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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
I read this book between May 21st and May 26th, 2020, and gave it one star. Before the actual novel starts, there is a page with content warnings, and I appreciated that. I hadn't seen that in a book before. That being said, it's pretty much the only thing I can say I liked about the book. If you're curious, this is what the author listed as content warnings: bullying, religion, sexual assault, animal abuse, substance abuse, anxiety, and trauma. That's the exact list, but there's more I'll discuss later. Personally, I don't like reading about three of the items listed (I'll let you guess which), so I knew the book and I weren't off to a great start. That doesn't mean I was predisposed, but the title does make you wonder, doesn't it?
When I give a book one star it is because I have found something structurally wrong with it, and since this is the case, I won't go super deep into minor details. I want to say, however, that the writing style was not for me. I hate sentence fragments and this had a lot of them, especially towards the beginning. I also didn't like how everything had an explanation like the author was telling us that she hadn't left any plotholes, that her story was developing exactly how she had planned and that everything made sense. That is not life, and I'm no writer, but I don't think that's what writing is about, either.
The whole book is dark, because, well, duh. I mean, judging solely by the title and the list of content warnings you'd assume that's going to be the tone, but besides that, it was all pseudo-deep and I don't like that. I like simple language and I think that it can have as much effect as big words and metaphors and hyperbole can. Also, the main character is supposed to be eighteen years old, but she sounds way older. I am twenty-six and I don't even sound like that. At times, reading this felt like I was back at university in my American Literature of the 20's class in which everyone would say the biggest words they knew to try and impress the teacher. Well, reading this I was not impressed, I was annoyed.
Now let's talk about the structural issues that I found. The title is pretty self-explanatory, right? The main character writes and signs this pact with her best friend that by the end of their senior year they'll lose their virginity (not to one another, although that would've made the book way more interesting) and obviously everything goes to shit. There is no way to read this book without thinking about one's own views, experiences, and lack thereof, is it? From a somewhat young age, I stopped considering having sex for the first time as "losing my virginity." I rarely talk about the concept of virginity. To me, having sex was something that would happen if/when I was ready and with a person I trusted. Again, these are my views and this is my experience, but I think that for someone young, who has questions, who doesn't have a clear idea, a book like this might be misleading.
I did not go to school in the United States. I went to a Catholic school for women in Colombia. Did this shape my whole view of sex? Probably. I never felt pressured to have sex because it was part of the things I was supposed to do in high school. I did talk about it with my friends, but in general, not about when we would each have sex for the first time. I know there's a pressure and I know that there are cultural differences, but those might have prevented me from clicking more with the story.
Like I mentioned, the plot of the book is, this girl signs a pact that states she and her best friend will lose their virginity before graduating high school and everything that can go wrong goes wrong. My question reading this book was, what was the purpose? What did the author want to accomplish by writing this? It wasn't really helpful for young readers that might struggle with the pressure others put on their sex lives or the choices they want to make. It wasn't really sex-positive. I think it was more of a cautionary tale against having sex while you're a teenager...which, seriously? Don't have sex because you'll get pregnant and die? I mean, I guess that is a valid purpose, but had I known it was, I wouldn't have requested this book.
I had serious issues with Meredith, the main character. I know that I've said the story was not relatable to me, but Meredith read exactly like people I know and don't like. She was the kind of person who would look down on everyone and think she was better than them whole simultaneously being jealous of them and wanting to be like them. I'm not saying the other people at school weren't shitty as well, but that didn't excuse her attitude.
Meredith has anxiety and she takes medication for it. This is how her character was portrayed and I'm going to tread carefully because I don't want to say something that invalidates anyone's struggles or experiences. As a person who has been diagnosed with anxiety and as a person who has read and felt represented in other books, I don't think that anxiety was being portrayed accurately. I say this, and again, I am talking from my experience, because the main character describes her anxiety as something that comes and goes. I think she confuses being anxious with having anxiety, which I guess is a mistake people who don't have anxiety can make. I'm not assuming that the author does not have anxiety, but I think she did not portray it accurately.
