Sometimes your past can come back to haunt you. The mystery was good with clever twists here and there.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Don’t You Dare is a phenomenal read. It’s very twisty and I did not see the ending coming. I am now a Jessica Hamilton fan.

I got two notifications from my watch detailing that my stress was high & encouraging me to take a deep breath. I’d say that’s the sign of a good suspense/thriller. *Realistic* twists that make sense & 🌶️🌶️. Well done!

Thank you Net Galley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you love a book full of mystery, betrayl, dual timelines,, and suspense then you have chosen the right book. Right away I got engrossed in this story. Hannah and Thomas fall in love in college, but their world gets ripped apart after playing The Daring Game. Years later in an unhappy marriage Hannah receives a letter from Thomas. These two come back together hard. Then someone starts threatening them. The past and present collide but who makes it through? This story left me on my toes!!!

2.5 stars.

"Don't You Dare" by Jessica Hamilton is an ok mystery-but-not-really-thriller but lacks a lot of conviction and grit. It's full of unlikable characters (so if you're not into that, you probably won't like this book). The main character, Hannah, is yet another unhappy married woman who drinks herself into laziness, stubbornness, bitterness, and an early grave. Can we STOP with this trope already?! It's been beaten within an inch of its life and I am sick of it. Instead of being a complex, damaged character, she's just sort of a jerk. She and her childhood friends, Thomas and Scarlett, had a penchant for playing "the dare game" where they took turns back and forth daring each other to do increasingly dumb and dangerous things until the game went south and the stakes were raised to unimaginable levels. Thomas and Hannah were in love at one point, but Scarlett was always there as a third wheel, waiting to put the kibosh on their growing relationship. Through the years, they grew apart, until Thomas suddenly reappears in Hannah's life. They restart the dare game, just the two of them, and they also rekindle their relationship even though Hannah is still married with kids. Hannah, Thomas, and Scarlett's entire dynamic felt childish and silly to me, and so did their dares. I had a really difficult time believing that a mother who was so dedicated to her children would potentially sacrifice custody of her kids over an old fling. In fact, all of the characters in this book feel cartoonish, like Hannah's husband Evan and their neighbor Libby. I laughed because of how silly and villainous they were. Even though there is a romantic aspect to this story, none of the characters had any chemistry with one another, even the married couples. I was engaged by the story in the beginning, but the longer went on, the less I liked it. I especially didn't care for the ending, and it definitely doesn't stick the landing. It felt like it came out of nowhere. It's one of those "long game" kinds of endings that will leave you like, "Okay... I guess that makes sense, but there were virtually no clues about this so...????" The timeline also felt muddled and didn't add to the reading experience or the story. It only added to my confusion. Skip this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Jessica Hamilton for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.

Back in college, Hannah, Scarlett, and Thomas played a little game to pass the time. It was all fun and games until someone got hurt.

In present day, Hannah's life is lacking. So when Thomas walks back into it, she finds herself falling back into her old ways as if time hasn't passed them by.

This thriller is all sorts of fun, with differing timelines and a twist you're just not going to see coming. I found myself unable to put this read down, and I think I found a new author to be obsessed with. Definitely a fun summer read.

Thank you to the publisher, author and netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book before release.

Unfortunately this was not it for me. I wasn't enthralled by it and it started out slow for me and never seemed to go anywhere.

In college, three friends, Hannah, Scarlett, and Thomas played a game, called the daring game. They would write down a dare for one of the other people, and they would have to complete it. The stakes continually got higher. If a dare was not completed, there would be punishment of some sort. Hannah and Thomas had a very strong connection, and Scarlet always came between them.

In the present day, Hannah is an alcoholic stay at home mom in an unhappy marriage. She is bored with her life until Thomas shows up one day and reignites a spark in her. They decide that it would be harmless to start up the Baran game again, especially now that Scarlett is out of the way and living in Australia.

It is clear, though, that one thing has not changed, the stakes appear to be getting higher when an anonymous third player joined the game. Who is this person and how do they know about the daring game? What are they trying to accomplish? Are they in danger or is someone just messing with them?

The story is told in dual timelines bouncing from past to present, which I normally like. I just felt it lacked an execution.

The characters were all completely unlikable. Hannah was very annoying, and was hard to feel any kind of empathy for her at any point in the book. She seemed to have a victim mentality, and did not take any accountability for her own actions. She seemed very immature. Scarlett seems like a narcissist, and her part in the ending of the book just made no sense to me. It made her seem like a completely different person and glossed all over all of the bad things that she had done in the past. Thomas was also not a good man. He was a liar and completely unstable. Don’t even get me started on the characters in the periphery.

This book just did not do it for me. I wouldn’t even consider this a psychological thriller. The “twist” was not earth shattering.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for letting me read a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a really good read! I wanted to know what would happen. I became very invested!
The book had a great concept with the dare game, but as you read it , you see it is far more than the dare game alone. It tells the story of Hannah a 36-year-old stay at home mother of two kids. Hannah has become bored with her life as she is in a runt and every day is the same routine again and again; thus, when her ex-boyfriend comes to town and spices it up with the dare game, a game she played with him and Scarlet in college, Hannah is quick to jump aboard. The story is told in two timelines. One is in the present, and the other is when Hannah, Thomas and Scarlett were in college. I really enjoyed the college storyline and hearing about everything that happened! it was so intriguing! I also liked listening to the storyline between Hannah and her husband Evan, who I think is too good for Hannah. I loved the line where Hannah called her neighbor a lurker. It was so funny! That whole interaction between them was very entertaining!

