I really enjoy Natasha Preston’s books, and this book kept my streak going. It is YA so if that’s not your thing you may not enjoy this read. It’s a simple story, a group of friends are at the end of their Senior year, and this time of the year is notorious for year end pranks & dares. Some are simple, farm animals on the school grounds, glitter bombs, moving furniture around, setting off fire alarms … but some are more sinister, stealing cars, breaking & entering, erratic driving, etc. They don’t have a choice on which one they get (dare or prank), that’s decided by the Wilder brothers, if you turn them down, one of your deep-dark secrets gets revealed, and no one wants that. When one of the dares goes completely wrong, the group of 4 make a completely wrong choice, that will alter their futures forever. They all agree to “take it to the grave”, the secret should never get out. Somehow, someone knows what happened, and the 4 friends start turning on each other … who told? Who saw? Maybe one of them was in on it? You’ll have to read to figure it out!
The CONs I had for this book, there were a lot of characters, and especially when they started to turn on each other I was having trouble remembering who everyone was, and what their “story” was. Also, I feel like SO much happened at the end, I had to go back and reread, I wish some of the secrets and twists were introduced a little be earlier. But it was still a good read, and the typical Natasha read I like!

So you think you've heard this story before with 4 friends involved in an accident and trying to cover it up, but YA suspense thriller queen puts her own spin on it and it works out very well. Some aspects/twists I was able to guess, some were a complete surprise. If you're a fan of her or of this genre, you'll have fun with this one.

I really enjoyed this book! In the beginning, I really did not know where it was going or what was going to happen to make it suspenseful, and I was so pleasantly surprised and hooked! This was a great young adult thriller! Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review, thank you Random House Children’s!

I saw someone refer to this book as having “I know what you did last summer” vibes and that is SO on the nose! It definitely was a bit more of a young adult read, but was still fast paced enough to keep me hooked.

We follow the POV of Marley as she navigates the last two weeks of high school with her friend group. They partake in senior dares which land them in some hot water and we see relationships and dynamics begin to unravel.

It’s a solid read overall, but not my usual on the edge of my seat. There were some predictable points, but it was still worth the read!

Struggled to get into the book simply because I was not particularly fond of any of the characters, and the idea of any Wilder Brothers, out in the world is quite terrifying. I enjoyed the tension between friends after a tragic accident bonds them together for life, the reader gets a glimpse as to how this starts to erode the friendship, and the paranoia that begins to set in. The pacing seemed a bit off to me but it definitely begins to pick up towards the end, culminating with a twist I did not see coming.

Ooh this one was so great! I loved the high stakes and tension. Marley was such a badass throughout the book and I didn’t see the twists coming at all! I love love this author and can’t wait to pick up a physical copy!

Thanks to Netgalley & Random House Children's for the E-ARC! Loved the setting & all the plot twists. Also very fast-paced. New favorite author!

This is the second Natasha Preston book that I had a great time with until the end and then everything fell apart. This is an example of a story that I NEED at least one likable character. Not a single person in this story had redeemable characteristics. I wasn't rooting for a single person and especially hated what Marley did at the end of the book. Honestly, what was the purpose of that? It was so beyond frustrating.

On top of the obnoxious characters and painful ending, this was a pretty close rip-off of "I Know What You Did Last Summer." It wasn't even just inspired, it was almost directly ripped off for the main plot line down to the unhinged characters. I was really enjoying the dares and that aspect of the book, but once the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" plotline started, I began to lose interest. This book was just straight up frustratining and I wish I had found at least one character to like.

Marley is in her senior year of high school, just weeks away from graduation. She has been dating her boyfriend Atlas for the past 3 years and her long time BFF Luce has been dating Jesse; they are a really close group and while looking forward to graduation they are nervous about splitting apart. To make the best of their senior year they join in on the senior pranks lead but Rhett who's brothers have been known to take things too far during their senior pranks. Rhett has decided to include dares into the mix and if you refuse to comply he will let everyone know your biggest secret. Marley and her grew were given the first day which was drive on the most dangerous road in town with headlights completely off. Jesse assures everyone it is no problem and everything will be fine; and it is until something jumps into the road and they hit it. Was it something or was it someone?

I loved this story just as I have loved all of Natasha Preston's books; the twists in this one were great! I definitely recommend!

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC!

This was a fun YA read. It was a little far fetched but that’s why we read fiction, right!? It was fun to kind of live vicariously through these teenagers and reminisce about my senior year of high school.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review

The Dare by Natasha Preston is an edge of your seat thrilling YA read that's sure to be another hit!

When Jessica gets dared to drive a dark and twisty road for her "senior dare" her and her friends could have not predicted it'd end how it did. Now, the teens are bound together by a twisted secret that none of them will ever speak of again....or will they?

