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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
HS romance - didn’t realize when I first saw it. I always like to read books in order even when the author says each book can be a standalone so went ahead and got it without reading the description since I wanted to read the second book.
it was a fun read, but there were several things I didn't enjoy so much.
generally, there was so much going on that it makes you question...why. so many sideplots and not much on character development. the relationship was so rushed that it didn't feel believable at all.
the single bipoc character felt like an add-on, flat and frankly questionable. a lot of the plot points felt recycled from other YA books. I really like Katie and I've followed her channel for a long time, so I was interested in reading this book. The main character's interaction with her best friend and sister were the one redeemable quality for me. I wish there had been more fleshed out characters instead of their one interest being repeated over and over. In general, the book didn't flow and it tried to do too much in too little time.
also, the almost-boyfriend is supposed to be an aspiring writer and he told the main character the plot of this children's book he was writing and ........... it was literally so lame and not interesting or inspiring at all... wow. (when she says his story sounds amazing I almost spit my water out, thanks)
generally, there was so much going on that it makes you question...why. so many sideplots and not much on character development. the relationship was so rushed that it didn't feel believable at all.
the single bipoc character felt like an add-on, flat and frankly questionable. a lot of the plot points felt recycled from other YA books. I really like Katie and I've followed her channel for a long time, so I was interested in reading this book. The main character's interaction with her best friend and sister were the one redeemable quality for me. I wish there had been more fleshed out characters instead of their one interest being repeated over and over. In general, the book didn't flow and it tried to do too much in too little time.
also, the almost-boyfriend is supposed to be an aspiring writer and he told the main character the plot of this children's book he was writing and ........... it was literally so lame and not interesting or inspiring at all... wow. (when she says his story sounds amazing I almost spit my water out, thanks)
Meh. I feel like I was never really clear on if the main character was actually raped or not, which made the rest of the story entirely confusing. Some things said made me think she got away before the actual rape, but other things said made it seem it did happen. Anyway, nothing really new or earth shattering in this story to make it stand out or unique. Maybe I have read too many teen rape novels. In the end, she seems fine, as if nothing really happened, which seemed kind of odd and flippant. Probably would not recommend.
3.5 stars.
b>Have you ever read a really good book, and it's like magic? It's so well-written that reading it feels like listening to your favorite song?"
I have been on the hunt for a hard-hitting contemporary, and Katie's book came at the perfect time. overall, I enjoyed this book immensely for various reasons. A point of interest I had with this book was the balance between Christianity and Atheism. I found that this book nailed it - at least in a way where I found it relatable, particularly when our main character feels as though she is suffocating under the beliefs of her parents. I will say that this book is centered on an atheist's point of view; therefore, if you are looking for a positive voice in regards to religion, this may not be the book for you. With that, I still believe it is worth reading to see a different perspective on conflicting beliefs.
One of my favorite aspects of 'The Anti-Virginity Pact' is the sisterly bond. I found Mare and Harper's relationship quite endearing and realistic, especially towards the end of the novel. Also, there is a character in this book named Sam who I just adored. Overall, my general appreciation for this book was that it felt like real life.
There are many triggers, including sexual abuse, animal abuse, bullying, and of course, religion. One of the dislikes I had with this book was that there almost seemed to be too much going on. For instance, the plot involving animal abuse could have been done away with as it seemed unnecessary. However, I understand that this was used as a plot point between two of the characters.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a high school-aged, hard-hitting contemporary.
b>Have you ever read a really good book, and it's like magic? It's so well-written that reading it feels like listening to your favorite song?"
I have been on the hunt for a hard-hitting contemporary, and Katie's book came at the perfect time. overall, I enjoyed this book immensely for various reasons. A point of interest I had with this book was the balance between Christianity and Atheism. I found that this book nailed it - at least in a way where I found it relatable, particularly when our main character feels as though she is suffocating under the beliefs of her parents. I will say that this book is centered on an atheist's point of view; therefore, if you are looking for a positive voice in regards to religion, this may not be the book for you. With that, I still believe it is worth reading to see a different perspective on conflicting beliefs.
One of my favorite aspects of 'The Anti-Virginity Pact' is the sisterly bond. I found Mare and Harper's relationship quite endearing and realistic, especially towards the end of the novel. Also, there is a character in this book named Sam who I just adored. Overall, my general appreciation for this book was that it felt like real life.
