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A review by rosielovesreading
I Dare You by Lylah James

4.0

I mean, what a rollercoaster of a duet to end the year with! I am so happy that I waited and read these two back to back, otherwise I think I would’ve thrown my kindle at the wall after that cliff-hanger at the end of Do You Dare.

The Truth and Dare Duet by Lylah James is a rollercoaster of emotions, beginning in Do You Dare?, with Maddox and Lila’s meeting and subsequent journey to becoming friends, and ending in I Dare You, where they tumultuous relationship reaches breaking point. This was such a crazy read, and I loved it because it showed the depth of their friendship, and how much they needed each other.

Lila is a student at prestigious Berkshire school, and flies under the radar until she bumps into popular, football player, Greek god like, Maddox in the school coffee shop and he proceeds to torment her. She’s on his sh*t list, and Lila refuses to bow down to him, standing up to his flirty ways. Maddox is shocked, no other girl has ever behaved like this around him, and so the pranks, and dares, begin, with Lila giving as good as she gets. There’s this undercurrent of attraction, but when they are caught in a vulnerable moment, both can see the other’s real self they hide behind the public mask, and decide to be friends, not enemies. For years they remain platonic, with their chemistry growing underneath until it reaches breaking point, and they decide to take the next step in their relationship. But Maddox is keeping secrets, the one thing he promised Lila he wouldn’t do. When the truth is slowly unravelled, will their friendship have come crumbling down with them?

Do You Dare is the build up of this friendship, setting the foundation, and shows you how truly inseparable they are, how they know each other back to front. Their chemistry is undeniable, but their friendship means more to them, despite their growing feelings. Both had family issues, with Maddox having had a rough childhood, one where he wasn’t shown unconditional love, something which he has only really ever received from Lila. He leans on her and needs her in a way that is so different to anyone else, and in return he shows her the real him. He has his secrets, but keeps them for his own reasons, mostly out of protection for Lila because he can’t bear to see her hurt. His protectiveness was attractive, he had Lila’s back for anything, even if it didn’t look like it from the start.

Lila knows loss well after a traumatic event in her childhood, one which changed her life forever. She had a firm plan before meeting Maddox, keep her head down and get into Harvard, but that changed after meeting him, and soon she became as reliant on him as he was her. I loved her personality, the way she never swooned over Maddox at the start, continued to call him out on his crap all the way through, and tried her best to do the right thing, even if it hurt herself in the process. I didn’t agree with some of her choices, I wanted her to fight more, but in the end, once she realised her mistake, she wasn’t going to let Maddox go without a fight.

One of the things I loved most about this couple was how they were such good friends at the start. I am a firm believer that a relationship should be built off friendship, and the fact that these two knew the other, all the good and the bad, that they worked. They were so hot together, both so fiery and raw, but they understood each other on another level, almost knowing the other better than they knew themselves. Although it was touch and go for a minute whether they would get their happy ending. Even though I sympathised with both of them, and could understand both of their actions, I did wonder how they would ever make up, but I am so happy with how Lila wrote the conclusion to this duet.

This was the best duet to end the year with, it was emotional, angsty, steamy and full of twists and turns that kept me guessing! I will be reading more of Lylah James in 2021!