Laurie Plissner

It’s very rare that I completely dislike a book so much I don’t recommend it at all. The majority of my one and two star reads are books that I realize are not for me, but will have appeal for several readers. Unfortunately, Screwed falls in that unfortunate small category of books that I actively dislike.

Almost every character in this book is a caricature of their stereotype. With one notable exception, almost all the characters are portrayed rather offensively. This book manages to stereotype:

Conservative Christians
Grace’s parents are shown to be polite, conservative, involved citizens of the community and the church who are only in it for a good reputation. They act hypocritical, illogical, and unbelievable for parents. At times Grace’s parents think that they actually hate their daughter a little bit. Now, I know there ARE parents out there who don’t love their kids, but it’s such a jump for them. They go from doting on Grace to actually using the word “hate” towards her, at least in their minds.

Guys
There’s two main boys in the book: Nick, the boy who Grace has a fling with, and Charlie. They’re meant to contrast each other, but . . . Nick’s goal is to get twenty girls to sleep with him, and it’s pretty obvious that Nick sees women and girls as nothing more than an means to an end for him. He goes into an adoption agency and almost all he thinks about is how attractive the owner of the agency is! Again, he’s an exaggerated stereotype. Charlie is suppose to be the “nice” guy but even though he has good intentions, his actions towards Grace still seemed a little. . . off to me. He thinks he has to protect her and protect her honor. Well-meaning, perhaps, but it still makes Grace seem like a fragile girl who can’t be trusted with her life and her choices.

Teachers
With one refreshing exception of the guidance counselor, the only other teacher and principal in this book is sadly characterized. The teacher tells an entire class of student that THEY ARE ANIMALS. She says this. To a room full of high school students who probably have insecurities and problems and you know, probably don’t enjoy being called animals. And who clearly aren’t animals. And then she claims it’s all because they’re playing video games. . . sorry, I just don’t follow the logic. Even if teachers would think those things, I don’t know a single teacher who would say it out loud. The principal can’t bother to care and is just looking forward to retirement.

This will probably make my review ridiculously long, but it needs to be expanded more than what I just touched on underneath my impression of the characters– Charlie. Let’s get something straight, because this is a pet peeve of mine in YA. If you think you’re a “nice guy”, but if you can’t respect the fact that the girl you like is pregnant and is going through a lot of things, you are not a “nice guy”. If you think you’re a “nice guy” but also feel the need to defend said girl who is by no means defenseless(Grace may have made a bad choice, but she’s shown to be a smart character. She can handle her own), you are not a “nice guy”.

The plot itself is quick-moving, if predictable. Even though I feel for Grace, I feel she had it pretty easy after getting kicked out of her house. She’s taken in by a wealthy benefactor and besides dealing with kids at school, doesn’t have to worry about much. I’m sure it would be really hard to be in her position, but overall things could have gone much worse after being kicked out of her house.

Also, this book is written in third person unlimited omniscient, which is really not a good fit for the book. I don’t need to know what a jerk Nick is because I can see inside his head as well as the main character’s — show me instead(which, to be fair, is shown quite frequently with great intensity). I don’t need to know everyone’s innermost thoughts. I would have appreciated Screwed more if the point of view had stuck with Grace and Grace alone.

I really didn’t follow the plot as well as I could have because I was so distracted by all the characters and their portrayals. Even Jennifer, Grace’s best friend who supports her for the most part, is an annoying character. She says whatever she’s thinking and does seem to harbor quite a bit of judgement towards Grace. All in all, I just didn’t feel this subject was handle with the nuance and care it so deserved. It read very much like an after school special, and I was just hoping for something deeper.

Final Impression: A predictable plot filled with characters who’s only purpose seemed to be to embody a stereotype. Nobody is off the hook from this treatment, and it was just impossible to read past that. The most enjoyable part of the book was after Grace delivers her baby and has a few months without being surrounded by the other characters. It seems to be the only time any character growth really happened and overall, I just was hoping for more from this book. 1/5 stars.… (mere)

NOTE: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think this is the first book I've ever read that lacks a stable POV. As in, the narrator gets in the head of everybody, even miniature characters who only have a line or two to share. I know, I know, this looks like a huge mess, but despite everything it actually works quite well. Perhaps because every single character is given time to express their inner thoughts and observations, and we're actually allowed to witness how the cogs in their minds work. To tell you the truth, it was weird at first, but once I got used to it, I saw the advantage - you get to know what everyone's really thinking, and that's just brilliant!

So, onto the story and characters we shall move. "Screwed" told the story of a very smart girl, Grace, who turned into goo in the hands of the school playboy Nick, and next thing she knew - she was pregnant. Then instead of going for abortion, she decided on adoption. Her super Christian parents turned hypocrites on her and kicked her out.