There are many triggers, including sexual abuse, animal abuse, bullying, and of course, religion. One of the dislikes I had with this book was that there almost seemed to be too much going on. For instance, the plot involving animal abuse could have been done away with as it seemed unnecessary. However, I understand that this was used as a plot point between two of the characters.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a high school-aged, hard-hitting contemporary.
I received an advance readers copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Disclaimer: I have no hate or negative feelings towards this author. I requested the ARC from NetGalley to support the author. I watch her YouTube channel and love her vlogs.
This book follows 18-year-old Meredith Beaumont. She's the daughter of a preacher in a super religious family while struggling with her own beliefs with God. With a push from her best friend, Johanna, they make a pact to lose their virginities before they graduate and head off to college. Things start to look up when Meredith starts dating Sam and coming out of her shell, but when the pact gets out Meredith is no longer invisible. Words are whispered behind her back and guys are offering to complete her pact.
Starting with Meredith as the main character. We are in her head the whole book but for being 'invisible' people really like to bully her. Everything she does goes against someone who has crippling anxiety and has to take medicine to help with it. I didn't really connect with Meredith.
Johana. She is Meredith's best friend. She is supposed to be the complete opposite of Meredith. She has no filter just blurting everything that comes to mind. She decides that she's going to lose her v-card to a TEACHER. Meredith warns her that it's a bad idea (because it is) and what does Johana do? She ignores her. For a whole day. Then who has to apologize? Meredith. For not supporting her friend in her dumb decision (which is stupid). Then (because everyone saw it coming) it didn't end well because he's a TEACHER.
Sam. Poor ol' Sam. He gets dragged into this whole Meredith thing because she decides (with a couple of swift pushes) that he is who she is going to lose her v-card too. Sam just likes Meredith. He likes that she's easy to talk to and understands his dreams (unlike his father). You find out that he's father is a drunk and they fight over Sam's decision to pursue writing and journalism in college. But that's it. He doesn't get any kind of wrap up for his story. He finds out about that pact and then breaks it off with Meredith and then that's the end of Sam
Ashley. She's just a big old bitch. She gets somewhat of a redemption arc and a wrap up to her story instead of Sam. I didn't think she deserved it. She kidnapped Meredith and left her for dead because her boyfriend was trying to find other means of getting laid since she wasn't ready to lose her v-card to him. JUST BREAK UP WITH HIM
Moving on to the plot. I feel like there were a lot of things that were put out there and they just hung out there. This could've been a great message about religion and families with blind belief but it wasn't that. The whole book just made everything about religion seem evil. I didn't like that. Meredith tells her parents in the end that she believes in science and not God. So their response is to try and send her off to a boot camp of religion. Black vans show up with FBI like guys trying to haul her away. Far more dramatic than anything that would really happen. (then after making a whole thing about it, calling the police, making they sign something saying they won't try something like that again. Meredith MOVES BACK HOME. um, wat)
There's also a part where her dad sees a penis in her sister's textbook for Health. He decides to band together with other parents at their church to try and remove that from being taught in the class. No. Just have them be removed from school. That was also never wrapped up. You don't find out what happened with that.
Now let's talk about dogfighting. I don't think this plotline was needed at all. The author talks about trigger warnings for this book and animal abuse is one of them. This plotline could be removed from that book and pretty much nothing would be affected by it. Sam just wouldn't have had a reason to come back and talk to Meredith about the pact. I think this was just a way to make the fact that Meredith volunteers at an animal shelter more than just that. She volunteers at an animal shelter. (also, there are moments in the book where she refers to it as a job and her having to work. you don't get paid to volunteer.)
Now the pact. Meredith ignores all of Sam's calls and texts because she just assumes that he heard about the pact. She doesn't want to face him. Makes sense except for the fact that he goes to a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCHOOL than she does. Yes, there could be a chance for it to be passed by word of mouth but also not really.
You are also lead to believe by the synopsis that Meredith meets Sam after the pact comes out but she meets him like 7 percent of the way into the book and the pact doesn't come out until Chapter 15.
Ashley's brother is a rapist. She tries to stop Meredith from coming forward when he attacks Meredith at a party. He's done it to multiple girls. Ashely randomly decides to come forward to speak against him at the end of the book.
Meredith's sister may or may not be homosexual. It comes up after some girls decide to be terrible people and make things up (except it's true). It is only referred to as 'dyke' five times. That is the only way it is given a label in the book.
This review really got away from me.
