Preppy: The Life & Death of Samuel Clearwater, Part One
Best if read as book 5 in The King Series (see bottom)
Preppy was my favorite character from The King Series, so I was SO.EXCITED. for his book! But I will admit, I was a little nervous. Could he live up to my ridiculously high expectations? In many ways he surpassed them. But it wasn’t just Preppy that exceeded my expectations, it was the writing by T.M. Frazier; because I think Preppy: The Life & Death of Samuel Clearwater, Part One combined the best of the King Series, with the slightly deeper but still gritty as fuck Dark Light of Day (King Series Prequel).
The thing I always loved about Preppy was his humor and innuendo and his “I say what I want to fucking say. I do what I want to do and I don’t fucking apologize for it.” humor.
“I came in like a wrecking baaaallll.” I belted out the window at a bunch of teenagers walking across the causeway. The group of mostly girls scrunched up their noses in confusion as if they’d never been the victims of a drive-by-singing before.”
He is the comic relief for the gritty series, but there were always lots of hints of his crazy lurking below the humor.
“Something tells me you don’t have a lot of skeletons in your closet.”
Preppy shook his head. “Nope, I don’t keep evidence.”
Preppy Part One is largely told in flashback to three years ago when King was in jail and Preppy meets Andrea “Dre” Capulet. Not only does he meet her, he saves her. Dre is a heroine addict who has hit rock bottom.
Preppy is drawn to Dre, and decides to step in and help her get off of the stuff.
“You want to be high? You can be high on me. You want to take the edge off? I’m gonna do just that, baby.”
Preppy surprised me a little in this book. I always pictured him kind of scrawny and nerdy with tattoos, wearing pastel and bowties, but apparently he is yummily delicious.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me? I thought, unable to tear my eyes away from the man, who with the removal of one item of clothing, had turned from looking like a hipster-professor type…into walking sex.
“Seriously, THAT’S what you’ve been hiding under your LEAVE IT TO BEAVER clothes?”
The other thing that surprised me is I actually expected for him to be MORE depraved (but this is only part one, and I hear it’s coming, and I can’t wait!)
“I wanted to see her sad. Taste her tears. I wanted to know what she sounded like when she cried. In pain, in pleasure, in both.”
I also never thought of him as super sexual beyond liking to watch and maybe fuck people who are passed out or bleeding, but lemme tell you, he was hot with a scary, dangerous edge.
“Because if anyone is going to ruin you, it’s going to be me.”
—
“I’m going to hurt you with my lips. With my fingers. With my cock. It’s going to be the best fucking pain you’ve ever felt.”
Once Dre got a taste of Preppy….she was hooked.
“It made sense that his body was built for sin, because the hold Samuel Clearwater had over me was something straight from the depths of hell.”
“He was an addiction. I craved him, and wanted more. But just like heroin, the high was all a fucking lie. I believed he was good for me when in fact, he was worse than any drug.”
Notice I am not really giving much of the story? You need to read it yourself!
Likes:
- Told in different times and you are never confused between past and present.
- We do find out about Preppy’s “death”.
- Preppy still has his humor and amazing loyalty, but we see a lot of what made him the way he is.
- I think there was a bit more depth and emotion in this than the rest of the King Series.
- Made me laugh, made me cry, made me get the hots for Preppy.
- While Dre may have taken a bit longer to really connect to, I loved her.
- Hot, dirty, emotional sex.
- Both Preppy and Dre’s POV.
- How Preppy became a real person rather than the comic relief, in fact I think he may be the most developed character of the series.
- OMG, the end!
Dislikes:
- GIVE.ME.PART.TWO.NOW.
The Down & Dirty:
T.M. Frazier has the nickname “Evil Ginger” for a reason. She has no problem putting her characters in the worst situations, nor does she have a problem torturing her readers while they wait for the next book! Seriously, I knew there was a cliffy (which isn’t that bad), and I usually will avoid that like the plague, but this series makes me change my rules. It goes against everything I usually look for in a book, yet I love the dirty, grittiness of it because you can always see the heart behind it all. These people, as bad as they are in some ways, still have big hearts, at least for each other. They are family, even if not by blood. And basically, that’s kind of the crux of the series. I mean, only T.M. can make me fall in love with a pastel and bow tie wearing psychopath. I found Preppy part one to be the deepest, most emotional and most unique of the King Series, and it brought back to mind the slightly deeper The Dark Light of Day and Dark Needs (which you MUST read if you are reading the King Series.)
Just the last words! OMG T.M. Frazier! WRITE FASTER!
P.S. I will also be re-listening to this on audio before the next one comes out. The Preppy audiobook releases the same day as the book!
Rating: 4.75 Stars (why not 5? I think because it isn’t complete, so I may change this when it is), 4.25 Heat (It was hot, but the hot scenes had other stuff going on that deterred from the sexiness of them.
Purchase Preppy: The Life & Death of Samuel Clearwater, Part One by T.M. Frazier
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Loraine Oliver says
Great review Ana. I can’t waIt to read this, I have really enjoyed this series!
Carcoura says
Brilliantly reviewed – of course I might be a bit biased since I 100% agree with everything you said here!! Preppy is alpha + crazy + cool + comedian. And let us not forget he’s also HOT!
Dre is a fabulous foil for his crazy, and I really loved the depth and integrity TM Frazier gave the elderly characters (Grace and Mirna). She’s a terrific writer who just keeps getting better.