10 Truths And A Dare by Ashely Elston Book Review
“This is the dumbest use of truth or dare I’ve ever seen. You should be ashamed.”
“Add that to the list, then,” I say. ” I was hoping you’d go for a dare.”
(pg. 34)
About
Author: Ashley Elston
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
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Synopsis
It’s Senior Party Week, that magical in-between time after classes have ended but before graduation, chock-full of gimmicky theme parties, last-minute bonding, and family traditions. Olivia couldn’t be more ready. Class salutatorian and confident in her future at LSU, she’s poised to sail through to the next phase of her life.
But when the tiny hiccup of an unsigned P.E. form puts Olivia in danger of not graduating at all, she has one week to set things straight without tipping off her big, nosy extended family. Volunteering at a local golf tournament should do it, but since Olivia’s mom equipped her phone with a tracking app, there’ll be no hiding the fact that she’s at the golf course instead of all the graduation parties happening at the same time. Unless, that is, she can convince the Fab Four―her ride-or-die cousins and best friends Sophie, Charlie, and Wes―to trade phones with her and go through the motions of playing Olivia for the week.
Sure, Olivia’s sudden “passion” for golf is met with some suspicion. And sure, her grasp of the rules is a little shaky. And yes, okay, a very cute, very off-limits boy keeps popping up in her orbit. But she is focused! She has a schedule and a plan! Nothing can possibly go wrong . . . right?
Review
Spoilers Contained Below
To all the dare do-ers and truthers,
If you know, what a truther is, you know 😉.
Anyway, I read 10 Blind Dates s a few years ago and fell in love with how cute and wholesome the story was, so I had to pick up 10 Truths And A Dare. I just had to. Also, the cover upgrade? On fire. Not that the other cover for 10 Blind Dates was not pretty because it was, but I love an illustrated cover.
10 Truths And A Dare was an easy read and kind of relatable if you are graduating, but I will say I enjoyed 10 Blind Dates a lot more. That’s not to say this book was not good or that you shouldn’t read it. I just liked the Christmas vibes more and the dating plot because that’s more up my alley.
But another big reason I felt the urge to read 10 Truths And A Dare when I did was because I too was gradating and based on the cover, it looked like the main character was serving me graduation vibes. Olivia was graduating high school, where else I was graduating college, which are two very different things and points in a person’s life. I thought I could relate to Olivia more because we were both going through similar things, but I felt disconnected from Olivia’s graduation because graduating university is a different feeling. I don’t know. It’s like when you graduate high school, you know the world opens up for you to university, the work force, or other opportunities, however it’s also a time where you’re an adult but not really. But graduating university, you know that the next step is the work force, more education, or other opportunities but this time you are an adult and should have more figured out. I don’t know. It’s like comparing a gala apple to a Fuji apple—-almost the same, but the taste is different.
Weird metaphor, I know. But that’s what it felt like.
That’s not to say I didn’t understand Olivia because I had been through what she went through. I was valedictorian of my class, and know what it’s like to work your butt off for four years for such a prestigious accomplishment. I also know what it’s like to feel like you have to be the best of the best (when it really doesn’t matter later on). But I also know what it’s like to have the opportunity to take summer PE 😂.
I did not take summer PE.
Summer PE sounds like a great idea in hindsight because you can get the gross, sweaty part of PE out of the way by enduring it for three months rather than the full school year. However, I did not want to spend my summer running in the hot sun for hours when I could have been at home reading 🤪 or chilling. And honestly, I would rather use my school time doing PE because why would I go to school during the summer???? That was my mentality. But all my friends went to summer PE because they wanted to get the class over with and have an elective instead, which was a smart idea. I guess, it just depends what matters to you. I value my summer because it’ say me time.
I’m not saying to not take summer PE because I do think it’s a smart idea if you want to and if you want that extra elective, but also don’t slack off because PE is the “easy” subject. If you don’t put effort or care into PE, it really is easy to fall behind and fail.
That’s what Olivia did.
Honestly, I was surprised because as someone who was dedicated to her school work, I would think she would at least put some effort in PE. It’s pretty hard not to unless you don’t show up—-not to judge her or anything. Or maybe it was just because my PE teacher was very lax and cool that as long as you came to class and you tried, you got the A. I remember most times I would just sit on the side and occasionally get up to walk around and sit back down and that was my A for effort 😂. Not going to lie.
But Coach Cantu sounded like a stick in the mud and a hard grader, so I felt bad for Olivia. But then again, sis should have shown up.
