I liked the first book in this series, Pushing the Limits, more than I thought I would, but I was kind of nervous/scared to read Dare You To since, though I like Katie’s style of writing, I didn’t think I would like Beth that much since I kind of hated her in Pushing the Limits.
Turns out I had no reason to be either nervous or scared about reading it because Beth totally redeemed herself by the end of Dare You To.
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….
Since I really liked Echo in the first book, and Beth never did, I didn’t like Beth at all going into this. I had no idea if I would even stick with it, since I tend to abandon books if I don’t like one or more of the main characters. But I do like Katie’s style of writing, and Ryan intrigued me. He started out as such a typical jock, that I was rooting for Beth to be a complete bitch to him and take him down a peg. And that’s why I finished the first chapter. But, by then, it was too late for me. I had to see where this story went until the very end.
Learning about Beth’s background and some of her story helped me like her a bit and understand where she was coming from, but honestly, I like Echo more. Don’t get me wrong, Beth’s story is heartbreaking. I just don’t think Beth made the best decisions in light of that, but she did grow as a person and learn from those bad decisions, which is really all you can ask from someone who’s struggling to find out who they are and their place in the world.
Since I instinctively disliked Ryan and his jockiness from the beginning, I was surprised when he started growing on me as well. He changed through his association with Beth and how she made him feel, especially in response to his parents and his older brother. (Okay, about the older brother. I’m really glad he fixed that relationship because the way his parents responded was horrible and I really wanted to slap them for most of the book.)
My heart did break for Isiah because Beth essentially used him and he genuinely thinks he loves Beth, and he probably does. I just don’t think he’s in love with her. From the tiny excerpt at the end of this book, I’m interested in Isiah’s story and I hope we see more of Echo and Noah in that one since they’ll be in the same city as Isiah, unlike Beth. Plus, I want Isiah to be happy.
This book didn’t reduce me to tears like the first one did, but it was still moving and held me in its clutches until I finished it, (in two sittings during one day).
If you liked Pushing the Limits, I recommend reading this book as well, and I can’t wait for Crash Into You, which comes out in November. Dare You To is out now, so go read it!