You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
This was so good! It's been a while since a book gave me so many feels. Like so many there were points where I thought I couldn't read on because I was feeling so intense but had to push through because I was on the edge of my seat.
*I received an early digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
I'm speechless. Being someone who does not gravitate towards YA contemporary, my main goal for pursing an advanced copy of this book was to support the author, but I was immediately blown away by how enthralling and emotional I found this story to be.
There are very few elements of this story that I would critique. My only minor criticism would involve Johanna and her attempting a relationship with her teacher. I don't really see the purpose of Johanna pursing her teacher to be her "first", but other than that, WOW.
I found Meredith to be an extremely relatable character and I loved seeing her character growth throughout the story. I especially enjoyed the representation of being a high school senior with limited sexual experiences, but being content with that. In this genre there's almost like a hyper-focus on sexual awakenings for teenagers and owning one's right to sexual liberation which is amazing and essential, but it was also really nice to see a character content with not having an active sex life. I also loved the developments with the other characters like Harper, the parents, Jo, and others.
What I found to be most compelling about this novel was how it tackled such sensitive and serious issues like sexual assault, religion, and strict parents. There were multiple scenes that brought me to tears because of how much I could feel Meredith's pain and fear and also because of how it resembled my own experiences and my own fears. I found so much solace in reading about Mare and seeing her strength and it was such a positive and moving experience because it allowed me to think about my own traumas but not in a triggering way. The author, in my opinion, handled those topics with so much love and care and I think it was absolutely brilliant.
As of right now this book is definitely on my favorites list of 2020. I'm so appreciative to have received a copy of this, so thank you.
I'm speechless. Being someone who does not gravitate towards YA contemporary, my main goal for pursing an advanced copy of this book was to support the author, but I was immediately blown away by how enthralling and emotional I found this story to be.
There are very few elements of this story that I would critique. My only minor criticism would involve Johanna and her attempting a relationship with her teacher. I don't really see the purpose of Johanna pursing her teacher to be her "first", but other than that, WOW.
I found Meredith to be an extremely relatable character and I loved seeing her character growth throughout the story. I especially enjoyed the representation of being a high school senior with limited sexual experiences, but being content with that. In this genre there's almost like a hyper-focus on sexual awakenings for teenagers and owning one's right to sexual liberation which is amazing and essential, but it was also really nice to see a character content with not having an active sex life. I also loved the developments with the other characters like Harper, the parents, Jo, and others.
What I found to be most compelling about this novel was how it tackled such sensitive and serious issues like sexual assault, religion, and strict parents. There were multiple scenes that brought me to tears because of how much I could feel Meredith's pain and fear and also because of how it resembled my own experiences and my own fears. I found so much solace in reading about Mare and seeing her strength and it was such a positive and moving experience because it allowed me to think about my own traumas but not in a triggering way. The author, in my opinion, handled those topics with so much love and care and I think it was absolutely brilliant.
As of right now this book is definitely on my favorites list of 2020. I'm so appreciative to have received a copy of this, so thank you.
I’ve supported Katie Wismer’s YouTube channel for a long time. I was so excited for this book. I even preordered it—then promptly forgot about it until it came in the mail.
I read this book in one sitting. It’s a fast read and very enjoyable. Halfway through the book, so many plot points happen so fast that you just don’t want to put the book down.
I docked a star for the amount of plot points. There were too many. There is an entire plot line that needs to be cut as it has nothing to do with the rest of the story. That would give more room to have focused on the other plot points instead of rushing through them.
I docked a second star for the amount of typos and grammatical errors. Katie Wismer is even a Freelance Editor, and she hired someone else to edit her book as well. I counted five mistakes total, but maybe there were more that I missed.
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. As Katie grows as a writer, I’m excited to see what else she comes up with. I enjoyed it, I would recommend it—especially if you grew up religious but are no longer. Very relatable.
I read this book in one sitting. It’s a fast read and very enjoyable. Halfway through the book, so many plot points happen so fast that you just don’t want to put the book down.
