Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - Not So Pure and Simple

Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles

13 reviews

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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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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bookrecsondeck's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

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kkaur23's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective tense 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

4.5

Not So Pure and Simple is a fantastic read. This is one of few novels I recommend teens consider based on their maturity and readiness to read about sex, relationships, and graphic details. Though it has a fair amount of graphic content, it is purposeful and highlights important conversations young adults should be having with their grown ups. It does also question the role of the church and the main character grows through the process of understanding what role church and faith play in his life.

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conceptuallysound's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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carolined314's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring slow-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

4.0

Young Black boy accidentally joins a Purity club in pursuit of his crush, small town politics, religion, and sex all well discussed, and it's funny.

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space_bandit's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.75

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meleac07's review against another edition

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challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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bendersreads's review

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challenging emotional funny reflective tense slow-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

5.0

This book is forever in my head.

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destdest's review against another edition

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funny 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

4.25

There is an ever-present layer of general f**kboyish-ness in general (being a “nice” guy, double standards of teen pregnancy, objectification of women’s bodies, scoring how many girls you can sleep with, boys go have sex; girls stay pure, male entitlement, etc). Know that in advance it may make the story annoying for the average female reader. I know there were many times I was annoyed. But I think having the book coming from Del’s perspective helps call some things out without coming off preachy.

Beyond that, I found Del’s narrative fun. He had a strong voice. I loved Jameer! Del was always hilariously wondering if they were going to have to come to blows. The Purity Pledgers also captured my heart. I enjoyed how the story tackled that the lack of sex education can be very <b>harmful</b>. There were many times I had to laugh at the dialogue and how much of a butthole Qwan was lol.

I’m very familiar with the purity pledge especially at a Black church. So, it was relatable to me (they had a Harvest Fest; any Christian kid growing up knows the Halloween alternative parties: Hallelujah Night, Light the Night, etc). I also love that the characters weren’t just black or white, the church and the non-church goers. Neither gets demonized here.

Overall, I don’t regret reading this. I think I’m becoming a fan of Lamar Giles’ work. I would watch a Netflix adaption of this.

Ending spoilers/rambling:

so GLAD! Kiera didn’t get with Del. He was always pushing up on her in ways that made her uncomfortable. Some probably won’t like the Mya angle, but I figured they had a connection there. I was expecting Del to remain single.

I read some reviews that were uncomfortable with Del’s brunt of realization coming after he found out his sister was sexually-assaulted. I hate to say it, but this is mad realistic. I know of way too many men, cousins even, that want to talk about who all is a hoe here and there, but until something happened unfavorably to their mom or sister, they doubled down on their misogyny. A lot of guys will even tell you they only care about the women in their family and everyone else can get mistreated. There can also be a lack of accountability when their guy friends are acting gross.

With Pastor Newsome getting off scot-free after all his mess, have you been to a church lately? Call a pastor out publicly at church. You better be ready to bob and weave. The majority of the pastor’s supporters will skin you alive. That’s why most people just vote with their feet. A lot of indecent, abusive pastors stay in power because it takes a lot of courage to call out a pastor who has purposefully done wrong. I definitely agree Del’s mom should not have allowed the pastor to bully her son/left the church. I mean, eventually they find a new church, but only, after all the damage has been done.

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