Pretty Reckless (All Saints, 1)

Wow!! Where do I start with this review? Pretty Reckless by L.J. Shen is absolutely amazing! It has everything we've come to expect from her writing, angst, anger, romance, amazing characters, and a story that will keep you hooked till the very end.Daria and Penn met four years ago, and had a connection, but everything changed the same day they met, and they did a bad deed, ruining Penn's sister's life, and Daria pulling further from her mother in the process. Now four years later, Penn is back in Daria's life, and out for revenge. Growing up on "opposite sides of the tracks" these two have nothing in common, except for the fact that they both have their secret, and both seem to hide their anger pretty well.On the outside, Daria seems to have everything. The queen of All Saints High, captain of the cheer-leading squad, and all the money in the world, but inside, she's angry. She has a horrible relationship with her mother, she's jealous and feels unworthy and doesn't do well with expressing her feelings and lashes out. She also has her secret meetings with her principal that has the whole school believing she is having an affair with him. Penn on the other hand, was just thrown out of his home, believes his sister is dead, is the captain of the football team with a scholarship on the line, and is just trying to get by, but his hatred for Daria is something he can't let go, because he blames what the two of them did, for Via leaving. When Mel, Daria's mom, brings Penn home to live with them, it sets off a series of events that leads to so much more for these two.Daria and Penn are like oil and water are first when they are under the same roof. Always pushing one another's buttons and trying to get under each other's skin but you can feel the tension between them steaming from your Kindle and you know something is going to give. They know they should hate one another, but they can't. They both have their secrets and don't want to want each other but when all is said and done, they can't fight it anymore and give in. Watching the two of them dance around one another and fight and makeup is a beautiful story in itself, but thrown in all the other drama in this book and it's absolutely amazing.One of the things that really stood out to me in this story, was it wasn't just a love story. I adored the story between Daria and Penn, but also the story of Daria and her parents. Her and her mom and dad had a long journey in this book as well, and it was NOT pretty at all. Daria had a lot of self discovery to go through in this book, and she was a lot closer to Jaime, her dad, than she was with Mel, but throughout this book she really felt alone and it took a lot for her to open up and rebuild the relationship with both of them, who were desperately trying to reach her as well. I loved watching this relationship play out as well and all the little things that would happen. I wanted to scream at Mel so many times, but when we did get a glimpse into Mel's head during this book, things started to make sense, and it was interesting to see how the family dynamic worked.This book had many, many, many twists and turns and was beautifully executed. We have the story of Penn and Daria, Pen and Via, Via and Daria, Daria and her parents, and the whole family as well. Pretty Reckless deals with some major issues and at the same time tells a beautiful love story as well. I adored Penn and Daria's story as well as getting to meet the other children of the Sinners of Saint's characters and can't wait to see what L.J. Shen has in store for them! If you're looking for a very angsty story with many layers I can't recommend this story enough, it is a definite must read!!

sports romance 🏈Foster brotherBullySecond chanceMean girlRevengeRivalriesOppositesGuaranteed to have you up reading late and will fill you with angst.Daria and Penny’s story is full of angst and drama. Daria is the poor little rich girl. She has everything money can buy. She is head cheerleader and part of the it crowd. Really she is broken, hurt and lost. She does mean things but feels bad and punishes herself .Penn is her opposite. From the wrong side of the tracks. His ticket to freedom is football. Nothing is getting in his way.Action packed, twist and turns, secrets and truths - an emotional roller coaster. There is quite a bit of character growth, a lot of soul searching and redemptions.Definitely worth a read.

