Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas
pages : 448
released: June 2021
publisher: Penelope Douglas LLC
cover love: ♥
CLAY:
Marymount girls are good girls. We’re chaste, we’re untouched, and even if we weren’t, no one would know, because we keep our mouths shut. Not that I have anything to share anyway. I never let guys go too far. I’m behaved. Beautiful, smart, talented, popular, my skirt’s always pressed, and I never have a hair out of place. I own the hallways, walking tall on Monday and dropping to my knees like the good Catholic girl I am on Sunday. That’s me. Always in control.
Or so they think. The truth is that it’s easy for me to resist them, because what I truly want, they can never be. Something soft and smooth. Someone dangerous and wild. Unfortunately, what I want I have to hide. In the locker room after hours. In the bathroom stall between classes. In the showers after practice. For me, life is a web of secrets. No one can find out mine.
OLIVIA:
I cross the tracks every day for one reason—to graduate from this school and get into the Ivy League. I’m not ashamed of where I come from, my family, or how everyone at Marymount thinks my skirts are too short and my lipstick is too red.
Clay Collins and her friends have always turned up their noses at me. The witch with her beautiful skin, clean shoes, and rich parents who torments me daily and thinks I won’t fight back. At least not until I get her alone and find out she’s hiding so much more than just what’s underneath those pretty clothes. The princess thinks I’ll scratch her itch. She thinks she’s still pure as long as it’s not a guy touching her. I told her to stay on her side of town. I told her not to cross the tracks. But one night, she did. And when I’m done with her, she’ll never be pure again. (from Goodreads)
Review:
Soooo…one girl bullies another girl. But girl is low key in love with this girl…but acts like she hates her.
I’m so confused.
Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at about 56%.
I had high hopes for this book (it had gotten a lot of good feedback) but I had to give up on it. Being that PRIDE was last month, I decided to get into one of my first f/f romance books. However, I could tell earlier on that this book was not for me. Some people like these bully romances. I’ve never indulged in them, in fact, I didn’t know this was a bully romance or really what that trope entailed before reading TSV. Now that I know what it is, I will probably never read another bully book again.
The premise sounded real interesting, I definitely go for the whole rich/poor, good/bad romance hook ups. Rich mean girl, Clay, constantly bullies Liv, the poor girl from across the tracks that goes to her school. Secretly, Clay is into Liv and wants to get with her. But instead of being cute and romantic (or even bold and hot) about her feelings for Liv, she decides to bully her instead. It’s basically the equivalent of that annoying kid in your 5th grade class that teases you every day because they like you.
My biggest issue with this story was the bullying. I couldn’t really understand why someone would put up with being treated like that and then…somehow…go back for more. I think the author went a little too hard with the bullying without giving the reader enough validation to back it up. Which left the story unbalanced, me confused and not giving a shit about the characters anymore. Clay went too far and Liv’s reactions were not believable. Again, the author now downplaying the personality and characteristics she gave Liv in the first place. Don’t hype her up to be a bad girl from a bad family that runs shit then let another girl write bad words all over her, degrade her publicly, treat her like a servant, etc. Don’t tell me your character is a bad girl. Show me she’s a bad girl. And not by carrying around a knife and wearing black, you have to do better than that. Character set up and motivation was poorly executed.
Then Clay’s thoughts and motives were just becoming repetitive. She knows she’s being evil and she’s wrong but she can’t help it cuz she loves her…but in the next scene she just does it again…omg what a hot mess. I really didn’t vibe with the whole, “I like you, I’m going to ruin your existence” thing. It’s not attractive to me and it pulled me further away from the story and the characters that were boring me to death anyway.
I probably would’ve finished TSV if it weren’t 448 pages. But it was too long for no reason. If the whole book is just them going back and forth like this then I’m good, I didn’t need to finish it.
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