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I Dare You
Althea Beckett has perfect. She had the perfect life, the picture-perfect family, and the perfect boyfriend. When someone that perfect, who clearly has everything, suddenly abandons their old life, questions are asked and secrets revealed. After leaving her perfect life in New York for a simpler one in the small college town of Westbrooke, West Virginia, Althea finds herself head over heels but toe to toe with the charming yet sarcastic co-captain of the Maybanks Serpents. Torn between wanting a life of freedom and the overwhelming desire to please her parents, Althea begins to question not only those around her, but also herself. Can she truly have it all or will she lose everything?
Ever since Jonesy Claypoole was old enough to hold a hockey stick, getting into the PWHL was one of the only goals she ever had. When a dare with a pretty figure skater lands them in an uncomfortable living situation, Jonesy finds herself battling with her feelings for the bossy little spitfire. After losing last year's championship game to Maybanks' oldest rival, the hockey co-captain is determined to put her team back on the map and bring home the gold. Can she focus on both things at once or will she have one and lose the other?
Ever since Jonesy Claypoole was old enough to hold a hockey stick, getting into the PWHL was one of the only goals she ever had. When a dare with a pretty figure skater lands them in an uncomfortable living situation, Jonesy finds herself battling with her feelings for the bossy little spitfire. After losing last year's championship game to Maybanks' oldest rival, the hockey co-captain is determined to put her team back on the map and bring home the gold. Can she focus on both things at once or will she have one and lose the other?
464 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2024
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 24, 2024
Final Rating: 3.5 stars (rounded up)
Disclaimer: I was provided a digital ARC by the author in return for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion.
I Dare You is a book that has both satisfied me and left me wanting more. From new author Regena Mercy, readers are thrust into an emotional, fun, and evoking sapphic romance between a figure skater and hockey player.
The plot and storyline of I Dare You captured my attention immediately within the early chapters. Althea and Jonesy are both flawed characters who come with their own individual backstories and reasons for acting and deciding on the decisions they make throughout the book. What starts off as a light and fun game of truth or dare turns into yearning, that then turns into a relationship with the inevitable third act break-up. But in between all of that is alluring characterization and intriguing storytelling.
I had a few takeaways from the story, however. As much as I loved Althea and Jonesy's characters, I do feel that their relationship was rushed. When the originally met, I thought we'd have a bit of yearning, maybe some chasing. It took off quicker than I had expected, though, and it took away from my expectations.
Similarly, when there were major points of contention, I noticed there were a few points of the story that seemed to directly go against what had happened earlier in the book. As one example, and a slight bit of a spoiler, Jonesy continuously accuses Althea of having said she'd told her parents she was a lesbian, when she hadn't. While the arc of this is true, Althea hadn't told her parents, she'd never outright *said* that she'd told her parents. She just didn't confirm or deny it, what I would call withholding the truth but not lying.
As another example of note, and another slight spoiler, Althea claims to have not known that Jonesy loved her. But earlier in the book, there was a scene in which the "love" word was nearly mentioned. And while it was decided on that it wasn't the right moment, Althea had still noticed it and decided to just sit in the moment instead of openly stating she felt similarly/the same.
I truly resonated with Althea's hesitancy to tell her parents she was a lesbian. They are funding her college and figure skating career, and that's not something to take lightly if they were to react poorly to her coming out. There's a point in time where I disagreed with people expecting Althea to come out "sooner" to her parents, but I also understood why they wanted that from her. That's the beauty of being the reader, you see and understand the perspectives even when you don't necessarily agree with them.
Lastly, I love how the author didn't leave everything wrapped in a neat, shiny bow. Life is messy, and in some ways, unexpected. There were parts of the conclusion to the story in which things turned out poorly, but for the majority, things turned in a more positive direction for the main characters, enough so for them to feel safe and happy to live as they are. That's something I truly enjoy seeing, and it was special in the reading moment.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book, and I had a great time reading it. My eyes have been glued to these pages for two weeks, and I'm so glad I took my time with it. For that, I rate it 3.5 stars. It was so worth the rear, and I do recommend it to all my fellow sapphic romance readers and lovers. As this is my first book from Regena Mercy, I have been entirely swayed into not only continuing any further books that come from the Maybanks U series, but also any further books she may release in the future.
Disclaimer: I was provided a digital ARC by the author in return for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion.
I Dare You is a book that has both satisfied me and left me wanting more. From new author Regena Mercy, readers are thrust into an emotional, fun, and evoking sapphic romance between a figure skater and hockey player.
The plot and storyline of I Dare You captured my attention immediately within the early chapters. Althea and Jonesy are both flawed characters who come with their own individual backstories and reasons for acting and deciding on the decisions they make throughout the book. What starts off as a light and fun game of truth or dare turns into yearning, that then turns into a relationship with the inevitable third act break-up. But in between all of that is alluring characterization and intriguing storytelling.
I had a few takeaways from the story, however. As much as I loved Althea and Jonesy's characters, I do feel that their relationship was rushed. When the originally met, I thought we'd have a bit of yearning, maybe some chasing. It took off quicker than I had expected, though, and it took away from my expectations.
Similarly, when there were major points of contention, I noticed there were a few points of the story that seemed to directly go against what had happened earlier in the book. As one example, and a slight bit of a spoiler, Jonesy continuously accuses Althea of having said she'd told her parents she was a lesbian, when she hadn't. While the arc of this is true, Althea hadn't told her parents, she'd never outright *said* that she'd told her parents. She just didn't confirm or deny it, what I would call withholding the truth but not lying.
As another example of note, and another slight spoiler, Althea claims to have not known that Jonesy loved her. But earlier in the book, there was a scene in which the "love" word was nearly mentioned. And while it was decided on that it wasn't the right moment, Althea had still noticed it and decided to just sit in the moment instead of openly stating she felt similarly/the same.
I truly resonated with Althea's hesitancy to tell her parents she was a lesbian. They are funding her college and figure skating career, and that's not something to take lightly if they were to react poorly to her coming out. There's a point in time where I disagreed with people expecting Althea to come out "sooner" to her parents, but I also understood why they wanted that from her. That's the beauty of being the reader, you see and understand the perspectives even when you don't necessarily agree with them.
Lastly, I love how the author didn't leave everything wrapped in a neat, shiny bow. Life is messy, and in some ways, unexpected. There were parts of the conclusion to the story in which things turned out poorly, but for the majority, things turned in a more positive direction for the main characters, enough so for them to feel safe and happy to live as they are. That's something I truly enjoy seeing, and it was special in the reading moment.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book, and I had a great time reading it. My eyes have been glued to these pages for two weeks, and I'm so glad I took my time with it. For that, I rate it 3.5 stars. It was so worth the rear, and I do recommend it to all my fellow sapphic romance readers and lovers. As this is my first book from Regena Mercy, I have been entirely swayed into not only continuing any further books that come from the Maybanks U series, but also any further books she may release in the future.
Displaying 1 of 1 review