Review: Dare You To, by Katie McGarry

Release date: June 7, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin UK
Format: Paperback, 352 pages

Goodreads description:
Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"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...


The following review is based on a copy I got from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.


Review:
From the moment I finished Pushing the Limits (read my review here), I knew that I wanted to read anything else Katie McGarry writes. I itched to get my hands on Dare You To as soon as I read the sneak peek in the back of my ARC. And I wasn’t disappointed! Once more Katie McGarry delivers an achingly realistic tale with complex characters.

I was a little thrown going into the story because I expected it to be that of Beth and Isaiah, and I was a tad reluctant to really take to Ryan. He’s not the type of guy I usually like, but he also ended up being a very different person from what I’d first expected. Trust me: once you see things from Beth’s point of view, you’ll realize why she and Isaiah wouldn’t work.

Beth doesn’t have many prospects in life, to a large part because she keeps being dragged down by her alcoholic mother. She’s the one to juggle the bills, to try to keep them somehow afloat, and to drag her mom home from the bar. But after a confrontation with her mother’s violent boyfriend ends at the police station, she is picked up by the man she least expected – her father’s brother, Scott, who is now her legal guardian and loses no time in taking her away from her ‘home’ and friends in the city out to his small town. Her relationship with Scott is weighed down by past issues and by his quasi-hero status in town for his success in baseball.

Baseball is what connects Scott to Ryan, whose father pushes him towards a professional career in the sport instead of going to college. When I first ‘met’ Ryan, I thought he was your usual cocky jock, used to getting whatever he wants when he wants it. The dares he and his friends challenge each other with range from hilarious to retarded, and his motto of ‘I don’t lose’ annoyed me in the beginning. However, I learned to respect him and his passion for the sport. He was very different to what I expected and behaved in a respectful way towards other people – he’s a good guy with many more talents than just baseball, even though it takes him a while to admit that to himself and act on it. Much of his arc focuses on his relationship to his overbearing father (whom I wanted to throttle) and how much he is willing to sacrifice in order to please him.

When Beth and Ryan meet, sparks fly. Sometimes they’re angry sparks, sometimes they’re steamy sparks, but the chemistry between them is undeniable. What starts as a dare eventually becomes more than either of them would have expected, and I loved seeing them struggle against their emotions, challenge each other, and eventually learn to trust one another despite the many obstacles people put in the way of their relationship. Especially Beth is constantly jerked from one side to the other as she realizes she has a chance at a new life, at hope for a future, but can’t let go of her past and doesn’t want to forsake her friends and her mother. Though from the outside, Beth and Ryan’s home lives look like opposites, both their families are rotten at the core.

In my opinion, Dare You To was well-paced, with a good balance between more action-focused and dramatic scenes as well as calmer moments where McGarry’s skill at character development is given room to unfold itself. I alternately hurt, raged, and occasionally turned into a puddle of goo (I will never look at rain water in the same way). The story is never boring but I also never felt like I was being breathlessly hurried along. The characters’ conflicting emotions and Beth’s traumatic past need time to unravel and become real to the reader. Yet despite the many dark themes in the novel, there were also lighter, more humorous moments, usually in the dialogue between Beth and various other people.

Dare You To is a story of hope, guilt, rising above oneself and one’s station, sticking up for what and who you love, and about how much you’re willing to give up for your family. The novel is highly emotional but McGarry’s no-nonsense prose leaves no space for cheap drama. For those of you who want more of Echo and Noah - they have short guest appearances but the focus is clearly on Beth, Ryan, and to an extent Isaiah (who will get his own novel).

My one sort-of-complaint is that though the emotions were very well-crafted and believable, somehow the story didn’t impact me quite as much as Pushing the Limits did. It made me tear up, but I never cried. I was satisfied but missed that feeling of catharsis. That might just be me though, or the overall state of mind I was in. I definitely enjoyed how well-crafted the story was and how the various layers and issues played into one another!

If you like contemporaries dealing with tough but realistic topics and romance between strong characters, you will enjoy this one! I’d recommend it to the more mature YA readers though because of language, drug abuse, and sexually charged situations.

