Dare You To (From the author of Pushing the Limits) (A Pushing the Limits Novel)

This is the first of the companion novels to Pushing the Limits, it focuses on Beth - Noah's friend and housemate and introduces Ryan, a baseball star in the making. I have to admit, when I read about the dare element of this book I was really worried. I generally find that books with secrets like this leave me so stressed out as I read, and so I end up not really enjoying the book. I was so pleased to find that this part of the plot didn't play out as I'd expected it to, and so I could just enjoy the reading experience. The majority of this book is set at a different school, in a different town, to Pushing the Limits so there's a whole new lot of characters to get to know. Beth makes numerous trips back home though, giving us time to catch up with Echo and Noah, and with Isaiah. This isn't a perfect book, but the writing is so good that I was completely swept away by the reading experience and can happily overlook things that might have been gripes in a weaker book. I'm completely in love with this series, I think it's the closest a series of books have got to making me feel the way watching Friday Night Lights did.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Before embarking on an 11 hour flight across the world, I knew I needed a Katie McGarry. Everything she writes somehow both soothes and excites me. Pushing the Limits, the first in this series was great, full of crackling chemistry and drama. I would recommend reading this book first as it contains the characters’ history, which isn’t completely essential, but boosts the engagement. This story follows Beth, another girl from the wrong side of town (Check out Red At Night). All she has known since she was a child was to protect her mother from everything.. drugs, a violent boyfriend and prison. Growing up with unsavoury characters, she has learnt to be tough as nails and sharp as a whip in order to survive. Her character jumped out at me with her dialogue ringing out loud and clear. Her vulnerability and strength also felt raw. As problems spiral out of control, Beth is forced to move away with her uncle who makes it his mission to reform her. Scared for her mother, separated from her best friends and attending the local ‘hick’ high school, she experiences her worst nightmare. Despite this, she finds herself drawn to the most stereo-typical guy she should avoid, golden boy jock Ryan. He is your average High School Musical star, but with baseball and a bit more muscle. On track to play pro, the cracks in his perfect life start to inch further into the book; a domineering father, a depressed mother and an estranged brother. What starts off as a dare to ask out scary skater girl, leads to deep attraction and mutual understanding. This romance started off quite slow with a lot of back tracking, which made the book longer than necessary. I was impressed with the shift in Ryan’s character, who started off as an macho airhead. Beth and Ryan have to face a lot of courage to make their relationship a reality. They have to face abilities that have been suppressed or forgotten. For Beth it’s trust, while for Ryan it’s rebellion. Happy to continue my journey through the series..

A sequel to Pushing the Limits or just as a stand alone book, this book features Beth, a friend of Noah's from Pushing the Limits, and her own story with Ryan. “That must be love: when everything else in the world could implode and you wouldn't care as long as you had that one person standing beside you.” Beth is an extremely angry girl at the beginning of this book. In trying to save her mum from going to jail she ends up being taken away from her life and friends to stay with her uncle. Ryan is on the right tracks. He has scouts coming to watch his baseball games, has a great out of friends and refuses to loose a bet. So when his friends bet him to get a random girl at the mall's number he is up for it. Problem is, the girl is Beth, and she is not giving anyone her number. “There are times when you stand on the cusp of moments so huge, you know you'll remember them forever. This is that moment for me and for Ryan.” A story of second chances, starting over and realising how important your life really is to you. At first Beth hates her Uncle's rules, but through the book as she is able to let the weight that she has been carrying for years, from having a drug addict mum with a violent boyfriend, Beth is finally able to just be a teenage girl. Ryan has his own problems, with a seriously broken family. And Beth gives him the strength needed to start to heal his family, whilst learning to let go of the bad parts of her own that are pulling her down. “This overwhelming, encompassing feeling is love. It's not perfect and it's messy as hell. And it's exactly what I need.” Just like in Pushing the Limits Katie McGarry writes a realistic non 'insta love' relationship that is real for the characters she has written. It is a very cute love story and just shows (again like in Pushing the Limits) that you don't need a sex scene for a good romance.

I loved this book and I loved poor damaged Beth. I loved her sass and attitude and the way she was with Ryan when they first met. I love Ryan for sticking around and being determined to not let Beth push him away. A beautiful love story and about one girl's struggle to believe she deserved better, to deserve a boy that love's her. Trust is a real issue for Beth but in the end Ryan shows her that not everyone in life will hurt you and walk away.

