Dare Me

A Novel

By: Megan Abbott

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

From the award-winning author of The Turnout and Give Me Your Hand: The searing novel of friendship and betrayal that inspired the USA Network series, praised by Gillian Flynn as "Lord of the Flies set in a high-school cheerleading squad...Tense, dark, and beautifully written".

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.

The raw passions of girlhood are brought to life in this taut, unflinching exploration of friendship, ambition, and power. Award-winning novelist Megan Abbott, writing with what Tom Perrotta has hailed as "total authority and an almost desperate intensity", provides a harrowing glimpse into the dark heart of the all-American girl.

©2012 Megan Abbott (P)2012 Hachette Audio

Mental Health Was an Afterthought if that

I was disappointed that serious issues such as eating disorders and self harm were glossed over or made light of. I understand they were a part of the plot and not the focus but it concerns me greatly that they were handled so casually.

good thriller; lot of teen angst

good thriller with a lot of teen angst. good if you like that kind of thing.

Not a fan of this mean girl story

If you like twists and turns, you might enjoy this. I found no redeemable characters in the story.

Lifetime movie vibes?

Sooo the story was mor simple than i thought it would be but voice acting and everything is great..wont read again though.

not so great

I picked up this book because I saw that one of my favorite mystery authors, Gyllian Flynn, recommended it. Parts of it felt too YA for me even though I enjoy a good YA novel. Other parts were like, "whoa! this is for kids?" The character development was pretty good in a lot of ways. But the rest of it just didn't pull together for me. Almost like a trashy teen novel trying to pretend it is something more meaningful.

An unexpectedly enjoyable and exciting read!

Any additional comments?

I did not expect to be so thoroughly engrossed in a book about cheerleaders, but I found myself constantly invested in what would happen next to Addy and Beth. Caught up in what many would consider the toxic environment of adolescent cheerleading - popularity contests, eating disorders, a strong desire to be desired - Addy is the "everyman" of teenage girls and while the older, responsible side of me wants to see her safe in bed at 9pm, it is impossible to not become swept up in the drama of her life.

When a new, young, flashy coach comes to town, the tribe of cheerleaders experience a major upheaval in their ranks and all they had come to understand as normal. Beth, the dangerous but irresistible team captain, struggles to hold onto the old ways while Coach Colette French ushers in a brave new world filled with demons of her own. It's a power struggle of the first degree and Addy is stuck in the middle. Equal parts heightened teen drama and high-stakes intrigue, this book will keep you captivated until the final page (minute).

Why?

Stephen King said he enjoyed this book in an interview on NPR. i listened to the whole damn thing waiting to find out what he was talking about, to no avail. What could possibly be any attraction about a bunch of mean, shallow girls in a rich suburban high school with no ambition in life other than to inflict misery and emotional abuse on each other? No character development, just flat, one-dimensional caricatures of pointlessly malevolent otherwise interchangeable generic stereotypically unpleasant stuck up girls. Has King gone around The Shining bend in quarantine???

Ridiculous

This book was interesting enough for me to finish but multiple times I laughed at its ridiculousness. No cheer squad in the history of cheer squads acts this way. Story could have been good but many of the references were lame and repetitive.

Recommended by Gillian Flynn- so tried it

Would you listen to Dare Me again? Why?

Yes.

What did you like best about this story?

It was witty in a very Snarky way. It was not childish soap opera in my opinion, but twisted, sarcastic, and humorous at times. It is not Shakespeare, but is amusing and entertaining.

Not up to the standards of recent reads

Ok, I'll admit I just came off a 3 book Gillian Flynn jag and if you've read her you know how intense and well written her novels are; so I may be judging this book by to high a standard. Overall I would say that only about a quarter of the book really held my interest. Maybe had I been a cheerleader I would have enjoyed this more. The ending was a complete disappointment. Narrator did a good job.