'So F*cking Special: 1996' by Raye Murphy

So F*cking Special: 1996
Raye Murphy

Publisher: 
​RupertBossier

Pub Date: Mar. 15, 2024
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Genre:  
YA Romance
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​Synopsis:

July Elizabeth Edwards is stuck in the existence her pretentious, rural East Texas town has allotted her. A shift in social status junior year provokes unlikely ride or die friendships, others' secrets she's not allowed to tell, and an unexpected crush on the ambitious Adrian Reed. The result is far more insatiable than anyone anticipated.

Before cell phones and social media, walk the halls of Pure Pines High as they are set figuratively to a Soundtrack of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Counting Crows, R.E.M., The Cranberries and Radiohead... When the preps were challenged by the grunge phase, and polo shirts and loafers were traded in for flannel shirts and name brand combat boots. Their world was changing, and it was hard to remain CLUELESS.

She’s known and competed with him her entire life. He was conceited and arrogant. She was treading water to survive Pure Pines. When circumstances strip them of cheerleading and football, the odds throw a replacement neither of them expects, and something the halls of Pure Pines High are certain to reject. One touch, an out of ordinary lingering stare, and something ignites that won't die down, only does it count if it's a secret? How long will it stay behind closed doors? When love is denied, lust becomes unapologetic.

So F*cking Special: 1996, Book one of the YA to New Adult 90's Series hit number one in #lusttolove on its Wattpad debut, and won first place in the Enemies to Lovers Category for 2024's Ultimate Romance Awards.

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r e v i e w 

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'So F*cking Special: 1996' by Raye Murphy is a dual POV narrative focusing on a maybe they will/maybe they won't couple through the ups and downs of the high school social scene. 

Both July and Adrian, find themselves on different paths than the days prior to the opening of the story. One has made the choice deliberately and the other has not. 

What follows is a mutual struggle to adapt to their new journeys and the repercussions of those divergences. Some people are supportive, while others seem to exist to make them miserable.. though often the drama is awkward and feels forced.

To be honest, I was looking forward to this read. It sounded like a fun book and I especially liked that there seemed to be musical ties, which I typically enjoy. Unfortunately, the music theme.. labeled as a 'figurative soundtrack'.. feels out of step with the story completely. There's little to no correlation and the choices seem almost random at times. 

There are historical inaccuracies that actually kind of bothered me because they're obviously there to root the story in some reality.. like a cellphone reference that was off by about a decade. And truthfully, even though I love some of the music referrenced, most of it was gone out of mainstream and not really the common high school playlist by 1996.. but we'll give that one a pass. Maybe their East Texas town was just slower catching up.

Frankly, there are more important things to complain about anyway.. like the over-exaggerated focus on a specific pair of body parts.. aloud.. by everyone who sees them over the course of just a few pages. Or my belief that, despite the fact this book isn't self-published and is actually released by a boutique publisher with multiple books under their belt.. it's desperately in need of someone with experience in development edits. 

All in all, it's a bit of a disappointment and it worries me that there's a book two on the way while this one is in the condition it's in currently. I knew I was in trouble when the book started with the most awkward action in a scene I'd read in years, something that didn't even make reasonable physical sense in my mind.. not because it's impossible, but because it's improbable. I tried it. It's as uncomfortable as it sounds. 


Anyway, if you're looking for a quick read and don't care about any of the above, but enjoy the high school setting.. maybe still give this a try. Otherwise, it might be best to move on. 

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About the Author:
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​Author Raye Murphy… A Texas native turned Los Angeles transplant for film and television writing, Raye couldn’t shake the Gen X vibes of growing up in a rural area and moving to a big city, so she wrote about it.

“No matter how far you go or how long you stay gone, there are parts of you that will never come back home, and parts that never left” ~

​Why does she continue to write? “At risk of quoting Fraulein Maria from The Sound of Music—’these are a few of my favorite things’

AUTHOR LINKS: RAYEMURPHY.COM | GOODREADS | TIKTOK