Things that I've concluded from reading this book:
It doesn't have the same tone as what you get from reading the synopsis on Goodreads. I thought this book was going to be darker. All of the rigger warnings given by the Author are valid and in the book. I just don't think they are intense enough to be a trigger. Meredith's anxiety wasn't as intense as I thought it would be. The dog fight wasn't needed, I thought I was reading a different book when that plotline was wrapped up.
The only thing I really enjoy about this book was the writing (for the most part) and the small number of cute scenes between Meredith and Sam before everything goes downhill. I didn't completely hate this book but it really wasn't my favorite.
I had really high hopes for this book and maybe that was my first mistake. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Disclaimer: I have no hate or negative feelings towards this author. I requested the ARC from NetGalley to support the author. I watch her YouTube channel and love her vlogs.
This book follows 18-year-old Meredith Beaumont. She's the daughter of a preacher in a super religious family while struggling with her own beliefs with God. With a push from her best friend, Johanna, they make a pact to lose their virginities before they graduate and head off to college. Things start to look up when Meredith starts dating Sam and coming out of her shell, but when the pact gets out Meredith is no longer invisible. Words are whispered behind her back and guys are offering to complete her pact.
Starting with Meredith as the main character. We are in her head the whole book but for being 'invisible' people really like to bully her. Everything she does goes against someone who has crippling anxiety and has to take medicine to help with it. I didn't really connect with Meredith.
Johana. She is Meredith's best friend. She is supposed to be the complete opposite of Meredith. She has no filter just blurting everything that comes to mind. She decides that she's going to lose her v-card to a TEACHER. Meredith warns her that it's a bad idea (because it is) and what does Johana do? She ignores her. For a whole day. Then who has to apologize? Meredith. For not supporting her friend in her dumb decision (which is stupid). Then (because everyone saw it coming) it didn't end well because he's a TEACHER.
Sam. Poor ol' Sam. He gets dragged into this whole Meredith thing because she decides (with a couple of swift pushes) that he is who she is going to lose her v-card too. Sam just likes Meredith. He likes that she's easy to talk to and understands his dreams (unlike his father). You find out that he's father is a drunk and they fight over Sam's decision to pursue writing and journalism in college. But that's it. He doesn't get any kind of wrap up for his story. He finds out about that pact and then breaks it off with Meredith and then that's the end of Sam
Ashley. She's just a big old bitch. She gets somewhat of a redemption arc and a wrap up to her story instead of Sam. I didn't think she deserved it. She kidnapped Meredith and left her for dead because her boyfriend was trying to find other means of getting laid since she wasn't ready to lose her v-card to him. JUST BREAK UP WITH HIM
Moving on to the plot. I feel like there were a lot of things that were put out there and they just hung out there. This could've been a great message about religion and families with blind belief but it wasn't that. The whole book just made everything about religion seem evil. I didn't like that. Meredith tells her parents in the end that she believes in science and not God. So their response is to try and send her off to a boot camp of religion. Black vans show up with FBI like guys trying to haul her away. Far more dramatic than anything that would really happen. (then after making a whole thing about it, calling the police, making they sign something saying they won't try something like that again. Meredith MOVES BACK HOME. um, wat)
There's also a part where her dad sees a penis in her sister's textbook for Health. He decides to band together with other parents at their church to try and remove that from being taught in the class. No. Just have them be removed from school. That was also never wrapped up. You don't find out what happened with that.
Now let's talk about dogfighting. I don't think this plotline was needed at all. The author talks about trigger warnings for this book and animal abuse is one of them. This plotline could be removed from that book and pretty much nothing would be affected by it. Sam just wouldn't have had a reason to come back and talk to Meredith about the pact. I think this was just a way to make the fact that Meredith volunteers at an animal shelter more than just that. She volunteers at an animal shelter. (also, there are moments in the book where she refers to it as a job and her having to work. you don't get paid to volunteer.)
Now the pact. Meredith ignores all of Sam's calls and texts because she just assumes that he heard about the pact. She doesn't want to face him. Makes sense except for the fact that he goes to a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCHOOL than she does. Yes, there could be a chance for it to be passed by word of mouth but also not really.
You are also lead to believe by the synopsis that Meredith meets Sam after the pact comes out but she meets him like 7 percent of the way into the book and the pact doesn't come out until Chapter 15.
Ashley's brother is a rapist. She tries to stop Meredith from coming forward when he attacks Meredith at a party. He's done it to multiple girls. Ashely randomly decides to come forward to speak against him at the end of the book.
Meredith's sister may or may not be homosexual. It comes up after some girls decide to be terrible people and make things up (except it's true). It is only referred to as 'dyke' five times. That is the only way it is given a label in the book.