Have you guys read Pushing the Limits? Are you excited about Dare You To? What's your take on this story or on others dealing with similar issues? If you've read both of Katie McGarry's books, which one did you like better? Let me know in the comments :)

Stacking the Shelves: Mara Dyer discovers cemeteries in the acidic shadow of night

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to showcase all the books we got in the past week. Those can be bought, won, gifted, for review, borrowed, print or ebooks... no matter, just share what you got :)

This week was really busy for me and I'm still not caught up with returning comments - I promise I'll get to it though :) Lucky for me I also got a lot of books, many thanks to a very good friend <3

Netgalley:

Tumble & Fall, by Alexandra Coutts

I'm really curious about this one and had it highlighted as a WoW before! It's an end-of-the-world novel that is NOT about stopping the apocalypse from happening but using the time that is left. 


Now on to my big pile of print books! I put all the ones in a single pic, no matter how I got them.

Won:
Pushing the Limits, by Katie McGarry

Thanks a lot to Jessica from Lovin' Los Libros! I had it as an eARC before but hardovers are just so much better :)

Borrowed from my awesome friend:
Shadowfever, by Karen Marie Moning
Acid, by Emma Pass

Shadowfever is the last one in the Fever series, it's not out in the matching edition to my other books, and I was DYING after a massive cliffhanger - luckily, my friend was all too happy to borrow it so we could discuss it afterwards ^^ I've already read it and it's a massive mindf*ck of a book!!! I like the way the series was rounded off but I still want to read Iced, the spinoff, asap!

Gifted from the same awesome friend:
A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness

I was curious about them, my friend read them, and nagged at me, and eventually gave me her copies because of a non-matching editions and too-read-looking books problem and of course I didn't say no! I need to read them soon or she'll get mad at me :P

Bought:
Prague Cemetery, by Umberto Eco
The Evolution of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin
Half Blood, by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I've been staring at Prague Cemetery for a while and then I found it fairly cheap... I want to read about Prague again, and it sounds like mystery and secret societies and I love that stuff!
I got Mara Dyer in the mail yesterday and I want to just devour it right now after loving the first book so much that I read it in a single day.
I love JLA's Lux series and I've been told to read the Covenant books, so when the ebook was on sale I jumped at the chance :)


As I said, big haul :) Have you read any of the books or do you have recommendations? I'd also love to check out what you got in the past week, so link me up!

Bad Boy Rehab Giveaway Hop

 Hello lovelies :) I ADORE bad boys, so I'm excited to be part of the Bad Boy Rehab hop hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and The Book Hookup!

We tried giving up Bad Boys for our New Year’s Resolution…..
but try to make me go to rehab and I said no no no.

Bad Boy (n.) person

1. A guy who has many characteristics of a naughty, naughty boy.
OMG let the drooling begin.

2. A heartbreaker with a five o’clock shadow.
Rawrrrrrr!

3. Independent and willful. Does what he wants when he wants. Never follow trends, they follow him.

4. Someone that’s not looking for trouble, but there’s a serious sense of danger about him.
We love danger!

Usable Note: A bad boy is a gorgeous man with MANY layers and is INSANELY irresistible to women.
*raises hands*… YES PLEASE!

So there you have it :P Now here's the choice of books I have for ONE winner. All of them feauture either some long-time bad book boyfriend of mine, or a bad boy I haven't met but am fairly certain will be added to my personal list ;)

If you already have the book pictured blow and it's part of a series, you can choose one of the sequels instead.







Rules (Yes, I know bad boys don't give a toss about them. But we still need a couple...)

• Open INTERNATIONALLY provided The Book Depository ships to you. Just fill out the rafflecopter, and please don't leave your email in the comments!
• One entry per person/household. Cheaters will be disqualified. I check  every single entry before picking a winner.
• I will order the cheapest edition available from my location on TBD, so covers may vary. If you prefer ebooks, you can also choose that instead of a paperback, provided it doesn't cost more and that I can gift it to you on Amazon.
• You must be at least 13 or have permission from your parent to enter (blah).
• The winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond, then I'll pick a new one.
• Once I've ordered the book, I'm no longer responsible for what happens with it.

That's it! If you have questions, put them in the comments or tag me on Twitter (@Butterfly_Ghost) :)
Good luck, and don't forget to hop along and check out the almost 100 other blogs participating!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday: Dare You To, by Katie McGarry

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine to showcase upcoming books that we're excited about.


This week's can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on pick is:

Release date: May 28, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages

Goodreads description:
"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....


