Having read (and loved) Bella Forrest’s The Gender Game series, I was definitely intrigued by the Girl Who Dared series, especially since you get a very small taste of it in the 6th book of The Gender Game series, The Gender Plan.
While I loved The Gender Game, I became even more obsessed with The Girl Who Dared! This series was so well-written, so well-planned, and so fascinating that I could not put it down and I read all seven of them in a little over a week. Considering that they are all around 400 pages, that is a bit of a feat. But to me, they are that good!
I don’t want to give away too much but in The Gender Plan Violet Bates went to this tower and was shocked by what she saw there. The people of the tower were just as shocked to see her. Neither group knew there were any other humans left on the planet.
This series starts about 30 years after The Gender Game series ends with Liana Castell at the heart of it. Liana is not very careful about what she thinks and believes, and this is a big problem for her.
The Girl Who Dared to Think (Book 1)
Everyone’s life worth in the tower is defined by the number displayed the wristband they have to wear. That number comes from a rating of usefulness and loyalty to the tower as well as what they are thinking. This is done by a chip placed in the back of the neck that embeds in the brain and “reads” their thoughts.
The highest worth is ten and Liana’s parents are tens. So is her twin brother. Liana, who is currently being trained to be an overseer (like a police officer) to patrol for those whose worth is less than four. Liana is currently a four.
Threes require drug treatment.
Twos are isolated.
Ones disappear.
She hears all the time that her number should be higher, after all, Scipio, the AI computer that decides everything about the tower from what the temperature should be to what foods to grow, to who should live and who should die, allowed her parents to keep her. She was a second born twin and should not have been allowed to live because the tower population has to be kept at an exact number to be able to support its inhabitants.
When her worst nightmare comes true and she drops to a three, she becomes desperate enough to search for the boy she saw with a 10 on his wrist even though his attitude and actions toward the tower could not possibly have given him that score. When she finally finds him, her life takes a very unexpected turn Liana finds herself getting deeper into danger to find a way to change her life worth, no matter the cost.
So in a world where free thinking makes you a criminal, Liane will dare to think.
- The Girl Who Dared To Think by Bella Forrest (Book 1)
- Paperback: 408 pages; CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (August 9, 2017)
- Kindle: 5149 KB (Kindle Unlimited); Nightlight (August 9, 2017)
- Audiobook: 14 hours and 44 minutes; Narrated by Kirsten Lee; Nightlight (October 6, 2017)
The Girl Who Dared To Stand (Book 2)
Liana’s journey continues as she has found a very old, dusty office that has been sealed off from the rest of the tower, and inside she finds information that completely changes the way she thinks about the tower. This room holds all of the secrets of the Tower and the key to the Tower’s future survival. But that path is marked with serious dangers along the way.
- The Girl Who Dared To Stand by Bella Forrest (Book 2)
- Paperback: 404 pages; Nightlight Press (September 18, 2017)
- Kindle: 3581 KB (Kindle Unlimited); Nightlight (September 18, 2017)
- Audiobook: 11 hours and 43 minutes; Narrated by Kirsten Lee
The Girl Who Dared To Descend (Book 3)
With Scipio/Leo inhabiting Gray’s mind, Liana missed Gray like crazy, but keeping Leo alive is the only thing that will one day save the tower. Book 2 ended with the death of Devon Alexander, the Champion of the Knights. At the beginning of this book Liana is being taken somewhere (literally – in a laundry bag) on the orders of Engineer Lacey Green and Praetor Strum.
There also has to be a Tournament to determine the next Champion of the Knights. And guess who one of the contestants is…Yep. Liana.
- The Girl Who Dared To Descend by Bella Forrest (Book 3)
- Paperback: 400 pages; CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 6, 2017)
- Kindle: 2308 KB (Kindle Unlimited); Nightlight (November 6, 2017)
- Audiobook: 10 hours and 16 minutes; Narrated by Kirsten Lee
The Girl Who Dared To Rise (Book 4)
During the beginning of the Tourney for Champion Liana made a deal with Lacey to keep Lacey’s cousin alive so he could become the next Champion but Liana was called on to find someone that she loves who was in trouble and left him under the protection of only one of her team. He was, after all, a knight himself, but he was murdered and her teammate badly injured.
So now she has to worry about Lacey’s backlash, help one member of her team recover, and keep trying to win the Tourney. No big deal!
- The Girl Who Dared To Rise by Bella Forrest (Book 4)
- Paperback: 400 pages; CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 18, 2017)
- Kindle: 2030 KB (Kindle Unlimited); Nightlight (December 18, 2017)
- Audiobook: 11 hours and 48 minutes; Narrated by Kirsten Lee; Nightlight (February 6, 2018)
The Girl Who Dared To Lead (Book 5)
Faced with another death, this one someone very close to Liana, she is emotionally drained, not to mention the toll the Tourney has taken on her mind and body. There is also a rogue AI that Liane wants to destroy because of the numerous issues and problems she has caused.
But as the new Champion, Liana she knows that she cannot destroy any part of the AI that is part of Scipio. Also, she now has access to so much information – surely they can find out who is damaging Scipio and how they are doing it. But she is also finding out that getting rid of the expulsion chambers is not going to be as easy as she once thought
- The Girl Who Dared To Lead by Bella Forrest (Book 5)
- Paperback: 404 pages; CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (January 31, 2018)
- Kindle: 2245 KB (Kindle Unlimited); Nightlight (January 31, 2018)
- Audiobook: 12 hours and 13 minutes; Narrated by Kirsten Lee; Nightlight (March 9, 2018)
The Girl Who Dared To Endure (Book 6)
Now with 4 of the AIs that makeup Scipio’s complete program, Liana and her team try to find a way to fix Scipio and to find out which of the Council Members she should or should not trust, and who is taking out pieces of Scipio’s code.
She may also learn about the travelers who visited the tower 30 years before.
- The Girl Who Dared To Endure by Bella Forrest (Book 6)
- Paperback: 406 pages; CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 22, 2018)
- Kindle: 3472 KB (Kindle Unlimited); Nightlight (March 22, 2018)
- Audiobook: 13 hours and 24 minutes; Narrated by Kirsten Lee;
The Girl Who Dared To Fight (Book 7)
The final book in the series, if you made it here you have read 2422 pages in this amazing series with 406 left to go for a total of 2828! Way to go!
Liane must meet with the Council and show them the problems with Scipio’s code in order to prove once and for all that he is dying. But before she gets the chance, she is locked in the chamber and her two most trusted allies have been killed. How will she ever be able to save the tower from the madman who has trapped her and who wants nothing more than to see the Tower destroyed?
- The Girl Who Dared To Fight by Bella Forrest (Book 7)
- Paperback: 406 pages; CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 10, 2018)
- Kindle: 1983 KB (Kindle Unlimited); Nightlight (May 10, 2018)
- Audiobook: 15 hours and 23 minutes; Narrated by Kirsten Lee; Nightlight (February 6, 2018)
I absolutely loved this series and could not recommend it any more highly!
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