Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Purity by Skyler Mason

22 reviews

mels_reading_log's review

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emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I love an angst filled, steamy, romance novel, and this was exactly that.
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stephaniemcuervo's review

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

2.75

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julieokrzesik's review

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lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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nyx_999's review

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

3.0

Not bad but not a fan.

2½ smut scenes. 2 spicy scenes. One good sex scene. 

I had a hard time not taking brakes in the first 100 pages or so.

I actually didn't know how heavy this book is on Christianity and purity culture until read the foreword. I still read it and no bad feelings about it. 
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vasixox's review

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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kayaks's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

2.75/5 ⭐️’s

I’m shaking. I’m actually shaking…from a kiss.

My relationship this book is a mess. One minute I like it the next I want to bang my head against the wall and throw my kindle. I came across Purity on Booktok yesterday and immediately downloaded it after reading a singular quote. I really need to start doing more research because I could have helped lower my expectations.

This whole book centers on purity culture. I’m an atheist who has never practiced religion so there was never that aspect of truly understanding what our main character Livvy was struggling with. Still, I understood the heart of what she was saying, that society is not only incredibly toxic but also loves a good double standard. Even while being non-religious there are so things on Libby’s ‘Summer before Senior year of college Impurity List’ that made me scratch my head but it wasn’t that big of deal since it wasn’t an important part of the plot. 

My main disappointment and frustration with this book is that Livvy and Cole exhibited some of the best communication skills I’ve seen in a romance book while simultaneously never actually communicating about things that matter. There was a few times where I thought it was legit dream sequence because the things they were saying was far fetched (and no I’m not even talking about the spicy things, those were fine). 

Cole…he is incredibly toxic and possessive. I like my heroes and heroines morally grey most of the time but he was getting on my nerves. As was Livvy. I was rooting for her to stand up for herself and stop being so passive—but when she did I still felt like could have done better. Same thing with Cole. He went through some development that I appreciated but it all felt too fast. I’ll excuse that because the book itself is only 200 pages but I just wish the pacing was more even.

I’m not sure if I’ll continue with the next book in the series—I believe it’s about Livvy’s younger sister Vanessa but who knows. The short chapters and writing makes reading a breeze but I’m worried that it’s just going to be a repeat of this book (innocent naive girl x playboy douche bag). That trope is a fun guilty pleasure but sadly this book wasn’t that fun.

The 🌶 was excellent though. Got a lot spicier than I thought it would. I also did genuinely like the characters together when they weren’t being idiots. There were a few adorable scenes between the pair and I wish that energy would have stayed for the rest of the book.
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sophs_mood_reading's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Bookstagram made me do it and really I wished I hadn’t wasted my time. I think I only finished it as I wanted to know the ending and it was so short. I sped read through some chapters that were the female characters discussing god and purity as it was completely unrelatable for me. 
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teachreadrepeat's review

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This was... underwhelming. I did like that it called out purity culture, but both Livvy and Cole made me angry. I don't mind friends-to-lovers, but this was more "we've secretly been in love with each other since the day we met but made up stupid internal excuses so we can't be together." That's not the same thing; it felt like one huge miscommunication trope tied to religious beliefs instead which I found incredibly frustrating. Also, there was only 1 real spicy section in the book... I don't NEED copious amounts of spice in a romance book, but the premise of this one kinda calls for it in my opinion. The divorce storyline with Cole's parents also felt odd and did not serve the purpose I think the author wanted it to. From a girl who turned her back on purity culture in her 20s at a private Christian university and really struggled with it, I was hoping for so much more agency from the FMC and fulfillment from both parties involved. 
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kristirose's review

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

A recommendation from BookTok.  I grew up in Purity culture, so I couldn't resist this book when it came across my feed.  

The story is okay, but not spectacular.  The subplots concerning both of the leads parents were a bit distracting and depressing.  The main characters themselves are best friends; however, they didn't really talk to each other much.  To me, communication defines friends to lovers plots.
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crackedspinereviews's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 
May contain spoilers

Review: I am normally not a friends to lovers trope kinda girl because I think it's just too easy to overcome. However, throw in some purity culture/religious trauma and that's a whole different story. You can definitely tell this book is written by a less experienced author but that is more than made up for in the content understanding. This book was one I thoroughly enjoyed especially with my background of growing up in church. My main complaint is that I am just not a fan of a third quarter relationship issue based on misunderstandings. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who has any history in the church or purity culture and is trying to relearn themselves and their sexuality. 

Likes: deconstructing purity culture, friends to lovers with actual conflict besides just not wanting to run the friendship, strong FMC, sweet and overprotective MMC

Dislikes: The writing was a little lacking in some parts and could have been a little more developed.

Tropes: friends to lovers, breaking out of purity culture, virgin FMC, college romance

 
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