Reviews with content warning for Lesbophobia - The Dare

Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

The Dare by Elle Kennedy

12 reviews

ourhandsfull's review against another edition

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This book needs content warnings for sexual harassment and sexual assault. I wouldn’t have read it if I had known. The incident came out of nowhere in chapter 37, and the author completely failed to mention that the sorority itself should have been sanctioned for sexual harassment and hazing. This is vile.

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shaesensual's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

"I'm too young to be this unhappy, and too loved to be this alone"

This quote really describes my change of heart about the final 15% of this book because this felt like something the main character had already discovered before reaching this point in the story.

Light spoilers ahead, but I've got a lot to rant about. So much time is spent building a foundation of trust, support, and honesty between these characters only for that to be thrown away in an instant. Not only do things blow up again, Taylor then takes the unnecessary step of insulting all of Conor's deepest insecurities. Taylor struggles with her self image due to her weight, which I wish took up less of this book because she's a more dynamic character than that, but when Conor has his own turmoil, he doesn't start calling her fat and saying nobody could possibly want to be with her. Taylor, on the other hand, says things to Conor that I might consider unforgivable even taking into consideration the circumstances. Her actions were just to harm him and it felt like taking 1,000 steps backwards in their growth as a couple. And he somehow manages to immediately forgive her and even says she was right. Additionally, there is a lot of gratitude for Conor's reaction in this final section of the book as if its so remarkable, but I can't honestly imagine an adult who would have reacted any differently. This book would have received a 4.25/4.5 rating from me without this major shift towards the end or bad just ended after the gala conflict.

Really wish this had a stronger ending overall as this was the weakest book in the series.

The positives: the fake relationship into real was really great. I loved all the "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" comments when they were still both unsure. I thought their flirting dynamic and conversations together were fun and cute. Overall a really fun couple to read about.

The spice was spicy in this book! I loved seeing repeated scenes of foreplay leading up to their first time having sex. Standalone, these scenes are great but the fact that their first time happens immediately following the biggest fight in their relationship and Conor's sudden change of heart makes it less sexy than it could have been because that conflict is still right there. And, in all honesty, I had no interest in the final sex scene after Taylor gets sexually exploited. The resolution with Conor and from that type of trauma was too quick for me. Not to mention “fuckturtles” was beyond weird.

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catastrophiclyss's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

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britwalsh16's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

OMG! This book is EVERYTHING! Like the amount of emotions I am feeling right now is insane! I am Taylor, Taylor is me! I identified sooo much with her it was insane! & Conor with all his talk about body positivity & all his support of Taylor, just made me swoon to no end!! I NEED a man like Conor! He is everything!! If I could give this book 10 stars I would! 100 stars! They go through a lot of very serious stuff, & it was all written so beautifully! I just couldn’t put it down, but also, I did not want it to end!! Give me more of Taylor & Conor please!! Pretty pretty please!!! 🥺🙏🏻

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abidavisf's review against another edition

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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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chronicaaaa's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

Somehow, even with all the body shaming, this managed to be the least worst book in the series. Ending on a high note I guess.

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caitlinemccann's review against another edition

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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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anoveldestination's review against another edition

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5.0

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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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