Reviewed:
The Tag Universe* is just about the last place I'd have expected to find a new story by a third-party author, but Punky Girl's effort is a surprisingly good fit. The basic premise revolves around a game called "Tag" in which young, naïve high school girls compete for the dubious title "The Biggest Slut in School" and the results, naturally, are not always pretty for all concerned.
In each of the original stories, the focus was on a single girl, one of the players, and her relationships with friends and family and the apparent ringleader, a senior named Heather. Punky Girl's story is a bit of a departure from that and in a good way, I think. She's expanded and detailed the world to a greater degree, using the game to drive an external plot. It's a slightly different take on the original and that's how it should be, the reader gains a different perspective and new insights into the universe and the people who inhabit it.
Technically, Punky girl's writing is very good, as it always seems to be, and it's a real pleasure to read a story without having to translate poor grammar and spelling into something readable. Her words flow easily and her characters' dialogue is perhaps what I enjoy most. How difficult or easy it is to pen natural, realistic dialogue – even in the most unrealistic situations – I cannot say with certainty, but I do know that a lot of authors suffer for it. Punky Girl's conversations may at times offend, amuse, inform, and confuse the reader, just like real life, but they're always entertaining as well. I can't say that about reality!
On the down side, there is a lot going on in this story and lot of information the author wants to share. That's a good thing, as my Aunt Martha used to say before she went to prison. It demonstrates the author's enthusiasm and gives us that rich tapestry, but it can also slow things down in places. Punky Girl likes to give readers an abundance of detail and the pacing occasionally reflects that. It's a see-saw battle that authors have been fighting since we lived in caves and striking the balance isn't easy. Most readers will hardly notice, I'm sure, and in truth it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story at all.
The bottom line here is that the story is well written and offers not only a different take on the Tag Universe, but a fresh vehicle for the age old theme of vengeance. The idea of the game itself, and some of the characters and events, may seem far fetched at first, but Punky Girl is able to draw her audience in, submerge the reader in a new and different world, and let us forget mundane reality for a little bit. And that's pretty much what I'm looking for in a good story.
So far as the sex goes, this is one of those stories where the sex is very central to plot and character development and so the scenes, by definition, are not gratuitous. The sex has a definite purpose and Punky Girl can dish out some hot imagery, as anyone who's read her previously can attest. This isn't a stroke story, although some readers will doubtless read certain chapters with one hand below the belt, and I think it's just another good example of how erotica doesn't have to be labeled pornographic by virtue of its masculine treatment of sex.
But that's a whole other subject for another time and place and I've waxed prosaic long enough. Right?
Jais
*To avoid misunderstanding, it must be disclosed for the record that the reviewer is the author of the original "Tag" material.
Reviewed: - (Review Updated: )
Rachael Ross' "Tag: The Game" series would seem ripe for contributions from other authors, much like the "Naked in School" universe. "Tag" has the advantage of being in a recognizable high school setting, and as Ms. Ross demonstrated in her four entries, a variety of different stories can be told within its framework.
Punky Girl is the first to take up the challenge, with "Tag Alina: Instrument of Revenge," a worthy addition to the series. It has all the trappings of the Ross stories, an underground "game" played out at a high school, in which a chosen handful of girls are forced or blackmailed into being sexually used over a period of a few weeks by any and all of those who have paid to play, with only the game's winner spared having her sluttish behaviour exposed online.
Punky Girl's angle is the comeuppance of a political and religious hypocrite, the story obviously inspired by a certain former U.S. governor and darling of the right wing, whose unmarried teenage daughter became impregnated but has somehow become the poster child for abstinence-only sex education.
There are no sympathetic characters, but that doesn't get in the way of plenty of nasty fun. Punky Girl is good at writing this kind of story; her first tale, "Trailer Trash Teen," had a similar theme of a protagonist who finds circumstance and her own treacherous body driving her steadily into debauchery. Alina's degradation from leading "purity" rallies to becoming a complete slut is deliciously spelled out, although a scene early in the story showing her holier-than-thou nature would have made her descent even more enjoyable.
Punky Girl gets high marks for stroke value, and though she's working within an established format, she still gets credit for a strong plot. She doesn't pull any punches, and anyone looking for salvation for the "victim" will be disappointed. Everyone else will be thoroughly pleased.