This review really got away from me.
Things that I've concluded from reading this book:
It doesn't have the same tone as what you get from reading the synopsis on Goodreads. I thought this book was going to be darker. All of the rigger warnings given by the Author are valid and in the book. I just don't think they are intense enough to be a trigger. Meredith's anxiety wasn't as intense as I thought it would be. The dog fight wasn't needed, I thought I was reading a different book when that plotline was wrapped up.
The only thing I really enjoy about this book was the writing (for the most part) and the small number of cute scenes between Meredith and Sam before everything goes downhill. I didn't completely hate this book but it really wasn't my favorite.
I had really high hopes for this book and maybe that was my first mistake. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, so thank you so much to them!
Let me first clear the bias out of the way and say that I am a huge fan of Katie and her YouTube channel, but that in no way influenced my critical review of her work. I rated this book 4 stars because, in my opinion, it’s a 4 star read and I would have rated it as such regardless of who wrote it. I also read her published poetry collection, The Sweetest Kind of Poison, about 6 months ago and rated that collection 5 stars.
This is the first published novel by Katie and I was really excited when she finally announced it, and I was even more excited when I was granted an early review copy. This is a hard-hitting YA contemporary that focuses on Mare, a senior in high school who makes a pact with her best friend to lose their virginities before going off to college. But that synopsis is just scratching the surface to what this book is about. This book provides a coming of age story, family and friendship dynamics/relationships, bullying, debates on religion, discovering sexuality, and a sprinkle of romance.
I thought Mare was a very interesting character to read from, especially when it came to the relationship with the rest of her family. Mare’s parents have strong religious ties, while Mare considers herself an atheist (but closeted amongst her family). I can see how the debate on religion can be frustrating for people who are strong believers (I am not), but I found this the most interesting and well-done piece of this story. Aside from Mare’s differing religious standpoint, her little sister is gay and doesn’t know how to come out to her parents, knowing they would “disapprove”. I really liked the acceptance Mare shows to her sister, and how their sibling relationship grows a lot strong throughout the book. I hated Mare’s parents for their closed mindedness and their constant push of their religion onto other people, and I didn’t particularly like Mare’s best friend because she made countless stupid decisions. There was one specific part of this book where Mare makes a terrible decision and I wanted to throw my kindle across the room.
As the synopsis says, the anti-virginity pact does get released to the school, which leads to a lot of bullying for Mare. Bullying is never nice to read about, but I will say that the bullying in this novel was an accurate portrayal of how terrible teens can be to each other. As for the romance sub-plot, I thought it was cute but was also very happy that it wasn’t the main focus of the story. I also really like the realistic way the story ended in regards to Mare and the love interest’s relationship.
Now for the reasons I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, because you might be reading this positive review and wondering where it went wrong in order for me to drop a star. My main reason for dropping a star is that too many things were trying so hard to be stuffed into one book. You can tell that Katie wanted to include a lot of social commentary that is very relevant in today’s society, and I totally respect her for that. The issue is that the topics of discovering sexuality, sexual assault, and conversion camps all deserved to be as fleshed out as Mare’s religious struggle. I was enjoying this book enough that I wouldn’t have minded it being longer in order to fully develop and address some of the other issues. There was also a minor plot line that had to do with a dog fighting ring, and that plotline was completely unnecessary and could probably be removed all together without impacting the rest of the plot at all.
Overall, I was very happy with this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a contemporary with a lot of social commentary. I am really looking forward to Katie’s next poetry collection and her next novel!
CW: sexual assault, animal abuse, bullying, religious debate.
Let me first clear the bias out of the way and say that I am a huge fan of Katie and her YouTube channel, but that in no way influenced my critical review of her work. I rated this book 4 stars because, in my opinion, it’s a 4 star read and I would have rated it as such regardless of who wrote it. I also read her published poetry collection, The Sweetest Kind of Poison, about 6 months ago and rated that collection 5 stars.
This is the first published novel by Katie and I was really excited when she finally announced it, and I was even more excited when I was granted an early review copy. This is a hard-hitting YA contemporary that focuses on Mare, a senior in high school who makes a pact with her best friend to lose their virginities before going off to college. But that synopsis is just scratching the surface to what this book is about. This book provides a coming of age story, family and friendship dynamics/relationships, bullying, debates on religion, discovering sexuality, and a sprinkle of romance.