Let me elaborate more on the inaccurate portrayal of anxiety. Meredith starts seeing this guy, Sam, and when she's with him it's like she's cured or something. She even says things like "I should feel this way, but because he's here I don't." Honey, that's not how anxiety works. Yes, the person you're into makes you feel nice and cute, but the thoughts that anxiety provokes are always there. Anxiety is a constant. Yes, there are triggers and yes, there are flares, and also, yes, there are ways to soothe it, but it does not come and go that way, at least not for me. The idea that a romantic interest can make anxiety go away or whatever is not new and even authors like Sophie Kinsella in Finding Audrey (which I adore) explore it in a very interesting way.
Another problem I had was the use of ableist language, with words like "crippling" or "you'd have to be blind not to see this." This book will be published in 2020. The author can do so much better. I mean, those comments did nothing at all for the plot, so it could have been fine without them.
Meredith is a white, straight, able-bodied, cisgender woman. She belongs to a Christian middle-class family. She has been diagnosed with anxiety, but other than that and being an atheist in a family of believers, she really doesn't have any problems, or does she? She mentions that she feels forced by her family to participate and believe and whatever. I am not a Christian or a Catholic. I do not practice any religion, but I think it is valid that some people feel restricted by their families because of their faith, especially since Meredith's dad is a pastor. What I didn't get is the fact that she was never vocal about this up until she was confronted by her parents about something else.
Remember when I said that Meredith and her best friend signed the pact? Well, the best friend, Harper, decides that she will have sex for the first time with...her teacher. No. I'm going to talk from the perspective of a person who had crushes on teachers at school and a teacher, okay? Look, it's no secret that teenagers are hormonal and yes, developing a crush on a teacher is not uncommon or unheard of. What was honestly cringe-worthy was the way in which the whole "relationship" was portrayed. I'm using quotation marks because, and hear me out here, people have crushes on their teachers all the time, but most times they amount to nothing because they are pathetic and illegal.
Now, let me talk as a teacher. Teachers are used to being misrepresented, misunderstood, and all the "miss" anything you want, both in real life and in fiction. It makes sense in books in a way because many authors do not have the experience of teaching students within the age range of their characters, and so they rely on what they think or what they remember from their own high school experience. The teacher Harper wanted to sleep with? He was a guy in his mid-twenties, minding his own business, who probably was kind of attractive and tried his best not to gag every time a sixteen-year-old would try and "flirt" with him. He did not engage in whatever Harper thought she was doing, and yet the way Meredith depicted him was like this pathetic loser who rejected her best friend. They even say something along the lines of "he earns a crappy salary." Yes, we do. That is a fact. He's not a teenager who broke up with you via text message; he is an adult who doesn't even consider being in a relationship with you because, among many other important reasons, he likes his job and wants to keep it.
Oh yes, the trigger warnings that were not listed. There are a few homophobic comments and a subplot regarding homophobia. Additionally, judging by the way the characters act when it comes to food, I could sense disordered eating. There is no specific mention of an eating disorder, but I noticed that the main character rarely ate, and when she did it was too little. There were also many mentions of her not being able to eat or leaving her food untouched.
When I give a book one star it is because I have found something structurally wrong with it, and since this is the case, I won't go super deep into minor details. I want to say, however, that the writing style was not for me. I hate sentence fragments and this had a lot of them, especially towards the beginning. I also didn't like how everything had an explanation like the author was telling us that she hadn't left any plotholes, that her story was developing exactly how she had planned and that everything made sense. That is not life, and I'm no writer, but I don't think that's what writing is about, either.
The whole book is dark, because, well, duh. I mean, judging solely by the title and the list of content warnings you'd assume that's going to be the tone, but besides that, it was all pseudo-deep and I don't like that. I like simple language and I think that it can have as much effect as big words and metaphors and hyperbole can. Also, the main character is supposed to be eighteen years old, but she sounds way older. I am twenty-six and I don't even sound like that. At times, reading this felt like I was back at university in my American Literature of the 20's class in which everyone would say the biggest words they knew to try and impress the teacher. Well, reading this I was not impressed, I was annoyed.
