TRYST SIX VENOM BY PENELOPE DOUGLAS

 

TRYST SIX VENOM

BY: PENELOPE DOUGLAS

5 STARS

BLURB: Clay Collins life looks perfect from the outside, but her home life is not great. Olivia Jaeger  comes from the wrong side of the tracks, literally.  She lives on the poor side of town and only goes to the high school because of a partial scholarship and her brother's determination for her to have a better life. Clay bullies Olivia, using hateful comments to hurt her, to try to deny her attraction.  Olivia is confident with herself and her sexuality.  She puts up with the comments of others because she knows that she'll leave for college soon. Clay and Olivia volley back and forth before realizing their mutual attraction for each other. 

I love Penelope's writing.  I went into this book not knowing it was a f/f romance but I knew that I would enjoy it just because of the author. The book is told from dual perspectives, it worked well because it shows what Clay is thinking each time she purposely tries to hurt Olivia.  It shows her internal struggle between what is deemed by her society as "right" and her feelings. Olivia's internal monologue while being verbally thrashed each day about her status and sexuality shows what a strong character she is.  She's really not that bothered with what people say to her. 

The bullying in this book is tame compared to others that I've read. Both girls tend to volley back and forth. In my opinion, neither of them do anything that is so cruel that they're unredeemable characters. 

I would definitely love spin-off books about Olivia's brothers, especially Macon. I feel like he is such a strong, quiet character and would have a great story.