Dare You to (Pushing the Limits, #2)

by Katie McGarry

[Rowena]

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.