Review: Dare

Dare by Natalia Jaster
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After hearing so many great things about Natalia Jaster’s Foolish Kingdoms series, I decided to jump in and give it a try. Although I enjoyed the first book, Trick, I was not as crazy about it as I had expected to be. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it enough to pick up book two, Dare.

There is no doubt in my mind that I enjoyed Dare more than I enjoyed Trick. Both were enjoyable reads, yet I was completely smitten with Dare whereas I simply enjoyed Trick.

With Dare we have the kind of story I constantly find myself drifting towards – the love that develops between two individuals when stranded on an island together. It’s been done many times before, but when done right it’s a wonderful kind of tale. With Dare, we have that wonderful tale. Not only does it have all the fun of a couple stranded together, it also has all the wonderful elements of a great fantasy world. In fact, this one is a great addition to the series – it can be read as a standalone novel, but it delivers a stronger impact when read within the series.

In many ways, Dare starts off slow. Things are slow to develop between the characters, lots happens but time does not seem to move at all. Then, everything happens at once. We move forward in time, bigger events seem to happen, and the romance grows. Part of me feels as though the way in which things developed, the way in which attention to elements played out, was not as equal as it could have been, yet another part of me adores the way in which it reflects the changes in the characters. Things are slow to move between them, they’re both stuck within their views, then the development hits them as certain events happen. It’s slow where it needs to be, then intense when necessary. It’s a different way of showing the romance developing between characters, and I really enjoyed the break from what everyone else seems to be doing.

Plus, I feel as though this book will do wonders for the future books in the series. The things that occurred in this book are sure to have a knock-on effect on the future books, and I cannot wait to see what happens there. In fact, I’m extremely desperate to dive into the next book.

Trick left me curious about the Foolish Kingdoms series yet Dare has left me obsessed.

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