Effortlessly Reading

ARC Book Review: Dare You To – Katie McGarry


dareyoutoDare You To
Author: Katie McGarry
Series: Pushing the Limits #2
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: May 28, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Goodreads | Amazon | TBD

Summary:

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….

 
First Sentence: I’m not interested in second place.

I received an eARC through NetGalley. Thank you!

My Review:

Katie McGarry is amazing. Seriously. I’m not a fan of reading contemporary books with no paranormal elements; in fact, I don’t like about 90% of all contemporaries I’ve read without any paranormal elements in it. When I started Pushing the Limits last year, I wasn’t expecting much. To be honest, I was expecting to hate it, but it completely blew me away. Kate McGarry managed to drag me into Echo and Noah’s story, make me cheer for them, make me feel sorry for them, and make me bawl for five minutes straight while reading their story. No other author could do that. When I heard that Katie McGarry was writing another book, Dare You To, this time focused on Beth with some guy named Ryan, I knew right away that it would be an automatic buy for me and that I needed to get my hands on it asap.

I was originally planning on reading Dare You To the day it would be released in bookstores even though I knew it was on NetGalley. However, I finally caved in after more than a month of not requesting it and requested Dare You To on NetGalley for review. Waiting to see if I got accepted or rejected on NetGalley to read Dare You To was absolute torture. I was checking NetGalley everyday, and crying on the inside when I saw that I still didn’t have a response from the publisher yet. (Yes, that was how much I was looking forward towards reading Dare You To.) When I finally got accepted on NetGalley, I was jumping up and down and dropped the books I was currently reading just so I can read Dare You To first. I was enjoying Dare You To so much that I was still reading it when I was supposed to be studying for one of my finals instead that was in four days.

“There is absolutely nothing you can do to ever get me to give you my name or number.” (ARC 17)

It took me awhile to get into the story. The thing is, the first chapter was supposed to grab me right away, but I’ve already read the first chapter twice from reading an excerpt of Dare You To given to me at the back of my copy of Pushing the Limits around a year ago. That means that I was reading the first chapter of Dare You To for the third time and it didn’t automatically pull me in into the story because I’ve already read it twice in the past. It wasn’t until around 15% of the book until I finally got into the story.

The car slowly drives by and Beth presses her palm against the passenger window. Written in black marker is the word signaling my defeat: can’t. (ARC 19)

I didn’t really like Beth in Pushing the Limits. Beth was mean and rude to Echo for no reason, making Echo feel bad when Echo already had enough problems to deal with. However, in Dare You To, I totally love Beth. She’s gutsy, sassy, and snarky, with a secret side she only shows to people she trusts, all the traits I’ll love to have in a best friend. After reading her story and learning more about where she came from and what she had to deal with, I can forgive Beth’s actions to Echo in Pushing the Limits, although she still has to be nicer to Echo. I was a little frustrated with Beth because she can be so blind sometimes, but at the same time, I understood her position.

“I’m going to say this slowly and use little words in the hope you can follow along. If you call me Elisabeth again, I’ll make sure you can never father children. Tell anyone else whose niece I am and you’ll be sucking air out of a tube in your throat.” (ARC 98, 99)

As for Ryan, he was a major jerk in the beginning. (I’ll like to use another word to describe him, but I don’t think any of you reading this would appreciate that.) I loved the way Beth put him down because frankly, Ryan deserved it. I didn’t have much faith for Ryan at first, but as I read on, he slowly began to grow on me. I loved the way Ryan was patient with Beth and could see the real her when everyone looks at her and sees somebody else.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Arrogant Taco Bell Boy says as if we never met. Maybe he doesn’t remember. Jocks usually aren’t smart. Their muscles feast on their brains. (ARC 81)

I love how Beth and Ryan were a perfect match together. Beth brings Ryan down when he’s being an egotistic jerk and Ryan is the constant person in Beth’s life for her to relay on. I love watching their bumpy non-existent relationship changed, how Beth slowly grew to trust Ryan and how Ryan became a better person for Beth.

Katie McGarry is an absolute genius when it comes to writing scenes that could make me cry. To be honest, I was expecting to cry when I was reading Dare You To because Pushing the Limits was one of the only books that managed to make me cry non-stop for five whole minutes. I cried for about five times while reading Dare You To – I was hurting for Beth, her family situation, what she had to face, and Ryan’s jerkyness attitude.

There’s a roaring in my head and I freeze mid-step. I’m in the kitchen and I have no idea how I made it here. “What did you say?” (402)

Overall, I have one thing to say: READ THIS BOOK! Seriously, if you don’t, you’re definitely missing out on something very good. Dare You To will tug on your heartstrings, make your eyes wet and teary, and you would never want to let the book go. Dare You To is definitely a must buy.

And before I end my review, I have several words to say:

I dare you to read this book.

I dare you to read this book without crying.

I dare you to put this book down.

One word: Can’t.

fourpointfive

-Kelly

Speak Your Mind

    • Yeah, I felt exactly that way when I read Pushing the Limits. Yeah, it was really good and made me cry so hard, but at the same time, I felt that something was missing. I don’t know what it is, but was.
      But don’t worry, I didn’t have that problem with Dare You To. Everything was great. (:
      Kelly recently posted…Top Ten Books When You Need Something Light & FunMy Profile

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  3. I’m dying to read Dare You To! I LOVED Pushing the Limits! The author really is a genius, she is pouring so many emotions into her books!

