Samantha Markum shines in You Wouldn't Dare, a coming of age young adult read.

Juniper kissed her best friend, Graham, last summer and nothing was the same. A year later, Juniper and Graham are reunited to put on a summer play and capture memories. Memories that also include a new step sister, Tallulah, and her dad coming into town.

Feelings are shared, kisses are stolen and memories are made the summer before senior year. Both wouldn't dare to go back to those kisses a summer ago. But is fate putting them back together?

Title: You Wouldn't Dare
Author: Samantha Markum
Genre: YA
Rating: 4.5 out of

When Juniper Nash Abreheart kissed Graham Isham for the first time, she had no idea it would nearly be the end of their friendship.

More specifically, she had no idea that the terrible, unforgivable thing she did to keep their summer fling a secret wouldn’t just ruin their friendship, but also Graham’s entire life. Now, months since the fallout, Junie and Graham spend most of their time sidestepping conversational landmines on the journey back to normalcy.

Junie is sure the strangeness between her and Graham is her biggest problem - until her mom hires Tallulah, her boyfriend’s surly teenage daughter, to work at their family café, and then announces they’ll all be moving in together at the end of the summer. The only bright spot ahead is Junie’s dad’s upcoming visit, just in time for her community theater production. And then poor turnout soon threatens that.

But when Junie starts to realize the feelings she swore to take care of last summer have lingered, saving her production and managing her hostile relationship with Tallulah might be the least of her problems. Graham isn’t just off limits - their friendship has been mended to barely withstand a breeze, and the gale force of Junie’s feelings could be just what breaks them.

The friendships in this story are what made the book so great! Juniper is…a very self-absorbed, selfish, and dramatic person. In short: not someone I could stand to be around very long. She is verbally manipulative and says terrible things without thinking (Okay, pretty sure we’ve all done that at some point, but she rarely seems to regret what she’s said---until someone gets mad at her. And usually she just gets defensive, not remorseful.). Did she learn and grow in this book? Maybe, but I’m not sure. This is still very much worth reading, just don’t expect Junie to be entirely likable.

Samantha Markum was born in St. Louis. You Wouldn’t Dare is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

I loved this book so much. This book is teen & ya genre so it does have high school aged characters. At times I thought they were a bit childish but then I remembered that I was that way at that age too. Also the relationship between Graham and Juniper Nash was GOLDEN. I was rooting for them the entire time. I also loved the little town they lived in and how they always came together for things. It really captured my heart.
This book is beautifully written and captures your attention quickly. I couldn’t even stop reading it!! It has an amazing combination of friendship, drama, and romance. It truly leaves you wanted more

I wanted to like this story but I was not able to get into it early on and it may have just been not the right time for me to read it.

I didn't like the characters but I tried to power through it a few times. Might give another try in future. Thank you Netgalley and publishers for chance to read and review.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

I think the main issue with me and this book, is that I’m too far removed in age from the demographic it’s intended for. Usually not a problem, as I love the YA genre, but the characters all felt so immature to me at various times.

Junie and her friends are quite likable a lot of the time, but she’s just so naive and her and her friends have the worst communication ever. So many assumptions versus actually just talking about things. I found that almost odd? I think I actually liked Graham the most, as he felt a little more real.

I wouldn’t label this one a rom com as much as a story of friendships, community, and coming of age. It’s not a bad story by any means, just not exactly one for me.

Book 3/100 🙅‍♀️ You Wouldn’t Dare 🙅‍♂️
(Coming 3/27/23)

“You don’t have to stick with what you’re born into, just because it’s what you think you need.”

It’s summer break on the beach in Florida, Junie and her four best friends take on changing relationships and past regrets. They band together to make the summer theater production a success and learn about what truly makes a family.

I love a good coming of age summer story, but this one felt like the teens it was describing - awkward, overdramatic, and chaotic. The struggles were realistic to a lot of teens, but it seemed like the worst case scenario of any struggle they faced in the story. At some point I could predict what was going to happen next just by choosing the most extreme conflict that could happen. I wanted to give this book a fair chance, so I did finish it, but it didn’t resonate with me.

I enjoyed the story of Junie and her town in Florida. As I was reading the story, I found I was able to understand each character and their backstory through the many pages of the book. While there were some points i found frustrating as Junie second guessed herself, and when she wasnt giving people the benefit of the doubt, by the end, the story comes full circle and Junie finds who she is.

"I think love is about finding a way to fit together even after the hard stuff happens," I say. "I don't think it's supposed to always be easy. It's about choosing someone in spite of the obstacles."

