The Fine Art of Truth or Dare

by Melissa Jensen

• ISBN10: 0142420905
• ISBN13: 9780142420904
• Publish Date: 16 February 2012 (first published 1 February 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Speak
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 380
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rowena]

I’ve been itching to read this book for quite some time now and when I finally made the time to read it, I wasn’t as wowed as I thought I was going to be. That bummed me out some but still, this book had its moments.

Ella isn’t popular at school but she has friends and that’s good enough for her. She has a thing for Edward Willing, the dead painter but she’s also got a thing for the most popular guy at school, Alex Bainbridge. He doesn’t know she’s alive until she picks up one of his textbooks and gives it back to him.

He’s dating the queen bee at school and she’s not real friendly. Ella used to be known as Freddie Kruger because of a burn scar that takes up her upper torso on her body and when Alex calls her Freddie (thinking that was her name), Ella knows that her crush isn’t and probably won’t ever be returned.

That should have been that but Ella is close to failing French and her French teacher has assigned her a tutor who just so happens to be, Alex freaking Bainbridge. Ella’s not at all happy about it because she just knows that Alex wouldn’t want to do it but when he is serious about tutoring her, she gives in and lets him tutor her.

As their tutoring sessions start and they get closer and closer, Ella realizes that maybe Alex does want to be with her…but them coming together isn’t without a whole lot of drama. Ella’s friends aren’t fans of Alex and Alex wants to keep things between them a secret from everyone else. What else is Ella supposed to think when Alex doesn’t want anyone to know about them? If he would have explained his reasons for wanting this to happen, I think it would have done wonders to calming Ella down but because he didn’t, I didn’t blame her for thinking the way that she did.

The relationship that blossomed between Alex and Ella wasn’t filled with fireworks and what not, it was one of those relationships that just works. They were good together and I got the feeling that Alex was a lot more into Ella than she thought. Her insecurities that stemmed from her burns was prevalent in their relationship and while she flipped out and every little thing, I understood it and wasn’t as annoyed as I probably would have been with anyone else. What I enjoyed more than anything in this book was the friendship between Ella and Frankie. I loved that he was the complete opposite of Ella, in that he was confident in himself and in his friends. He loved Ella and accepted her the way that she was. To have her keep her relationship with Alex a secret from him, hurt him and I loved that even then, he was a good friend to her.

The whole talking to Edward Willing threw me for a loop because I just didn’t see why she did it. I thought it was weird and didn’t see why there was a need for her to do it since I didn’t think it added anything to the storyline. Aside from that, this was a pretty decent read. It’s a good choice for the beach and Alex Bainbridge is just swoonworthy enough to keep this book interesting.

[Joséphine]

So the cover has a quote from Robin Palmer that states, "Funny and sweet, just like first love ought to be." I kinda wonder if we read the same book. There was no part where I laughed because I thought something was funny. I didn't smile. I didn't even smirk. Also, if that really is how first love is supposed to be, then that is really sad.

Expectations aside thanks to the book cover, the book in itself wasn't terrible. There were a couple of ideas I liked. I liked that Ella pursued art to the point that she wanted to find out more about her favourite artist. I liked her friends Sadie and Frankie. Their group dynamic was balanced and did reflect one of three best friends who were there for each other while being individuals too. I particularly liked Frankie who could be very snarky but had a soft side too. He was an in your face kinda guy but Melissa Jensen managed to not make him seem way too much over the top.

Ella was obsessed with Edward Willing but had her reasons for liking his art. Since the plot aimed at realism, I would've very much preferred if she would've admitted from the outset that her conversations with him were imaginary. Or he should've been a ghost version of Edward. Would've been cliche but it would've made ploughing through pages and pages about a person who didn't matter to anyone else a little less laborious. She does abandon her obsession for a while to focus on Alex instead but the relationship between the two of them didn't help suck me into the book any further than whatever happened before Alex became central to the plot.

For something that I thought should've been a fairly easy read, I thought the plot was unnecessarily long. The constant emphasis on stating truth in the manner of "Truth: Insert a supposedly truthful statement." also made reading for me a somewhat stilted affair. To some degree I only read from cover to cover because in principle I try to finish books I start, unless I cannot stop cringing. I didn't cringe a lot while reading but neither did I derive much enjoyment. Would've given 2.5 stars if I could but since I can't and don't think it deserves 3, I'm giving 2 stars for this.