    Reply

  4. Hi. Thanks fo the review.

    I loooooved Pushing the Limits, and I really like Dare You To. Ryan is sooo sweet and gentleman *-* I love him.

    Have you read Simone Elkeles books? It’s amazing too, and she has a similar writing style to Katie Mcgarry.

    =D

    Reply

  5. looking forward to read this book..i love katie mcgary’s book :)

    Reply

  8. I so didn’t like Beth either in Pushing The Limits so I didn’t rush out to read Dare You To but seriously this book needs to be read for Ryan Stone alone!

    Reply

  9. I absolutely adora Ketie’s books. And Dare You To is one of my favorits of all the time. After Pushing The Limits I thought I won’t like Beth more than Echo, but in the end I loved Beth as much as I loved Echo and maybe even more. Also the story was in my opinion much prettier than PTL’s.

    Reply

  10. Cool review!! I love Pushing the Limits. I have a signed arc of this book and I haven’t read it yet; shame on me! My TBR pile is just so high. I can’t wait to dig into Beth and Ryan’s story. I also can’t wait for Crash Into You. <3

    Reply

  12. I didn’t care for Beth either in Pushing The Limits, but I did some what feel sorry for her. I wasn’t too excited about this book at first because I really wanted her and Isaiah to be together. However, I have heard nothing but good reviews about this book so I am interested in reading it. However, I am in no rush. Good review, though. I am glad you liked the book :)

    Reply

  13. I absolutely loved this one. While it’s a different love from PTL it’s still love nonetheless. Beth’s character really resonated with me. Glad you liked it!

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  14. OH MY GOSH. I SO LOVE DARE YOU TO! I am so glad I read it. It would be such a big waste if I went with my foregone conclusion about Beth. Obviously, Beth in Pushing the Limits was not a very likable character; she LOATHED Echo and I just could not understand her!

    But when I read Dare You To, I slowly understood why she’s like that. She experienced a lot of terrible things in the past. What’s worse is that she can’t seem to evade that kind of life because of her mom. I HATE HER MOM. ugh.

    Anyway, I agree that the first few chapters did not really WOW (I suddenly remembered Beth’s dare to Ryan HAHA) me. But only Katie can pull out that kind of writing! She’s a genius when it comes to that style, and I just love how she dealt with serious issues in the book.

    Katie’s perfect. I love her. Dare You To is perfect. I love this book.
    And I couldn’t dare not to love it! :)

    Reply

  15. I’ve been contemplating reading this book for a while now, but something kept distracting me. Or maybe it was the fact that I’d never read the first book (I have no idea who Echo and Noah are) that repelled me. Whatever it was I think your review just tipped the scale. I love reviews that include quotes from the novel as they draw me in more, setting the scene for this new world I’m agreeing to enter, and glimpse to me a promise of what is to come.
    And you didn’t only convince me to bump one book up my to-be-read list, you convinced me on two. I really must find out who Echo and Noah are now, and just why their story made you cry.
    S I guess I should thank you, really. Thank you for convincing me to stop dodging a book on a technicality and inspiring me to pick up a second book as a bonus!
    Great review!

    Reply

  16. I loved Pushing the Limits! Now I can’t wait to read this one! I wasn’t so sure with Noah and Echo not being the main characters but you’ve convinced me!

    Reply

  18. Must to read this book,also Pushing the Limits,I heard so many wonderful things about this series,and your review is really great :)

    I plan to start with reading this series very soon :)

    Reply

  20. I surprised as well that I liked Beth as much as I did in this book to after not being so fond of her in Pushing the Limits.I knew that there would be a hefty back story though and am I glad that Ms. McGarry went there with in Dare You To. There is one thing that caught me a bit with this and I am wondering if it caught you too–the guy that used Beth was Luke. Could it be Echo’s Luke too? I don’t remember Beth acknowledging it being the same guy to Noah in Pushing the Limits so I doubt it is but in my mind I wonder if it is…hmm. Anyway, like we were tweeting, HUGE fan of these books.

    Have you tried Laurie Halse Anderson’s contemporary titles yet? Particularly Speak and Wintergirls? If you like to be ripped to shreds when reading, they will do that to that to you but they are SO WORTH it.
    Stephanie @ Love.Life.Read recently posted…Racing Savannah Pre-Order SpecialMy Profile

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    • I know! I was expecting to hate Dare You To because Beth was a total jerk, but I ended up loving her.
      Ohh, I’ve never noticed that until you mention it now! Have you asked Katie McGarry about it? I’m sure she’ll answer the question. :P
      Nope, the only Laurie Halse Anderson book I’ve read was Fever [a year]. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Speak and Wintergirls though! If they break your heart, I’ll have to read it asap. (Yes, I’m weird that way. :P)
      Kelly recently posted…Top Ten Bookish Things I Am Thankful ForMy Profile

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  22. Your review of this book has persuaded me to start with the first book and read this one, too. I am glad you gave the “warning” that this book took a little time to get into. If that’s the case for me too, I will keep going! :) Thanks again for the awesome review. I’m pretty excited to read these!

    Reply

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Effortlessly Reading sometimes receives ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) from publishers or authors in exchange for honest reviews. Please note that no compensation of any kind has been provided in exchange for a review. Any use and/or duplication of my material without any permission is strictly prohibited.