I docked a star for the amount of plot points. There were too many. There is an entire plot line that needs to be cut as it has nothing to do with the rest of the story. That would give more room to have focused on the other plot points instead of rushing through them.
I docked a second star for the amount of typos and grammatical errors. Katie Wismer is even a Freelance Editor, and she hired someone else to edit her book as well. I counted five mistakes total, but maybe there were more that I missed.
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. As Katie grows as a writer, I’m excited to see what else she comes up with. I enjoyed it, I would recommend it—especially if you grew up religious but are no longer. Very relatable.
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4/5 stars. I received an e-arc from NetGalley and all opinions stated in this review are mine and only mine.
I am not doing a proper review of this book. I have nothing against the author or where I got the arc I just do not feel the need to since it is not coming out until later this year.
Here is my review nevertheless.
TW: sexual assault, animal abuse, religion etc.
Mare and Johanna were the trope where one (Mare) is the good innocent girl, while Johanna was the wild one. I’ve personally never had a problem with this trope being in so many books, but I do know that some people do so I figured I’d mention it. In one review I saw on this book someone was saying how annoying it was that Mare kept making mistake after mistake, coming off as stupid, I just wanted to say that yes, that is all true. BUT she did not come off that way to me. YES she did make mistake after mistake, but the way her character is written makes her not “stupid” or even annoying. Ah honestly I LOVED Johanna she was such a mood and everything I could want in a character. Sam, though? Yes. I loved him. He was honestly so SO cute and amazing but I’m sad about the ending of this book still.
I am not doing a proper review of this book. I have nothing against the author or where I got the arc I just do not feel the need to since it is not coming out until later this year.
Here is my review nevertheless.
TW: sexual assault, animal abuse, religion etc.
Mare and Johanna were the trope where one (Mare) is the good innocent girl, while Johanna was the wild one. I’ve personally never had a problem with this trope being in so many books, but I do know that some people do so I figured I’d mention it. In one review I saw on this book someone was saying how annoying it was that Mare kept making mistake after mistake, coming off as stupid, I just wanted to say that yes, that is all true. BUT she did not come off that way to me. YES she did make mistake after mistake, but the way her character is written makes her not “stupid” or even annoying. Ah honestly I LOVED Johanna she was such a mood and everything I could want in a character. Sam, though? Yes. I loved him. He was honestly so SO cute and amazing but I’m sad about the ending of this book still.
I was thrilled to receive an ARC of The Anti-Virginity Pact. I love watching bookish youtube videos of the author in my free time, and I couldn't wait to read her debut novel!
I want to start by saying I really enjoyed this book, and I'm going to give it 4/5 stars easily. It took me on a roller-coaster of emotions. Anytime an author can actually sway my emotions and make me care about the characters, I count it as a success. I really liked Meredith. I found her to be strong through her meekness and overall likable. I understood why she made the decisions she did and it seemed plausible. Her best friend is a little more free-spirited, but as I got to know her, I really liked her too.
I also found the plot believable and entertaining. The book navigated religion tastefully, which is something I was a little worried about going into. I loved the dynamics between the different characters and how they developed over time. I think the one thing I really was a little sad about was that I felt the ending was rushed. I just wanted more.
Overall, great book! I had such a great time reading this I read it in one sitting.
I want to start by saying I really enjoyed this book, and I'm going to give it 4/5 stars easily. It took me on a roller-coaster of emotions. Anytime an author can actually sway my emotions and make me care about the characters, I count it as a success. I really liked Meredith. I found her to be strong through her meekness and overall likable. I understood why she made the decisions she did and it seemed plausible. Her best friend is a little more free-spirited, but as I got to know her, I really liked her too.
I also found the plot believable and entertaining. The book navigated religion tastefully, which is something I was a little worried about going into. I loved the dynamics between the different characters and how they developed over time. I think the one thing I really was a little sad about was that I felt the ending was rushed. I just wanted more.
