I Dare You

Award winning Queen of Teen author Tamsin Winter delves into the perils of the addictive ‘larks for likes’ trend on social media in her latest novel. Influenced by her background as a teacher and a slew of cautionary newspaper stories, her tale of firm friends Alma and Willow who live for the limelight is written in a relatable style and was selected as YA Book of the Month by The Observer.

With a nail-biting opening entitled After, the rest of the novel reveals what happened Before and Later in the voices of Willow and Alma. The dual narrative format means that they can relate their feelings about a series of crazy Tik Tok dares which go from japes at school to the bizarre to life threatening as they pursue more followers, hoping that each of their planned videos will break viral records. But are doubts starting to creep in?

Tamsin’s thought-provoking tale captures the nature of dares, why teens submit to peer pressure and the additional intoxicating power of social media. For her protagonists it’s a mixture of the search for popularity, attention seeking, the desire to break away from the monotony of village life, the dream of being famous and the reward of a friend’s respect and laughter. Alma dreams of stage school while Willow just wants her mum to stop being distracted by her upcoming wedding to the ghastly ‘Cardigan Tom’ who has terrible taste in music and even waxes his moustache.

I Dare You also explores different family dynamics, the issue of money, jealousy, fear of abandonment and how risks can lead to loss. Winter’s writing has humour and heart fused with a powerful message. Temporary thrills are not worth life changing injuries. It will appeal to teens who enjoy reality reads and would be a good resource for school debates and discussion groups in PSHE classes.