Now let's talk about the structural issues that I found. The title is pretty self-explanatory, right? The main character writes and signs this pact with her best friend that by the end of their senior year they'll lose their virginity (not to one another, although that would've made the book way more interesting) and obviously everything goes to shit. There is no way to read this book without thinking about one's own views, experiences, and lack thereof, is it? From a somewhat young age, I stopped considering having sex for the first time as "losing my virginity." I rarely talk about the concept of virginity. To me, having sex was something that would happen if/when I was ready and with a person I trusted. Again, these are my views and this is my experience, but I think that for someone young, who has questions, who doesn't have a clear idea, a book like this might be misleading.
I did not go to school in the United States. I went to a Catholic school for women in Colombia. Did this shape my whole view of sex? Probably. I never felt pressured to have sex because it was part of the things I was supposed to do in high school. I did talk about it with my friends, but in general, not about when we would each have sex for the first time. I know there's a pressure and I know that there are cultural differences, but those might have prevented me from clicking more with the story.
Like I mentioned, the plot of the book is, this girl signs a pact that states she and her best friend will lose their virginity before graduating high school and everything that can go wrong goes wrong. My question reading this book was, what was the purpose? What did the author want to accomplish by writing this? It wasn't really helpful for young readers that might struggle with the pressure others put on their sex lives or the choices they want to make. It wasn't really sex-positive. I think it was more of a cautionary tale against having sex while you're a teenager...which, seriously? Don't have sex because you'll get pregnant and die? I mean, I guess that is a valid purpose, but had I known it was, I wouldn't have requested this book.
I had serious issues with Meredith, the main character. I know that I've said the story was not relatable to me, but Meredith read exactly like people I know and don't like. She was the kind of person who would look down on everyone and think she was better than them whole simultaneously being jealous of them and wanting to be like them. I'm not saying the other people at school weren't shitty as well, but that didn't excuse her attitude.
Meredith has anxiety and she takes medication for it. This is how her character was portrayed and I'm going to tread carefully because I don't want to say something that invalidates anyone's struggles or experiences. As a person who has been diagnosed with anxiety and as a person who has read and felt represented in other books, I don't think that anxiety was being portrayed accurately. I say this, and again, I am talking from my experience, because the main character describes her anxiety as something that comes and goes. I think she confuses being anxious with having anxiety, which I guess is a mistake people who don't have anxiety can make. I'm not assuming that the author does not have anxiety, but I think she did not portray it accurately.
Let me elaborate more on the inaccurate portrayal of anxiety. Meredith starts seeing this guy, Sam, and when she's with him it's like she's cured or something. She even says things like "I should feel this way, but because he's here I don't." Honey, that's not how anxiety works. Yes, the person you're into makes you feel nice and cute, but the thoughts that anxiety provokes are always there. Anxiety is a constant. Yes, there are triggers and yes, there are flares, and also, yes, there are ways to soothe it, but it does not come and go that way, at least not for me. The idea that a romantic interest can make anxiety go away or whatever is not new and even authors like Sophie Kinsella in Finding Audrey (which I adore) explore it in a very interesting way.
Another problem I had was the use of ableist language, with words like "crippling" or "you'd have to be blind not to see this." This book will be published in 2020. The author can do so much better. I mean, those comments did nothing at all for the plot, so it could have been fine without them.
Meredith is a white, straight, able-bodied, cisgender woman. She belongs to a Christian middle-class family. She has been diagnosed with anxiety, but other than that and being an atheist in a family of believers, she really doesn't have any problems, or does she? She mentions that she feels forced by her family to participate and believe and whatever. I am not a Christian or a Catholic. I do not practice any religion, but I think it is valid that some people feel restricted by their families because of their faith, especially since Meredith's dad is a pastor. What I didn't get is the fact that she was never vocal about this up until she was confronted by her parents about something else.
