Review: It Started with a Dare

Title: It Started with a Dare

Author: Lindsay Faith Rech

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Release: 9/13/2010

Rating:(out of 5)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Self-proclaimed nobody CG Silverman sees her move to an upscale new school as her chance to be somebody different. Her devil-may-care attitude attracts the in-clique, and before CG realizes it, a routine game of truth or dare launches her to iconic status.

While this rebel image helps secure CG’s newfound popularity, it also propels her through a maze of unprecedented chaos, with each new lie and every dare opening doors that, in most cases, were better off left shut.

CG is on a collision course with disaster. Will she be able to keep up the façade? Or will the whole world find out she’s a fraud?"

To be honest this book was only so-so. I found the majority of the book to be lacking. It was so stereotypical and clique-ish. I'm in high school and I can honestly say kids aren't like that. I mean yeah there are cliques and stuff and but it isn't social suicide if you have friends in more than one and there's definitely not one girl that rules the school (although some of the girls THINK they're that one girl). I'm just kind of sick of novels being so stereotypical that way. It's the whole typical pretty rich kids have issues and the geeky kids are wholesome and good. Which again, totally not true!

I also found that the beginning and middle of the novel to kind of boring and annoying. The main character had no common sense what so ever and had no idea of consequences. She was just a liar, and I have no patience for liars. I didn't even feel a connection to her or any of the other characters because they were all so shallow. I even felt like the one character who was supposed to be the deep one the whole time was just as shallow. Also, the main character, CG, says how shallow her friends are and stuff but, hello earth to CG you're the same way! CG also keeps talking about the girl she used to be, hanging out with her friend Alex, being a tom-boy, all that jazz, and I thought she sounded really cool then and I would have liked to read about the old her. Also, she kept talking about Alex and I really wanted to meet him but we didn't for like ever! It really frustrated me. The characters were well developed though, all with their own personalities and issues that they had to work through. You saw some of them change and develop in the book which was cool and I always like that. (We learned the term for that in English but I can't remember at the moment, the opposite of a static character. Mr. Gregory would be very disappointed in me at the moment.) Also, this was totally just me being stupid but I kept mixing up CG's friends Grace and Alona.

I did really enjoy the ending though. I felt that there was a message there that you have to watch what you say and do because there is consequences for your actions (although if I ever even thought of doing what she did I would my consequences would be much worse!)

Also, I found the novel was very witty. I liked the narrator's voice. She was funny and I found a few quotes I really liked and actually am planning to use in a project I've decided to work on! (Secret Project! MUAHAHAHA!) I've never heard expressions used like this on did. It was just some of the most random things ever!

Overall, the book was kinda boring but interesting enough throughout most of the novel. There was a really good ending though. The characters were shallow but all had their own background. There was a good message to the book which was nice. Finally, the book was witty and that's something that I look for in books.

My Thoughts Throughout The Novel:

I also did this for The Iron Daughter and I liked it, so since I also read this book on Adobe Digital Editions I thought I would once again share with you the thoughts I wrote down for my book marks!

1. Glory just showed up talking about Doctor Love while Sammie is there! Wonder how she'll get out of this one? I think Glory is gonna get hurt.
2. at the party. professor boring pants. Hope Jordan shows up. Feel like Grace is gonna do something mean soon. Sammie is thorwing up...
3. It was Jordan in the bedroom with Fiji.
4. typical portraying kids as bad, lots of issues with the pretty ones, wholesome good kid is the geek, but did say drinking and early sex is bad so that's a plus. would have rather read about the person she said she used to be cause she sounded cooler. kinda dull and frustrating. Keep mixing up Alona and Grace.
5. Girl named Monica! *JUMPS FOR JOY*
6. She talks about how shallow her friends are and how one's a bitch but's she just as bad and it's really frustrating.
7. They keep mentioning Alex but I have yet to meet him so it's kinda annoying. Like just have him show the hell up already.
8. Jordan is a tool and will say anything to get into her pants.
9. Talking to Jordan in the bathroom.

Happy Reading!