Title: Dare You To [Pushing The Limits #2]
Published: June 7th, 2013
Author: Katie McGarry
Pages: 304
Rating: 4/5 stars
From Goodreads:
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....
-----------------
Published: June 7th, 2013
Author: Katie McGarry
Pages: 304
Rating: 4/5 stars
From Goodreads:
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....
-----------------
“I won't let you go." I
blink. As if he could stop me.
"You won't let me go."
"No, I won't let you go. You're mine and I don't lose.”
After a run in with the police, while saving her drunk, deadbeat mother, Beth is forced to live with her uncle. To add insult to injury, her uncle has the local jock, Ryan[who was just hitting on her last week] to help her at school. Beth thinks she has Ryan figured out, but she soon realizes that Ryan's life isn't as perfect as she thought.
Pushing the Limits, one of my favorite YA contemporary novels, introduced me to a number of amazing characters. One of those characters was Beth, a tough as nails girl with an I don't give a shit attitude. When I heard that she was getting her own story I was beyond excited. When I got approved for an advanced copy I did my happy dance[which is a pretty tragic sight].
Dare You To picks up some time after Pushing the Limits. It's not necessary to read PTL before starting Beth's story, but I would suggest it because it's an amazing book and it you get a great introduction to the characters. Dare You To is told in alternating point of view, which I know a lot of people have an issue with, but Katie McGarry does an amazing job with it.
“A sliver of hope sneaks past my walls and I slam every opening shut. Emotion is evil. People who make me feel are worse. I take comfort in the stone inside me. If I don't feel, I don't hurt.”
Beth's transformation was amazing. It was truly a caterpillar to a butterfly type of story. She really figures out who she is and who she wants to be, but not without a few stumbles along the way. Learning more about Beth, her upbringing, and everything that happened to her was heartbreaking. I wanted to slap her mom more than once.
“I like you. I. Like. You. I'll admit you're annoying. Sometimes you agitate me to the brink of insanity, but you can throw it back at me like no one else. When you laugh, I want to laugh. When you smile, I want to smile. Hell, I want to be the one to make you smile.”
After reading the synopsis I was confused. I had hoped for a Beth/Isaiah story, so I started this book a little weary. That didn't last long. Ryan is the kind of guy you love fully. After twenty pages I was thinking that maybe Isaiah isn't so right for Beth, then maybe this Ryan guy is the one, and finally RYAN! He absolutely captured my heart with the way he fought for Beth. His own family struggles made me so sad, I just couldn't stand the way his father acted.
“I'd love to kiss her right now. Not the type of kiss that makes her body come alive. The type of kiss that shows her how much I care - the type that involves my soul.”
Overall this book was amazing. I was drawn in to the story and couldn't stop reading it until I was finished. I loved how Noah and Echo were worked into the story in a way that wasn't intrusive to Beth and Ryan, but was still enough for me to know that they were still together. Oh, and there's going to be a third book for Isaiah's story called Crash Into You[that definitely sounds like Isaiah]!
I will definitely be buying this book as soon as it comes out. All you lovers of a good heart wrenching contemporary should pick it up too.
-Kait
"You won't let me go."
"No, I won't let you go. You're mine and I don't lose.”
After a run in with the police, while saving her drunk, deadbeat mother, Beth is forced to live with her uncle. To add insult to injury, her uncle has the local jock, Ryan[who was just hitting on her last week] to help her at school. Beth thinks she has Ryan figured out, but she soon realizes that Ryan's life isn't as perfect as she thought.
Pushing the Limits, one of my favorite YA contemporary novels, introduced me to a number of amazing characters. One of those characters was Beth, a tough as nails girl with an I don't give a shit attitude. When I heard that she was getting her own story I was beyond excited. When I got approved for an advanced copy I did my happy dance[which is a pretty tragic sight].
Dare You To picks up some time after Pushing the Limits. It's not necessary to read PTL before starting Beth's story, but I would suggest it because it's an amazing book and it you get a great introduction to the characters. Dare You To is told in alternating point of view, which I know a lot of people have an issue with, but Katie McGarry does an amazing job with it.
“A sliver of hope sneaks past my walls and I slam every opening shut. Emotion is evil. People who make me feel are worse. I take comfort in the stone inside me. If I don't feel, I don't hurt.”
Beth's transformation was amazing. It was truly a caterpillar to a butterfly type of story. She really figures out who she is and who she wants to be, but not without a few stumbles along the way. Learning more about Beth, her upbringing, and everything that happened to her was heartbreaking. I wanted to slap her mom more than once.
“I like you. I. Like. You. I'll admit you're annoying. Sometimes you agitate me to the brink of insanity, but you can throw it back at me like no one else. When you laugh, I want to laugh. When you smile, I want to smile. Hell, I want to be the one to make you smile.”
After reading the synopsis I was confused. I had hoped for a Beth/Isaiah story, so I started this book a little weary. That didn't last long. Ryan is the kind of guy you love fully. After twenty pages I was thinking that maybe Isaiah isn't so right for Beth, then maybe this Ryan guy is the one, and finally RYAN! He absolutely captured my heart with the way he fought for Beth. His own family struggles made me so sad, I just couldn't stand the way his father acted.
“I'd love to kiss her right now. Not the type of kiss that makes her body come alive. The type of kiss that shows her how much I care - the type that involves my soul.”
Overall this book was amazing. I was drawn in to the story and couldn't stop reading it until I was finished. I loved how Noah and Echo were worked into the story in a way that wasn't intrusive to Beth and Ryan, but was still enough for me to know that they were still together. Oh, and there's going to be a third book for Isaiah's story called Crash Into You[that definitely sounds like Isaiah]!
I will definitely be buying this book as soon as it comes out. All you lovers of a good heart wrenching contemporary should pick it up too.
-Kait
I'm so relieved you liked it! I loved Pushing the Limits so I'm so excited to read this book. Really glad it's alternating POV too (I love that style) and that Echo and Noah make an appearance. Great review - got me even more excited for the book!
ReplyDeleteSarah @ TotalTeenFiction
Sometimes alternating POV can get choppy, but Katie does such a great job with it. Thanks for reading my review! :)
DeleteGoodness gracious. I am loving these quotes. This sounds amazing. I have Pushing the Limits on my kindle and need to read it. So many books, little time :D
ReplyDeleteLOL @ " When I got approved for an advanced copy I did my happy dance[which is a pretty tragic sight]. " - hilarious.
Really great review. Thanks so much for sharing! :)
Jennifer @ Dream Reads
My dance is SO traffic, but i know all book lovers understand! The quotes in this book were amazing. I love a quotable book. :) Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteAnd obviously I meant TRAGIC not traffic. That's what I get for commenting from my phone. *sigh*
DeleteMe too! I'm so excited for Isaiah's story as well. :]
ReplyDelete