Remember when I said that Meredith and her best friend signed the pact? Well, the best friend, Harper, decides that she will have sex for the first time with...her teacher. No. I'm going to talk from the perspective of a person who had crushes on teachers at school and a teacher, okay? Look, it's no secret that teenagers are hormonal and yes, developing a crush on a teacher is not uncommon or unheard of. What was honestly cringe-worthy was the way in which the whole "relationship" was portrayed. I'm using quotation marks because, and hear me out here, people have crushes on their teachers all the time, but most times they amount to nothing because they are pathetic and illegal.
Now, let me talk as a teacher. Teachers are used to being misrepresented, misunderstood, and all the "miss" anything you want, both in real life and in fiction. It makes sense in books in a way because many authors do not have the experience of teaching students within the age range of their characters, and so they rely on what they think or what they remember from their own high school experience. The teacher Harper wanted to sleep with? He was a guy in his mid-twenties, minding his own business, who probably was kind of attractive and tried his best not to gag every time a sixteen-year-old would try and "flirt" with him. He did not engage in whatever Harper thought she was doing, and yet the way Meredith depicted him was like this pathetic loser who rejected her best friend. They even say something along the lines of "he earns a crappy salary." Yes, we do. That is a fact. He's not a teenager who broke up with you via text message; he is an adult who doesn't even consider being in a relationship with you because, among many other important reasons, he likes his job and wants to keep it.
Oh yes, the trigger warnings that were not listed. There are a few homophobic comments and a subplot regarding homophobia. Additionally, judging by the way the characters act when it comes to food, I could sense disordered eating. There is no specific mention of an eating disorder, but I noticed that the main character rarely ate, and when she did it was too little. There were also many mentions of her not being able to eat or leaving her food untouched.
This made me feel all the feels. Review to come, too busy crying at the moment.
The Anti-Virginity Pact by Katie Wismer (@katesbookdate)
"Preachers’ daughters aren’t supposed to be atheists. They’re also not supposed to make pacts to lose their virginity by the end of the year, but high school senior Meredith Beaumont is sick of letting other people tell her who to be."
A high-school drama dealing with many issues and surprisingly a lot of action. Really enjoyable with secrets that keep you reading to find out what is going on! Trigger warnings listed below.
It is quite an intense book but I really enjoyed the ride it took us on and I was actually crying by the end. It covers a lot of topics. Meredith doesn't believe in God as her parents do, she volunteers at an animal shelter, she's quiet but wishes she lived the 'normal' high-school experience like everyone else, she really likes this guy, some of the kids at the church 'go on holiday' and come back a bit different, there is a lot of bullying, but it isn't gratuitous. It is dramatic but makes for an entertaining book. There is a lot of action and mystery that goes along with it, lots of secrets and dealing with emotions. I really enjoyed seeing Meredith and her sister's relationship develop throughout.
Meredith partakes in quite a bit of self-destructive behaviour and I was screaming for her to stop. I was annoyed with all the characters but I thought they were developed well. I wasn't too keen on Jo though so I'm interested in seeing where her book will take her? The book definitely kept me reading and the subplots really kept my interest - you are taken on an emotional journey. It isn't all about the pact which I quite liked.
I really wanted a different ending, but glad that everything was tied up and it was technically happy. I look forward to seeing what the next book brings!
TW// Mental health, anxiety and panic attacks, anti-religion, sex, sexual assault, harassment, homophobia, bullying, blackmail, animal abuse +.
The Anti-Virginity Pact by Katie Wismer (@katesbookdate)
"Preachers’ daughters aren’t supposed to be atheists. They’re also not supposed to make pacts to lose their virginity by the end of the year, but high school senior Meredith Beaumont is sick of letting other people tell her who to be."
A high-school drama dealing with many issues and surprisingly a lot of action. Really enjoyable with secrets that keep you reading to find out what is going on! Trigger warnings listed below.
