Reviews

Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles

ttreglown's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

al3xa's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

🎧

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lizziebennett's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

courtneysbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5/This book was just okay. It was humorous, easy to read, and tackled important topics; however, the main character was incredibly irritating.

mmotleyu's review against another edition

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4.0

Good concept with the purity pledge and about how high school gossip is rarely true. It felt a little preachy toward the end, but the message was strong and one that many high schooolers, male and female alike, need to understand with absolute clarity. I enjoyed the main character's voice and humor and his family relationships.

cosmicsyd's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

kiwi_00's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

It's so interesting to read about this topic in a book from the perspective of a male main character because I think it reminded me that even though men do have privilege and power under patriarchy, ultimately everyone loses. It really reminds me of Confessions Of An Alleged Good Girl by Joya Goffney. As a fiction book, Not So Pure And Simple does a really good job of showing how religion interacts with patriarchy to keep other more marginalised groups oppressed, especially within the Black community, this is juxtaposed with showing how much kids going through puberty need information from sex-ed classes especially with the questions that people in the purity pledge group were asking. My favourite part of the book has to be the
family intervention after Del blows up at Kiera and slutshames her. It's made clear that Del was in the wrong and he did a horrible thing to Kiera. Del's family show him that while he can feel sad and jealousy about his years-long crush not reciprocating his romantic feelings, that in no way allows him to feel entitled to her. I liked the positive Black masculinity role models shown through MJ and Del's dad
. Another thing this book does well is to show how church can be a big communal space that is important for lots of people but it can easily be a place where the wrong types of messages are pushed and humiliation is used to discipline.

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aalexander8's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

sphere_bates's review against another edition

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3.0

'Not So Pure and Simple' is a mixed bag for me.

It is told from the viewpoint of Del, a very horny teenage boy who has the hots for Kiera, a girl in the church his Mum drags him along to.

What I liked was that his misogynistic attitude about girls and his entitlement to them is challenged. He is a very self absorbed character; very rarely does he seriously think much about what Kiera actually wants, what she likes, what she believes in.

I can't remember what age he is supposed to be, if he's driving then probably 16- but I kept thinking he was younger than he actually was. Maybe it's a commentary on how extreme the purity culture was to the point that they were that ignorant. But they talked about sex more like younger teenagers did- like 13 or 14.

I was really surprised how a whole town would be that resistant against quality sex education, but I'm a Brit, not American, so it felt very educational on how the attitudes towards sex over there can be polarised. Purity Culture and Hookup Culture lie on opposite sides of extremes, both causing harm. I myself as a Christian have had many issues as to how the Church can handle the topic of sex.

However, it was very frustrating at times when it felt the author was hesitant to delve much further into why people choose to be celibate before sex for genuine reasons. Mya is perhaps the only character that comes close to this, but there is a point in the book where Del's sister mocks her for it, and she gives a lackluster reply. It still feeds into this narrative that people who choose that MUST be brainwashed; God forbid that they have actual reasons for doing so. 

This book focuses more on Del's attitudes towards women, and I did like how that was dealt with. What it failed in was to grasp and engage with the concept of faith in deeper and more meaningful ways. Every time I thought we'd dig into something interesting (like his Mum challenging them about he and his dad's snide comments about her going to church), we're steered away almost instantly.
The issue is solved with them 'church hopping'.
Del doesn't think too deeply about a belief in God, only making a few marked comments here and there. 

I read it as part of my research on novels that involve young Christian characters. Although this book does obviously involve such characters, it is not really about them. Del is an agnostic. This novel is a reflection of a wider attitude where it still feels that seeing the world from a perspective of a person of faith is taboo in modern literature, or in the YA genre at least. I give the author props for not demonising (with the exception of the pastor) religious people, and attempting to present them in a somewhat nuanced light. It was also refreshing that
Jameer's sexuality didn't stop him from believing in God (people are rarely ever that simple).


If you want a book focusing on how teenage boys get so much wrong about teenage girls, this is a good book for that. But on faith and everyday people of faith, for me, it still fell short.





lethoreads's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.25