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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I was lucky enough to be selected for an ARC for a honest non-spoiler review - Thank you to Barbara and Jessica (her PA)! I have read almost every book by B. Celeste over the last year! I adore how she writes romance and especially the SMUT scenes. She writes very emotionally, in a way that makes you truly connect and feel with the characters - And that continued into Dare You to Hate Me, her first Sports Romance story.
*Please note this book does deal with self harm*
As soon as you read the prologue of this story, you know you are going to be reading an emotional growth journey about the main heroine - Ivy.
Due to her own choice, Ivy finds herself homeless and running away from home in her senior year of high school. In this process, she is leaving behind her childhood neighbour and best friend; Aiden. Fast forward 4 years and Aiden & Ivy lives cross paths again at Lindon University, where Aiden is achieving his goal of becoming a famous NFL player, and Ivy is trying to find her life path.
Aiden is a true friend and good person. He doesn't trust easy, but when he does - you won't ever lose that trust, or love. Especially when his first love, Ivy, unexpectedly turns up in his life. He is a fixer. And she wants to be fixed. But. Is it fair that Aiden tries to then fix her - When she has been trying to fix herself her whole life and hasn't been able to?
I adored Aiden. But found myself confused with Ivy. She was quite a weak character. I do like that she does grow and own up to her mistakes, and finally puts Aiden first. But she is incredibly stubborn - Even when it comes to hurting herself and the people she loves!
I love the Friends to Lovers trope, but unfortunately I found their friendship a bit toxic at times. Ivy definitely has her own battles, and I felt for Aiden having to always be that rock for her.
Overall. This story is truly about growth. Owning up to your mistakes and facing your past.
This isn't my favourite by Barbara but I still found myself addicted and losing sleep over it.
*Please note this book does deal with self harm*
As soon as you read the prologue of this story, you know you are going to be reading an emotional growth journey about the main heroine - Ivy.
Due to her own choice, Ivy finds herself homeless and running away from home in her senior year of high school. In this process, she is leaving behind her childhood neighbour and best friend; Aiden. Fast forward 4 years and Aiden & Ivy lives cross paths again at Lindon University, where Aiden is achieving his goal of becoming a famous NFL player, and Ivy is trying to find her life path.
Aiden is a true friend and good person. He doesn't trust easy, but when he does - you won't ever lose that trust, or love. Especially when his first love, Ivy, unexpectedly turns up in his life. He is a fixer. And she wants to be fixed. But. Is it fair that Aiden tries to then fix her - When she has been trying to fix herself her whole life and hasn't been able to?
I adored Aiden. But found myself confused with Ivy. She was quite a weak character. I do like that she does grow and own up to her mistakes, and finally puts Aiden first. But she is incredibly stubborn - Even when it comes to hurting herself and the people she loves!
I love the Friends to Lovers trope, but unfortunately I found their friendship a bit toxic at times. Ivy definitely has her own battles, and I felt for Aiden having to always be that rock for her.
Overall. This story is truly about growth. Owning up to your mistakes and facing your past.
This isn't my favourite by Barbara but I still found myself addicted and losing sleep over it.
Dare You to Hate Me
I read this one in a couple of hours, late at night. I remember thinking that I want to finish it, so I don’t have to do it tomorrow. That probably tells you all you need to know?!
Ivy and Aiden. Best childhood friends. Ivy grew up in an unloving home, parents fighting a lot. Until she could not face it anymore and ran away. Trading her body for a place to stay, hurting herself. Until she gets it together and goes to Lindon University where she meets Aiden again. Rising football star.
And that’s where it turns the way all of B. Celeste’s books turn out to be. Slow burn, friends to lovers, cheesy as h3ll. This would have been a perfect book if you’re in the mood for that. The problem I had with this book was Ivy. Yes, I get why she threw
on the cold b1tch act, but that doesn’t mean I have to read about it for 300 plus pages. So much teenage angst, it made me angsty. Aiden was your typical perfect boyfriend hero. The story was just what I thought it would be. It should have touched me, but it did not.
This was definitely one of the authors weaker books, she has much better ones!
emotional
fast-paced
Beautifully Broken
Where do I even start….. I started this book and I couldn’t put it down! I was immediately thrown in and I couldn’t stop. I cried. I laughed. I smiled. I hated all interruptions. My heart broke. Shattered. Then my heart was put back together, piece by piece. I fell in love with these characters and I won’t forget them.
Ivy broke my heart. I hurt for her and I cried for her. She’s was such a broken character who still tried her best to be this person who achieved great things. She put herself in scary situations. Yet they all lead her back to the right path. I can’t even begin to describe how badly I wanted to be her friend, love her, and put her first.