Olivia couldn’t graduate or go to college as her whole family thought she was going to do because Coach Cantu didn’t sign off on her form that she passed summer PE. So Olivia went on a whole goose chase to contact and find him, where she found him at a golf course and basically told her he wouldn’t sign her paper because she didn’t show up or try. Honestly, I thought he was being mean because she was literally on the precipice of gradating and he wanted to be that dude who held her back???? What a meanie. Just let her GRADUATE.
*sigh*
Some teachers really be like Coach Cantu though *shakes head8.
The dude literally made her run her head around the entire week as a a golf intern/helper person just to prove that Olivia earned that signature to graduate. If I were Olivia, I too would have sucked it up and said, give me the golf internship because heck, if I was that close to graduating and this guy wanted me to run around the golf field, so be it. But my gosh, I felt entirely bad for Olivia because this was supposed to be a fun week for her to celebrate such a proud and amazing accomplishment with her friends and family. I must say, I loved teh fact that graduation celebrations were a big deal and lasted a week. I mean, were the themed parties that were invite only very extra? Absolutely. But then again, I loved that (not the invite only part) because you only graduate once and it should be a momentous occasion and celebration about you and for you. So I loved that they honored each person and actually coordinated whose event would be on what day. My graduation season for high school and college were nothing like that, but I do reflect on those moments and wished I had more of a celebration because it didn’t really feel like a celebratory. All I did after my college graduation was go home and eat Panda Express, and there’s nothing with Panda Express, but I just felt like after four years of burning out, practically a break down everyday, going through a pandemic half my college experience, and constantly feeling tired, I deserved or wanted something more than just going home and eating Panda Express and watching Blackish. Although, I have been on a Blackish binge and it’ SUCH an INCREDIBLE show 👏🏼!!!!! I highly recommend.
I digress 😂
But noooooooo. Olivia had to sneak around in this whole elaborate plan just so she could get this coach with a stick up his butt to sign a darn paper.
I could not. I was furious for her.
Graduating was important to Olivia because everyone in her family was successful or had big dreams that they were on their way towards accomplishing. I loved the kinship between Olivia’s family in how everyone went to the Abuela’s house for food or just to chill because it felt like a safe space. I also loved how they had family dinners together where they talked about their goals for the future and they celebrated each other. I really loved that because I know my family dinners aren’t that lively anymore, and I honestly miss having my whole family at dinner because, you know, health and safety precautions these days has made it challenging. But it really is spending time with your loved ones that matters a lot when you really think about it.
I also loved loved loved that we saw Sophie again, and that we got more of Wes.
I found it funny how they were kind of down to pretend to be Olivia while Olivia worked at the golf club. Olivia gave her phone to either Wes and Sophie to pretend to be her and text back her mom because the mom was away on vacation and could track Olivia’s phone. So if the mom saw Olivia and the golf course everyday, that would definitely raise questions. For one thing, I thought that the mom needed to give Olivia space and trust her because it didn’t seem like Olivia ever gave the mom a reason not to trust her. I just thought tracking your daughter every second of the day was an invasion of privacy and would make me feel confined or trapped. I mean, the mom needed to let go of her leash because Olivia was old enough to look after and take care of herself. I understand the protectiveness and love out of tracking her daughter, but still.
I FREAKING cracked up though whenever Wes had Olivia’s phone and the mom texted Olivia about bras, underwear, and boys 😂. I felt sooo bad, but I loved that for Wes! I also loved how I could tell that even though the mom tracked Olivia, there were no hard feelings on Olivia’s part. That kind of surpassed me because you would think a teenager would throw more of a battle not to be tracked by their patrons. But I also felt how close their relationship was by the intimate and open things they could talk about, which I loved. I also FREAKING cracked up when Wes literally hung out in his car and the girl he liked or was seeing at the time walked by and saw him and asked him what he was doing 😂. Wes was just waiting outside because he was supposed to look like Olivia was at this party, and Olivia was actually supposed to go but didn’t end up making it. I also freaking laughed at how Wes had to sneak into tome parties and take pictures for Olivia’s mom because she asked him to.
I also freaking laughed with how Olivia pretended to be someone at a party and then left through the back door and then people saw her running out the house as they were going up to the party. I COULD NOT 😂. I will say I really admired her effort to work and try to go to these events even if we all knew she wouldn’t be able to make it. I also really admired her cousins effort to go the extra mile for her, especially Wes. What a good man.
There were cousins that Olivia and her other cousins didn’t particularly like, which was kind of weird because I got the vibe that they both misunderstood each other. They called them the Evil Joe twins, and yes they were seemed reserved and mean, but I also felt like they might have had a heart somewhere down there. Maybe it was just because their Aunt Maggie Mae was not the kindest person or a model for being a good friend. I also got the sense that the Evil Joes weren’t so evil because they were friends with others, but maybe they felt judged by Olivia, Sofie, and Wes, that they felt hurt, defensive, and excluded and that was why they came across mean.
