Dare You

by Sue Lawson

When does a dare stop being a game? Ruby, Khaden and Sas have been best friends forever. But they aren't kids anymore. Life has become complicated and it is testing the boundaries of their friendship. Despite the warning signs, their childish games spiral out of control, threatening to unravel the world as they know it.

276 pages

First published August 1, 2010

About the author

Sue Lawson is an award winning young adult and junior fiction author, with a passion for
young people, writing and reading. Her books are recognized for the sensitive way they
explore the exciting and heartbreaking complexities of adolescence.
A former teacher, Sue has also worked for both ABC and commercial stations and currently
works part time for Geelong's BAY FM.
Her book Pan’s Whisper was shortlisted for the 2012 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards,
Young Adult Fiction, won the 2012 Australian Family Therapist Award, Children’s Literature
and was shortlisted for other awards.
Her latest young adult novel, based on real events, is Freedom Ride.

Reviews

[Janaye Autufuga · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how it goes to different point of views in each character in the book,
it is pretty funny for me but some parts made me sad and I couldnt get this out of my mind and the ending was just sad.I didnt really like the bad news that happened to Khaden and Sas then started to blame Ruby for it.
Loved the character development, I can relate to this story and from that I started to become obsessed with this book. 3 friends from childhood have issues of their own with their lives and family but their friendship starts to live on their childhood the things they had in common.

Khaden,Sas and Ruby are good characters and I fell in love with them.

I would recommend this book to teenagers due to some could understand this beautiful book.

[Lozz’s Random Reads McKenzie - Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometime you come across a random book at a secondhand shop and, it just speaks to you

That was the case with
#dareyou “Dare You” by @suelawsonauthor

This is story about three friends

Sarah/ Sas

Ruby

And,

Khaden

The setting is the Melbourne beachside suburbs, and last years of the three friends High School in Australia .

Their friendship was so much easier when the three were in primary school.
Now as they grow into adulthood, life is becoming more complicated.

They are all dealing with issues in their home life and there parents.

Sas’s father left for a new love

Ruby caught her father out with another wonen.

And Khaden’s is dealing with a father who’s wife left him with , his two boys, and a problem with his anger, causing him to become physically abusive.

As a release from the hot weather and all the at home tension, the three spend most of their their time at each other’s houses, the local pool, or beach.

With the e occasional “five finger discount “ trips to the local shopping mall.

When not there , through shear boredom, they start setting up “Dares” for each other.

Little ones at first, for their own amusement, but soon they start to spiral, with devastating consequence’s.

This is ratcheted up due to the growing tension between the friends as Ruby begins to feel isolated from Sas & Khaden who have began to have feelings for each other .

As their relationship blossoms, Ruby begins to act out as she feels she is being excluded

The tension build until, one night a retaliatory comment to the wrong person ends up in tragedy.

Reading this book, told from multiple characters POV, with all the obvious references to suburbs, streets, shops, around Melbourne, brought back so many memories for me about my own teenage years .

On! By the way….
It was also a good read

[Ramisa R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not sure I approve of the twist ending of Dare You, but it's impossible not to adore the whole ride from the first page to the last. I'd forgotten how much I loved Sue Lawson and her works, because they are so nostalgic of my own primary-to-early-high-school experiences. Not to mention, the subtle writing and distinct characterisation among the main characters is done brilliantly.

The book starts at the peak of adolescence, where everything is the same but also changing. Suddenly, there are darker problems beneath the skin of all three characters, and the issues they face are haunting, along with the cringe-worthy (but achingly realistic) way they deal with the situations. I loved Sas, Ruby and Khaden all in the same way, as each offered something to the narrative only their perspective could provide. There were times I felt annoyed at Sas for her bitter judgement of Ruby's life, but then again, that was something humans do sometimes; see their own problems as greater than anybody else's. Ruby's feeling of slowly drifting away, of being the "third wheel" and the joke of the group, was also wonderfully portrayed, along with Khaden's easygoing, self-content way of living.

But, as mentioned previously, my main problem was the ending. I don't want to expose too much about it. However, I will say this: there were no clues leading up to such a shocking ending, nor was there any indication of what would happen. It felt spontaneous, rushed and forced to drive an emotional response from the reader. Personally, I felt nothing --the ending didn't affect me at all.

The characterisation and nostalgia saved this book. Even though I strongly disliked the ending, the events --and choices-- leading up to it was stunningly written. I definitely look forward to more of Sue's Lawson, but I will maintain the first book I've ever read by her --Pan's Whisper-- was by far her best.

[Beaulah Pragg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of three Aussie teenagers who are all dealing with huge problems at home and keeping them secret from the others... leading ultimately to disaster. Sue Lawson has certainly captured the emotionality and irrationality of the mid teens and her characters, while not lovable, are fascinating and I certainly found myself needing to know what happened. From the very beginning, however, I had an awful sense of foreboding - this was not going to end well.

Sure enough, there are consequences to all this 'daring' and secret-keeping, and while there are important lessons to be learned and the subject matter is worthy of further thought, I was incredibly disturbed by this book and found myself thinking about it repeatedly over the following days.

It's the abrupt ending, more than anything else - it leaves you wondering what the point of it all was. Sure, life throws you curve balls like that, but I like to escape such things by reading books...
Still, Dare You is well written and may be a good morality tale for teens about the dangers of going off the rails. Just not for the faint of heart.

[Rennai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book sometime ago and didn't get to review it so it's not fresh in my mind. Having said that I know I enjoyed it and that the power was in the characterisation and hearing from all three of the main characters, Ruby, Khaden and Sas, in alternating chapters. The reader knows something life changing has occurred in the lives of these teens as the "foreword" sets the scene with one of the characters saying, "something big was brewing... If I'd listened to the warning, would everything be different now?". The story unfolds with each character giving their take on events as they happen. The three had been firm friends for a long time but "cracks" begin to show in their relationships. As each one deals with their own family issues and their changing friendships, the reader is drawn in wondering where it will all lead. The book is suitable for all students in High school but best suited to those with some maturity, probably year 9 and above.

[Patrice Ramsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting insight into the feelings of a group of three teenage friends who are individually grappling with major issues within their respective families. The use of alternating first person voice for each of the teenage characters allows the motivations and background underlying their increasingly dangerous actions to be explored.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Most of the way through this book, I had just thought of it as an average 3* book. But after Mojo. And Khaden? My god1 That was such a shock. I thought that he'd still be alive at least. But no.
Great!

[Marie Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a delight to read. the author captures teen spirit and angst well. The ending was a surprise. No spoilers but I do love a story that can make you do a double take. The fact it's set in beautiful Melbourne is a bonus.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real eye-opener!

[Trisha]

strong elements combine to make a complete picture. but oh so sad.

[Lizzy]

I really suggest this book for people who like books written in the teenage voice. It has a lot of action and you can really connect with the characters.

[Catherine Hade · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book was really goos but kinda sad at the end :(

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy teen read which I could relate to very well.