Dare You to (Pushing the Limits, #2)

by Katie McGarry

[Amber]

This review has also been posted on Books of Amber
Oh yay, another book this year that has disappointed me, despite the fact that my expectations weren't even that high. I had a few issues with this one, and I don't know if I'm being overly sensitive, but as someone who has experienced abuse and has grown up surrounded by it, I think it's okay for me to judge? Maybe. I tried not to whine and complain all over the place, but I felt like the points I make are important.

I love Beth so freakin' much. She has some major issues, and I think in the wrong hands her character could have been awfully annoying and possibly also rather offensive. But McGarry did a fantastic job with her. I was able to connect with her easily, and I could relate with what she was going through in some instances. I especially loved her relationship with Scott, her uncle, and how that developed throughout the story. I think it might be close to becoming one of my favourite relationships in YA.

And then, just to put a downer on the whole thing, there is Ryan. He was hot, yes, but sooooo annoying. I've noticed that the guys in this series like to refer to their girlfriends as "my girl", and say things like "she's mine." NOPE. I hate that. It seems overly possessive, and just UGH. It makes me cringe. Other than that, there were no annoying nicknames, thank the gods.

Anyway, Ryan got on my nerves a lot. I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Beth, and this was possibly caused by how I felt about Ryan, because a lot of people seem to love them together. I saw Ryan as controlling. When Beth didn't want to do something (i.e. talk about personal things, like her mother), Ryan would force her into it. He bloody well knew that she was going through something major, and yet he still pressured her into telling him, and even went as far as physically restraining her until she admitted to the things he wanted to know about. I'm sorry, but that is not how you treat someone who has been abused. There were also a couple of instances where he forcibly kissed Beth, and she initially struggled to get away and he wouldn't let go until she succumbed to his kiss. I feel sick just thinking about it. I know that McGarry (probably) didn't mean for it to be that way, she may have felt it was hot or romantic, but it just screamed control issues and abuse to me.

I'm not one of those people who is bothered by the slight Isaiah/Beth/Ryan love triangle, either. In fact, I don't like her with either of them, so...

Overall I most certainly liked and enjoyed this book, but that was mostly because of Beth and Scott. (Has anyone caught onto the fact that he's married to someone called Allison? Scott and Allison. Allison and Scott. Teen Wolf, WOOP WOOP!) I think that the dark subject matter was dealt with fairly well, if you ignore Ryan. But if you think too much about it, you might realise that their relationship isn't healthy, especially since Beth is already openly "broken".