Clemmie Judges

DARE ME

BOOK INFO

Title: Dare Me

Author: Megan Abbott

Pages: 290

Publication date: July 31st 2012

Description: Addy Hanlon has always been Beth Cassidy's best friend and trusted lieutenant. Beth calls the shots and Addy carries them out, a long-established order of things that has brought them to the pinnacle of their high-school careers. Now they're seniors who rule the intensely competitive cheer squad, feared and followed by the other girls—until the young new coach arrives.

Cool and commanding, an emissary from the adult world just beyond their reach, Coach Colette French draws Addy and the other cheerleaders into her life. Only Beth, unsettled by the new regime, remains outside Coach's golden circle, waging a subtle but vicious campaign to regain her position as "top girl"—both with the team and with Addy herself.

Then a suicide focuses a police investigation on Coach and her squad. After the first wave of shock and grief, Addy tries to uncover the truth behind the death—and learns that the boundary between loyalty and love can be dangerous terrain.

DESCRIPTIONS

This might be the best part of the entire story. For me, at least. Everything is so vivid, so insane. So full of emotions. 

It reminds me of one of those awesome fan fictions you read on Ao3 in the middle of the night. The sort of fan fictions that make you pause and take a deep breath and try not to screech and cry but fail. You know those sorts of fan fiction?

Yeah. It's like that.

The problem is; it's too much like that. Which sometimes can be confusing. Or boring. Like, I get wanting your writing to be cool and stuff, but please be direct. My dumb brain can't take it.

With cool and flowery and vivid descriptions, you gotta wait for them. Wait 'til it counts. Don't keep on doing it on every paragraph. It makes it less impactful. The more you do it, the less impact it'll have.

I do like the imagery it brings. The way they describe high schools. I don't think I've ever read a high school book like this, where the main character is a cheerleader, and is serious about cheerleading. It's unique to see high school through her eyes.

Rating: 8/10

THE RELATIONSHIPS

This is another aspect of the book which I liked. Addy's—the main character's—relationship with Coach and Beth. You can see her getting pulled into two directions. And it's so fun to see. You keep asking yourself, "Who should she trust? Who is the lesser evil?" It's a fun yet dreadful thing.

Me personally, I was on Team Beth from the start. I've always loved people like her. Strong, sassy, ruthless. She's my type of girl. And from the beginning, I've had a hunch about her. Something that makes me go, "Hmm..." Mind you, this has nothing to do with the main mystery of the story. But then my hunch turns out to be right, and I told myself, "I knew it!"

Again; no spoilers. But lemme tell you, I've always sort-of expected that, but I didn't think it would be the truth.

What I like most is how we're thrown into the familiarity. How we feel like we actually know Beth already, and how we're getting to know Coach more and more. We are shown details that are too intimate for us to read. Details and memories and thoughts that shouldn't be shown to us. It's sort of like reading a diary.

Rating: 10/10

CHARACTERS

No one, not a single person in this story, is a saint. No matter how much they act like it. Which is why I like this story.

The main character starts out as a Veronica type of person. She's a lackey to the bully, but she's never done anything particularly bad. But the more the story progresses,  the more she progresses. Or, well, it's less of a progression and more of a "desperate times call for desperate measures" type of situation.

In a way, this is less of an actual story and more of a character exploration. 

The more the story unravels, the more everyone unravels, and it's super interesting because we get to see a side of them that we never expect to see. 

I especially like the progression of the main character. I can't say much without spoiling, but it's amazing.

The side characters themselves are amazing. I love how both Beth and Coach stir a specific sort of feeling within you. Something I've never felt in any other stories before. Especially with Beth. 

(If you can't tell yet, Beth is my favorite character.)

Some of the other reviewers say that they don't like how little some aspects in this story are explored, but I actually like that choice. This story is told through the eyes of the main character, so of course, things that are a big deal to us may not be a big deal to her. 

Rating: 10/10

PACING

Now this is where the problem starts, and why I won't be re-reading the story again.

"But why, Clemmie? Everything else is perfect, isn't it?"

Yes. It is.

But the pacing is so. Goddamn. Slow.

No, I'm serious. It's so boring. The characters don't do anything, most of the time. Like, I get that they're cheerleaders, and this is more of a character exploration type of story than an actual story, but still! 

Nothing happens!

Alright, fine, some things happen, but it seems random. Unimportant. The characters react to it, sure, but do they do anything about it? No. Does it impact the story? Maybe a little.

This is why the main character should always have a goal! Even if the goal itself is as simple as getting a glass of water! Does she have a goal? Maybe, but it's not an external goal, so it doesn't count. There is this thing with the cheerleading stuff, but it doesn't feel personal enough. Not to me at least. And she's not doing an active thing to chase after it. She's just going with the flow.

The story doesn't have enough substance. All we get is characters interacting with each other, and that's it. That's really it.

This is why the novel doesn't hold my interest. This is the main thing. Which is sad because everything else about it is so great.

At least with Sharp Objects, the main character tries to do something. She goes out of her way to achieve her goal. Yes, the TV show is better than the book, but the book itself is still good!

Rating: 5/10

OVERALL

Rating: 6/10

This is a wasted potential, and it really saddens me. I can't even say what this book is good for and what this book is not good for, because I just don't care anymore. I really don't. It should be a good story—a fantastic story, even—but it's not. 

All this shows me is that, no matter how good my descriptions can be, or how cool my characters are, nothing will make my story acceptable if I don't put in an external goal for my character to achieve, a goal that my character strives towards.