Brooke Wright has only two goals her senior year at Charity Run High School: stay out of trouble and learn to forgive herself for the past. Forgiveness proves elusive, and trouble finds her anyway when she discovers a secret club at school connected to the death of her best friend. She learns that swim team members participate in a “Fantasy Slut League,” scoring points for their sexual acts with unsuspecting girls.
Brooke, wracked with guilt over her friend’s death, decides to infiltrate the league by becoming one of the “unsuspecting girls,” and exact revenge on the boys who stole away her best friend. An unexpected romance complicates her plans, and her dogged pursuit of justice turns her reckless as she underestimates just how far the boys will go to keep their sex club a secret.
(This is a New Adult fiction book with mature themes. It contains graphic sex and language and an explicit description of sexual violence. Please take the content warning seriously.)
Review
I was hesitant starting this book, it's not my typical read, it's not really a love story and the book deals with a violent subject matter.......I also have a 16 year old daughter, so it's hitting a little close to home. Also, whenever there is so much buzz going around about a book I am afraid that it won't live up to the "hype" surrounding it but OMGEEE S. Warden just amazed me, I was not disappointed! Going Under was a very INTENSE, DEEP read that I give 5 stars!
The books starts out at the funeral of high school senior Beth, who commits suicide. Brooke, who is Beth's best friend, knows there is a reason that Beth did what she did. Brooke having discovered some truths seeks revenge against one boy in particular.......Cal. Brooke's plan is to make Cal fall for her. During this time, she meets the sweet and gorgeous loner, Ryan who she really ends up liking (and I absolutely adored).....which was not the plan! Brooke discovers a secret sex club at the school that rates the girls by the sexual acts they perform. So many truths and secrets unravel and victims are revealed as the story continues. I don't want to reveal too many spoilers. Just know that you must read this story for yourself!
Great story, I am now a huge fan of S. Warden's and her writing style. I encourage you to read it and even with the raw, real, gritty subject matter, there is a HEA and no cliffhanger which you don't see to often anymore in books!
All About Ryan
“Ryan, why are you so gorgeous and strange?”
But back to gorgeous and strange Ryan. It’s official. The ladies love him, and many of you were a little mad you didn’t get more of him in the book. In my defense, I will say that Going Under was not meant to be primarily a romance. In fact, I purposely wrote the romance as a side item. This did not make for completely happy fans. You were semi-happy, but not all-the-way happy. ☺ So here’s me making it up to you. I’m giving you a little inside information on our leading man that hopefully will allow you to forgive me in some way for not featuring him on every page. xo
Born: September 27 in Raleigh, North Carolina at WakeMed
Astrological Sign: Libra
Stats: 6’2”; 180 lbs; brown hair; blue eyes
Favorite food: Steak fajitas
Favorite music: The Smashing Pumpkins, specifically their Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness album. (His older cousin turned him on to ‘90s alternative rock.)
Favorite TV show: Game of Thrones
Activities: surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding (he’s really hot when he snowboards), swimming, making out with Brooke
Favorite book: The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Favorite movie: Snatch (Hey, what do you want me to say?)
College degree: B.S. Business Finance
Current job: Finance manager for a chain of local skateboard and skateboard supplies stores in Chapel Hill, NC
Biggest regret about Brooke: Not getting out of the car. He drove to NC State to see Brooke her freshmen year. He sat in the car in front of her dorm. He waited for hours and finally saw her walking towards the dorm entrance. And he wanted to go to her, but he was afraid. So he watched her swipe her key card, open the door, and disappear from view. He wouldn’t see her again for two years.
Sweetest Moment: Marrying Brooke. Simple. No fuss. A courthouse. The important people. A beautiful woman in a little white dress. Saying “I do.” And the next installment in their great big adventure.
Random Stuff:
~Broke his arm three times when he was in elementary school and middle school.
~Had braces twice: once in fourth grade and then again in seventh because he never wore his retainer.
~Played center forward in soccer until he messed up his knee.
~Pledged a fraternity in college and then quit.
~Turned down a make-out session with a girl in his freshmen composition class. Told her he was already committed to someone else.
~Became inseparable friends with Alyssa from philosophy. She was the only one who could stomach his incessant talk about Brooke.
~Wears one contact in his right eye to give him monovision (one eye sees distance and one eye reads up close).
~Does pushups every day.
~Tried vegetarianism for a week at the insistence of his friend, Charlie. Missed his steak fajitas too much to commit for life.
~Wants to give Brooke babies as soon as possible.
Buy links
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/296755
Createspace (paperback): https://www.createspace.com/4152506
About S. Walden
S. Walden used to teach English before making the best decision of her life by becoming a full-time writer. She lives in Georgia with her very supportive husband who prefers physics textbooks over fiction and has a difficult time understanding why her characters must have personality flaws. She is wary of small children, so she has a Westie instead. Her dreams include raising chickens and owning and operating a beachside inn on the Gulf Coast (chickens included). When she's not writing, she's thinking about it.
She loves her fans and loves to hear from them. Email her at swaldenauthor@hotmail.com and follow her blog at http://swaldenauthor.blogspot.com where you can get up-to-date information on her current projects.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/swaldenauthor
Twitter: @swaldenauthor
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Soooo sound like my kind of book...Cant wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for participating on my tour! And thank you for taking the time to review my work. Means so much!
ReplyDeletexo Summer
Definitely something I would read
ReplyDelete