Overall, great book! I had such a great time reading this I read it in one sitting.
2.5
Thank you Netgalley and Ahimsa Press for providing with an ARC of this book for an honest review.
I gave this book 2 stars, perhaps 2.5. It wasn’t horrible and I felt mostly indifferent about it, but I don’t think it’s quite a 3 stars for me. First off, let me talk about the positives, because there were several! Spoilers will be discussed in this review.
PROS:
- I think the author has got a really nice author voice/writing style that is great for YA contemporary. As I was reading it, I was reminded of reading some of the stories I read as a teenager. Not in the sense of a similar spot, the voice and writing style. It was clear and concise and well done. Not flowery, which wouldn’t work for this genre anyway.
- The teenagers did feel like teenagers for the most part. Although, I do think the main characters didn’t seem 18 at all. To be they seemed to be 14 or 15. Besides the college application plot points, I just imagined them as younger.
- I enjoyed the pacing in the first half of the book. I like getting acquainted with the MC and her family, friends and life.
- Sam was my favorite character. He wasn’t super unique or interesting, but he seemed like an average nice guy and seemed like a normal, believable teenager.
The mom was the most well rounded adult. She clearly had her strong beliefs, but that was not all there was to her. She had interests and a personality outside of that.
- Again, SPOILER, but I really like that Meredith and Sam did not end up together. I hate when YA romances act like everyone will stay with their high school crush for the rest of their lives so that was a nice change and showed the growth/maturity of Meredith.
- Mere and Johanna’s friendship was believable. They had chemistry and I could tell they were good friends and had a history beyond what was written on the page.
CONS:
- The parents in the story, particularly the Meredith’s and Sam’s fathers, were like caricatures. They were just religious bigots and didn’t seem to have much depth to them besides being religious. Although we got a sliver of something more with the alcoholic angle, it wasn’t resolved in the end so I do think it could’ve been taken out altogether. Also, the tension in Sam and his dad’s relationship is the ever-so-common “you’re giving up your dream, son” “no dad, I’m giving up YOURS” which is a tad overdone. Like his father got upset that Sam was even writing for fun/on the side and even if he had his own idea about what his son should do, I can’t see him being upset over a hobby.
- The blonde mean girl was kind of one-dimensional.
- The dog fight subplot was really unnecessary. Obviously every author has a message they want to get across in their work, and I’m sure animal abuse was one of them. However, it seemed like just that, trying to add a message that had no bearing on the story. If you took out this subplot nothing would’ve changed in the story.
- The response of the school to the pact was a bit far fetched. Of course you need to ramp up the drama some in a work of fiction but high schoolers really don’t care that much about each other’s sex lives. And even if they did, I don’t think they’d resort to doing what the band of mean girls did to Mere.
- Speaking of the pact, I expected it to be more present/important in the story. Until the pact was revealed to everyone, it wasn’t mentioned that much. Which brings me to a point about the synopsis of the book. This was essentially a YA contemporary romance, which isn’t to take away anything at all. I think there are misconceptions that all YA contemporary romances have to be light and fluffy and I don’t think that’s the case. Even with the bullying and sexual assault plots here it still overall was a romance and a coming-of-age(-ish) story of a girl learning to branch out from her family. The synopsis I think describes it as a darker story than it actually is.
- Most of the religious people were shown as crazy. Characters either seemed to be an atheist or bigots, no in-between.
- The first (only?) black person in the story is introduced by having “the darkest” “most beautiful” skin. Eh.
All in all, I’d still recommend this book to people who are fans of YA contemporaries/romances. I’m quite a critical reader, so perhaps some of my gripes with the book won’t bother other readers. I think if the synopsis more accurately described the tone of the book so what I was expecting was shifted, I'd rate it higher. Still, not a bad read. This is the author’s debut and as I mentioned, she seems to have a writing style that I can see flourishing well in this genre. I look forward to her next release.
Thank you Netgalley and Ahimsa Press for providing with an ARC of this book for an honest review.
