Dare Me: A Novel

Megan Abbott

Jul 2012 · Sold by Reagan Arthur Books

About this ebook

From the award-winning author of The Turnout and Give Me Your Hand: the searing novel of friendship and betrayal that inspired the USA Network series, praised by Gillian Flynn as "Lord of the Flies set in a high-school cheerleading squad...Tense, dark, and beautifully written."  Addy Hanlon has always been Beth Cassidy's best friend and trusted lieutenant. Beth calls the shots and Addy carries them out, a long-established order of things that has brought them to the pinnacle of their high-school careers. Now they're seniors who rule the intensely competitive cheer squad, feared and followed by the other girls -- until the young new coach arrives.

Cool and commanding, an emissary from the adult world just beyond their reach, Coach Colette French draws Addy and the other cheerleaders into her life. Only Beth, unsettled by the new regime, remains outside Coach's golden circle, waging a subtle but vicious campaign to regain her position as "top girl" -- both with the team and with Addy herself.

Then a suicide focuses a police investigation on Coach and her squad. After the first wave of shock and grief, Addy tries to uncover the truth behind the death -- and learns that the boundary between loyalty and love can be dangerous terrain.

The raw passions of girlhood are brought to life in this taut, unflinching exploration of friendship, ambition, and power. Award-winning novelist Megan Abbott, writing with what Tom Perrotta has hailed as "total authority and an almost desperate intensity," provides a harrowing glimpse into the dark heart of the all-American girl.

Ratings and reviews

Colette French was the replacement coach for the cheer leaders. At first they resented her high expectations and regimented ideas. The girls were curious about her but she held them at arm’s length at first. Slowly she let them into her life. All the girls loved her, except Beth Cassidy. Addy and Beth had long been best friends but that changed when the new coach came to town. The coach and Addy developed a special relationship making Beth extremely jealous and a jealous Beth could be dangerous. A mysterious death affects the coach and the squad. This is a review of the audio version of "Dare Me" by Megan Abbott. The characters are realistic but not particularly likeable. Colette was an adult and coach and yet she provided the girls with alcohol and a place to drink. She shared inappropriate discussions with Addy. She neglected her daughter and had an adulteress affair. The coach was certainly not a good role model for the cheering squad. Beth was a bully, vicious and mean. Addy had bullying tendencies. The parents were neglectful. The school officials were negligent. I became disgusted with the behaviors of all of the characters. Readers witness a power struggle between the members of the squad. Each member exhibits strong ambition, lack of self-confidence and the desire for acceptance and praise. Most of the characters in this book are multidimensional. When I have to remind myself that this is a book and the characters are not real I know I have found an author who excels at character development. The author deals with the feelings of homosexuality in a tasteful manner; the author shows Addy and Beth’s feelings without being blatant about it. "Dare Me" is a suspense-filled psychological thriller.

Megan Abbott takes the Mean Girls trope to extremes in her novel Dare Me, about a team of high school Cheerleaders who revel in their sense of entitlement and perceived immortality. Addy Hanlon is the sixteen-year-old narrator who identifies herself as the “lieutenant” to her best friend and Team Captain, Beth. Even as she kowtows and follows Beth’s every command, Addy recognizes how cruel and ruthless her idol can be. The alpha-beta balance of their relationship is threatened however, when the squad comes under the leadership of a new coach. Colette French is not about to be dazzled or overtaken by Beth. Coach French is also a domineering force with a magnetic personality that upsets the team’s hierarchy and engenders loyalty and adoration from the girls, including Addy. Beth is so furious with this competition for Addy’s affection that she embarks on a campaign to sabotage the interloper at any cost. That includes implicating the coach in the suspicious death of a young Guardsman recruiter working at the school. It is also possible, however, that Beth’s theory is correct- that their Coach is as guilty as she would like her to be. Addy is torn between the two possessive women, the focus of their power struggle and a pawn susceptible to their deceit. In this novel, all of Abbot’s female characters are depicted as either rapacious and cruel or passive and vulnerable. Still, the women fare better than the men, who are mostly shadows in the background- all apparently weak and completely clueless. The themes of domination/submission are omnipresent, with no representation of a healthy relationship in any form. Still, Dare Me is a well-written and gripping read, with some decent (if implausible) plot twists. Wicked fun if a reader likes their thrillers dark and does not require likeable characters to root for.

I was actually kinda disappointed reading this, it wasn't as good as I expected it to be. Definitely not worth the price, IMO👎 I couldn't get attached to any of the characters. This is probably ONE of the very first books that I thought the TV series was WAYYY better than the book, unfortunately! 💯🙀 show definitely more intense & there's so much more things added to it VS the book..& I was able to get attached to the characters. The girl who played 'Beth" did an AMAZING job @ portraying her. Hanlon got on my nerves both book & show, but I liked her character way more in the show! so, only rating 3stars for me on book, but I'd rate the show a perfect 5 stars🔥 & Megan Abbot even wrote + produced for the show too! you'd think she'd make the book just as good🤦🙇

About the author

Megan Abbott is the award-winning author of nine novels, including Give Me Your Hand, You Will Know Me, The Fever, and The End of Everything. She received her PhD in literature from New York University. Abbott was a staff writer on HBO’s The Deuce and co-creator of the USA Network series Dare Me.