After reading "This May End Badly," I was so excited to hear that Markum was releasing another book! And she did not disappoint me at all with this one😍 Junie is ready to have the summer of her life, before her mom and her have to make the move to her mother's new boyfriend's home. But, having a great summer is going to be a little challenging with all the awkwardness going on. For EXAMPLE, after kissing her friend Graham the summer before, Junie thought they could have crossed the more-than-friends boundary. But after Junie helps cause something that changes Graham's whole world around the summer before, Junie doesn't even know if her friendship with Graham will ever be the same again, let alone more-than-friends. So, Junie has no choice to but to move on from those feelings (or so she says). On top of that, Tallulah, who is the daughter of Junie's mom's boyfriend, has been hired to work at the family café, and Junie's not the biggest fan of Tallulah. To make matters worse, Junie's still hoping that her father (WHO IS THE WORST, I TELL YOU🙄) will come visit Junie this summer like she promised. But, everyone in town knows Junie's father only cares about himself, and never fulfills his promises. The good news is, the community theatre is preparing a play, and drama is Junie's best gift. With preparations for the play, and with her best friend Milo supporting her, it seems like this summer could possibly get better. BUT, there's also the issue of Milo having a girlfriend, and with every girlfriend seeing Junie as a threat due to their tight friendship, Junie's also realizing that she's got to learn how to step away when people have got other priorities to focus on. CAN I JUST SAY, I love the friendship group with Milo, Junie, Graham and Lucy. The way they have each other's backs and support each other through life's challenges is absolutely adorable to read about. A wonderful book about summertime, family and friendships❤

I just couldn’t get past the main character Junie. I found her really annoying. I loved the setting and the premise, and Samantha’s writing is wonderful. I love her style. I enjoyed her first book and look forward to her next, but this one didn’t do it for me.

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!!

The first third of this book really ruined the whole thing for me. I feel like the main character is a bully. She's a total mean girl, and I'm just not interested in any character like that, especially because it was the whole time.

Ugh. I was just frustrated by this character the whole book and I really can't get past it.

You Wouldn't Dare by Samantha Markum is the a good summer read. I loved Samantha Markum's first book, This May End Badly, and was really excited when this showed up in my inbox. While this book did not grab me as much as This May End Badly, I still think it's a great read for anyone who likes a good YA romance.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I really liked a lot of elements of this book.

First and foremost, I loved the summery atmosphere. The book perfectly encapsulates the feeling of summer break and how magic that time feels. I loved the setting of a quaint, beach town.

I really liked the theater production and cast. I think that's such a cute subplot for a YA book that should be included more.

I also enjoyed a lot of the interpersonal relationships between the characters. Juniper and Talulah's relationship is great. I always enjoy it when books include themes of found family. Moreover, I like that the teenagers are portrayed really realistically. They're very human, flaws and all. For example, Juniper is super immature. These characteristics add some depth and I love that Juniper was able to learn and grow.

Overall, I would give this book a 4/5!

Reader’s Notes:

– this is told from Juniper’s (Junie) point of view

-there are about 77 curse words

-there is teenage drinking & smoking

-a character had their parents divorce due to an affair that ended up in a pregnancy (prior to the start of the story, but it is important to the plot)

-a character’s parent drowned when they were in 8th grade

-a father isn’t really in the picture much, but a character still hopes he’ll show up for the

-it is mentioned that two characters slept together (in the past)

– there are a few girl-girl/guy-guy love interests & married couples

-kisses were heated & had hands roaming under each other’s shirts

Review:

While quite a few of the things in the reader’s notes I don’t really like to read in books, my biggest reason for removing a star is because the romance just didn’t seem to work for me. Once the end of the book came it wasn’t 100% satisfying. I don’t know if it was because: it was pointed out multiple times that everyone expected Junie & Milo to date at some point; Milo & Junie did spend a lot of time together & ragged on each other a lot; I wanted more of Junie & Graham moments that weren’t them avoiding stepping on eggshells; or if it was something else.

Even though the romance wasn’t as satisfying as I wanted it and some of the content wasn’t something I wanted to read, I was enjoying the book while reading it! I loved the banter within Junie’s friend group and how they were so tight-knit. I loved that they made a special system for exchanging favors after Junie tried to cheat the honor system they had going. I loved the moments during practices when Junie interacted with her co-actors. I loved that quotes from Midsummer Madness started every chapter (which is the play they were preparing for). Some of my other favorite moments/scenes from this book included: Junie standing up for Tallulah, them bringing up past moments between them all, the terror twins, and the beach day.

Summary:

Juniper & Graham kissed the summer before while the rest of their friend group was busy in their relationships. They wanted to keep their relationship to themselves, but Junie knew she would get asked too many questions. So when an offer of help is given Junie seizes it, and comes to regret it when it causes more hurt than she could ever realize.