I thought Mare was a very interesting character to read from, especially when it came to the relationship with the rest of her family. Mare’s parents have strong religious ties, while Mare considers herself an atheist (but closeted amongst her family). I can see how the debate on religion can be frustrating for people who are strong believers (I am not), but I found this the most interesting and well-done piece of this story. Aside from Mare’s differing religious standpoint, her little sister is gay and doesn’t know how to come out to her parents, knowing they would “disapprove”. I really liked the acceptance Mare shows to her sister, and how their sibling relationship grows a lot strong throughout the book. I hated Mare’s parents for their closed mindedness and their constant push of their religion onto other people, and I didn’t particularly like Mare’s best friend because she made countless stupid decisions. There was one specific part of this book where Mare makes a terrible decision and I wanted to throw my kindle across the room.
As the synopsis says, the anti-virginity pact does get released to the school, which leads to a lot of bullying for Mare. Bullying is never nice to read about, but I will say that the bullying in this novel was an accurate portrayal of how terrible teens can be to each other. As for the romance sub-plot, I thought it was cute but was also very happy that it wasn’t the main focus of the story. I also really like the realistic way the story ended in regards to Mare and the love interest’s relationship.
Now for the reasons I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, because you might be reading this positive review and wondering where it went wrong in order for me to drop a star. My main reason for dropping a star is that too many things were trying so hard to be stuffed into one book. You can tell that Katie wanted to include a lot of social commentary that is very relevant in today’s society, and I totally respect her for that. The issue is that the topics of discovering sexuality, sexual assault, and conversion camps all deserved to be as fleshed out as Mare’s religious struggle. I was enjoying this book enough that I wouldn’t have minded it being longer in order to fully develop and address some of the other issues. There was also a minor plot line that had to do with a dog fighting ring, and that plotline was completely unnecessary and could probably be removed all together without impacting the rest of the plot at all.
Overall, I was very happy with this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a contemporary with a lot of social commentary. I am really looking forward to Katie’s next poetry collection and her next novel!
CW: sexual assault, animal abuse, bullying, religious debate.
What a fun and yet also intense read! Packed with action & plenty of plot twists, this book is not an easy one to put down. It starts by introducing us to what feels like a stereotypical YA plot line, but by the end of the book it’s shoveled through plenty of gritty, tough stuff not enough authors address well. Meredith is a preacher’s kid/non-believer navigating all the regular ups & downs of her senior year plus the extra stuff that accompanies her home life. Bring from a very conservative, religious family I found her situations incredibly relatable & I think Wismer captured those particular nuances fantastically. I enjoyed every minute of reading this & wish I had more of it!
The Anti-Virginity Pact is about a pastor’s daughter named Mare. Usually known as the shy, awkward girl, she is forced into the spotlight when an “anti-virginity” pact she has signed gets spread around her school.
I do follow Katie Wismer on Youtube, and was so excited to be able to get an ARC of this book! The book hooked me in from the beginning. I think I inhaled this book in less than twelve hours. The pacing and writing style really worked for me. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. As someone who was shy growing up, I immediately could relate to some of Mare’s reactions and feelings. I also appreciated that this book did not have a typical, predictable ending. Everything wasn’t wrapped up perfectly with a bow, and that was refreshing.
My biggest issue with the book was that there were too many issues that were trying to be addressed in the book. While I appreciate the author not backing down from tough issues, there were so many issues in the book. I don’t know that they were all necessary to tell the story, and maybe made the story not quite as coherent.
Overall, this was a quick, fun read and I am looking forward to reading more from Katie Wismer.
I do follow Katie Wismer on Youtube, and was so excited to be able to get an ARC of this book! The book hooked me in from the beginning. I think I inhaled this book in less than twelve hours. The pacing and writing style really worked for me. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. As someone who was shy growing up, I immediately could relate to some of Mare’s reactions and feelings. I also appreciated that this book did not have a typical, predictable ending. Everything wasn’t wrapped up perfectly with a bow, and that was refreshing.
My biggest issue with the book was that there were too many issues that were trying to be addressed in the book. While I appreciate the author not backing down from tough issues, there were so many issues in the book. I don’t know that they were all necessary to tell the story, and maybe made the story not quite as coherent.
Overall, this was a quick, fun read and I am looking forward to reading more from Katie Wismer.
CW: Language, animal abuse, sexual assault, religion, bullying, substance abuse, anxiety, and trauma
If you don’t know Katie Wismer, you’re seriously missing out. She’s a YouTuber that talks about books, writing, and more on her channel(s). I’ve been subscribed to her channel for quite a while now. So, let’s talk about this book.
