Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - The Dare

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Dare by Elle Kennedy

65 reviews

haley49's review against another edition

4.0

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was a mess but I enjoyed it. All the conflicts were melodramic, the mid/plus-size rep was hit or miss, and there wasn’t enough groveling in my opinion—but I ate up all the tropes. Conor and Taylor were sweet leads who pretended they didn’t have golden retriever energy when together. There were some laughing moments and some good cameos from previous installments in the Briar U series. (No off-campus ones) When he wasn’t being stupid, I adored Conor as a love interest. He is the sweetest. Probably my favorite Briar U boy??? (There is something about boy #4 in Elle Kennedy series lol) I recommend—if you can withstand the some representation issues and second hand embarrassment.

The fat rep is with the main character who is bullied for her looks throughout her life, specifically by her sorority sister, but it really impacts her self-esteem and its her main source if inner conflict. At no point in the story does her love interest think about her looks or weight with any negativity but there are several points in which she jumps to conclusions, even when irrelevant, about her weight being a problem. Her love interest continually reassures her but at times it does feel like the she-needs-male-validation-to-feel-beautiful trope. She is also heavily sexualized with her weight, particularly with regards to her boobs. If any of that would seriously bother you, this isn’t your book.

Content Warnings

andycob's review against another edition

3.25

funny reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

lizaxwin's review against another edition

3.25

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

First of all, I‘m devastated that this was the last book. I read all of the Off Campus and Briar U books in less than half a year and now I’m just unsure what to do with my life from now on. But never the less… I felt a bit let down by this book. To me it seems Elle Kennedy tried to put in so many topics into this last book that she didn’t get to put in any of the other books just so that the series would deal with it. There were so many story strings and unfortunately they didn’t all get resolved satisfactorily in the end. With that being said: I was very happy that Conor got his own book because I fell in love with him in The Play. And I guess Taylor could‘ve been a great character as well. That is, if Elle Kennedy would‘ve given her character more depth. I feel like Taylor‘s only character trait was her hating her body. And I don’t think that does her justice. Conor kept claiming how intelligent and gorgeous she was, but we never really got to see that side of her as the readers. And that’s just sad. Plus, the miscommunication trope twice. C‘mon…

All in all it was not the worst book of this series (still mad about Fitz‘s book), but it could‘ve been a lot better if Elle Kennedy would have better developed Taylor‘s character and left some story lines out in favour of developing a few of them in more depth.

Content Warnings

izzyf16's review against another edition

2.0

Content Warnings

mardorko's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

rosinna's review against another edition

3.0

sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Easily the worst book in the Briar U series, which is a shame from the home run that is the book before this. I really like the setup/trope of this one, and I was having fun to start, but it quickly got annoying. I just think these two are immature and fall to the issue of miscommunication that is the bane of my existence. They are the only couple in the series I don't think will last more than a month. Also, love some plus-sized representation but Taylor does not feel like she was written by someone who is actually plus-sized. The way the

scandal of the video was handled was much better than how a similar thing was handled in the first book though, so that was nice.

Content Warnings

megan_deathe's review against another edition

3.5

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I have mixed feelings about this book. As someone who’s always been insecure about my weight it’s a double edged sword with how this book is written. On the one hand it’s unfortunately a pretty accurate representation of how people who are deeply insecure feel. But this book was filled with was too much self deprecation. It’s a shame because I actually really liked both characters and their relationship but unlike the other books in the series this one had way too much up and down for me. It felt like we never really got to see them happy as a couple and it kind of ruined the vibe when compared to the rest of the briar universe

Content Warnings

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

1.0

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

finally saying goodbye to these characters, even if i’m not in favor of it.

controversial to a lot of opinions, i actually loved the dare. yes, it’s a romance book just like the other books in the series, but compared to the other books, it has more depth to it. it tackles relevant topics like fatphobia, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and body shaming— in a non-misleading way.

i agree that it may not be the best closing novel for a series, but as a stand-alone, it’s a pretty good book.

conor and taylor’s relationship is very realistic in terms of college romance. it pisses me off that they won’t talk about their problems first and always ends up taking a break from their relationship. but as i’ve said, it showcases a realistic relationship, so i couldn’t bother to give it at most 4 stars.

still bittersweet about leaving these characters, but it is what it is.

Content Warnings