Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Dare by Elle Kennedy

11 reviews

abidavisf's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Phew, Elle Kennedy does it again. I’ve not seen myself in one of her protagonists quite as much as I do in Taylor. I’m flawed. The Dare was healing for me, eye-opening and really quite surreal.

As always, the spice and the banter was on point, and Elle navigated really tricky topics with grace. The shining star, however, is definitely Taylor’s insecurities and the way we get to see how the rest of the world truly sees her. I wish I could read the minds of the people around me like we got to read Conor’s. 
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caitlinemccann's review

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emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I appreciate how consumable Elle Kennedy's series are. Even if I'm reading it for the first time, there's some inherent comfort in that.

What threw me with The Deal was the heroine, Taylor's, very clear disordered eating habits that were never addressed. Please be mindful of that if you decide to read this book. I debated rating this book lower than a three because of it but ultimately rounded up because there were still enjoyable components elsewhere in the novel. However, I think this is potentially the weakest of the Briar U series.

So easy to read but kind of a meh 3-star rating.
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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

I wanted to read this book because my goal last year was to discover new authors. Elle Kennedy was on this list, and I have been loving hockey romances in the past year. I have been waiting for another book as good as The Mistake and having a lad as good as John Logan and damn Conor Edwards is such a golden retriever and I want him and John.  

This book has two points of view. The first is Taylor Marsh, she was hoping that college was her chance to get over her ugly-duckling complex and to spread her wings. Instead, she ended up in a sorority full of means and she has a rough time fitting in, so when her sorority sister issue her a dare, she can’t say no. The dare is to seduce the hottest new hockey player in her junior class: Conor Edwards. The second point of view is Conor Edwards, he is a regular at Greek Row parties and in Greek Row sorority beds. He's the one you fall for before you learn that guys like him don’t give girls like Taylor a second glance. But Mr Popular throws in a loop, rather than laughing in Taylor’s face, he does a solid by letting her take him upstairs to pretend they are getting busy and spend the night talking and having a laugh. Taylor doesn’t expect to hear from Conor again, but he wants to keep pretending. Turns out Conor loves games, and he thinks it’s fun to pull the wool over her sorority sisters’ eyes. But resisting his easy charm and surfer-boy hotness is damn near impossible. Though Taylor is realizing there’s much more to Conor’s story than his fan club can see. And the longer the ruse goes on, the greater the danger of it blows up in Taylor’s face. 

I don’t know what it is about hockey romances, but they are so addictive. The writing isn’t brilliant, but the storyline and the character are adorable. I wanted to hug Taylor so damn hard throughout this book. I also wanted to smack Conor like dude – you are hot and yes you have trauma but dude help is there and let them help you. I also wanted to smack Taylor – yes you have trauma but don’t push people away and let them help you. These characters had personality, and both had a storyline with issues of their own but also were all about each other – they wanted to help each other with their traumas. Conor with his issues with his stepdad and his struggles with how he got to Briar U and then his ex-best friend being a dick, I just wanted to hug him. Taylor was so broken, and I just wanted to fix her – she is one of the only girls in both series that I relate to especially with the body issues that Taylor had. I love that she confronted Conor and was like you are a grown man, you don’t dip so why are you dipping now. I love Coach Jensen and that he was dating Taylor’s mum, it was just making everything so much funnier. I loved how Conor and Taylor kept growing and that it ended with a bigger issue of revenge porn and that the hockey lads wanted to kill Abigail’s ex-boyfriend and the girls wanted to kill Jules.  

I don’t think this book had any weaknesses whatsoever. I wanted it to be longer. I would have loved to see Coach Jensen and Taylor’s mum in the epilogue, and I love that Brenna is now Taylor’s sister and would have loved to see them more together.  