The Dare kept my attention until the very end! I loved the pacing of the story and although at times the number of characters was hard to keep up with, it wasn't overwhelming.

This one was a little slower for me. The last 1/4 of the book was very good though. The very last twist at the end sent me! Did not expect it at all .

I liked the beginning and couldn’t wait to find out what pranks they would be given.
There were plenty of twists and scheming and interesting characters.
3.5 star rounded up for Goodreads

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the ARC e-copy.

Marley, Atlas, Luce, and Jesse are seniors in high school and with that comes senior pranks and the dreaded senior dares from the rich kid at school. But, when a dangerous dare leads to a tragic accident, everything changes for the group of friends. Can they stick together and bury their secret or will the pressure of senior year and guilt ruin their friendship and future?
Review:
The Dare is marketed as a YA and it definitely reads as a YA thriller. It would be a great book for someone just starting out reading the thriller genre. It is a very fast paced read and is action packed which I really enjoyed. I did find it a little predictable and I didn't connect with any of the characters. But, I did really enjoy the very last twist at the end. It was a nice touch that I didn't expect to happen. Overall, I recommend picking up The Dare when it publishes on May 7th!
Thank you to NetGalley, Natasha Preston, and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for this ARC of The Dare in exchange for an honest review!

WOW!!! Natasha Preston is a must read author for me, so I was so excited when I saw this book was coming out. This book makes me so thankful I was homeschooled and didn't have to do high school pranks or dares. LOL I definitely don't think this stuff would happen in real life but it still makes you think are people really this nuts to try this stuff. I don't think someone could blackmail me enough to get me to do this stuff. This one did start out a little slow for me especially trying to keep up with the characters but once I got about 20% in I really got the grasp of it and I was ready for the ride. This was a fun YA thriller that kept me guessing until the last minute. I absolutely loved the ending. I also have to say I loved the cover of this book!! I would definitely recommend this book. I would also recommend any other book by Natasha Preston.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's | Delacorte Press for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, so I have some strong feelings about this book. I have nothing against Natasha Preston and I actually really enjoyed her book The Lost a couple of years ago, but The Dare was not really for me. I have several reasons why, which I explained in length on my Goodreads page, but here they are in less detail:

The main character, Marley, was never really described. I love visualizing characters as I read, but we received so few physical descriptions of her that it was nearly impossible to do so. Additionally, I found pretty much every character to be exceptionally frustrating. I know this book is YA, but it felt VERY YA - the young characters’ choices and actions in the story were beyond stressful. There were also a couple things that happen in this book that are never fully explained (and I can’t say much more without spoiling anything, so I won’t). Lastly, I found the whole ending wildly unrealistic - not even because of the events that occur, but because our main character’s entire demeanor switches on a dime. For most of the book, she is extremely upset and deeply affected by something that happens, only to seem completely fine with everything by the end; honestly, the change was really jarring.

With all of that said, I did enjoy the shorter chapters along with Preston’s pacing of the story. As angry as I was at the characters in The Dare, I still couldn’t put the book down and finished it in two days. If you’re someone who does enjoy YA thrillers where things go really off the rails, you may like The Dare.

VERY good for a YA thriller

The beginning reminded me of the Amazon Prime show Panic

Great pace and the twists kept me pleasantly surprised.

Kept me rooting for a *specific* trope but CURVEBALL!

I always feel 50/50 with Preston’s books so I went in with no expectations and this one was quite entertaining. With how the main character kept going around and around in circles of how she was feeling and dealing with her guilt I was absolutely shocked at how this story ended!! I had an inkling it was going to happen but I honestly didn’t give her character enough credit. The only part of Preston’s story writing that I find so smart but also infuriating is the who actually did what is still a little up in the air in the end, she gives you hints but it’s never definitive.

Also, it was nice to read a Preston book that didn’t end with a cliffhanger/ambiguous ending, it just ended in a complete way.

I was surprised how much I liked this book with it being a YA thriller. This was definitely a page turner and I did not expect the twist at the end at all! Overall I really enjoyed the characters and Natasha’s writing. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for allowing me to read this book before the release.

I could not put this book down, I was instantly hooked from the beginning. Natasha really knows how to keep you on your toes. This was such a fast and easy read for me and I loved every minute of it!
This follows a group of friends that are in high school. It is a few weeks before graduation and senior pranks start to happen, nothing wrong with a little joke.. Well their high school takes it to a whole different level and one of the senior boys gives out dares to everyone and if you must complete them or your deepest darkest secrets are exposed.
Marley and her friends are given a dare and this dare wouldn't have been so bad if something horrible wouldn't have happened that could send her and her friends to jail.
This was a page turner for sure and will definitely keep you guessing. By the end of it your jaw will be on the floor.