Cover Image: Sourpuss

Sourpuss

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a huge disappointment. The premise sounded very promising, but there wasn't so much dark humor as just plain dark. The main character was arrogant and unlikable. She complained about everything and never took responsibility for her own actions. I lost interested after a few chapters. Well, at least they got the title right!

Was this review helpful?

I mean....huh?!?! There were some really good parts of this book. I thought that many of the characters, while unlikable and quite gross, had a level of believably about them that made parts of this book seem like it was telling an important story. But, there were quite a few places where you had to suspend your belief-I mean, the entire basis of the story doesn't seem too likely (an Olympic contender training with a student after an injury?!?!). And, then there is the end. I really thought that this book would have an ending that would provide redemption and make those cringe-worthy moments worthwhile. Boy, was I wrong! Just don't do it to yourself.

Was this review helpful?

I always find it hard reviewing books like this. When you have a book tackling something like the darkside of college culture, naturally you're going to get fired up. Its the job of the author to tackle the subject without being exploitive.

In Sourpuss the authors, a sister duo, tread this line and I think it can be debated how well they do it. The fact that our main character starts off as a star athlete who thinks she's better than everyone else doesn't give us a very good contrast to the slimy frat boys she will encounter. This conflict opened the chance for our character to redeem herself, but again I'm not sure the authors did that justice either.

So again, I'm conflicted. I think in the end this is a love or hate book. I don't think there will be much middle ground. It's written well enough that I'd read a follow-up. I think the authors do have a good voice. However, in the end the main story is an old tired subject.

---
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher. My review is unbiased

Was this review helpful?

This book started out okay and had me believing it could be a decent read during the first few chapters, but it really went downhill after that - and the ending was not only badly put together in my opinion, but horrific.

The main character is cold and unlikable, and while the book had the chance to explain and redeem why she's like this towards so many people, it just wasn't done. I also expected some of the characters to be no good but literally all the main and supporting characters are terrible people.
Frat boys are shown as monsters and girls are depicted as shallow or sluts, who all hurt each other in the most vile ways. This is especially shown through the boys and the ending of the book - which took an extremely dark turn. The book got progressively uncomfortable in terms of sexual harassment and assault and i really didn't enjoy how unnecessarily vulgar it became as it didn't seem to contribute much towards a plot.

This book seemed to get darker each chapter and some of the events didn't seem to line up and relate well in the story's timeline and pacing, as though the author had a new idea and just threw it in as a new chapter. A lot of the issues weren't even resolved and the ending came across to me as unfinished.

I truly though i would enjoy this book going by the premise, but i was very disappointed with how the story dissolved so quickly.

I received a copy of this book free via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I clearly suck at making decisions about ARCs. What compelled me about this book was the main character being an ice queen. I have a weakness for the Blair Waldorfs of the world. But this queen had all ice and no substance. I keep saying that there is a huge difference between being flawed and unlikable. I can list a number of characters that are flawed and jerks and yet somehow likable. Mallory is not among these characters. But she's bold and fearless even in her unpleasantness. I'll give her that.

But the males in this book? They're beyond horrible. I don't remember the last time I read men being written so despicably. There's not even one male character with a redeeming quality! There was no lack of  misogyny.

I get what the authors were trying to do. They don't hold back from showing the ugliness in human nature. There doesn't seem to be any good in the humans portrayed here. It's all debauchery and lechery. I'm not really familiar with the fraternity scene. But if what we see of frat life in this book is true, then that's an alarming thing altogether!

I did not enjoy this read. It's a cynical, harsh and a cringe-worthy world in Sourpurss. And it's obvious that this was all intentional from the authors' part. I get what they were trying to do but I just found it all very unpleasant. Not my cup of tea.

Was this review helpful?

DNF'd this book at 50% it started to get really weird and I feel like the main plot ended with the girl already. I was not a fan of the fraternity storyline with the two douchebag guys being utterly garbage. I barely remember the names of the characters and the main female protagonist was very holier than you and I am the star of the track team. Not enough smut and not well written.

Was this review helpful?

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Sourpuss was a very disappointing read for me. I know I went in with huge expectations, but the story just wasn’t good. Mallory Wahl, the sourpuss, is a track star on the path to the Olympics. Unfortunately, she gets injured and to recover, she has to train with an intern from the sports medicine department whom she despises.

Now, we all know how much I love the enemies to lovers trope, so why exactly didn’t this book work for me?

Let’s review.

The cover promises a dark comedy. And dark comedy is just gallows humour–it puts topics that make us uncomfortable in a humorous light. And I love dark comedies! But Sourpuss is so not a dark comedy. It’s just dark. Sure, there are some scattered jokes, but the book is mostly just dark.

I know it’s supposed to make us think about the whole college frat party scene, but the writing doesn’t make it easy at all.

Most of this book’s faults lie in the writing. There’s a good enough story and wanting to talk about the frat scene is a great start, but the writing just doesn’t make it easy. Chapters end abruptly with scenes that aren’t addressed in the next chapter. The flow is disjointed.

And speaking of disjointed, movement is explained weirdly in this book. The phrase “took her under his arm” is used several times and I don’t have a clue what this means. It makes me think of some weird Yoga pose. I did not like the writing much and it took a big chunk off the rating scale for me.

The only redeeming quality in this book is the characters’ portrayal. Most of the characters are written well and memorable. You can’t help but root for the main characters and that’s probably the angle the author(s) should have gone with.

Sourpuss’s cover may advertise it as a dark comedy, but its blurb just writes a cheque that the book can’t cash. This is the first book by the authors (two sisters), and I really hope they take all the good parts of this book and come up with a better second novel.

Was this review helpful?

This was trying so hard to be clever and on trend that it fails miserably. Everything you hate about high school with none of the charm of a 90's coming of age flick.

Was this review helpful?

Debauchery, nonsense and some of the most hateable characters ever... I loved it! Darkly hilarious and sharply satirical, Sourpuss is fantastic fun to read.

Was this review helpful?

ARC received for an honest review.

The cover calls this a “Dark Comedy.” However, it was neither dark nor comedic. Juvenile writing, a bizarre storyline, and horrible characters combined to create a disaster. There were points in the story when I couldn’t tell to whom the actions or words were attributed. And we hopped from strange behavior to strange behavior without any motivation. It was like watching the little people from the Fix It Felix game lurch around.

This felt like a 15 year old boy was forced to write a story about college. Someone with no knowledge, limited story-telling skills, and a prurient imagination was handed a pen to stumble through their twisted take on college. It didn’t work out.

I think I’m going to take a break from requesting ARCs for a little while. Once bitten twice shy.

<a href="http://www.alleskelle.com/"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1471716947r/20097901.jpg?v=1471716951482"width="400"></a>

Was this review helpful?

I am convinced that this book was written by an 18 year old boy. It is horribly written and the characters are just pathetic. It is completely misogynistic. Of coarse the girls are either frigid and uptight or in the words of all the guys in this book " sluts that are begging for it". Disgusting book.

Was this review helpful?

Sourpuss by author Merricat Mulwray is a dark humorous book that will not disappoint! The characters were great, very entertaining and well thought out. Totally recommend this book!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of Sourpuss in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?