Addy’s problems, though, are far from typical high-school fare. The novel traces the tremendous, transformative effect new young coach Colette French has on her squad, and the trouble this brings to the long-standing friendship between sixteen-year-old narrator Addy Hanlon and alpha-female Beth Cassidy (a jealous Beth resents Addy’s closeness with the coach).
This is bloodsport, both in terms of the terrible injuries suffered (bones snap and tendons pop “like a New Year’s champagne cork”) and all the infighting/backbiting as the girls vie to be Top Girl on the squad and in the eyes of the coach they idolize. As cheerleaders they are not vapid, bubble-blowing gym-bimbos more like “gladiators” who train gruelingly and perform extraordinary physical feats. To start with, the cast of high school girls here engage in some decidedly adult behavior (Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol! seems to be their decadent mantra). Dare Me isn’t some saccharine teen romance but rather a dark and sophisticated roman noir.
In anticipation of the tv-series adaptation (which begins airing Sunday night on the USA network), here is a re-post of my review of Megan Abbott’s novel back on my old Macabre Republic blog back in 2012.ĭare Me by Megan Abbott (Reagan Arthur Books)ĭon’t be fooled by the cover image, or the fact that Abbott’s sixth novel is set in the world of high school cheerleading.
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