Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews
Dare You To is an emotional whirlwind of a book that fans of Pushing the Limits are sure to love! Was it as amazing as Pushing the Limits? Well, I personally enjoyed Noah and Echo's story more. But Dare You To was still a strong book, riddled with family problems, emotional traumas, physical abuse, and a sweet and passionate first love.
My favourite thing about Dare You To was the way Beth and Ryan challenged each other. They pushed each other out of their comfort zones and called each other out—but in a supportive way. Many of you are probably wondering, "Why doesn't Beth end up with Isaiah?!" Well Katie McGarry herself said it beautifully:
When I began to examine Beth and Isaiah closely, I realized that in order for them to find peace they needed to be challenged by someone else. Beth and Isaiah are very similar and Isaiah completely enables Beth's behavior. The two of them had a lot to work through, and as I began plotting, I realized they couldn't grow as individuals as long as they were together.
—Katie McGarry
This is SO TRUE. And that's also why Beth and Ryan are perfect for each other. They both have their own problems, but they're not afraid to challenge the other person. Ryan doesn't let Beth do whatever she wants; he doesn't let her get away with running away and hiding. They force each other to open up and because of that they grow and expand emotionally. That makes them such an amazing couple.
There is actually a surprisingly large amount of baseball in this book. It was a side story that I really enjoyed! Ryan struggles between baseball as a career path—something he's worked towards his entire life—and his newfound passion for writing. This made the book very relatable because so many high school kids go through this! We question our passions, our futures, and what we're going to do with our lives. What if we change our minds? What if we no longer want to do the thing that we've always done? What if we want to move on or try something new? It's scary as hell but I love how Ryan got the opportunity to explore this!
Beth did annoy me sometimes. She was just SO self critical. She was always putting herself down, she never thought she was good enough, and whenever someone said they cared about her or loved her she just immediately said "You're wrong" or "You're lying". To a certain extent, I understood it. She had a hard life, was hurt a lot, and was brought down by people. But towards the end of the book, it started really getting under my skin. I think the problem was that because of the dual points of view, I knew that Ryan really cared about Beth. So to see her CONSTANTLY shrug it off was frustrating!
Besides, I'm not worthy of that type of love.
—Beth, Dare You To
Guys like you don't fall for girls like me.
—Beth, Dare You To
Although I really enjoyed Dare You To, Pushing the Limits still holds the top position for me, but Dare You To was still a great book!
Katie McGarry has done it again, and I'm absolutely psyched for the third book, Crash Into You (which will be about drag racing, from what I gather—awesome!