While The Anti-Virginity Pact isn’t Katie’s first book, it is her first novel. However, I didn’t find any of the typical first-novel weirdness or issues that seem to plague first novels. Katie’s writing style is easy to read, which makes this book fly by. I had started it at the end of March and put it down to finish my school semester. I realized I hadn’t picked it back up yet, so when I did, I went back and started from the beginning. It probably took me 8 hours maximum to read the book.
That being said, don’t think this is some light, fluff novel that won’t hit you right in the gut. Because it definitely isn’t light or fluffy and it will hit you right in the gut. The characters in this book are people you know.
We all know the shy girl, possibly expected to be perfect on the basis of who her parents are. We all know the loud, boisterous best friend of said shy girl. We know the boy who likes the shy girl but has some skeletons in his closet.
Meredith has the bad luck to not only be a pastor’s daughter but to be one of the shy kids who has horrible anxiety. She is written in a completely realistic and honest way that makes you feel for her. I really liked her character, especially the fact that she’s an atheist regardless of her parents’ faith.
Johanna is the epitome of everything Meredith isn’t and is blatant proof that opposites attract. I relate to her a lot, because in all honesty, I can see myself doing and saying some of the things she does. Not all of them, but a good portion of them. She’s a perfect foil for Meredith and the pair just works as a best-friends duo.
Sam… I love Sam. He’s such a great character. He isn’t the gigantic jerk that you seem to always find in contemporary novels, which is a relief. His responses to the things that happen over the course of the book are very realistic and justifiable, unlike how some characters are written. Not once did I find myself saying “Oh, please, if he’s going to act that way, you’re better off without him.”
Squirt isn’t a human and frankly, I want her. I would just like to throw that out there.
This book deals with hard topics. We see what can happen when members of the same family have differing religious views. We see, in a very realistic way, what bullying in a high school setting can be like. Other topics include sexual assault, trauma, and animal abuse. These topics are handled tastefully but realistically. They were very well done. They pulled at my heartstrings, made me angry, and honestly made me want to reach through the book and start smacking people.
I highly recommend this book.
I received a copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.
If you don’t know Katie Wismer, you’re seriously missing out. She’s a YouTuber that talks about books, writing, and more on her channel(s). I’ve been subscribed to her channel for quite a while now. So, let’s talk about this book.
While The Anti-Virginity Pact isn’t Katie’s first book, it is her first novel. However, I didn’t find any of the typical first-novel weirdness or issues that seem to plague first novels. Katie’s writing style is easy to read, which makes this book fly by. I had started it at the end of March and put it down to finish my school semester. I realized I hadn’t picked it back up yet, so when I did, I went back and started from the beginning. It probably took me 8 hours maximum to read the book.
That being said, don’t think this is some light, fluff novel that won’t hit you right in the gut. Because it definitely isn’t light or fluffy and it will hit you right in the gut. The characters in this book are people you know.
We all know the shy girl, possibly expected to be perfect on the basis of who her parents are. We all know the loud, boisterous best friend of said shy girl. We know the boy who likes the shy girl but has some skeletons in his closet.
Meredith has the bad luck to not only be a pastor’s daughter but to be one of the shy kids who has horrible anxiety. She is written in a completely realistic and honest way that makes you feel for her. I really liked her character, especially the fact that she’s an atheist regardless of her parents’ faith.
Johanna is the epitome of everything Meredith isn’t and is blatant proof that opposites attract. I relate to her a lot, because in all honesty, I can see myself doing and saying some of the things she does. Not all of them, but a good portion of them. She’s a perfect foil for Meredith and the pair just works as a best-friends duo.
Sam… I love Sam. He’s such a great character. He isn’t the gigantic jerk that you seem to always find in contemporary novels, which is a relief. His responses to the things that happen over the course of the book are very realistic and justifiable, unlike how some characters are written. Not once did I find myself saying “Oh, please, if he’s going to act that way, you’re better off without him.”
Squirt isn’t a human and frankly, I want her. I would just like to throw that out there.
This book deals with hard topics. We see what can happen when members of the same family have differing religious views. We see, in a very realistic way, what bullying in a high school setting can be like. Other topics include sexual assault, trauma, and animal abuse. These topics are handled tastefully but realistically. They were very well done. They pulled at my heartstrings, made me angry, and honestly made me want to reach through the book and start smacking people.
I highly recommend this book.
I received a copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.