Book Review: Dare You To by Katy McGarry

Dare You To

Author: Katy McGarry
Series: Pushing The Limits #2

Genre: YA contemporary romance

Publication Date: May 28th 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!!*

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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.

Wow. That was my reaction after reading this book - wow. I can't find any other words to describe the sheer awesomeness of this book.

Let me start off by saying that I was crazy excited when I first got my hands on this book! Pushing The Limits was the undoubtedly the best book I've read on 2012 and I just couldn't wait any longer to read its sequel.



So from that you can understand how high my expectations were. I was expecting to be BLOWN AWAY by this book, nothing less than that. And guess what? I was!!

This book tells the story of Beth and Ryan, two people that come from totally different backgrounds but that doesn't stop them from falling strongly in love.

If you've read Pushing The Limits, I bet you remember Beth. She was so mean to everyone!! She was awful. I remember how much I hated her. I never once stopped to think about what is standing behind her behavior. I judged her based on what was on the surface - I wasn't even trying to understand her. This book gave my a chance to see the world from her point of view and I was surprised at what I found. Beth's life are unimaginably difficult. She was surviving rather than living - no one ever took care of her and she had to be responsible for her drug-addict mother and deal with her abusive boyfriend.
After struggling so much with the world, Beth can't trust anyone. She keeps her guards up and doesn't let anyone reach her. That's why she comes off as mean and unfriendly, even though she is very soft and sensitive from the inside. I loved how the author presented Beth to me in a new light - this glimpse into Beth's soul helped me connect to her and I learned that I shouldn't judge anyone because I can never know what he has to deal with.

After getting involved with the police, Beth is forced to move into her uncle's house. She hasn't seen him for years and apparently he became VERY rich. She gets the opportunity to start over in a new school, but she can't really leave her old life. Who will take care of her mom? She plans to run away, but than something gets in her way - she falls in love.

Let me introduce you to Ryan, AKA the hottest guy ever!! He was my favorite character. I loved him right from the beginning!!! He was the school's baseball star, popular and handsome. And the best thing was - he had a great personality. He had a good heart. He really cared about the people around him - about his family, about his close friends and most of all - about Beth. He balanced her - his stability balanced her changing moods, his persistency balanced her easily giving up, his positive attitude balanced her negative thoughts. He loved her with all his heart and excepted her for who she was. He never once flinched by her behavior, even when she was very mean to him. He understood her soul like no one else did.

The book started pretty slow, giving the readers a chance to get to know the characters well before the plot actually start. That was pretty unnecessary in my opinion. The first 100 pages were a bit boring a dragged too much, and that's were one star goes. I was really disappointed at the beginning - I was worried that the whole story would be this slow. I almost gave up on the book then, but luckily, somewhere around page 100 the plot finally picked up and turned into a crazy rollercoaster.

So many things happened in this book. There wasn't a single moment of quietness. The two main characters were overflowed by so many troubles - both hers and his. Their lives were full of troubles and difficulties, but they helped each other overcome everything.
I love reading books in which the romantic relationship between the two main characters empowers both of them.



This book was so good. I had some minor issues with the beginning, but other than that I loved everything about it. It was definitely a satisfying sequel and I can't wait to read the next!!!


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