Screwed by Laurie Plissner Published by Merrit Press on May 18th, 2013
Genres: Young Adult
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads
Flattered by the attentions of Nick, the cutest guy in school, seventeen-year-old Grace Warren, captain of the math team, lets down her guard and gets pregnant the night she loses her virginity. Hopeful that Nick will drop to one knee and propose when she breaks the baby news to him, Grace is heartbroken - Nick wants nothing to do with her. Her best friend, Jennifer, thinks she should get an abortion, but Grace is certain that her morally upright parents will insist that she keep the baby. After she comes clean to her super-religious, strait-laced parents, they surprise her by insisting that she terminate the pregnancy to avoid humiliating the family. But when she sees the fetus on the ultrasound, she decides she can't get rid of it. Deciding to save the tiny life growing inside of her, Grace must face the consequences of being that girl - the good girl who got knocked up.
Rose’s Review
I was super excited to begin reading Screwed simply based off its description. I thought this book might offer something unique or new. The premise for the story sounded interesting indeed. In fact, I upgraded this book’s review from one star to two simply because the book seemed to offer a new story that is not often told and it seemed gutsy. However, this book read like a long winded rough draft. I seriously felt like the author was telling me what her book was going to be about instead of actually reading a book. I felt like this book had all the makings of a good book, but it needed to focuse more on only one or two POVs. That was probably my single biggest complaint. The entire book was written in third person from varying points of view. It was confusing because the reader was never given any notice that the POV was about to change. You would be reading along and then the POV switched suddenly from Grace, the main character, to the doctor examining her. It was weird and awkward. I do not think having a back story on every single minor character was necessary. I wanted more in depth character development of Charlie and Grace and perhaps even Jennifer, but instead I was treated to every other character’s opinion and viewpoint and backstory. Another thing that I thought was awkward about this book was first indicated in the title. I did not much like the idea of good girl Grace using the language that she did. It just didn’t seem plausible that Grace was such a good girl, raised in a strict religious household and she would use the sort of language that she did. Nor did it seem plausible that her parents or even her best friend Jennifer would use such language. Do not get me wrong. There is nothing exceptionally or unusually vulgar in this book, but it was unexpected when the author seemed to be trying to paint a strict religious household that such language would be a common part of Grace’s thoughts and speech. Lastly, the love between Grace and Charlie was rushed. One minute they were shyly talking and the next he was basically mauling her when she is well into her third trimester. It was not believable. I really wish the author would have perhaps taken a slightly different approach with this book because as I said, I liked the premise. A good girl makes a one time mistake because she wants to feel wanted and that decision lands her pregnant and homeless because her strict parents are trying to force her to terminate the pregnancy. Add in a complicated love interest that knows he probably shouldn’t fall for some chic carrying another dude’s baby, but he can’t help but want to be with her, and this book could have been awesome!!!
