Rowena’s review of Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2) by Katie McGarry.
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 read and enjoyed Pushing the Limits so much last year that I was anxiously waiting for this one. I couldn’t wait to get it and when I finally opened this sucker to get down to some serious reading, I was fully prepared for the awesome that I was going to read…and McGarry didn’t disappoint.
If you read Pushing the Limits then you’ll remember Beth from Noah’s background. Beth, Noah and Isaiah are foster siblings who banded together and vowed to always be there for each other. Noah and Isaiah are in the foster program and they live with Beth’s Aunt. Beth’s family life isn’t the greatest and to stay out of the way of her mother’s abusive boyfriend’s way, Beth stays with her Aunt as well. Throughout this whole book, you’re left to guess why Beth sticks by her no-good, loser of a Mom and when you finally find out why…you understand. And it’s a good reason because it’s a believable one. One that caught me by surprise, though it shouldn’t have because it’s so obvious.
I really enjoyed getting to know Beth, even when it was hard to like her. She had her reasons for acting the way that she did and though her personality is gruff, she’s still a connectable character. You develop feelings for Beth over the course of the book and you really want things to work out for her. I thought McGarry did a wonderful job of fleshing her character out and making the reader sympathize and even empathize with her.
Ryan Stone has his own problems that he’s working through in this book and you really get into his story and into his character. I loved the hell out of Ryan and the way that he just kept right on coming back to Beth, even when she made it painfully obvious that she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Seeing the two of them come together and really start to understand the other made for a great story.
There were things that bothered me about this book but none of those things ruined the book. The way that Beth’s uncle kind of bulldozed his way into Beth’s life left a bad taste in my mouth at first, especially his methods but as you continue to read, you start to realize that the way he handled things wasn’t perfect but it was probably the only way that Beth would have gone to him, willingly. At first, I wanted to punch Scott’s wife, Allison but even she grew on me as the story progressed.
Overall, this was a really good read. One that I really got into and one that I couldn’t get enough of. I was bummed when I finished it that I went back and re-read my favorite parts. These characters come alive for you and they really stick with you. I definitely recommend this book to lovers of Pushing the Limits and to lovers of contemporary YA or NA. This was worth the time it took me to read it.
Grade: 4.75 out of 5
This book is available from Harlequin Teen. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.
I just finished reading this yesterday. It’s such a good book! My first YA was Pushing the Limits. Going in I didn’t think I would like YA. But these books are written so well and so relateable. I have to admit there were some points in the book where I wished for my own Ryan 🙂
@Natasha: I hear you. I read Pushing the Limits and loved Noah and Echo’s story. It was good to see them in Beth and Ryan’s story and I’m looking forward to Isaiah’s story next. Have you seen the cover? It looks fantastic!