I Dare You by Jeff Ross [book review]

I Dare You book summary

I Dare You follows 16-year-old Rainey. When a video of a schoolyard fight, that he filmed, goes viral his friends convince him to film another. This time they are wanting to do a video of a “mysterious” figure that hides in the woods. When their prank starts gaining traction and the town and eventually the world starts to run with it. It gains so much traction they decide to go out there and film again. That same night a local woman heads out to the woods to investigate because she thinks this mysterious being is the cause of the nightmares she’s been having for years. She sees Rainey and drives off the road out of fright. His two friends abandon him as he’s trying to save the woman’s life. Will Rainey have to confess what he did?

What I thought of I Dare You by Jeff Ross

I received I Dare You through Netgalley thinking it was going to be a YA Thriller with supernatural elements. Something along the lines of slender man. I’m not sure why but I had a feeling that they were going to create this “mysterious” creature and it just so happened to be real. Which to me that seems like an amazing concept. I love monster/paranormal type of stories that seems very much real to those around them.

The Characters

I Dare You follows 16-year-old Rainey. He loves filming and messing with people. He and his friends think people will believe anything if his films are done correctly. And he’s right. People will believe just about anything. Nowadays you can’t necessarily believe what’s on camera because it can be doctored up. Honestly, it makes me wonder if we’re going to be able to believe anything anyone says anymore.

I found myself really liking Rainey. I can kind of see myself being friends with him when I was back in high school. I’m not really sure how I would have handled his Tourettes because I was never around someone who had it, but I could see myself being inclusive with him and stepping out of my way to make sure he felt included. That was always the person I was.

However, I don’t know if I really like his friends all that well. I wish it was explained a little more about what happened to them when the wreck happened. Did they run off? Why didn’t they try and help Rainey? It just seems like poor friendship to me even though I’m sure they were scared. I don’t think we got any information on if they even tried getting in touch with him after the accident. Does Rainey forgive them? Or does he resent them?

The Plot and Writing

The plot of the story seemed really cool when I found this book. Plus I absolutely love that cover and thought it looked a bit creepy. After reading about it I had to get my hands on the book.

My only thing is for this type of book it really should have been longer. The story is lacking in details and world-building which in result makes the book seem a little rushed. I get not wanting to drag the story out but I do wish there were more details with their filming. I also wish things revolving around the accident would have dragged a little bit more. Does the woman ever realize that the mysterious figure isn’t real? Does Rainey get in trouble for what he did? What about his parents? You get them a little bit in the story and how they were wondering why Rainey was so far away. But where is their involvement? Was Rainey punished after the incident?

Another thing is how did Rainey get out of the house without his parents knowing? Do they have a big home and they more than likely never would have heard him? Has he ever done anything like this before? I know most of these aren’t really important details and other readers might not really care about that but the little details along with the bigger ones are what makes a story good and well thought out. I just wish some of those details, however irrelevant they are, were included.

How do you guys feel about short books?

If you enjoyed this review then you might also like my review for Where the Truth Lies.