For those in search of an angsty beach read with a friends-to-lovers romance. This book delivers nostalgic feelings of summers off - biking with your friends along a beach-side road, sneaking out for late night adventures with your best friends, preparing for a theatre production, stopping by the local cafe for coffee, and attending those classic small town festivities.

This story occurs in the midst of a pivotal time for the main character. Some may be in search of a feel-good Rom-Com summer read, but this is for those seeking something with a little more drama, chaotic fun and depth.

I won’t lie - the main character in this one drove me crazy, but the side characters were all so delightful and sweet. Fun storyline with lots of tension but great growth and development.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this!

You Wouldn’t Dare by Samantha Markum

Published: March 28, 2023
Wednesday Books
Genre: YA Romantic Comedy
Pages: 363
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Samantha Markum was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri with an eight year intermission in Florida, where she mostly just collected sunburns. When she’s not writing, she can be found begging her dog for attention, buying too many candles, and ignoring the dust bunnies gathering in her house. When she is writing, you can find her staring at the wall in search of inspiration. She is the author of This May End Badly and You Wouldn't Dare.

“I’m happy with you.”

Junie is dramatic and a tad on the selfish side. But she has good intentions, and she loves fiercely. Graham is a loyal friend and a hard worker. Milo is the best friend, with a big heart. Lucy is the voice of reason and the peacekeeper. Friendship and being a teenager are complicated.

This was cute. The story was told engagingly, and I liked that each chapter started with lines from the musical the characters performed in.

Junie was a solid representation of a 17-year-old girl. She is dramatic, sarcastic, and has a secret crush on Graham. Milo is Junie’s very best friend, and I loved their dynamic. Lucy was the mom of the group, and I liked her balance.

The dynamic was solid, and it was very age appropriate. The relationships were well-defined, and the situations were realistic.

I enjoyed this story, and I enjoyed the writing style. The comedy was subtle but well-placed. The use of dramatics was well done and felt authentic for the age of the characters.

I loved the sense of community, acceptance, and chosen family in this book. That was beautifully done. The way those themes were fleshed out was powerful and gave the storyline a heartfelt kick.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for the chance to read and review this book prior to release.

I was sold when I saw this book being compared to GILMORE GIRLS. I can definitely see the similarities in some areas such as a single mom raising a teenage daughter and watching lots of TV together, but for me that's where they ended.

There were a lot of things I liked and a few things that didn't do it for me. I loved the relationship between Juniper and her mom as well as her growth as a person in a lot of areas (her relationship with her dad, and Tallulah for example). I really didn't like the whole reason/ "secret" for her "ruining Graham's entire life"... it just didn't seem in line with the rest of the story, in my opinion.

I definitely liked the last 25% of the book the most and think that raised it from 3 stars to 3.5.

This book will be available on March 28th!

"Juniper Nash, don't start something you can't finish"

Tropes: second chance romance, small beach town

TW: near drowning, panic attack because of past trauma related to drowning, difficult father relationship

Plot: 4/5
I may be afraid of the ocean but this book made me want to live in a seaside town in a little beach cottage. This was a perfect summer before senior year story. You could see what the big plot points would be pretty early on (Graham, issues with her Dad) and they played out really well.
As much as I enjoyed Junie and Graham's story, I was actually deeply invested in Tallulah and Lucy's story so I would simply LOVE if Markum wrote a little bonus story about them (even just for me plzzz)

Characters: 4.5/5
Junie is that vibrant and loud drama kid and I kinda loved her for it. She took up space in the world and didn't apologize for it. Her learning to forgive herself for things she couldn't have known about is really healing. I also loved the arc with her father and how that ended because I firmly believe you don't need to forgive people who shouldn't be forgiven and you don't need to make space in your life for someone who doesn't make the effort to be there.
My only complaint with Junie was something integral to her development in the story... she was extremely naive starting off. And I get that that was the point, but it was a little painful at points.

Graham is wonderful, loved him for Junie. He had a ton of shit going on but still showed up everyday and learned to go after what he wanted.