Aiden is my FAVORITE book boyfriend. There I said it. I’ve had one person at number one for the longest time. Not anymore. I mean this man can use me any day as he did after that game scene. Aiden is the purest soul I’ve ever read in my life. From the moment he chose Ivy over the other kids when they first met to the very end of this book. I cannot tell you how much I fell in love with him.
I loved the scenes of them when they were children and when they became best friends. I adored that so much that I was crying happy and sad tears, all in one. Side note, I hope for more DJ.
This is my first book from B Celeste and I will be reading more, for sure! I highly recommend reading this if you love childhood best friends, friends to lovers, and school/sports.
Where do I even start….. I started this book and I couldn’t put it down! I was immediately thrown in and I couldn’t stop. I cried. I laughed. I smiled. I hated all interruptions. My heart broke. Shattered. Then my heart was put back together, piece by piece. I fell in love with these characters and I won’t forget them.
Ivy broke my heart. I hurt for her and I cried for her. She’s was such a broken character who still tried her best to be this person who achieved great things. She put herself in scary situations. Yet they all lead her back to the right path. I can’t even begin to describe how badly I wanted to be her friend, love her, and put her first.
Aiden is my FAVORITE book boyfriend. There I said it. I’ve had one person at number one for the longest time. Not anymore. I mean this man can use me any day as he did after that game scene. Aiden is the purest soul I’ve ever read in my life. From the moment he chose Ivy over the other kids when they first met to the very end of this book. I cannot tell you how much I fell in love with him.
I loved the scenes of them when they were children and when they became best friends. I adored that so much that I was crying happy and sad tears, all in one. Side note, I hope for more DJ.
This is my first book from B Celeste and I will be reading more, for sure! I highly recommend reading this if you love childhood best friends, friends to lovers, and school/sports.
“You’re wrong. I let people use me before because I didn’t think I could do any better. I let you in because you needed me, and I wanted to help. There’s a difference.”
― B. Celeste, Dare You to Hate Me
― B. Celeste, Dare You to Hate Me
Where should I start? I really struggled to finish this book. A lot of pointless dialogues, I mean A LOT of pointless dialogues. I skimmed through chapters and chapters and felt bored and wanted to dnf so many times.
Another thing is I hated the MC’s, didn’t feel the chemistry and couldn’t connect with them. They were immature and annoying, they were supposed to be in there 20s but acted like 13. Also, there were so many side characters with no purpose or add anything to the plot, even in the epilogue new side characters were coming right, left and center
Another thing is I hated the MC’s, didn’t feel the chemistry and couldn’t connect with them. They were immature and annoying, they were supposed to be in there 20s but acted like 13. Also, there were so many side characters with no purpose or add anything to the plot, even in the epilogue new side characters were coming right, left and center
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this story a lot. Particularly, I loved how you never questioned how much Aiden loved Ivy. Ivy was a strong person because of everything that she went through, but at the same time, she kind of annoyed me with how she never wanted to acknowledge what happened. She kind of wanted to just turn a blind eye to it or just say that’s in the past can’t do anything now. But when Aiden and Ivy finally took a chance on being together, I really liked that they didn’t let other people’s opinions affect their relationship. They knew they were good for each other, so nobody else’s opinion mattered. A bittersweet, second chance, friends to lovers romance!
B. Celeste did it again. Served me a new favorite couple on a silver platter.
I love how different Ivy and Aiden are, but the pairing is so perfect.
This sports romance was done so well. You can tell B. put alot of effort into writing this and making sure football was a continuous theme and not mentioned here and there.
I love this so much.
I love how different Ivy and Aiden are, but the pairing is so perfect.
This sports romance was done so well. You can tell B. put alot of effort into writing this and making sure football was a continuous theme and not mentioned here and there.
I love this so much.
I debated on my rating for this book. I really loved the premise for the plot, but for once the angst didn't hit me in the feels as hard as I thought it would. Especially considering the triggers of self-harm and suicide attempt.
However, I LOVED how the couple never had a separation once they got together. Their relationship was hard fought and won, and I adored how once Aiden set his heart and mind on Ivy he never let her back off. Ivy's situation killed me. I kept thinking, her life didn't seem so bad to make her run away and thus experience the worst life to live with her pride keeping her in it. I struggled with that throughout the book, BUT she admitted she messed up. Her bad choices will stay with her forever but I was pleasantly surprised to see her own up to it. And the fact that Aiden refused to give up on her was just perfect.
I'm really glad I read this story and while it wasn't exactly what I thought I was getting, I thoroughly enjoyed it.