Pretty Reckless (All Saints High, #1)

It started with a lemonade and ended with my heart. This, my pretty reckless rival, is how our screwed-up story starts.

"Penn They say revenge is a dish best served cold. I'd had four years to stew on what Daria Followhill did to me, and now my heart was completely iced. I took her first kiss. She took the only thing I loved. I was poor. She was rich. The good thing about circumstances? They can change. Fast. Now, I'm her parents' latest shiny project. Her housemate. Her tormentor. The captain of the rival football team she hates so much. Yeah, baby girl, say it- I'm your foster brother. There's a price to pay for ruining the only good thing in my life, and she's about to shell out some serious tears. Daria Followhill things she is THE queen. I'm about to prove to her that she's nothing but a spoiled princess. Daria Everyone loves a good old unapologetic punk. But being a bitch? Oh, you get slammed for every snarky comment, cynical eye roll, and foot you put in your adversaries' way. The thing about stiletto heels is that they make a hell of a dent when you walk all over the people who try to hurt you. In Penn Scully's case, I pierced his heart until he bled out, then left it in a trash can on a bright summer day. Four years ago, he asked me to save all my firsts for him. Now he lives across the hall, and I want nothing more than to be his last everything. His parting words when he gave me his heart were that nothing in his world is free. Now? Now he is making me pay." 

Wow. This book was pretty amazing. Packed full of characters, most that you love to hate, and a couple that had more redeeming qualities. This was a hard read. There were times when I thought maybe I couldn't even finish the book because some of it was making me uncomfortable. These characters did some pretty despicable things to one another, and they were all pretty hard to like. 

She's a work of art, and as such there's nothing more devastating than watching her break

When I started this book I HATED Daria. I was thinking that there is no way this girl can redeem herself by the time this book is over. She was a rotten person. She did some pretty horrific things to people, and she didn't even regret any of it. For every bad thing she did to someone, she had a reason for it, and she wrote them all in her journal. She was terrible to her friends and family, but she hated herself more than she hated anyone. I think after a few chapters when I started to realize that this girl really hated herself, she didn't feel like she deserved anything, and she didn't let anyone get close to her, I started to feel sorry for her. It was obvious to me that she was looking for someone to just try and make an effort for her, someone to prove that they loved her and wanted her in their life. 

I smile, and I know the smile is warm. I know it's fucking up something in her chest, and even though I shouldn't, I like it. After all these years, I still want to ruin her. Then put her back together. Then do it again and again and a-fucking-gain.

I felt like Penn had a few more redeeming qualities than Daria. While I wouldn't call him a great person, I understood why he acted the way he did. He had been through a lot in his life, and he had experienced a lot of loss and heartbreak. He described himself as the tin man and I feel like that was an accurate description. He didn't want anyone close to him, just like Daria, and he didn't give anyone the chance to. 

The two of them together were messy. They were like a tornado waiting to touch down. Their love story wasn't typical, it was full of betrayal and heartbreak. They couldn't trust anyone and they couldn't trust each other. They were all wrong for each other, but it worked. 

Love is so contaminated. It tarnishes all that is beautiful and corrupts the soul. Love is so much uglier than hate because when you hate, you're not confused. When you're in love, you're dumb. 

But I am hopelessly, tragically in love with Penn Scully. 

This story was so heartbreaking. I was uncomfortable, and I was rooting for these two people that sometimes it didn't feel like even belonged together. The high school was full of vindictive and evil people, and it wasn't just the kids. I loved the character growth of Daria, she started off a pretty horrible person, but I saw the growth in her as she let her guard down. By the end of the story I didn't feel bad about rooting for Penn and Daria, because it was obvious to me that they needed each other, they were both better people when they were together. 

There is nothing more poetically inspiring than loving the right person at the wrong place, at the wrong time. 

Overall, I'm giving this one 5 STARS. I don't know what took me so long to pick this book up, but i'm so glad I did. It was beautifully written and the characters were fantastic. They were completely flawed, but relatable. This isn't your typical love story, but I think that's what I loved about it. 

This was so much more than first love. It was first hate, too.