Tuesday 11 June 2013

REVIEW: Dare you To by Katie McGarry

Dare you To by Katie McGarry

Series: Pushing the Limits, #2
Publication Date: May 28th 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Hardcover, 462 pages
Useful Info: Goodreads, Author's Website, Book Depository

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...

What can I possibly say about Dare you To that could do this book justice? I mean honestly, once more, Katie McGarry delivers a heart wrenching story, a story so full of meaning and deep, that words can't possibly describe it. You just have to read this book to fully understand what I'm saying.

Dare you To is one of those books that will just stay with you long after you've finished reading it. Much like with Pushing the Limits, the first book in this series, the second story is not just a romantic YA story between two deeply troubled teens. Oh no, it's so much more... One might think that with how popular the New Adult genre has become lately and how most of the books in that genre feature a deeply troubled hero and/or heroine, that Dare you To would almost feel like a repetition. One couldn't be more wrong about it. On the contrary, Dare you To, is a shining example of how one should write about troubled and emotionally scarred characters without becoming repetitive and shallow while handling such delicate issues. Katie McGarry is just the kind of author one should study in order to understand how to talk about difficult things not simply because that is the trend but because they actually have something important to say with their story. She's the author whose stories reminded me why I like so much to read about far from perfect heroes. I have to admit that lately, because more and more stories feature heroes with a troubled background but too shallowly portrayed, I had forgotten why I did. I'm glad that there are still authors out there that can remind me of how much can a complex character add to a story. A complex character that has a background that is.

Anyway, I don't know what more can I say to describe what a brilliant author Katie McGarry is. You simply have to read her books and you'll understand what I mean. I won't even say anything about the plot. I think it's better for Ryan and Beth to tell you their story for themselves. I will only say that Dare you To is a great story, an incredibly well written one, with characters that are flawed but real, like every real person is. Both main and secondary characters have a voice of their own and a place in the story. All characters have a great and solid background. In the end of day, Dare you To is just the kind of story that will speak directly to your heart. I almost cried for Beth, I cried at how she had to change herself in order to survive and how in the end all that she actually needed was for someone to care about her.

All in all, Dare you To is a story that no one should miss the opportunity reading. It's the best YA book that I read in quite sometime. Surely I loved other books too, but Katie McGarry managed once more with her story to remind me what it feels to read something that goes way further than just enjoying myself with a book. Dare you To is the kind of book that will make you cry, think and love. One of the best books of 2013!



* ARC copy provided via NetGalley for review purposes

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