EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY
Sourpuss
by Merricat Mulwray
Sourpuss by Merricat Mulwray is currently on tour with Xpresso Book Tours. The tour stops here today for an excerpt and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
Sourpuss is a blistering satire of the depraved and entitled culture that pervades college campuses.
Mallory Wahl loathes the campus party scene ...
She’s sprinting through her senior year obsessed with winning a spot on the US Olympic track team. But she runs straight into a hurdle in the form of fraternity president Graham Patterson, an intern assigned to help her recover from an injury – one she blames on him.
Once Graham’s therapies begin to work, Mallory pretends to fall in love but traps herself in her own scheme and tailspins deep into his debauched world. When a scandal erupts which threatens to shatter her Olympic dreams once and for all, Mallory must finally face the dark truth she’s been running from since freshman year.
In the style of a ’90s dark comedy flick, Merricat Mulwray’s debut brings an insightful and humorous perspective to the reckless behavior college students perpetually get away with. Mallory, herself a flawed heroine, is backed by a self-serving cast of athletes, party girls, townies, and fraternity brothers so hilariously dark that the book will leave you wondering if anyone ever gets what they deserve.
Excerpt
“Welcome back to the hellhole!” Mallory announced. Her teammates briefly cheered then returned to making evening plans. Mallory huffed, crossed her arms, and jammed her body further into the back of her seat. She hated getting back to campus once everyone was already in party mode and out for the night. The bus slowed and she glared out of the window at a swaying student pissing on a tree. As he tried to steady himself, his Greek lettered baseball cap slipped off his head into his warm urine pool. “It’s always the same mess,” she grumbled. Her eyes followed an upbeat group of girls so engrossed in their walking dance battle they unintentionally forded the stream of urine.
Mallory was sure she was the only person who knew exactly how things worked and how they should be. She thought that, unlike the rest of the “morons” on campus, she would be leaving on the Olympic track team. My purpose isn’t to spend my nights barfing and fucking randoms in filthy locations. Come summer, I’ll be far, far, away from this bunch of idiot children and their worthless degrees, she thought with a smile.
To her, the brand new stadium and the sports facilities were proof the college only spent money to support those with true talent, the top athletes. She firmly believed it was the athletes who gave credibility to the school and that the general student body was nothing but fodder for the machine. Except the fucking frat boys. They’ll have jobs—not even, they’ll have careers—when they finish and will have earned none of it. The school lets them do whatever the fuck they want, Mallory thought between aggressive pulls on an energy gel.
The bus came to a stop, allowing a herd of Greeks to pass. The driver laid on the horn as they slowly meandered by. The guy in charge of holding up the rear of a blacked-out girl flung her legs down and gave the driver an aggressive middle finger. The scene made Mallory’s lip curl back, exposing the entirety of her gums.
The bus pushed around the curve towards the stadium. She grinned, wishing the driver had plowed through the crosswalk. Mallory forcibly rolled her eyes at another group. Their pants were down to their ankles as they grabbed at the skirts of sorority girls who were wobbling by in a human train, powered by the fifth of Fireball the caboose carried. Those girls are gonna get what’s coming to them. Mallory laughed as she watched one of the girls throw back her head, heave, and vomit into her sister’s beachy waves. Overturned trashcans and broken beer bottles littered the streets. Mallory sighed. They all need to be arrested. But she knew campus police wouldn’t do anything. They were too busy running a revolving door for those too connected to spend any time in jail.
She stretched out her legs and watched her teammates unload.
“Aren’t you going to get off?” asked a freshman whose name Mallory didn’t know.
“Driver. Drop me at home,” Mallory demanded coolly.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
“This all aligns with what I have been trying to find in fiction - more books about college students, more books about fraternities, more books about campus climates - making it immediately appealing. And as anyone who has listened to me talk about Heathers or Sharp Objects knows, I have a hard time resisting any story that makes me go ‘That is so f--ed up’ while continuing to consume it without hesitation. It is a relief for me to say Sourpuss easily falls within that category.” ~ Natalie Walton, Managing News Editor - The Review - University Of Delaware
“Perhaps one of the most offensive sick ‘jokes’ in literary history... strongly written ... brutally honest and graphic.” ~ IndieReader
“... Merricat Mulwray, covered every aspect of rape culture and did it with their own twist, that no doubt will grab the attention of every fiction fan out there. From slut shaming, to toxic masculinity and the use of misogynistic language and the objectification of women, you'll want to ask ‘Is this allowed?’ The answer is yes, and it is necessary.” ~ Julia Moro, News Editor - The Good Five Cent Cigar - University of Rhode Island
“... it is exceptionally refreshing to read about a female character unashamed to flaunt her ego ... the novel has no shortage of characters that make an immediate impact on readers.” ~ The Daily Californian / UC Berkeley
“Debauchery, nonsense and some of the most hateable characters ever... I loved it! Darkly hilarious and sharply satirical, Sourpuss is fantastic fun to read.” ~ Amber S, NetGalley
About the Author
Merricat Mulwray is the collaboration of two sisters. They live in Los Angeles where they hatch plans and develop schemes, sometimes these turn into novels.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of Sourpuss by Merricat Mulwray (US/Canada only).
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