I gave this book 2 stars, perhaps 2.5. It wasn’t horrible and I felt mostly indifferent about it, but I don’t think it’s quite a 3 stars for me. First off, let me talk about the positives, because there were several! Spoilers will be discussed in this review.
PROS:
- I think the author has got a really nice author voice/writing style that is great for YA contemporary. As I was reading it, I was reminded of reading some of the stories I read as a teenager. Not in the sense of a similar spot, the voice and writing style. It was clear and concise and well done. Not flowery, which wouldn’t work for this genre anyway.
- The teenagers did feel like teenagers for the most part. Although, I do think the main characters didn’t seem 18 at all. To be they seemed to be 14 or 15. Besides the college application plot points, I just imagined them as younger.
- I enjoyed the pacing in the first half of the book. I like getting acquainted with the MC and her family, friends and life.
- Sam was my favorite character. He wasn’t super unique or interesting, but he seemed like an average nice guy and seemed like a normal, believable teenager.
The mom was the most well rounded adult. She clearly had her strong beliefs, but that was not all there was to her. She had interests and a personality outside of that.
- Again, SPOILER, but I really like that Meredith and Sam did not end up together. I hate when YA romances act like everyone will stay with their high school crush for the rest of their lives so that was a nice change and showed the growth/maturity of Meredith.
- Mere and Johanna’s friendship was believable. They had chemistry and I could tell they were good friends and had a history beyond what was written on the page.
CONS:
- The parents in the story, particularly the Meredith’s and Sam’s fathers, were like caricatures. They were just religious bigots and didn’t seem to have much depth to them besides being religious. Although we got a sliver of something more with the alcoholic angle, it wasn’t resolved in the end so I do think it could’ve been taken out altogether. Also, the tension in Sam and his dad’s relationship is the ever-so-common “you’re giving up your dream, son” “no dad, I’m giving up YOURS” which is a tad overdone. Like his father got upset that Sam was even writing for fun/on the side and even if he had his own idea about what his son should do, I can’t see him being upset over a hobby.
- The blonde mean girl was kind of one-dimensional.
- The dog fight subplot was really unnecessary. Obviously every author has a message they want to get across in their work, and I’m sure animal abuse was one of them. However, it seemed like just that, trying to add a message that had no bearing on the story. If you took out this subplot nothing would’ve changed in the story.
- The response of the school to the pact was a bit far fetched. Of course you need to ramp up the drama some in a work of fiction but high schoolers really don’t care that much about each other’s sex lives. And even if they did, I don’t think they’d resort to doing what the band of mean girls did to Mere.
- Speaking of the pact, I expected it to be more present/important in the story. Until the pact was revealed to everyone, it wasn’t mentioned that much. Which brings me to a point about the synopsis of the book. This was essentially a YA contemporary romance, which isn’t to take away anything at all. I think there are misconceptions that all YA contemporary romances have to be light and fluffy and I don’t think that’s the case. Even with the bullying and sexual assault plots here it still overall was a romance and a coming-of-age(-ish) story of a girl learning to branch out from her family. The synopsis I think describes it as a darker story than it actually is.
- Most of the religious people were shown as crazy. Characters either seemed to be an atheist or bigots, no in-between.
- The first (only?) black person in the story is introduced by having “the darkest” “most beautiful” skin. Eh.
All in all, I’d still recommend this book to people who are fans of YA contemporaries/romances. I’m quite a critical reader, so perhaps some of my gripes with the book won’t bother other readers. I think if the synopsis more accurately described the tone of the book so what I was expecting was shifted, I'd rate it higher. Still, not a bad read. This is the author’s debut and as I mentioned, she seems to have a writing style that I can see flourishing well in this genre. I look forward to her next release.
I was given an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
I want to start off this review by saying that I love Katie's YouTube channel and have follower her for years, and I think because of my following her content, I got my hopes up more than I should of when coming into this book.
I also want to state that I DNF-ed this book at 50% of the way through.