These series overall has been very up and down but I'm glad it ended on this high note. 
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kat7794's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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culzean's review against another edition

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funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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rochelleriekert's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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haley49's review against another edition

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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

4.0

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.
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perrystranger's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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shaylee_reads's review

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emotional funny 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

5.0

Ratings:
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5
Romance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Diversity:⭐⭐ /5
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Sadness: 💧💧/5
Spice:🌶️🌶️ /5
Trope & Kinks: Fake Dating, Hockey Romance, Sport Romance, College Romance, and Virgin MC
The Dare is the finale instalment in the Briar U series and the last book in the Off-Campus universe. The Dare follows Taylor who during a game of dare and dare at a college party is dared by her fellow Kappa Chi sorority members to seduce the self acclaimed F-boy hockey player Connor Edwards. Surprising Taylor, Connor agrees to help Taylor and helps her convince her sorority sisters that they slept together. What surprises Taylor more is the fact that Connor does want to stop after one night, so Taylor and Connor begin to fake that they are dating but resisting Connor's easy charm and surfer boy looks is a lot harder than you would think. 
I absolutely ADORED this book!! This book might even beat The Chase as my favorite book in the Briar U series. When I think about this book I can't think of anything I didn't like about it, I just absolutely loved it. 
One of my favorite aspects in this book is Taylor. I relate to her so much more than any of the other characters in the Briar U series… maybe even the whole Off-Campus series. Taylor is a midsize girl and struggles with her weight and body dysmorphia and as someone who is also midsize and struggles with the same things I related to Taylor so much. A lot of the thoughts Taylor had about herself and her body I also have had and it warmed my heart to see Taylor become more comfortable with her body and grow to love herself. I also loved the way Connor kept hyping Taylor up about her body and telling her how beautiful she was and how she should be ashamed. I loved how in Connors point of view he doesn't even point out her weight and only sees her as beautiful. This book I feel like is really important for people who struggle with their weight and it shows that no matter your size you are beautiful and someone out there is going to love your body just the way it is. 
I also loved Taylor because she was such a sweet and caring girl and I hated to see the way she was treated by her fellow Kappa Chi sisters. I loved seeing Taylor grow from someone who didn't stand up for herself to someone who did. I loved Taylors character development and how she went from this shy, self conscious, sad girl to someone who was confident and comfortable in her body and was bold and strong and happy. I just absolutely loved Taylor so much and I think she is my favorite girl in the Briar U series. 
In the last book The Play we are introduced to the self acclaimed F-boy hockey player Connor Edwards who is basically Dean 2.0 and if you know me you would know that Dean is my least favorite Off-Campus boy so I was expecting not to love Connor but boy was I wrong!! I absolutely loved Connor!! He was so incredibly sweet and cared so much about Taylor and was very clear with his intentions with her from the beginning. I loved how non judgemental he was and how he was always trying to get Taylor to see how beautiful she was. I also loved how he didn't push Taylor to do any thing she didn't want to do, he was very understanding and didn't pressure her to do anything for his sexual pleasure. It was always about her and what she was comfortable with and her pleasure. He's also very good looking and hilarious, there's just so much to love about him and he was just amazing. 
I absolutely loved the story between Connor and his stepfather. I actually cried when they finally sat down and talked for the first time. It was just so sweet and I loved seeing it play out.
Taylor and Connors relationship has to be my favorite out of the Briar U series. I just absolutely loved them together, they were so incredibly cute and I grew so attached to their story and relationship to the point that at the end when everything was falling apart I was absolutely balling my eyes out, like I could not stop crying because I loved them so much and it hurt to see them both hurting so much. I loved how Connor was the one to fall first and was always trying to get Taylor to see how much he cared about her and that she was beautiful. I loved how their sexual relationship went and how Connor never pressured her to do anything she wasn't ready and cared more about her pleasure then his own. I'm just ABSOLUTELY obsessed and I want more!
One thing that I can say is I could have not done with the two miscommunication plot twists in this book but honestly that's just a very small thing and I still love the book anyway.
Another part of this book that was absolutely hilarious and I loved was the storyline between Coach Jensen and Taylor's mom. Any time Coach Jensen, Taylor's mom, Breanna, Taylor, and Connor were together I was just dying with laughter especially at the end when Connor was running around naked. I absolutely loved Breanna's little comments throughout the scenes. Honestly they were just hilarious and so much fun. 
Overall, I felt that this was a very nice ending to the Briar U/Off-Campus series and I absolutely adored this book and I recommend everyone read it right now! I'm so sad to have to say goodbye to this world and these characters that I love so much. This series will always be one of my favorites and I have so much to thank it for because it was the book that introduced me to the smutty romance books. 
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kenziewol's review

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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