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lebana's review against another edition
lighthearted
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
2.75
lmplovesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Mara is the super achiever A student involved in multiple activities and on the fast track to Yale. Enter her one-year-younger niece and her feelings for her older boss that cause her to re-evaluate her life and goals. It is sad to see her opt for the ordinary at the end.
romanaromana's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.0
2 stars.
[Content warnings: a dodgy age gap relationship (17yo x 22yo); slut-shaming; weed; mentions of sexual assault/harassment. Nothing in this review].
In short, this book has not aged well.
Speaking of age...yeah. There are only a couple of sentences at most which attempt to digest the fact that the protagonist - a 17-year-old girl - has a love interest who is 22 years old AND her boss. There was also very little actual romance to help readers understand why the protagonist is so swept up in this guy anyway - she just, like, decides he's cute and he can carry a conversation. That's kind of it.
The other supporting characters also felt under-developed. V is an interesting character with heaps of potential, but what began explosively was very quickly subdued and she became a filler of sorts - occupying Mara's parents and not doing much else.
I was similarly disappointed by how things developed with Travis and Bethany - the latter of whom faded from the narrative completely.
I suppose Mara herself was decently written, and I was at least clearer on who she was and how she changed over the course of the book. But I didn't particularly care for her, and a lot of my thoughts were clouded by the 'romance' which unnecessarily (and worryingly) occupied so much of her time and attention in the narrative.
Ultimately, there wasn't much driving me to keep reading Vegan Virgin Valentine. It's incredibly short so at least that made it easier to finish without the usual hook or clear arc I would enjoy.
[Content warnings: a dodgy age gap relationship (17yo x 22yo); slut-shaming; weed; mentions of sexual assault/harassment. Nothing in this review].
In short, this book has not aged well.
Speaking of age...yeah. There are only a couple of sentences at most which attempt to digest the fact that the protagonist - a 17-year-old girl - has a love interest who is 22 years old AND her boss. There was also very little actual romance to help readers understand why the protagonist is so swept up in this guy anyway - she just, like, decides he's cute and he can carry a conversation. That's kind of it.
The other supporting characters also felt under-developed. V is an interesting character with heaps of potential, but what began explosively was very quickly subdued and she became a filler of sorts - occupying Mara's parents and not doing much else.
I was similarly disappointed by how things developed with Travis and Bethany - the latter of whom faded from the narrative completely.
I suppose Mara herself was decently written, and I was at least clearer on who she was and how she changed over the course of the book. But I didn't particularly care for her, and a lot of my thoughts were clouded by the 'romance' which unnecessarily (and worryingly) occupied so much of her time and attention in the narrative.
Ultimately, there wasn't much driving me to keep reading Vegan Virgin Valentine. It's incredibly short so at least that made it easier to finish without the usual hook or clear arc I would enjoy.
everydayreading's review against another edition
3.0
Fine, but not great. I liked Carolyn Mackler's other book better.
saraheme's review against another edition
I admit it, I really liked it. The title is bad but it's pretty good as far as this genre goes.
librarybonanza's review against another edition
2.0
Age: Middle School-High School
As a nice, quick summer read, this does its duty but there were some obnoxious parts that I couldn't get around. The protagonist has a unique, yet slightly annoying, perfectionist personality. She's top of her class and can't wait to enter college as a second-year student (due to all her AP credits and college courses). I've never came across this scenario in YA lit so it was refreshing.
One thing that bothered me was that Mara's veganism becomes an obstacle that she must overcome to prove her growth as a character. This sucks because I was excited to read a book about a vegan character. There are also a few slight homophobic statements that were slid into the story for no real reason.
As a nice, quick summer read, this does its duty but there were some obnoxious parts that I couldn't get around. The protagonist has a unique, yet slightly annoying, perfectionist personality. She's top of her class and can't wait to enter college as a second-year student (due to all her AP credits and college courses). I've never came across this scenario in YA lit so it was refreshing.
One thing that bothered me was that Mara's veganism becomes an obstacle that she must overcome to prove her growth as a character. This sucks because I was excited to read a book about a vegan character. There are also a few slight homophobic statements that were slid into the story for no real reason.
englishlitlady's review against another edition
Read this years ago, really enjoyed it!
afictionalcat's review against another edition
4.0
This is a cute book. I didn't really expect it but I enjoyed this fast read. Mara is the smartest kid in school-- or at least she's tied for that spot with her ex-boyfriend in a rather heated race for valedictorian.
And then in changes when her sister's daughter, who happens to be the same age as her, comes to live with them.
I thought the characters are fun, and I liked Mara and V in very different ways and I did enjoy this read and I am definitely going on to the next in the series.