4.5 out of 5 ⭐️“You are beautiful like a songUgly like a screamBut beneath your pretty bonesYou’re lost from deep within I want to dig inside the fissures of your soulPull out all your secretsDump them at your feetThen devour your expressionFor your pain shall taste so sweet”Let me start off by saying, I saw a quote from this book on TikTok (isn’t that how we all find books nowadays?) and was immediately downloading it on my kindle.I didn’t realize this is a secondary series of interconnected standalones. I realized about halfway through that the adult Followhill’s and all of their friends were WAY too interesting to not have been written about beforehand. I will be going back to read that series now.“We are so much stronger than we think we are. But sometimes, we go through decades without having a reason to be tested. The thing about life is, it always hits us. No one leads a charmed life.”This book was a wild ride. I thought it was just gonna be a silly little romance palette cleanser in between my dark romance/fantasy reads, but I was HOOKED.“I’m Daria Followhill. Cheer Captain. Rich Bitch. Little Miss Popular. See something you like? Too bad. I don’t do boys. Men, on the other hand…”Daria is a real bitch the first half of this book, but as you get to know her, you realize that she is just deeply flawed and doesn’t know how to communicate her feelings and you see the circumstances that make her the way that she is. Should she be a better human? Absolutely. But life isn’t always black and white and humans make mistakes.“What would you have asked of me if I took the sea glass?” “To save me all your firsts,” he whispers somewhere between my ear and mouth as his body brushes away from mine.”Penn is great. Why is it that the characters that say they’re emotionless typically have the most emotions? He had so much character growth from beginning to end.“You’re tearing confessions from my mouthReactions from my fleshFights from my fistsBlood from my heartWith your eyes aloneSometimes I want to break the wall I built between usLet you inAnd watch you destroy me”This book had So. Much. Drama. I was LIVING for it. I love reading about rich young adults who throw elaborate parties, have insanely privileged lives, but are still just as flawed as we mere mortals are, if not more.““Some fairy tales are screwed up,” she adds. She can’t shut up. She’s nervous. Her eyes are still closed. “All the good ones are, Skull Eyes,” I say softly.”All in all, it was a great book. LJ Shen really knows how to write angst, and I’m here for it.

L.J. Shen’s writing is like gunfire. Quick, hard-hitting, and sometimes devastating… in the best way! This book rocked me. I’m not usually one fora get in characters so young, but I admit, this one got to me. Amazing plot, unbelievable chemistry between Penn and Daria, and side characters I can’t wait to read more about.

Oh my Marx! This book is so... so... ugh, there's no words but incredible. Daria and Penn are so perfectly imperfect! They are just teens, making mistakes, falling in hate and then in love and feeling jealousy and anger and lust and lost. Being "inside" daria, feeling her emotions and pain and depression was almost too much. I love it. I love it so fcking much I'm a little afraid to read the next ones. I'm gonna miss daria e penn and hope to see them again.

La magie, l'angoisse, la colère et l'amour. Tout y est. On retrouve l'ambiance, les émotions et l'envie d'en savoir plus, de vivre avec eux les hauts et les bas que la vie met sur leur chemin. Daria et Penn devront traverser bien des épreuves pour enfin se retrouver. Ils en seront grandits et plus forts , tout comme leur amour💘 .Que dire de plus si ce n'est de venir partager leur parcours de vie et nous rejouir avec eux de ce happy ending!

As soon as I started reading this book I new I was going to be great.I loved Daria and Penn right from the get go and I knew This series was going to be a must read.This is the first book in the All Saints High Series and it will hook you right in. This is a enemies to lovers, high school romance that you will love and the intense words are amazing.Penn and Daria first meet when they are younger around 14 and they catch each other then, but both end up doing something quite immature. They both don't realise the significance of what there actions have on anyone else until a few years later. Daria is a beautiful, rich queen bee of the school when Penn comes back into her life hell bent on revenge. Only they both don't expect what they actually get.I was captivated from the very beginning reading this book and I loved all the twists and turns that I never saw coming. I loved the characters and all the side characters and I can't wait to read there books. I loved how this author has written this book and I love how it flows. This book is a real page turner that I highly recommend.#ljshen #allsaintshigh

My favourite book with my favourite characters. Both the protagonists are flawed and real , which makes the story flow seamlessly