That's a very very condensed short version of it. But. It's not really the storyline that matters much. I mean, it's basic, it's been written before. It's nothing new. What's new and realistic and fresh are Grace's thoughts. Her experiences. The life lessons that she learns along the way. Here are some of them:

- One can be a genius in school and still be pretty stupid in real life.
- Condoms aren't 100% pregnancy-proof.
- Friends can try to help, but they can never take the place of a parent. Ever.
- A girl should never ever, ever put herself at the mercy of some guy who doesn't give a crap about her.
- A girl should always always, always think about the consequences of having sex.

And one more, and I always end up thinking about this when I read about teens having sex. Have you read "Anna and the French Kiss"? If you haven't, go read it NOW. If you have, you must remember this one passage where Anna explains why she hasn't broken the seal yet. It goes something like this: I will wait until I know that the man I am with is the man I want to be the father of my children. You know, in case something goes wrong. It's not the exact words, but it's the exact meaning. So. Think about that.

I know many girls won't take this book seriously and would discard it as irrelevant. It won't happen to them, right? But it does happen, unfortunately. And I think you should just sit down and for a day give a crap about Grace and her huge problem, so that it would never turn into your problem.

Anyway, I want to say that Grace, with her decision and behavior, won me over completely. She stood her ground and was so astonishingly brave the whole time. Yes, she was bothered by the stares and whispers at school. But she never give up on what was right. She thought things through and made up her mind based on rational analysis, not based upon people's opinions. For that, I'd like to high-five her.
… (mere)

The premise of this book sounded promising. I was really excited to read it. But I have to say that in the end I just didn't like it as much as I thought I would - or maybe I should say that I liked parts of it, and other parts of it - not so much.

The heroine is not very likable. From the beginning she just seems like this self-centered spoiled little girl, and while I tried to be understanding of her situation, she lost her family and her memories and it's a tragedy, the author laid the story out in a way that evokes no sympathy (maybe on purpose? I'm not sure) from the reader. To me, Sasha was just a brat and I couldn't get over it. Often times she would belittle Charlotte's efforts to do her best with this situation they were given, and I kind of resented her for it.
Eventually she does get it together and even though she continues to act like a brat, I did warm up to her in the end.

Ben was a sweetie, and I liked the whole special bond thing they had. But both of them were constantly playing hot and cold with each other. Also, I felt kind of cheated, we never saw them get to know each other, it was more like: they meet BAM they kiss and date BAM they break up BAM...the whole first half of the book had weird pacing.

But it improved in the second half, and it's only then that I started to get into the story more, after the whole mystery about her family's death started to unravel. Even though I had it figured out pretty fast, because it was heavily hinted at, I still thought it was interesting.

Things that bothered me about this, and beware, there are spoilers:
There are two near-rape scenes that I felt were just used as some sort of plot device and forgotten all about once the story moved on. I am not talking threats and a bit of overpowering, this went beyond that and I find it hard to believe that any girl would get over being assaulted like that so fast, and then move on thinking all kind of smutty thoughts about some other guy, almost immediately, acting like this never even happened.

The ending - eh, the reason for Dr. O. killing her family turned out to be somewhat anti-climatic. A woman scorned, etc...pretty boring.

And I did mind that we are never explained why exactly Ben could read minds. Or what's the deal with his whole family?

Laurie Plissner's writing style is simple and straight-to-the-point, and I did enjoy that aspect of it. This being her debut I have to say I was pretty satisfied, good supporting characters (Jules, Ben, Stuart, Ben's mom), great chemistry between Ben and Sasha (at least what we got to see of them - the library scene was so promising).

I want to give this a five star rating, because the idea was really good, but I can't overlook the things that bothered me about it. Sometimes a book is just mindless fun, and that's how I look at it, but when you bring things like attempted rape into it I expect the author to treat it a little more seriously.
So yeah, I would recommend this because it has a bit of everything: a love story, a mystery, a little thrill towards the ending and just a touch of paranormal, but don't expect it to blow you away.

**Free copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mere)

By: Laurie Plissner
Published By Merit Press
Age Recommended: Teen - YA - Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: 4
Book Blog For: GMTA
Review:

"Screwed" by Laurie Plissner was a contemporary YA romance read that was a real touchy subject but well written by this author. We find that this young lady is pregnant in HS that turns into a horrible nightmare for her. Grace is shunned not only by the boy that had gotten her pregnant her but also her 'god fearing parents.' Grace's parents demanded that she get an abortion and all hell breaks out when she refuses to do so. Then as the story goes on a neighbor who Grace did not really know gives her a place to live. This person evens offers her 'support that her parents did not give to her.' Now, to get more of this story and how this author will bring it all out to the reader you must pick up "Screwed" to see for yourself. Thank God for friends like Charlie and Jennifer that were their for Grace. This was some courageous young lady that had in the end been blessed with some wonderful friends and to know that 'there is always someone out their that's willing to help you.'

'Screwed" is definitely a page turning that once you start reading you will know want to put it down until the very end. This is a read that a lots of teenagers have had to face and I would definitely would recommend to book to all teens to read.… (mere)