Dare Me by Megan Abbott
I was really excited to read Dare Me. I have seen clips of the new show on USA, and even my boyfriend thinks it looks good. But of course, I have my rule of not watching until I have read, and the book was so disappointing, I really don't know if I want to watch the show anymore.
Since a young age, Addy has been Beth's best friend and lieutenant. But now in their senior year of high school, their new cheerleading coach is driving a wedge between the friends and Coach French, Addy, and the other members of the squad get pulled into her life, and Beth is left fighting for the top girl spot. When the man Coach is having an affair with commits suicide, Addy is left trying to figure out what really happened, while trying to balance Beth's lies, Coach's riddles, and the drama on the squad.
The first thing I did not like about the book was that there is no way this could happen. And what I mean by this is the relationship Coach French has with the squad. Parts of this could happen, but not all of it. Over the course of the book, Coach puts the girls on a diet. One of the girls becomes bulimic after Coach pinches the baby fat on her arm and the other girls help her purge her food by kicking her in the stomach. Coach invites the girls over to her house, either in groups or on their own, and provides them with alcohol and cigarettes. She also gives them cigarettes on school grounds as a way to shut them up about her affair. And the worst offense is when Beth is assaulted, she does nothing about it. And then when they figure out Beth was lying about being assaulted, she again does nothing about it even though Beth is using it as blackmail. I am not saying teachers have never done any of these things. I am saying that no teacher does all of these things and then no one says anything about it. Coach would have been fired and probably sued by the parents for any of these things. And while I know that high school has some wild times, this is not what high school is like. I know what a standard high school is like would not make as interesting as a story, but this was so far from possible while parading to be possible that it made it painful to read.
The second thing I did not like about the book is its praise of eating disorders, pain for beauty, bullying, and the who issue with the assault. I am not naive. I know that the first three things I mentioned are prevalent in junior high and high school, especially in groups such as cheerleading, drill team, and other groups where your physical appearance is on display. Abbott would not have been able to write the book without including those things. But nowhere in the book is there a character telling the others they are beautiful the way they are; no character has a a-ha moment where they realize they shouldn't be making fun of the cheerleader who fell and is now in a cast for six weeks because Beth couldn't handle losing her spot. Everyone talks about how Beth and Addy are mean girls, but no teachers put them in their place. Teachers in this book are seen as pawns who can be made to do whatever the student wants because all male teachers sexualize the female student body and therefore are putty in the students hand. Like I said, I know you need drama to write a book, but nowhere is it shown how wrong this all is.
The third and final thing I did not like was the writing style. It felt very discombobulated to me. Most of the book is the internal dialogue of Addy, and I know as a human, we don't think in complete sentences, or we think in run-ons, but the entire book is written that way, even when there is actual dialogue. I frequently had to think about who was talking. And the scene of the final game, starting with the locker room to when Beth "falls" is just a complete wreck of who is saying and doing what, and I could not picture what was going on at all. Beth and Coach aren't there. Then Beth's there. Addy and Beth fight. Beth has feelings for Addy? Then Coach. Oh, Coach is leaving. Where's Beth? Start performance. Beth shows up mid-performance. Beth is floating up? Beth is attempting suicide? The end. Honestly, I could not tell you the theme of the book or what you're supposed to take away from it. I know, I sound like your senior English teacher, but these things are important for a book. It needs a beginning, middle, and end; rising action leading up to the climax, and then the falling action. And in the end, you should walk away from the story feeling like you have learned something from this story to take into the real world with you. I don't even have a sarcastic remark to take away from this.
I know I have another book on my shelf from Megan Abbott, but I honestly don't know if I will read it now. I don't often have such negative things to say about a book without having something good to say about it, but this book was rough.
Rating: 1/10
Author: Megan Abbott
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult
Dates Read: January 22-23, 2020
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| (Source: Kelsey Darling) |
The first thing I did not like about the book was that there is no way this could happen. And what I mean by this is the relationship Coach French has with the squad. Parts of this could happen, but not all of it. Over the course of the book, Coach puts the girls on a diet. One of the girls becomes bulimic after Coach pinches the baby fat on her arm and the other girls help her purge her food by kicking her in the stomach. Coach invites the girls over to her house, either in groups or on their own, and provides them with alcohol and cigarettes. She also gives them cigarettes on school grounds as a way to shut them up about her affair. And the worst offense is when Beth is assaulted, she does nothing about it. And then when they figure out Beth was lying about being assaulted, she again does nothing about it even though Beth is using it as blackmail. I am not saying teachers have never done any of these things. I am saying that no teacher does all of these things and then no one says anything about it. Coach would have been fired and probably sued by the parents for any of these things. And while I know that high school has some wild times, this is not what high school is like. I know what a standard high school is like would not make as interesting as a story, but this was so far from possible while parading to be possible that it made it painful to read.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
The third and final thing I did not like was the writing style. It felt very discombobulated to me. Most of the book is the internal dialogue of Addy, and I know as a human, we don't think in complete sentences, or we think in run-ons, but the entire book is written that way, even when there is actual dialogue. I frequently had to think about who was talking. And the scene of the final game, starting with the locker room to when Beth "falls" is just a complete wreck of who is saying and doing what, and I could not picture what was going on at all. Beth and Coach aren't there. Then Beth's there. Addy and Beth fight. Beth has feelings for Addy? Then Coach. Oh, Coach is leaving. Where's Beth? Start performance. Beth shows up mid-performance. Beth is floating up? Beth is attempting suicide? The end. Honestly, I could not tell you the theme of the book or what you're supposed to take away from it. I know, I sound like your senior English teacher, but these things are important for a book. It needs a beginning, middle, and end; rising action leading up to the climax, and then the falling action. And in the end, you should walk away from the story feeling like you have learned something from this story to take into the real world with you. I don't even have a sarcastic remark to take away from this.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
Rating: 1/10
Author: Megan Abbott
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult
Dates Read: January 22-23, 2020
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