Wednesday 26 July 2017

 

Truth or Dare by Non Pratt


The first time I heard about Truth or Dare was all the way back in December, at the Walker Books YA showcase. Not much was revealed about the book just yet other than that it would look at the question: 'what does it take to be brave?', but the intriguing way Non Pratt talked about her writing – and the enthusiasm from everyone around me about this author already had me sold on this young adult title.

Claire and Sef are two high schoolers bonding together over making videos. Claire is a whizz with a camera and has mad editing skills, and Sef has a creative idea to start a YouTube channel, which he hopes will help raise money for the care of his brother who was left severely disabled after a car accident. Together with Claire he starts a channel where they do crazy but fun dares (and admit a few truths along the way), dramatically raising the stakes with each video in an attempt to get more and more monetary donations.

However, with money only slowly trickling in, how far is Sef willing to go to get what he wants? And, ultimately, is his brother's care more important to him than Claire's well-being?

Truth or Dare is very cleverly split into two; one part of the novel telling Claire's side of the story and one half telling Sef's. They're labelled clearly and it's up to the reader to decide whether they start with the blue cover (Claire's point of view) or flip the book around to start with the yellow half (Sef).

For all its hardships in the first part of this novel (I read Claire's POV first) I absolutely loved it and the two main characters, Claire and Sef, as they embarked on creating the Truth or Dare YouTube channel to raise funds for the care of Sef's brother Kam.

And then part two happened. [Insert mind blowing graphic here.]

Those first few pages turned a lot of my beliefs upside down and I wasn't sure whether I liked what I'd discovered about Sef. And yet I couldn't stop reading. As the pages went on, the two parts of the novel – and with it the two different perspectives on the events that were unfolding – were drawn closer together and I started to understand the characters in a different way. The journey was difficult, thought provoking, moving and enlightening all at once.

Truth or Dare is an important book in so many ways, from the way it deals with race and sexuality right down to disability. But most of all this is the story of how two very different people come together to make a difference, and the life lessons they learn along the way.



Truth or Dare is published by Walker Books and you can buy your copy from Foyles or your own preferred retailer.


Connect with the author:

Website: https://nonpratt.wordpress.com

Twitter: @NonPratt




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