Right from the beginning, I knew the writing style was one that I wasn't going to be into. I just didn't connect with how the characters were written, as well as the dialogue exchange. I do hope to read more of Katie's work in the future to see the development of her writing style, but for this book, it wasn't a match.
The best way I can describe what I had read would be boring. The characters were a bit bland and 2 dimensional, and I feel as though the characters were extremes of many tropes, for example, one trope is the quiet/shy girl and her super outgoing friend. I just couldn't connect to any of the characters and that made me sad as I was hoping to connect with at least one.
The plot for me didn't seem to go anywhere and I am aware I didn't finish the novel, so that may have changed further in the text but after reading half the book and not having much happen besides introducing a love interest, I decided this book wasn't for me.
Again I know this is Katie's first novel, so I am open to reading more of her books in the future, this one just wasn't meant to be.
I want to start off this review by saying that I love Katie's YouTube channel and have follower her for years, and I think because of my following her content, I got my hopes up more than I should of when coming into this book.
I also want to state that I DNF-ed this book at 50% of the way through.
Right from the beginning, I knew the writing style was one that I wasn't going to be into. I just didn't connect with how the characters were written, as well as the dialogue exchange. I do hope to read more of Katie's work in the future to see the development of her writing style, but for this book, it wasn't a match.
The best way I can describe what I had read would be boring. The characters were a bit bland and 2 dimensional, and I feel as though the characters were extremes of many tropes, for example, one trope is the quiet/shy girl and her super outgoing friend. I just couldn't connect to any of the characters and that made me sad as I was hoping to connect with at least one.
The plot for me didn't seem to go anywhere and I am aware I didn't finish the novel, so that may have changed further in the text but after reading half the book and not having much happen besides introducing a love interest, I decided this book wasn't for me.
Again I know this is Katie's first novel, so I am open to reading more of her books in the future, this one just wasn't meant to be.
ARC provided by NetGalley!
Delightfully funny, romantic, and fresh.
“The Anti-Virginity Pact” delivers a story that is so real to our modern day society. Our main character Meredith struggles with her views on religion, whilst also dealing with the repercussions of a pact that she and her best friend Jo drunkenly made. Also, her boyfriend Sam, who can I just say, was amazing. Meredith is a character that strangely enough I related to. In terms of questioning my beliefs on religion, I definitely agreed with some of the points that she considered. This novel was also extremely quick to read, having only taken me three days to fly through. This was definitely a story that I devoured and fell in love with, and Katie Wismers writing was funny and brilliant.
I thought that Wismer dealt amazingly with the subject of sexual assault, and overall sex in general. I also thought that her portrayal of high school was realistic. While there were many plot lines which sometimes got confusing, I found that the main story was easy to follow and I was instantly invested!
Having followed Katie’s writing process on her youtube channel, I found myself eagerly anticipating this novel, and it’s fair to say, I wasn’t disappointed! I hope that this book finds success upon its release, and that Katie continues to produce excellent work in the future!
Delightfully funny, romantic, and fresh.
“The Anti-Virginity Pact” delivers a story that is so real to our modern day society. Our main character Meredith struggles with her views on religion, whilst also dealing with the repercussions of a pact that she and her best friend Jo drunkenly made. Also, her boyfriend Sam, who can I just say, was amazing. Meredith is a character that strangely enough I related to. In terms of questioning my beliefs on religion, I definitely agreed with some of the points that she considered. This novel was also extremely quick to read, having only taken me three days to fly through. This was definitely a story that I devoured and fell in love with, and Katie Wismers writing was funny and brilliant.
I thought that Wismer dealt amazingly with the subject of sexual assault, and overall sex in general. I also thought that her portrayal of high school was realistic. While there were many plot lines which sometimes got confusing, I found that the main story was easy to follow and I was instantly invested!
Having followed Katie’s writing process on her youtube channel, I found myself eagerly anticipating this novel, and it’s fair to say, I wasn’t disappointed! I hope that this book finds success upon its release, and that Katie continues to produce excellent work in the future!