And then in changes when her sister's daughter, who happens to be the same age as her, comes to live with them.
I thought the characters are fun, and I liked Mara and V in very different ways and I did enjoy this read and I am definitely going on to the next in the series.
niceisneat's review against another edition
3.0
This is a book about: grilled cheese sandwiches, endless amounts of driving, siblings with large age gaps, soy cheese, having old parents, passive aggressive ex-boyfriend revenge schemes, and study habits.
Summary: Mara is a moral, uptight high school senior under extreme pressure. Her parents have another, much older daughter who never quite matured past her late teens and because of this, Mara feels like she needs to be as perfect as possible in order to make up for Aimee's free-spirited lifestyle. Aimee has a daughter named V who is only one year younger than her Aunt Mara, but could not be more different. When the confident, rebellious V comes to live with Mara and her parents after Aimee moves to Costa Rica, personalities collide, insults fly, and neither will come out the same.
The good:
-I first read Vegan Virgin Valentine around 2006 or 2007, when I myself was in high school. I loved it. Mara and I are so similar, from our height (I win) to my wannabe vegan status (she wins), from the possibility of entering university as a sophomore (I win) to extreme organization and control issues (she wins). I saw a lot of myself in her and it gave me a very personal reading of the novel.
-I appreciated that Mara realized from the start that her personality was a direct result of feeling that she needed to live up to parents' high expectations of what a perfect daughter should be. She didn't need to go on some journey in order to learn this; it was simply there from the get-go. I think this something that nearly everyone will relate to- the pressure to live up to one's parents' standards can be stifling- and in a YA world where oftentimes parents are completely absent from narratives, it was nice to see the bittersweet love-them-but-hate-them relationship between Mara and hers.
-The Mara/Travis GPA war is so realistic. It reminds me of my junior and senior years of high school, when grades weren't something we did for college or pride or ourselves, but in order to win bragging rights over the classmates we secretly hated. While my school didn't have valedictorians or salutatorians (the administration worried it would inspire unhealthy competition among students, even though we were already competing unhealthily anyway), Mara and Travis' heated race for the top spot was nostalgic and realistic and sometimes even funny.
-This may sound weird, but one thing I appreciate the most about this novel is that Mara cries. All the time. It's become such a trend to have female protagonists who refuse to cry because it's "too girly" or "annoying" or because she believes crying is shameful. Mara isn't like that. When she's sad, she cries. When she's frustrated, she cries tears of frustration. When she's happy, she cries happy tears.
The bad:
- Mara is super judgmental. Whenever a new person appears, she makes quick assessments that sometimes are funny, but also can be pretty mean. The most obvious example would be V and the slut-shaming, but there are more subtle instances, such as when a young-looking man and an overweight woman come to the coffee shop where Mara works and her immediate assumption is that they're only dating because he has deep-seated mommy issues and she's desperate for a baby.
-V and the slut-shaming. Mara is super gross about V kissing and having sex with multiple partners.
-Furthermore, the story is supposedly about Mara and V, but V is all but dropped about halfway through
-In fact, Mara drops a lot of things for James.), so her reasoning is also incredibly selfish. And obviously there is nothing wrong with not entering college as a sophomore, but she told her parents she was going to and they were planning on her doing it. That's what they were financially prepared for. She never once thinks of the implications that an extra, unnecessary year's tuition and fees at Yale will have for her family.
The downright confusing:
-Marijuana is not the worst thing that can happen to the world and yet Mara acts like it is? V smokes once at the beginning and immediately Mara is up in arms about how she must be a terrible person.
-Mara often equates her virginity with her uptightness. She believes that "maybe with the right person [she] could learn to give up some control," which doesn't sit well. It's okay to just not be ready. Not wanting to have sex doesn't mean there's something wrong with you.
Overall: The thing about Vegan Virgin Valentine is that there isn't really a plot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the book is more of a character study- it's Mara and her relationships with others that matter rather than a story of overcoming obstacles. Mara doesn't need outside obstacles, because she is her own obstacle.
As I said before, I loved this book in high school. After rereading, I still hold a soft spot for Mara. I still see a lot of myself in her. But the slut-shaming and the Johns Hopkins/James thing bugged me so much that I can't say I love it anymore. I just like it.
3 stars
Summary: Mara is a moral, uptight high school senior under extreme pressure. Her parents have another, much older daughter who never quite matured past her late teens and because of this, Mara feels like she needs to be as perfect as possible in order to make up for Aimee's free-spirited lifestyle. Aimee has a daughter named V who is only one year younger than her Aunt Mara, but could not be more different. When the confident, rebellious V comes to live with Mara and her parents after Aimee moves to Costa Rica, personalities collide, insults fly, and neither will come out the same.
