Dare You To by Katie McGarry

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Book summary:

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....

     If there was a certain type of the book I could point out as my favorite it would be this one. Stories about kids with messed-up past or present who're struggling to find themselves. They are going through hell and back and mostly they can't put their life first as there is someone depending on them. These books are one of the rare cases when I don't mind predictability.

    I just told you more or less the main topics of this book. On one side we have Ryan, the boy that most people think is perfect with his perfect life and perfect future. Only what's on the surface is not necessary the reflection of the real status. He has to keep a lot of things inside himself as appearance is the most important thing in this town, as in any other. On the other hand we have Beth whose life is everything but perfect. Future for her might be a blessing at some moments. She is too young to even take care of herself no to talk about her mother. As she thinks that all what have happened in their lives is her fault she knows that she can't go and leave her mother behind. Her mother is a burden she has to carry. Once they meet they know that nothing between them can happened that would mean the cracking of their lives - for Ryan that would be the destruction of his perfect image and for Beth it would mean putting her own life first and that's not an option.

      This book is heart-breaking and wonderful but also really funny! I laughed out loud a lot of times on Beth's witty moments and Ryan's comebacks. Pushing the Limits was on of my favorite reads last year and I can say that Dare You To will probably be one of my favorite reads this year. I should predict that Crash Into You is next on this list. I can't help myself as Katie really knows how to touch my heart.

Rating: 5 stars.

Until the next time,


***NOTE: A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher, Herlequin, via NetGalley. Thank you.
I'm not paid for writing the review - I do it as a lover of written word. All opinions in this review are personal.