Review: Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green

Title: Truth Or Dare 
Author: Jacqueline Green 

Publisher:  Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Publishing Date: May 14th 2013

Pages: 389
Genre:  YA Mystery Thriller

Series: Truth or Dare #1
Source:  Hardcover 

  

When a simple round of truth or dare spins out of control, three girls find it’s no longer a party game. It’s do or die.

It all started on a whim: the game was a way for Tenley Reed to reclaim her popularity, a chance for perfect Caitlin “Angel” Thomas to prove she’s more than her Harvard application. Loner Sydney Morgan wasn’t even there; she was hiding behind her camera like usual. But when all three start receiving mysterious dares long after the party has ended, they’re forced to play along—or risk exposing their darkest secrets.

How far will Tenley, Caitlin and Sydney go to keep the truth from surfacing? And who’s behind this twisted game?Set against the backdrop of Echo Bay, an isolated beach town haunted by misfortune, Truth or Dare is a highly charged debut that will keep readers in suspense from beginning to end. 

I was pretty sure I would love this book when I read the synopsis, and I was right. Sometimes I just need a guilty pleasure read and this was one of those books. The story kept me guessing to the end, the secrets shocked me, and the pacing kept my pages turning. I really enjoyed this book, probably more than I should have.

Three girls live in a town of hidden secrets. Everyone has them, especially the teenagers. Caitlin, Tenley, and Sydney are about to find out how dangerous secrets can be. All three girls start getting blackmail notes in the form of truth or dare. They girls must follow through on the dare or the truth will be revealed. Their choice. The choice isn’t always easy. The truth and the dare doesn’t only involve their secrets but others as well, they may not be the only ones getting hurt in this particular game of truth or dare. How far will the blackmailer go and how long will the girls take it before it goes too far.

This book was completely a guilty pleasure book for me. Much like Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game. There were scandals, dirty secrets, betrayals, and lots of love lost. I don’t know why but every once in a while I love to read these type of books. Nothing deep, nothing profound, nothing to really improve my life with or make me feel good. It’s just the uh-ohs, oh-nos, and whoas around every corner. The book was of course unrealistic. The things that happened, the life the teens lived, no parental control, no police. It was  just a bunch of fun and games for these teens but I still had fun with it.

The characters all had flaws. Even the better of the three- Sydney had some major flaws. She was insecure and gullible. She was allowing her heart to be run through the mud and I wanted to strangle her at times; however she was a strong character when it came to memorable characters. So were Caitlin and Tenley. Caitlin was naive and she didn’t have much of a backbone.  Tenley was just completely lost in her demented mind. She was the mean girl and she was a bit on the trashy side for me but again they were both very memorable characters. Even though I really didn’t like the characters I still connected with them and felt bad for them when horrible stuff started to happen. There was some character growth but not much, and again that was OK for me in this particular book.

The secrets, the drama, the excitement and the thrills kept me going, making me want to read one more page until I hit the end. It was very fast paced. The writing was just right for the type of book and the author was able to keep me interested and invested.  I had fun with it. There was an ending which I appreciated… unlike Pretty Little Liars that took forever to get to anywhere… I have a feeling this series will not be like that series. In fact the first one could be read a stand alone. but  I am still  excited to read the next book, and I will.

I liked it a bunch. May not be for everyone but if you like fast paced thrillers with not a lot of deep stuff.. this was that kind of book.