Dare You To by Katie McGarry

Title: Dare You To
Author: Katie McGarry
Blurb:
"I dare you..."

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...

Links:
Dare You To on Goodreads
 
 Kala's Review:
** I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.com. THANK YOU! **

Pushing the Limits was one of my top ten favorite books for 2012 and I had absolutely no expectations of Katie McGarry surpassing that with the sequel. She set the bar extremely high, and I am pleasantly surprised to say she hit the mark again.

Dare You To is the story of Beth, a side character we met in Pushing the Limits. Beth is one of Noah's friends and she, along with Isaiah, were some of the most interesting characters in Pushing the Limits. I couldn't wait to read Beth's story and when I first heard about it, I was surprised it wasn't a Beth/Isaiah love story. After reading it, I think McGarry did the right thing (AND now I can't wait to read Isaiah's story next!!).

Beth is a troubled teenager with a drug addicted mother whose boyfriend beats them both. Beth has some options to leave, but chooses to stay because she feels obligated to take care of her mother - who is too high and drunk to even remember to pay bills or buy food. When Beth is arrested for a crime her mother committed, her uncle swoops in and takes custody of her, forcibly yanking Beth away from not just her mother, but Isaiah and Noah too.

Ryan is a high school baseball player with hopes of going pro, whose life seems perfect at first, but it's soon revealed that his picture perfect family is just as screwed up as Beth's, but in an entirely different way.

Both Beth and Ryan are so complex and so real, you can't help but root for them. McGarry really has a talent and a knack for creating these amazingly interesting and compelling characters. They're flawed and likable at the same time, which many authors seem to struggle with. Even the "mean girl" was someone that you could relate to on some level - she wasn't just a stereotypical bitchy popular girl.

For so long I've been reading average MEH books, one after another after another. I've been DYING to read something good and I'm SO SO glad I was approved for this book on Netgalley. This is one of those books that I became so immersed in that I didn't come up for air until it was over, a few hours later, and immediately I wanted to read it (and Pushing the Limits) again.

When this comes out, READ IT!

5 out of 5 stars.

Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/384423313