The good:
-I first read Vegan Virgin Valentine around 2006 or 2007, when I myself was in high school. I loved it. Mara and I are so similar, from our height (I win) to my wannabe vegan status (she wins), from the possibility of entering university as a sophomore (I win) to extreme organization and control issues (she wins). I saw a lot of myself in her and it gave me a very personal reading of the novel.
-I appreciated that Mara realized from the start that her personality was a direct result of feeling that she needed to live up to parents' high expectations of what a perfect daughter should be. She didn't need to go on some journey in order to learn this; it was simply there from the get-go. I think this something that nearly everyone will relate to- the pressure to live up to one's parents' standards can be stifling- and in a YA world where oftentimes parents are completely absent from narratives, it was nice to see the bittersweet love-them-but-hate-them relationship between Mara and hers.
-The Mara/Travis GPA war is so realistic. It reminds me of my junior and senior years of high school, when grades weren't something we did for college or pride or ourselves, but in order to win bragging rights over the classmates we secretly hated. While my school didn't have valedictorians or salutatorians (the administration worried it would inspire unhealthy competition among students, even though we were already competing unhealthily anyway), Mara and Travis' heated race for the top spot was nostalgic and realistic and sometimes even funny.
-This may sound weird, but one thing I appreciate the most about this novel is that Mara cries. All the time. It's become such a trend to have female protagonists who refuse to cry because it's "too girly" or "annoying" or because she believes crying is shameful. Mara isn't like that. When she's sad, she cries. When she's frustrated, she cries tears of frustration. When she's happy, she cries happy tears.
The bad:
- Mara is super judgmental. Whenever a new person appears, she makes quick assessments that sometimes are funny, but also can be pretty mean. The most obvious example would be V and the slut-shaming, but there are more subtle instances, such as when a young-looking man and an overweight woman come to the coffee shop where Mara works and her immediate assumption is that they're only dating because he has deep-seated mommy issues and she's desperate for a baby.
-V and the slut-shaming. Mara is super gross about V kissing and having sex with multiple partners.
Spoiler
This wouldn't be a bad point if Mara had outgrown her shaming during the narrative, but she doesn't really. In the end, rather than Mara learning to accept V's promiscuity, V has to learn to be more conservative. It's not a great message to send.-Furthermore, the story is supposedly about Mara and V, but V is all but dropped about halfway through
Spoiler
and the book becomes almost entirely about Mara and James.-In fact, Mara drops a lot of things for James.
Spoiler
She drops out of the Johns Hopkins summer program to be with him and I know she says it's also because she doesn't want to enter Yale as a 2nd-year because she'll "rush over her freshman year", but it's fairly obvious that she's really doing it for James. And the idea that she'd be "losing a year" is such rich-kid reasoning, it's infuriating. To get way too partial here, I had the opportunity to enter my university as a 2nd-year and I took it, because it would save my family about $35,000 and I worked myself ragged to do it. It makes me so angry that Mara not only dropped that opportunity for a boy whom she knew she would have to dump before Yale anyway, but that she didn't even think twice about it because she assumes that mommy and daddy have an extra $60,000 lying around (which is how much Yale costs per year, I looked it up). Plus, her parents now have another child (their granddaughter V) to send to college (Spoiler
in the sequel, V gets into Boston University, which costs about $45,000 a year, so Dr and Mrs Valentine will now be spending over $100k a year for the 3-year-minimum overlap when both girls are in collegeThe downright confusing:
-Marijuana is not the worst thing that can happen to the world and yet Mara acts like it is? V smokes once at the beginning and immediately Mara is up in arms about how she must be a terrible person.
-Mara often equates her virginity with her uptightness. She believes that "maybe with the right person [she] could learn to give up some control," which doesn't sit well. It's okay to just not be ready. Not wanting to have sex doesn't mean there's something wrong with you.
Overall: The thing about Vegan Virgin Valentine is that there isn't really a plot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the book is more of a character study- it's Mara and her relationships with others that matter rather than a story of overcoming obstacles. Mara doesn't need outside obstacles, because she is her own obstacle.
As I said before, I loved this book in high school. After rereading, I still hold a soft spot for Mara. I still see a lot of myself in her. But the slut-shaming and the Johns Hopkins/James thing bugged me so much that I can't say I love it anymore. I just like it.
3 stars
zoeythekat's review against another edition
2.0
I remember really enjoying this book when I read it in high school but...I feel differently about ~everything~ on this side of 20.