Tallulah was an incredible character. She was way more mature that Junie despite being a year younger. Junie's other friends are also such well developed characters. I like that her friendship with Milo was completely platonic no matter what everyone else seemed to think.

I also really enjoy the mother/daughter dynamic in this. They were friends as well as family and it really reminded me of my own relationship with my mom.

Writing: 4/5
I really enjoy Markum's writing, its bingeable and easy to read. She works a lot of humor into the narration and does banter really well. I think the Midsummer Madness snippets at the top of the chapters would have been interesting if I knew the play but I don't and they didn't add anything to the story for me. Truthfully the play itself was the part of the story I was least invested in because Junie had so much going on personally.

Overall: 4/5

Markum's books never disappoint. They're solid, they're funny, and they are the perfect way to break up all the huge fantasy books I read.

What a cute and hearwarming story. I loved the cozy beach town vibe and definitely wish this was a book I’d read on the beach this summer.

Super cute and definitely recommend to anyone looking for a light YA read this summer.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Junie is going through a lot. Her mom wants them to move in with her boyfriend and his surly daughter. She starts having issues with nearly all of her closest friends, and her unreliable father is stringing her along.

I read this book in one day, and all the drama really moved the plot along. That said, I found Junie to be annoying and naive. This is normal for adults who read YA, I think, but her unassertiveness kept making me internally shout "What are you doing?!? Stand up for yourself". It's good for teens to see this representation, but it felt like she didn't really learn to stick up for herself by the end of the book. People kept telling her to be the bigger person and be nice when someone is mean to her, but that's just not realistic.

The side characters ranged from somewhat interesting, like Graham (who I'd have loved to learn more about, especially his relationship with his dad and his mistress turned girlfriend), and Tallulah, who was kind of a downer and was far too preachy for my tastes. The trauma she went through doesn't excuse her behavior. There wasn't even a good reason for her mistreatment of Junie.

Overall this was interesting and I'll definitely recommend this to my teens who are looking for drama and beachside fun.

This is the PERFECT summertime read. It gave me all the coastal town summertime vibes and being born and raised on the coast it just spoke to me!

Junie is a force! She is extra AF, hilarious, dramatic and fiercely protective of the ones she loves. All she wants is for her summer to be amazing, but blow after blow hits her and with each one, her perfect summer is looking less possible.

The friend group in this book is goals. It’s the group I wish I had as a teenager. But, it’s fragile at the moment. Junie is also factoring her future step sister into the equation, a girl who seems to despise her.

One summer before everything changes… that’s all she asks for. But, you can’t stop change from happening and Junie just isn’t ready.

This book made me CRY! I needed a book packed with some emotion and this hit the spot. Junie was EVERYTHING I needed in a main character. Graham, the boy she told herself to stop having feelings for (one of her best friends) is pure perfection! There was not a single thing, a single moment of this book I didn’t enjoy.

Samantha Markum is my favorite contemporary YA author right now, full stop. I love the spirit of You Wouldn't Dare. I love the voice. I love the setting. Reading about Juniper and Graham made me gooey and nostalgic and so, so happy. I can't wait to read what Markum has next.

You Wouldn't Dare was a sweet story with true friends-to-lovers angst, drama (because what book doesn't have a little bit of drama?), found families, supportive friends, crazy adventures/mishaps, and strong character growth.

This book combined all of these things and created a fantastic contemporary YA Romance.

Highly recommend this if you are looking for a fun book to read this summer! This book had all the summery vibes and feels.

Thoughts: When I think of what YA should be, what it should include and who it should speak to, this is the kind of book I envision. A coming of age story chock full of representation and honest conversations about sexuality, parental divorce and feelings of parental abandonment, this book speaks to the struggles of being a teenager and the concept of finding your people.

I really connected with the MC, Juniper, and her teenage struggles and angst. She showed enormous emotional growth from beginning to end and I think many adolescents and young adults will connect with her and what she goes through, even if they have not been through it themselves.