I bet this one is a popular pick now that the cover has just been revealed, but ever since reading a short excerpt of this book at the back of my Netgalley ARC of Pushing The Limits, I can't wait to read Beth's story! I grew to really like her attitude in Pushing The Limits. She's a tough cookie. Not so sure about this Ryan guy though (jocks=so not my type)... but well, I love initially unlikely pairings. Interesting that we have a bad girl instead of a bad boy this time!
What do you think about the book? Did you enjoy Pushing The Limits? And what book are you eagerly anticipating?

Review & Giveaway: Pushing The Limits, by Katie McGarry

Published: August 3, 2012
Publisher: MIRA Ink
Format: Paperback, 392 pages

Goodreads description:

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

The following review is a bit different from how I usually write them. I wanted to try a slightly more concise way of reviewing where I combine my assessment with some personal thoughts, but can still keep it spoiler-free. Not sure I succeeded with trying to keep it short though :P Do you like this type of review or do you prefer my usual one? I'll probably keep using both in the future depending on what suits the book, but I'm curious.

My review is based on a copy provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Review (no spoilers):

This is definitely the best contemporary YA novel I’ve read all year. I was unable to stop and finished it in a day.

The story is told alternately from Echo’s and Noah’s point of view, which gives you a diverse perspective of both of them as well as the secondary characters. Noah and Echo come from very different backgrounds but both of them are damaged in similar ways, derailed from what they wanted in life and branded as outcasts.

I could really empathize with how maddening Echo found her situation. Her arms are scarred, something her fellow students think she did to herself but which she knows was actually done to her by a person she trusted. The problem? She cannot remember a single thing about the entire day when it happened.

But her father, his new pregnant wife, and her therapist can. It’s all right there in her thick file, lying tauntingly in front of her on the therapist’s desk. So when said therapist groups her together with Noah Hutchins so she can tutor him, they strike up a deal and make plans for one of them to steal or at least have a peek at both their files.

Noah hasn’t always been a bad boy. However, after his parents died and he got separated from his two younger brothers in the foster system and is now rarely allowed to even see them, he has been slacking off. He used to be a star athlete. Now he’s a stoner with a reputation of only using girls for one night stands (he’s upfront with them about that). However, what he wants most is to take care of his brothers and save them from what happened to him in the system. He wants his family back together. And Echo might be able to help him with that.

The chemistry between Echo and Noah was amazing right off the bat. It was clear they both wanted each other. However, they also both had reasons to try and stay away from the other. I loved to see their relationship develop and how they learned to become better people and stand up for themselves and their goals. Especially for Echo, this involved going against the wishes of many people close to her who were hanging on to an image of what they thought she should be like.

Not only the main characters but also many of the supporting ones where very well fleshed out. I always knew exactly who was who, how they ticked, what they wanted. They didn’t fall flat for me and they weren’t all the same. I especially liked the therapist, Mrs Collins. She truly had the backs of Noah and Echo and tried her best to help them. There are many novels out there where the ‘shrinks’ are portrayed in a negative light and I’m sure there are those kinds of therapists around, but I really liked that this one was different and really had her clients’ (not the system’s, not the parents’) best interests in mind. She was understanding. She pushed. She listened. She tried to help them so they could help themselves and heal.

I also had a big place in my heart for Isaiah and Beth, Noah’s best friends. They’ve had it rough but the three of them really stick together no matter what, unlike some of Echo’s ‘friends’ like Grace, who will only acknowledge her if she goes back to dating Luke, her idiot but socially acceptable ex. Beth will also be a protagonist in Dare You To, which will be out next year. I've read the snippet attached to my Negalley version and I'm excited to read the rest!

Both Noah and Echo were such strong characters, good people trying to be better than their flaws and face down their fears. To discover themselves and their true potential instead of taking the easiest road. This book was so much more than just a romance. It was an exploration of love, friendship, family, and being true to what you really want. It was a story of heartbreak and how it can be mended. It was a story about how to deal with the death of a beloved person and how nothing is ever the same afterwards. It was real and gritty and didn’t gloss over the hurtful parts. I felt involved with the characters and cried more than just once. The ending was different from what I’d expected but perfect for the book. It leaves room for a sequel but can also stand on its own.

Pushing The Limits is a fast-paced, raw and honest story about teens with real problems. It’s not a light read, but there’s nevertheless a share of humor in there, mostly in Noah’s well-placed comments and the banter between him and Echo. I’d recommend the story to a more mature YA audience, especially those about to finish highschool who are faced with the question of what they really want out of life and what comes next.

Connect with Katie McGarry on twitter or facebook.