Not yet finished this book, not a very easy read and very americanised, will finish whilst on vacation this Summer

Literally? If I wasn't reading the book I was sure as hell dreaming about it! Even the most important things in life couldn't stop me from keeping the book down. I forgot to breathe too.😜

I fell in love with those characters and rooted for them the whole time. It was captivating and wonderfully written

I am sorely tempted to leave you all with this very important statement as my review: I absolutely LOVE Ryan Stone and call dibs on him as a book boyfriend. But that wouldn’t be fair now, would it? I would miss my chance to tell you guys why I loved him, and Beth, and Dare You To. After liking Pushing the Limits a lot last year, I was equal parts excited and nervous about McGarry’s follow-up. Fortunately, her writing captured me from the very first page, and I devoured Dare You To like it was water and I was dying of thirst in the desert. McGarry has a skill for writing contemporary novels that feature strong romances, all while thoroughly exploring the complex issues her characters are dealing with. With her second novel, she’s certainly won me over and earned a spot on my auto-buy contemporary YA authors list. The characters in Dare You To made this book a compelling read. McGarry uses her skills to create characters that are complex and real. They might be nothing like me, and I might never have had their experiences, but thanks to the writing, I felt an instant connection with Beth and Ryan. She wrote them with incredibly strong personalities, tailoring their individual stories to fit them perfectly. But she also wrote them in such a way that when they came together, it would make perfect sense on all counts. Beth Risk has interested me since we first met her in Pushing the Limits, even though she’s only a minor character. I was really excited when I found out that this book was going to be her story, and I personally think it’s a good one! The primary thing we learn about Beth is the difficulty of her home life, mostly because of her mother. It broke my heart repeatedly to see how much responsibility Beth carried on her shoulders, and I felt as conflicted as Beth about what ought to be done. When she’s given the opportunity for a fresh start, she was naturally wary. But gradually, she reveals a vulnerability and innocence that tugged at my heartstrings. Ryan Stone, however, was a delightful surprise! I loved him! I wasn’t sure what I could expect of him, particularly since he’s basically described as the golden boy. Yes, he was one of the popular kids, a jock aiming for a place on a professional baseball team. But McGarry turns that image on its head when she reveals his surprising vulnerability, and his talent and desire to write. Ryan’s struggle revolves around his family, and the conflicts that they are trying to pretend don’t exist, which I could relate to on one level. All these things, good and bad, and what he’s like when he starts falling for Beth really won me over, and had me falling for him too. I enjoyed each of their stories as individuals, as it was interesting to witness them deal with their own demons. But the romance Beth and Ryan share in Dare You To is compelling in a way I didn’t expect. I fell in love with their love story, even though it’s peppered with moments that could come off as cliché and cheesy. Their feelings for each other just felt so right, and I was definitely rooting for them to find a way to be together. McGarry deftly weaves all three stories – Beth’s, Ryan’s and their story together – into this novel in a masterful way. I never felt like there was too much focus on one story; each one was covered equally and in a way that I wouldn’t lose track of what was happening. The writing was really good, and the pages of this novel flew by quickly in my eagerness to see how it would wrap up. Dare You To is a strong sophomore novel, with two characters that completely won me over and a romance that made me swoon. I am certainly sold on Katie McGarry’s ability to create characters I can fall in love with, and her way of writing them into stories that are addictive, swoony and downright good. I totally dare you to (yup, I had to do it!) take the time to read this novel - it’ll be worth it.

Dare You To is the companion novel of Pushing The Limits. If you have read Pushing The Limits, you would probably be familiar by Beth. Beth, the 'stoner' girl is the main protagonist in this book. As for me, I really enjoyed reading about Beth in PTL, and I was excited to find out more about her story. Told from alternating POV's, Dare You To was a fantastic contemporary book! Did I say alternating POV's? Yes! The other POV is from Ryan's POV. We are introduced to Ryan the 'jock' at the beginning of the story. Despite the huge differences between the two, one being poor and one being rich, one having a perfect life while the other leading a miserable one, their paths still crossed. As characters, I LOVED these two. I actually love them more than Noah and Echo from Pushing The Limits. Something about this book just made me enjoy every single but of it. Maybe because of how different those two characters were, and how interesting it was seeing them being put together? I don't know, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I really enjoyed Beth too, though I have to admit, she really annoyed me at some points. She would always feel like someone would 'betray' her and run away. I mean, WHY ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY? Just face your fears. I know, her past was horrible and full of those backstabbing her, but still. Ryan was her rock, and I loved him. I can't say how much Ryan made me feel giddy and happy when reading about him. If there was another book for him, I would be the first in line to get my hands on it! Similar to Pushing The Limits, Dare You To wasn't just fluffy cutesy romance, but talked about more than that. There were a lot of difficult topics like drugs, family, trust, and so on. Again, Katie McGarry did not fail to write a gripping novel that made me on edge. I definitely cannot wait to get my hands on the third companion novel, Crash Into You.

A young woman who loves but can't help the one she loves A young man who loves and will walk far to show it A parent or two who don't love enough . Unrequited love that still serves, the list is endless enjoy