Now, Junie is still trying to atone for her mistake and can’t get comfortable like she used to be before the kiss around Graham. But with this being the group’s last summer together before they all go to college, Junie wants them to have the best summer with lots of time spent together. Which means a lot more time around Graham and her thoughts on how she’d like to kiss him again…

After trying her two books, I think that Samantha Markum is not for me. I am not YA and I realize these books aren't written for me. I usually have no problem getting into YA, though. I just could not stand Junie and her immaturity. After making it over 50% I was hoping to see some more character growth. All the other characters were mature, so I was hoping for a slower growth instead of rushing it in all at the end.

After their secret fling last summer imploded, Juniper Nash and Graham have been trying to get their friendship back on track. Not only does Junie feel extremely guilty for her role in what happened between them, but she’s also dealing with an upcoming move to her moms boyfriends house (one that involves her extremely rude soon-to-be stepsister) and trying to save the summer production of Midsummer Madness being put together by the local community theater. Needless to say, the summer before her senior year is hectic!

This has such good summery, beach-town vibes—every time I read something like this I want to move to a small beach town of my own! There was a lot going on but it didn’t feel overwhelming. I did have a bit of a hard time keeping track of all the minor characters but they added to the eclectic small town feel so I think they were a necessity. Most of them had very distinct personalities and showcased what a wonderful community this is.

Juniper is one of those characters that you may not like at first, but that you grow to love. She is a bit self-centered and oblivious, but also very loving and really funny. She does a lot of growing and it was great to see that unfold. I also thought her core group of friends was awesome—I loved the favor trading thing they did, it was such a unique addition. Graham himself was just the sweetest and I really loved his and Junie’s banter. If you can’t roast your friends/partner, what’s the point ya know? This was my first by Samantha Markum but will not be my last! 4.5/5

You Wouldn't Dare is a YA book that handles some more mature topics and issues in a way that is accessible for YA readers.

What I Loved:
-Portrayal of the difficulties of blending families
-The building of sisterhood between Junie & Talulah
-Themes of found family
-Supportive friendships
-Shakespeare/theater references
-Featuring "real" teen issues: drinking, loss, infidelity, absent parents, dating
-Beach town setting
-Representative cast of characters

This story was enjoyable. My one thing that I would caution is that there are a ton of characters to keep track of between all the teens in the story and all the parts they play in the production they are practicing for. It is definitely geared towards a high school reader, and it would need one that can track all their names and their roles within the play. I recommend for high school 10th-12th graders due to the readability. It’s well done and I definitely enjoyed it.

For those in search of an angsty beach read with a friends-to-lovers romance. This book delivers nostalgic feelings of summers off - biking with your friends along a beach-side road, sneaking out for late night adventures with your best friends, preparing for a theatre production, stopping by the local cafe for coffee, and attending those classic small town festivities.

This story occurs in the midst of a pivotal time for the main character. Some may be in search of a feel-good Rom-Com summer read, but this is for those seeking something with a little more drama, chaotic fun and depth.

I won’t lie - the main character in this one drove me crazy, but the side characters were all so delightful and sweet. Fun storyline with lots of tension but great growth and development.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this!

You Wouldn’t Dare by Samantha Markum

Published: March 28, 2023
Wednesday Books
Genre: YA Romantic Comedy
Pages: 363
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Samantha Markum was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri with an eight year intermission in Florida, where she mostly just collected sunburns. When she’s not writing, she can be found begging her dog for attention, buying too many candles, and ignoring the dust bunnies gathering in her house. When she is writing, you can find her staring at the wall in search of inspiration. She is the author of This May End Badly and You Wouldn't Dare.

“I’m happy with you.”

Junie is dramatic and a tad on the selfish side. But she has good intentions, and she loves fiercely. Graham is a loyal friend and a hard worker. Milo is the best friend, with a big heart. Lucy is the voice of reason and the peacekeeper. Friendship and being a teenager are complicated.

This was cute. The story was told engagingly, and I liked that each chapter started with lines from the musical the characters performed in.

Junie was a solid representation of a 17-year-old girl. She is dramatic, sarcastic, and has a secret crush on Graham. Milo is Junie’s very best friend, and I loved their dynamic. Lucy was the mom of the group, and I liked her balance.

The dynamic was solid, and it was very age appropriate. The relationships were well-defined, and the situations were realistic.

I enjoyed this story, and I enjoyed the writing style. The comedy was subtle but well-placed. The use of dramatics was well done and felt authentic for the age of the characters.

I loved the sense of community, acceptance, and chosen family in this book. That was beautifully done. The way those themes were fleshed out was powerful and gave the storyline a heartfelt kick.