I went through many emotions with Hannah. At times I felt sorry for her, not having a career and being stuck in the house with no prospects, in between four walls and kids to attend to all day along with daily household chores.
However, Hannah often neglected her household chores and preferred to spend all day reading and lounging around while dishes and household chores went undone. She was lazy and often neglected her motherly duties. I found her very annoying, and an unfit mother and found Evan's words about her to be true. She is the kind of person to complain about her lot in life without taking accountability. I just couldn't feel sorry for her, although I really did love reading about her. I also liked Evan a lot. He seems like a good father. a much better parent than Hannah is.

I was not particularly crazy about the narrator. I found it hard to identify with Tom's character because not enough was provided about him in the beginning, such as what he had been up to in the years after college; this made the reader have to rely on the narrator who was awful as Thomas's voice. It didn't feel like a real person but more like a voice that was a bit unnatural. And yes, I do realize I am reading about fictional characters, but that's what brings fictional characters to life, the feel of realistic qualities and personalities. It took me a little while to warm up to him and the narrator as well.

I do like that the book had twists and a turn I didn't expect. It was great and enjoyable read that I did not want to put down and I recommend it to anyone who is interested or on the fence about getting it. It is so good! and it kept moving right to the end. The book has great characters, great story telling, intrigue, turns, mystery, spice and humor whilst making you feel emotions throughout the book.

This was excellent - from the character development to the pacing, I have no complaints. I was especially impressed with the ending. I thought it was so raw, satisfying, and realistic. I really loved the main characters in this and would have read an even longer book about their complex relationship. I thought the twists and turns in this were shocking and exciting and I just wanted more! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a compelling read that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I can usually guess the end of a book, but not this time! I found the high stakes in this book very interesting and although I didn’t care for any of the characters, I still wanted to know the end. I recommend this book for anyone who loves a good mystery.

𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗘
𝘣𝘺 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘰𝘯
𝘐 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵!

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 40 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 (𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦) ~ 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯!! 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵-𝘱𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘺... 𝘒𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 + 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭-𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳-𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 🐌📚🍷💃🏻

𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 / 𝟱⭐️

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘴' 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 💃🏻

I want to thank NetGalley, Jessica Hamilton and CrookedLane Books for providing me with an eARC of this publication. In return, I have promised to provide an unbiased review.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book disappointed me to no end. Every single character was unlikeable. I usually don't mind unlikeable characters if there is a point to them, or at least a redeeming aspect, but Hannah, Scarlett, Thomas, and the side characters didn't feel like real people in the slightest. I am also so very tired of the alcoholic woman trapped in a marriage trope. Why is this always a thing in domestic thrillers? It didn't seem original. I am also over books that are marketed like dangerous thrillers that just turn out to feel very childish. The truth or dare games seemed like something I'd read in a YA book, which if this was a YA book, might make more sense. I really struggled with this book because it just didn't feel like a thriller. It was a chore to read, but I know plenty of people who disagree with me as there are a lot of really high ratings. This just didn't do it for me.

A gripping and page turning physcological thriller that I liked but didn't love. The affairs and deceit just didn't tell for me.

When I initally requested this book, it was portrayed as similar to Riley Sager or Wendy Walker. so I assumed this was more of a murder book. Like a really murder-y murder book. This was not, I didn't enjoy the "steamy sections", this book just wasn't a win for myself.

The writing was great, and I moved along the book quickly. It was easy to read and follow the story. Seemed a bit silly that theses adults are still playing the same game as when they were children. But the book was good. I enjoyed it

I really liked this one. I love a good dual timeline mystery. Fun, twisty, and steamy! Thank you to Crooked Lane books for my copy!

Don't You Dare is a wild, steamy ride! I loved the author’s previous book and was excited to read this one. The story follows a woman in her midthirties stuck in her life, unhappily married and in a rut. She's devoted to her children, but finds her life banal and tedious. She often reflects on Thomas, her great college love. We know the narrator made some questionable decisions in college, but we're not sure what.

She had a close relationship with her best friend and Thomas and they played the Daring Game, where they dared each other to participate in escalating risky activities. Thomas returns and the Daring Game is resumed. Also at the same time, the narrator receives threats and there is someone lurking in their idyllic suburban neighborhood. The story took some excellent twists and turns. The style reminded me of Jeneva Rose. I listened to the riveting audiobook, which was perfectly narrated by Hillary Huber. A perfect summer read!

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ebook and audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This was so fast paced and it kept me intrigued through out. Although the characters were unlikable, they were still interesting! The story was strong enough for me to want to continue.

It might have been the wrong time for me to try and read this but I didn't really enjoy it. I was close to DNFing because it just seemed a bit unrealistic and Hannah's behaviour was questionable. Thrillers aren't always my cup of tea, until they are, but this one felt a bit lukewarm.

I didn't love this one. You have to suspend disbelief quite a bit to enjoy the idea behind the novel. I didn't believe that an adult would so easily put her family in jeopardy to play a "daring" game with an old friend.


I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.