Truth or Dare by Ella Monroe

Truth or Dare by Ella Monroe
Series: Capital Girls #3
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: April 23th 2013
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Jackie, Lettie, and Laura Beth barely survived the holidays . . . literally.  Jackie's on lockdown while the hunt is on for her stalker, who somehow got into the White House and left her an ominous note. Laura Beth and Sol are finally back together after a scandal almost tore them apart, and Lettie, who’s forced to live with Whitney and her gossip-mongering mom, has let down her guard enough to fall in love with Daniel.

For the Capital Girlslife is always complicated, especially when they're under 24-hour media scrutiny. But that won’t stop the three friends from making their senior year the most amazing ever—even as the mystery deepens over Taylor Cane's death and First Son Andrew Price’s role in it.

(Note: I haven’t read the other books in the series because I didn’t know this was the 3^rd book in a series when I requested it because I am weird. Also this makes no sense but it's all good)

This is one of those books where I’d kill to be able to give a half star rating. It took me a while to finally decide that I’d have to lower the rating to 3 instead of moving it up to 4. I know that’s not very nice of me but it isn’t really something I can rate 4. See this is why I need the .5 star rating.

Like my internal conflict suggests there are both things I really liked and things that bothered me about this book.

This book tries to portray the life of a teen whose parents are heavily involved with politics. Because I have no idea what that’s like I cannot particularly judge that aspect of the book but I think the author does a good job anyway. These characters will always have someone trying to make them look bad for the sake of their own profit. Friends will be turned against each other in this battle. There is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ side. This is politics; everyone will play dirty to some extent.

Because of this, the book was bound to have some drama. I should have anticipated that because I don’t like drama. If I had been mentally prepared I would have been able to tolerate parts that annoyed me. I mean there were cat fights and snobby chicks etc, I cannot deal with that without wanting to bang my head on a wall.

I didn’t really have an opinion about most of the characters except Laura Beth and Jackie. Jackie was my favorite character and Laura Beth was the opposite. Laura Beth has no filter and loves attention. She says some of the meanest things without thinking twice and not realizing she is hurting her friends and doesn’t apologize IF she does realize. Jackie, even with the mini love triangle she is stuck in, is a good main character. I love her determination and the fact that she doesn’t need to involve everyone in her shit. She can think for herself and usually makes good choices. She also grows as a character throughout the book and learns a lot from her mistakes.

The friendship between Laura Beth, Lettie and Jackie comes off as fake to me. There are times I wonder if their friendship isn’t just a label. They are constantly hiding things from each other. It seems though that their real connection comes from doing crazy things together instead of actually talking to each other about things and helping each other through rough patches. This is evident from the way Jackie and Laura Beth don’t realize how hard it is for Lettie to be separated from her family and don’t offer any real comfort to her.

I didn’t enjoy the romance part of this book. There was a love triangle of sorts going on Jackie and the two brothers (Andrew and Scott), which I can understand and I don’t hate but it doesn’t mean I like it either. The romance between Laura Beth and Sol is weird. Sol is always helping Laura Beth but he seems detached, like he is doing it to get her off his back instead of actually doing it because he cares. The romance between Daniel and Lettie, well I cannot say much because there isn’t much of it but what we are shown makes me like their romance the best out of the three because it’s cute.

The plot, although there isn’t much of it, is actually not that bad. You have Jackie trying to figure out what Taylor’s secret was, the process is gradual and when we find out the whole truth, well let’s just say that was definitely not what I was expecting. Not everything is explained but some secrets are meant to die with people. The ending is great and left me satisfied. It isn’t the picture perfect HEA but as close as it gets.

This book is something to read on a rainy day when you just want to curl up and read something light and enjoyable.