I mean Leo liked them.
I liked Leo. I really wanted to know more about his character because he seemed sweet.
We did get some nice character information about Leo with him being an incredible golf player and wanting to earn a gold scholarship to attend college. He also used to be Olivia, Sofie, and Wes’s friend until Wes had a petty axe to grind with Leo about some dog or something. And then Leo moved away and came back looking different, so their whole friendship dynamic was different. But also Leo was friends with the Evil Joes because their aunties were close. I could understand how Leo was friends with the Evil Joes because sometimes we paint people as the villain in our stories that we don’t know that they are good people. So I liked how Leo always defended the Evil Joes even though they weren’t around because that’s something a good friend would do.
I enjoyed all the cute moments between Leo and Olivia, but I really did want more romantic or cutesy moments like a date or something. I just want them to spend more time together, especially out of the gold course because I wanted to know that dynamic. I did like how they had cute little texts and how Wes and Sophie tried to decipher who L was on Olivia’s phone. Gosh knows it was funny they assumed it was Locke. I mean, I thought Locke was going to be the love interest in the first pages because enemies to lovers is a popular trope. Btu I liked that it was Leo, and there was this mystery of who Olivia liked.
I also liked how her cousins all tried to set her up with Leo/L, not even completely knowing who it was. That’s called true friendship 😅.
The ending was very interesting and had some twists.
I didn’t know there were all these rules in golf, so no one could blame Olivia for not knowing the rules as well. I would have felt EXTREMELY guilty too if I knew that I cost someone a scholarship and a game because I didn’t know the rule about having too many clubs. I mean, that seems like a weird rule to me, but I don’t know golf so I can’t judge. But seriously??? They’re going to judge a person by how many clubs they have in their bags even if they played a fair and good game? That doesn’t seem right. I don’t know golf though. I felt crushed for Olivia because she had all this guilt for ruining Leo’s game—-a guy she really liked—-but also she knew that if she came clean, she very well might not get that signature.
Thus, a moral dilemma.
I was proud that she did the right thing about owning to making the mistake on Leo’s behalf because it highlighted how much she loved and cared about Leo to put aside her own hopes and dreams. I also thought Olivia was admirable because that must have been incredibly difficult to come clean about knowing what she was giving up. But I would have done the same thing because Leo needed that scholarship money and it wasn’t his fault that there was that extra club in his bag; Olivia was just trying to help.
Thank gosh that darn Coach Cantu saw the kindness in Olivia’s action to sign her papers—-something about how she learned true sportsmanship or whatever. Dude really should have signed her paper in the first place. But yea, yea, she learned a lesson about being honest. Whoopie 😂. But seriously, I couldn’t get over this guy. I also felt like Olivia was resigned with her choice at the end because she also knew if Coach Cantu didn’t sign her papers, she would just go to summer school and then college. I mean, summer school isn’t the funnest, but at least she would have graduated, which was true. And she still would have gone to college.
Sometimes things don’t happen the way we think it does, but it always has a way of working out.
To be quite honest, I didn’t understand the title because it didn’t seem like there were that many truths and dares. I mean, Olivia just worked at a golf club the entire week, so it didn’t seem like a truth and dare situation because no one was really dared to do anything or give any truths. So I didn’t really understand the game or concept. I think the title and concept were fun, but I thought the book was going to be about a girl graduating and saying ten truths/confessions before graduation and then doing one last dare and that be the grand gesture or something. I think that would have been fun. I really wanted to see the ten truths and a dare executed better.
I also wanted to see more family dynamic and resolution between the Evil Joes because if they just talked to each other, I think they could see eye to eye and understand that they just wanted to feel included and no one was really the bad guy. They needed to have that conversation together to heal and move forward as a family because I could tell there was love—-deeply buried love there. I also wanted more romantic moments because there were fun parties and cute scenes, but I wanted the whole shebang with a date, a late night conversation, a getting to know you. That way we could have understood their connection and their relationship better. I also wanted more conversations about their past feelings and how Leo felt about Olivia—-did he like her when they were younger?
I don’t know.
