ lives. I thought nothing could top Pushing the Limits but Dare You To comes in neck and neck. Even though I was not a fan of Beth, after reading her story and understanding why she is the way she is, I was able to like her and root for her to find happiness.

Dare You To follows Beth, a damaged young teen whose family life is anything but perfect. Her mother is a mess and the man she’s seeing hurts her and Beth any chance he gets. Luckily Beth’s uncle comes in and tries to help repair the damage that is Beth’s life. But as always she doesn’t make it easy to help her. After meeting Ryan, Beth starts to slowly open up, see’s what life might be like if she had people that cared for her. Ryan too see’s that his life has always been what his family wanted and not his choice, but Beth changes his way of thinking. Together trying to fix the broken pieces in each other’s lives.

Beth is one infuriating and emotional character, as the reader, finding out about her past and family troubles, I can seriously not blame her for being so negative and untrusting. She is so full of hate and doesn’t want to let anyone in, she has so many issues that I was happy that her uncle fought to find a way through all her layers to see if she’ll let him in. My only major issue was Beth’s insistence in helping her mother, that women seriously didn’t deserve a daughter who was so devoted to helping her. I wished that she would of thought things through a little better, it some instances it got annoying with her obsession of helping her mom. Her relationship with Isaiah, was focused on as well, not forgetting everything he’s done for her. Between Ryan and Isaiah it was an interesting dynamic, both these characters are a future and past, Beth has to find out what she really needs and wants.

Ryan has a lot of ups and downs in his family; know where near as bad as Beth but enough to hope that he finds a way to get through it. He’s a smart kid and a seriously amazing athlete. I felt bad for this guy as well, he is trapped, his family makes the decision and his father (who is super frustrating) only wants Ryan to have the life he (his dad) wants. I loved how Beth helped Ryan see reason with his family problems, as he helped her. I liked how Ryan was so opposite of Beth, the chemistry was off the charts, the banter was perfect, the perfect guy with the imperfect girl.

Overall this is a heavy story, the emotional sides of both characters, the readers will be rooting for these two to have some happiness. There are so many other characters that helped make this story amazing and I’m hoping the readers will connect with them again in the next books. I can’t wait for Isaiah’s story I already know its going to be one heck of a book.

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult novel with romance and majorly tough family situations. Fans of Jennifer Echols Such a Rush and Lara Zielin’s The Waiting Sky should read Dare To You by Katie McGarry a.s.a.p!

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