It is quite an intense book but I really enjoyed the ride it took us on and I was actually crying by the end. It covers a lot of topics. Meredith doesn't believe in God as her parents do, she volunteers at an animal shelter, she's quiet but wishes she lived the 'normal' high-school experience like everyone else, she really likes this guy, some of the kids at the church 'go on holiday' and come back a bit different, there is a lot of bullying, but it isn't gratuitous. It is dramatic but makes for an entertaining book. There is a lot of action and mystery that goes along with it, lots of secrets and dealing with emotions. I really enjoyed seeing Meredith and her sister's relationship develop throughout.
Meredith partakes in quite a bit of self-destructive behaviour and I was screaming for her to stop. I was annoyed with all the characters but I thought they were developed well. I wasn't too keen on Jo though so I'm interested in seeing where her book will take her? The book definitely kept me reading and the subplots really kept my interest - you are taken on an emotional journey. It isn't all about the pact which I quite liked.
I really wanted a different ending, but glad that everything was tied up and it was technically happy. I look forward to seeing what the next book brings!
TW// Mental health, anxiety and panic attacks, anti-religion, sex, sexual assault, harassment, homophobia, bullying, blackmail, animal abuse +.
So I did enjoy reading it for what it was. The writing style makes it quite a fast and easy read although it did feel like the book only started at 50% because the beginning was a bit dull... Also, I was disappointed that the pact storyline was not explored more, the idea was really interesting! Unfortunately, it felt like this book was trying to do a LOT, but it just ended up only scrapping the surface of any topic/story it introduced. There are enough mistakes (spelling or grammatical) to make it obvious that it needs a bit more editing.
The religious aspect was unlike my experience growing up surrounded by devout christianity. If you are a supposedly strict parent, you don't let teenagers without a curfew (it has nothing to do with being a "good girl"), AND you for sure would know about sex ed being taught -- that's ridiculous. The father seemed like he did not want his children to go to a public school in the first place, he would in all likelihood have reviewed their curriculum beforehand. A lot of it was nonsensical. If the parents were religious *spoilers* to the point of wanting to send their daughter to a camp, then they would definitely have had as much of an iron-claw on her life as possible. NEVER would they be okay having a boy over in her bedroom without talking about it/about the rules first. On the other hand, not every religious person or person part of the clergy will be that extreme or overreact. There's understanding and open communication even in religious households! I am by NO MEANS religious, I see what the author was trying to say - i'm not sure if the message was effectively conveyed and wished the subject would have been explored more.
I think (as many others it seems) that the "dog" side plot was a bit too far fetched and I don't feel like it was necessary to make it into something bigger than it needed to be. Also, the adoption process was nothing from what I ever experienced as a rescued animal owner and a volunteer in multiple refuges. I've never seen a shelter having only one staff, that's insane. Plus, I never had an adoption done that way, unsupervised by a staff member. There's affinity between the potential owner and the animal that absolutely needs to be evaluated, and a million questions the adopter has to answer to make sure the pairing would be a good fit. Especially if it's a no-kill shelter. But that is my personal experience (I understand there are more careless places, it just didn't seem like that one should have been one).
There was a lot of cliché characters (a stereotypical villain that learns nothing & a best friend with no care in the world about anything) and cliché moments like the phone running out of battery when needed (she was in a car, it seems really strange that there would be no charger there..), or the whole mean girl gone crazy scene.
To me the story cannot feel fully wrapped up when there are loose ends, and there were a few things that were left either unexplained or without a follow up:
- the drawings (Sam will never see them then...)
- Jo’s pact (I guess we'll never know why hers was not leaked)
- the father and the whole sex ed situation (he said he wasn't done with it but we never hear about it after the dinner)
Also, at the beginning of the story the mom, who is French, says "oh non, non, non! Zoot!" and being French myself I was confused for a second, but I guess she meant "Zut!" ? That's a pet peeves of mine, when authors use another language and don't get it right.
