I don't know that I would call this book a thriller. It's more of a mystery, and not a particularly effective mystery at that. Except that there was an unexpected twist at the end.

It starts out very slowly, as it's trying to build its characters, but it seems to drag for much longer than necessary. The last third of the book was more entertaining as the action picks up and builds to its conclusion. I wouldn't buy the second book in the trilogy, but since we already have it, I may read it. ( )

I swear I’ve seen a movie that was just like this book. Thora Birch played Tenley or someone who looks like Thora.

Reading this book, I get too strange of a feeling of dejavu like I’ve read this book and seen a movie about it. It creeps me out, so I have stopped reading this book.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Truth or Dare unlike you have ever played before.

Opening Sentence: The water was everywhere.

The Review:

My first impression of this ARC was pure frustration. This was because the prologue begins in a very cursive font to the point that it looked like weird swirls linked together. Try as I might, I just COULD NOT READ IT and we all know that the first sentence is sooo important! First I tried reading on my laptop and then on my kindle, which was a little better. I could just make out a couple of the words but it was a headache trying to decipher the rest of the sentence. I hoped that this was a one-off but unfortunately, the first line of each chapter was written in the same irksome font! I gave up even trying to make out the first line so I skipped it when starting each chapter. I assume the use of differing fonts was to make the writing different and appealing but I hope they realised this wasn’t a success and apply a user-friendly font in the final version!

I’m sure we’ve all played truth or dare at some point, but in this book the game is far more menacing and borders on blackmail. The mysterious darer knows everyone’s secrets and threatens to expose them if they don’t play along. The game is targeted at three girls: Caitlin, Tenley and Sydney and each chapter is told from the POV of one of these girls.

I like how the story flowed together in an almost domino effect. One seemingly unrelated dare affected someone else’s truth and so on. The girls’ histories are intertwined without their knowledge, but the darer knows all. It reminded me of ‘A’ from Pretty Little Liars because A also knew everyone’s secrets, stalked the girls and threatened to reveal them. It was fun trying to guess who the darer was and I suspected practically everyone because of the misleading clues.

Sydney looked over at Calum, who had his face screwed up as if he’d just eaten something rotten. “You ready?”
“About as ready as a nuclear detonator without uranium,” Calum sighed. “But don’t worry,” he added when Sydney shot him a flabbergasted look. “That’s never stopped me before.”

From the three, Tenley’s character was the least impressive; she’s a self-obsessed mean girl that can never let go of being Queen Bee. Her loyalty to Cait was sweet but that was literally her only redeeming quality. She’s horrible to the less-popular students, attempts to flirt her way into everything and what annoyed me most was that she tends to succeed!

Cait’s kidnapping intrigued me, especially her flashbacks. The toy train she kept remembering led me to believe that Joey Bakersfield had something to do with it but I’m sure the kidnapper’s identity will be explored further in the next book. It would have been helpful if the author had expanded on how the kidnapping took place and her subsequent discovery. Cait was too meek for my liking, especially since she’s running for student body president. Her popularity stemmed from her friends rather than any personal attributes as she was constantly hiding in either Tenley or Emmerson’s shadow.

My favourite character was Sydney, particularly because she’s dragged into this ‘game’ targeting the rich, popular girls, when she’s the complete opposite. Sydney is a photography geek and it was good to see someone ‘normal’ playing the game, if you can call it playing. She’s like the Dan Humphrey from Gossip Girl; someone who doesn’t fit in but ends up being pushed into the elite circle and soon realises that even the most popular girls have their secrets.

“What did you do, Calum? Break into an aquarium?”
“No, Sydney,” Calum said gravely. “I had a battle with the ocean.”
Sydney eyed his bedraggled half-naked form. “I’m guesing the ocean won?”
“I’d call it more fo a tie,” Calum said, hopping from foot to foot to keep warm. “The ocean got my clothes, but I got-“
“Pneumonia?” Sydney supplied.
Calum narrowed his eyes at her. “I was going to say my pride.”
“Ah. Of course.”

I was teetering on a score of 2.5 out of 5 until the ending, which reduced the overall rating to 2 stars. Without giving too much away, I felt the ending was rushed, messy and unexpected. There were a few gaps that could have been better explained, especially the history of the darer. It’s unfortunate that the poor cliff-hanger ending has lowered any chances of continuing this series…

Notable Scene:

There was no way she was going through with the dare but she would go to the docks at midnight. She’d got and she’d find out who this person was, and then she’d put them in their place.

Because there was one truth she did want everyone to know: when it came to dares, Tenley Reed was the master.

FTC Advisory: Poppy/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of Truth or Dare. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Tenley, Caitlin and Sydney are just normal girls living in a seaside town until they are all targeted in a twisted game of truth or dare--if they refuse to go through with the dares, their darkest secrets will be revealed. Torn between keeping themselves safe and potentially ruining other people's lives, the girls become increasingly self-destructive. "Truth or Dare" is a cross between the TV series "Pretty Little Liars" and "The OC", with enough intrigue and glamorous party life to keep the reader entertained. ( )

A young adult mystery very much in the vein of the first Pretty Little Liars books (and as good as those first in the PLL series were), Truth or Dare cleverly plays on the game referenced in its title, as three teenage girls receive mysterious notes instructing them to complete escalating dares or face dire consequences. The end sets this up to be a suspenseful and gripping series, and I can't wait to read the second book (coming out next month). I only hope that this series stays at its peak, and doesn't go downhill like Pretty Little Liars did so drastically. ( )