Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2) by Katie Mcgarry
""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.... "
Rating: 5/5 stars.
I have long given up on chick lit/ romance novels. I am so glad I made an exception on this one!
Wow.Where should I even start with this review? I mean, this novel really did leave me emotionally drained. I was so caught up in the story from the very first page, and I finished this bad boy (ebook edition is 655 pages) in just two days. I think I pretty much locked myself up in my room untill I finished it. I dared my self to finish it. See what I did here? Huh?;)
Anyway, let get on with the review, shall we?I thought I would just straight up list the reasons I loved this book. So here we go..
1)Beth. Beth is such a hard character to wrap my mind around. She's a troubled, angst-driven, stubborn teenager. Why you ask, is she one of the reasons I like this novel then? She's genuine. Katie Mcgarry did a really good job building up Beth's character. At first, I wasn't exactly fond of her. But as the story, you get a better look at her past, and through the tough exterior she puts on. And should I mention, she's funny as hell?
2)Ryan. Ryan plays the main love interest in the novel, and he's a good guy. An actual good guy. Can you believe that? He came accross as a bit superficial and shallow within the very first chapters; but I think a big part of this was because he was constantly referred to as a jock in the blurb and a <i>stupid</i> jock by our one and only Beth. I think I started to warm up to his character as Beth herself did. He turns out to be a really good friend, with troubles and secrets like Beth.
3)The writing.The writing was superb. Most of the time it was as if I could exactly feel what the characters were feeling. Katie knows how to paint quite the picture. And another thing I appreciated was how gracefully the more intimate scenes were handled. I'm glad the writer somehow found middle ground between writing a young adult appropriate novel, and not shying away from describing a young adult relationship with all that comes with it. Which brings us to...
4)The language. There is quite some swearing here, and I'm not sure if alot of people will agree this is one of the reasons to enjoy a book, but for me it is. Yes, you read that right. I mean let's face it, Katie is writing about teenagers, and guess what teenagers do alot? Swear. An awful lot of swearing. I mean, when I'm reading a book and one of the characters is in deep trouble and all they can manage to say is "Crap" a part of by brain snorts. Teenagers swear. Keep it real.
5)Beth's dark past. If you think this book is all about a mushy lovestory, you can't be more wrong. There is some darker parts of the story, moving it a bit into the mature young adult genre. The book deals with issues like domestic abuse, drug and alchohol addiction and homophobia.
And last but not least, the biggest reason I like this book..
*Drumroll*
6)ISAIAH. I.love.him. I really hate to let the fangirl in me take over, but I really do love him. I haven't read Pushing the Limits, so I was just introduced to his character in this novel. I loved reading about him so much, and his dark demeanour. He's even made to my all time favourtie male characters list (With the likes of Draco Malfoy and so, although there is quite a difference between them. And no, Harry's not on it.)True story.
I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast-paced emotional romance novel. As I mentioned earlier, I have not read Pushing the Limits, and I haven't found any trouble keeping up with the characters. This novel can be read as a standalone.
I'm going crazy waiting for Crash Into You, no more like going-nuts-waiting-for-so-much-as-a-blurb-to-be-released kind of crazy.
*An arc was provided by the publishers in return for an honest review.