Still a very fun book with lots of crazy parties, comical moments, and a moment of self-pride and strength.
if there’s anything I learned from graduating high school and college, it’s that the time really does go by quickly and to enjoy the moments you can with the people you can. That sounds like the most clichéd thing ever but it’s a platitude for a reason. I just never realized how valuable the time in high school and college was until it was over and I looked back on all those moments and the people I was with to really appreciate everything for what it was. For high school, I loved loved loved the people because we grew up together and we were basically a family. Then after high school, we all moved away or went off to pursue different paths as people do after high school. I thought I’d see more people around town when high school was finished, but it’s so weird how you can grow up in the same small town for years and see the same people nearly everyday and go to never seeing them again. I haven’t seen someone from high school unless I actually planned to meet them. And it’s so weird. But it was also really hard for me to move on from all the phenomenal people I met because I really missed their friendship; it took me years into my college experience to move on from high school and let go of all the memories, wishing that I was still with the people there. Not that I wanted to go back to high school and do the school part over again 😅. But the people part? The part where I met all my good friends and we went to dances, we ate lunch and walked around campus together, all the times we laughed over ridiculous teachers or school projects, all the times we laughed and cried, or the times we stayed after school trying to study for tests? All those moments—-the laughter, tears, joy, struggle, and love—-was all real. And those are the moments that I missed.
Because gosh only knows it was a pain in the butt to make friends in college 🤪. I don’t mean the people are not nice, I guess it depends where you go, but making friends as an adult it hard. I didn’t know or understand how challenging it was to make friends in college until I was sitting in a large lecture hall with unfamiliar faces from all over the country and not really knowing where I was, and wanting to see a familiar face and feel grounded. My first two years of college, I barely had any friends because it was hard to put myself out there, especially as someone who was generally shy. A big thing I did notice was how everyone in college is focused on themselves or doing their own thing or they are also nervous to talk to others so they put up a front of not wanting to talk, so it is even more challenging to reach out and make friends. It’s a whole process for sure. Because I didn’t have very many friends and felt a constant loneliness, I fell into a depressive episode my first two years. Then the pandemic hit and gosh knows that didn’t help me make friends either. The last two years of my college experience was nothing like how I ever imagined it to be—–in sad and good ways. Sad because I wanted to work with students in the classroom and have that experience much sooner, but I had to do virtual student teaching, which was weird and challenging to navigate. I also couldn’t meet new people when I was on Zoom University all day with the same students in my classes.
However, that was also the upside—-having a solid group of strong women to learn with and who made my last two years of college much more fun than I thought it would after the pandemic shifted my ideas of what my college experience would look like. It was also good because I gained student teaching experience with an amazing mentor, school, and students at the right time that I couldn’t have asked for a better experience to help me grow. I just wished that it could have been a longer experience and that I could have had more opportunities to try things if it weren’t for the health and safety precautions.
Suffice, all this is to say that you don’t want to look back on high school and college and be sad about all the things you didn’t get to do because you didn’t try or because you weren’t present. Sometimes we can’t control what happens and what we get to try, but do what you can. If you can, reach out to that person in your class who you think looks nice and you want to be friends with, and if that person doesn’t want to be friends with you, that’s not your fault. You tried and that’s all you can do. If you want to join a club and don’t know anyone else doing so, join the club because, heck, that’s what joining a club is a bout—-meeting new people who you can become friends with. Also, be present in the moment, really enjoy it for what it is. Sometimes we might reminisce about missing a moment and we lose out on the actual joy of being in the moment. Yes, the moment will probably be a pivotal or valuable moment in your life that you wish you could snow globe and keep forever. But you can! You can keep it in your heart and in your memory; you can write about it or draw a picture or take a picture. But you can’t go back to that moment and change what happened or who you felt or what you did if you are already mourning the moment passing or if you are focused on the next thing. Enjoy where you are now because it makes the memory even more valuable when you soak it up for what it is.
High school and college doesn’t last forever, but the memories and the feelings that you associate with it does.
Make it a good one as much as possible.
Both are definitely learning experiences academically and personally, but I think more than anything it’s personally because there is so much growth happening around you and within you that will guide you to where you are meant to be next.
Trust the process.
I have more to say about being a college graduate, which is a blog post I’m going to write soon, but until then . . .
Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? What did you think of the book?
What was your favorite moment from high school or college?
Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕
I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.
And as always, with love,
Rating
3.45 Full Bloom Flowers
Characters: Olivia is hard-working, persistent, and honest person who I would have liked to seen more character growth or an arc with. I liked the other supporting characters, but would have liked to know more about the Evil Joe’s—–to dig deeper on who they are and why they are the way they are.
Plot: I really wanted more of a truth or dare vibe because it felt more like sneaking around than actually being honest or putting herself out there.
Writing: The organization of the story was good and paced. The book was also easy to follow and had a few funny parts.
Romance: The romance was cute, but I wanted more cutesy moments of how they built their romance because I couldn’t really connect to Leo or Olivia’s love