Review: The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen - Juhina

Title: The Fine Art of Truth or Dare
Author: Melissa Jensen

Publication date: February 16th, 2012
Publisher: Speak

Genre(s): Young Adult (Contemporary)

Challenges: Contemporary, SARC

Source: Own
Format: Paperback

Pages: 380

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Ella is nearly invisible at the Willing School, and that's just fine by her. She's got her friends - the fabulous Frankie and their sweet cohort Sadie. She's got her art - and her idol, the unappreciated 19th-century painter Edward Willing. Still, it's hard being a nobody and having a crush on the biggest somebody in the school: Alex Bainbridge. Especially when he is your French tutor, and lessons have started becoming, well, certainly more interesting than French ever has been before. But can the invisible girl actually end up with a happily ever after with the golden boy, when no one even knows they're dating? And is Ella going to dare to be that girl?

The Fine Art of Truth or Dare was just the contemporary novel I needed to take a break from all the dark paranormal novels I’ve been reading. I know it has been compared to Anna and the French Kiss, and if you know me and have watched my YouTube videos you know how much I love Anna. However I’ve learnt not to start a book with high expectations because of comparisons to other favorite books or raving reviews, since that always leads to disappointment, and im glad I didn’t. While The Fine Art of Truth or Dare was cute and different, it is no Anna and the French Kiss.

The story starts off with the protagonist falling in love at first sight with a guy she saw, and at the end of the chapter you find out he’s been dead since the late 1800s. It was unexpected but cute, especially the conversations she has with his photo she has up on her bedroom. Of course the real love interest, Alex, is 100% alive and goes to her high school. He is your typical high school guy who is dating the most popular typical mean girl. Alex and her end up spending more time together when her French teacher asks him to be her tutor. I liked how the close proximity between them wasn’t forced, that it wasn’t a coincidence she met him 10 times a week outside of school. Their conversations are always full of sarcasm and French words that I frankly didn’t understand but enjoyed nonetheless.

At some point the digging around the dead man’s past was getting borderline obsessive and in all honesty I sometimes skimmed through the letters between him and his wife since I really wasn’t interested in him. Other than that, I loved the quirkiness of the protagonist, her family and their Italian restaurant, her two best friends and the overall pace of the book. There aren’t any dramatic obstacles for them to break through in order to end up together which is refreshing. All in all The Fine Art of Truth or Dare was a laid back, quick read and I really do recommend it to anyone wanting to read a light and fun novel. 

4 musical notes!