The found family in this story is one of the highlights for me. A core group of friends, they face the normal wear and tear of friendships (well minus the pretty dramatic issue between Junie and Graham) and come out stronger on the other side. I loved getting to know each of them, and had a lot of fun reading about their experience putting on the Shakespeare inspired community theater production, which was a significant focus of the story.

I listened to this one primarily on audio and have to give a major shoutout to Jesse Vilinksy who nailed it not only as Juniper, but every other character as well. She managed to convey a ton of emotion in her narration of our MC, but also kept each and every character wholly unique.

I am so impressed with Samantha Markum’s sophomore novel, and I cannot wait to read more from her backlist and future work.

Read if you like:
•friends to lovers
•second chance
•lgbtq rep
•drama club
•found family

Thank you to Samantha Markum, Wednesday Books, and OrangeSky Audio for my advanced copies and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this boom because I enjoyed her previous book but I couldn't get into it at first
Super slow. It wad a cute story when I finally finished it, but the slow start really got me. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This had a very slow start. And the problems and maturity of the main character felt more like middle school than high school. Young teens will probably enjoy this more, wouldn't recommend for adults.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was so cute! It’s such a heartwarming story about friends, family and love. The friend group was so fun and I loved all the different dynamics between the characters. The cozy beach town setting was perfect and made me so ready for summer.
The book got off to a bit of a slow start for me but once it picked up I was hooked!
The main character, Junie, had so much character growth that I really enjoyed seeing. She learned so much about herself, her friends and even people she thought she’d never get along. I loved that she came such a long way in her self-discovery, but was also able to grow a lot in her relationships with other people.
The romance was really sweet and the love interest, Graham, was honestly so adorable. I loved the banter between him and Junie even when they weren’t on the best of terms.
This book covered so many different relationship dynamics from friends to dating to parents. It felt like there was a lot going on in the book with so many characters having their own journeys but it never got overwhelming. There was a really great balance between all the plot lines and situations. I also really loved the found family feeling that was present throughout.
I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, summery YA read!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book! At first I was just a bit thrown off by the introduction to all the characters and especially because the MC is a little intolerable at first. One thing I really appreciated was that Junie grew a lot throughout the book. while her flaws were very prominent, it was refreshing to see her friends calling her out when there was a problem with her behavior, and to see her work on her flaws!

Another thing that really made me love the book was that the friendships and family relationships were really well done. Each character felt like their own person with their own story and they all meshed really well together. The initial reason for why the two love interests relationship faltered was really well done and I was really invested in the little small town beach vibes. It truly did give me the same feelings a Sarah Dessen novel gave me in the early days!

I loved the little mixing with the Midsummer Madness play as well. Usually I don't enjoy those little interludes but I feel like this was relevant and added more little sprinkles of chaos and fun to the small town drama!

This band of friends are badass, they hang out at beach party bonfires, manage to hold down jobs, have sass and give each other a hard time, all while forgiving each other for their shortcomings. I’m also a sucker for “will they/ won’t they” characters. I’m dying for this to be made into a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it! This novel contains underage smoking and drinking, infidelity, and manipulation of a minor. Maybe not for everyone, this book may benefit from disclosures, definitely not for prudes.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

I hate to DNF an ARC, but 20% in on this book and it still couldn’t hold my attention. The main protagonist has a lot of drama and immaturity.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Press for providing me an eARC in exchange of an honest review.

You Wouldn't Dare is the perfect summer read!

I adored this book very much, which wasn't really a suprise considering that i loved Markum's debut, but i think i liked this one even more!

The characters were delightful. Juniper Nash was a great protagonist and I found myself empathizing with her a lot, particularly with her leaving her childhood home behind. Graham was a sweetheart (and I liked that he liked to paint his nails too hahaha). Their romance was very cute.

As a former theatre kid myself (and lover of all things Shakespeare), I also enjoyed the summer play plot point, too.

I highly recommend checking this book out if you are looking for second chance romance and a fun summer read!

A Beachy summer romance that will give you all the warm and fuzzies you can handle. This is a great weekend read. Characters are well developed, plot is cute and enjoyable, story is over all good and simple. A quick read that will be worth it.