Review: It Started with a Dare by Lindsay Faith Rech

It Started with a Dare by Lindsay Faith Rech

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

September 2010

My Rating: 3 Stars

I thought this was a cute cover: the girl is cute, looks happy, but also looks like she has some sort of secret. Knowing nothing else about the book or the author, I decided to give it a shot.


CG Silverman has always considered herself a bit of an outsider, so when she moves to a new town and the three most popular girls in the school actually speak to her, she can't help herself. She starts with small innocent lies to impress them, but finds herself spinning a life for herself that she could have never imagined. As the newly crowned rebel of the popular crowd, she agrees to a dare from her new BFFs Alona, Grace, and Sammie that has major problem potential. When Alona's super hot older brother gets in the picture, CG's new life seems almost too good to be true.

It Started with a Dare is a story about identity and friendship. Though CG's lies can sometimes be frustrating, they speak pretty honestly to the insecurities of a teenage girl who just wants to fit in somewhere.  The speaker's crazy comparisons and potty humor can sometimes be over the top, but CG has a funny voice that you just have to love. Lindsay Faith Rech's strength in this book is her ability to go beneath the surface with each character and explore what every one is hiding beneath their constructed high school exterior.


It Started with a Dare is fun, funny, a little crazy, but always honest about the importance of being yourself.


Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!