Have you read Pushing The Limits? Post your thoughts about the book and/or my review of it below! I love to hear from you guys :)

Annnnd... because I loved this book so much, I've decided give away one UK version paperback or kindle copy - winner's choice (this giveaway is not sponsored by the publisher). Just fill out the rafflecopter form to enter. And yes, it's INTERNATIONAL. See below for the rest of the rules.

Rules:

• open internationally provided The Book Depository ships to you
• you must be at least 13 years old
• only one entry per person / household
• the first entry is free but you have to follow me to unlock the rest
• giveaway ends on August 30, 12:01 a.m.
• the winner will be contacted by email and has 48 hours to respond, otherwise I'll pick someone else 
• I reserve the right to change entry options or end the giveaway early
• I'm not liable for what happens to your book once The Book Depository has shipped it 
• cheaters will be DISQUALIFIED, meaning I'll delete all their entries and not just the cheating one 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

General blog update & Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is a feature by Tynga's reviews to showcase books we have bought or received and generally update followers, share reading progress, etc.

So... I've been quite these past two weeks. Bad blogger-me >.< But! I've been thinking a lot, about what I want to do with this blog, how I want to handle things etc. Why?

BECAUSE I NOW HAVE OVER 200 FOLLOWERS!!! 200, YOU GUYS!! I never expected this, and I'm grateful for every single one of you. Every one who takes the time to read one of my reviews or other posts. I get excited about every single comment. And I am definitely going to host another GIVEAWAY to celebrate this, as well as my 3 month-blogoversary at the end of the month. I'm planning something special with either book bundles or several winners or both! I might even throw in some of what little swag I possess. I'm not quite sure how to do this yet (and how much I can afford) but I will definitely keep you guys posted!

I'm also fiddling around with my blog theme and design. I like the new one a lot better, but it's still not quite what I have in mind. Do you guys like it?

Also, I've been approved for my first advance copies on Netgalley!! Getting to read awesome books early is a new and amazing experience for me. So here's what's on my Negalley pile at the moment. Click the images to get to the goodreads page of the books.



Other than that, I resisted the urge to buy more books.

Here's what I recently finished and am planning to review:

Both books really blew my mind!
As concerns reviews, I'm also thinking about coming up with a second review format for me. One that is more concise and integrates the objective with some of my more personal thoughts without being spoilery. I'd use the two formats alongside one another depending on the book. I just feel that the way I want to write the reviews sometimes puts a strain on what I really want to say and how I want to say it with some books, and that annoys me. I think The White Forest will be the first book review with the new format, and it will go online in the next couple days.

Finally, my current reads:

I'm almost finished with Pushing The Limits (Negalley copy) and it's really as awesome as everyone is saying!!!! I think I'll finish tonight before I go to sleep. I'll be slower with the others because I really need to tackle those Negalley books I still have left before they 'disappear' on me.


Finally, the book I'd do pretty much ANYTHING to get an ARC of because I can't possibly wait until November to read it:

Seriously. This is one of those books that just call out to me. I know it's gonna be awesome. It's a 'me' book. I need need need it. There's not a day I don't think about it, and it's even my phone background >.< Yes, this sounds way obsessed. I've read the first 4 or so chapters in the free sample of Penguin's Breathless Reads and I'll be damned if I'm not craving it even more since then. Seriously. If anyone reading this is done with an ARC they're lucky enough to own and don't want anymore, I'd offer a Book Depository book of your choice that covers the postage if you'd be willing to send it to me. I'd offer to trade an ARC of my own, but I don't receive any at this point. And I don't quite know how to go about requesting a Black City ARC from the publisher and I'd probably be denied anyway >.< I'm just pining and kinda desperate ^^''
Ahem. You probably best ignore this paragraph.

EDIT:

Okay, so today started out really really shitty with my whole plans rescheduled and hours of valuable time wasted plus other bad news.
But. I had something pretty in the mail that I had ordered but wasn't expecting to arrive yet. That brightened my day quite a bit :)

I've been meaning to read Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel for quite a while but was waiting for the pretty paperback edition I now got. Even if the post office could have treated the book a bit more kindly...
Also, I'm a huge fan of Stephen Crane's poetry and I've read this book online at least twice. One poem after the other, the whole collection of them. But I needed them in print too. This is a reprint of the original book, but if I ever find an old copy in a used bookstore I'll have to buy that one.


Anyway, what books did you guys buy/receive recently? What are you reading? Have you heard of some of the books on my pile or have them on your own? Tell me in the comments, and leave me links to your own posts :)