All in all, it's a book that is an easy read, and it's good on the surface, but it lacks a fully fleshed out story underneath. It is reminiscent of a teen movie with mean girls doing some crazy unbelievable shit, and where everything that can go wrong does. So if you like drama stories, this may be one you want to check out!
Thank you sooooooo much NetGalley and the author for the ARC. I was BEYOND excited to have the opportunity to read this and I am so grateful for it!
✨FULL REVIEW OVER AT PAGES & PLOTS ✨
The Anti-Virginity Pact is one of those books where the cover and summary mislead the reader’s expectations. I predicted a dark and provocating coming of age story. Instead, as this The Anti-Virginity Pact book review shows, it’s a cute contemporary with a lot of drama.
The first half is entertaining, and interesting plot threads were picking up. However, they all pick up at once. There are so many different traumatic events happening back to back that the story feels unrealistic. I couldn’t believe that Mare, the main character, was able to deal with everything going on. And please check the trigger warnings, because A LOT of the stuff is heavy.
The Anti-Virginity Pact is one of those books where the cover and summary mislead the reader’s expectations. I predicted a dark and provocating coming of age story. Instead, as this The Anti-Virginity Pact book review shows, it’s a cute contemporary with a lot of drama.
The first half is entertaining, and interesting plot threads were picking up. However, they all pick up at once. There are so many different traumatic events happening back to back that the story feels unrealistic. I couldn’t believe that Mare, the main character, was able to deal with everything going on. And please check the trigger warnings, because A LOT of the stuff is heavy.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
DNF at 30%. This book is trying to talk about too many topics. It feels unfocused and like all of the topics aren't going to be wrapped up. From reading reviews, a lot of readers feel that way.
I wasn't a fan of Mare as a character. I definitely didn't like Johanna and I don't like how her student-teacher relationship dreams are being introduced. It's frustrating that Mare isn't willing to be mad at her friend for wanting to have sex with a teacher. It also doesn't seem like the teacher was doing themselves any favors. The male teachers I know keep their doors open when female students are in their rooms.
The writing is good and I'd be willing to try Katie's future books. I just want them to be more focused.
DNF at 30%. This book is trying to talk about too many topics. It feels unfocused and like all of the topics aren't going to be wrapped up. From reading reviews, a lot of readers feel that way.
I wasn't a fan of Mare as a character. I definitely didn't like Johanna and I don't like how her student-teacher relationship dreams are being introduced. It's frustrating that Mare isn't willing to be mad at her friend for wanting to have sex with a teacher. It also doesn't seem like the teacher was doing themselves any favors. The male teachers I know keep their doors open when female students are in their rooms.
The writing is good and I'd be willing to try Katie's future books. I just want them to be more focused.
3.75 stars! not quite a full four stars for me, but i still enjoyed a lot of aspects of this, so i'm rounding up. well, enjoyed might not be the right term, but y'know
things i liked:
- the list of trigger warnings! i was still unprepared for the d-slur, but at least knowing there was homophobic content was better than nothing
- Mare's struggle with anxiety and being the "quiet girl"; that shit hurted it was so relatable
- the discussions of religion, more specifically not sharing a particular belief but feeling like it's constantly shoved down your throat
- the relationships; i loved the friendship between Mare and Jo, the sisterly relationship, and the romantic relationship between Mare and Sam. i definitely grew to love these characters by the end
- i enjoyed the writing style! i definitely saw hints of Katie's personality and humor in there, but that wasn't a bad thing in this case
- the ending. i think things wrapped up fairly nicely and i liked how Ashley stepped forward and showed growth
things i didn't love:
- trying to cover all of these different dark topics. some of them just got brushed aside and covered in a few paragraphs (aka homophobia, substance abuse, animal abuse & trying to have sex with a teacher). homophobia was dealt with okay, but was it necessary? the teacher thing wasn't great - i think it would have been better if Jo acknowledged why it was a bad thing to do?? i think getting him fired was mentioned, but it could have also gotten her expelled depending on how strict the school was, it could have affected her college future, stuff like that.
- the dog fighting plot line??? not necessary at all tbh. it didn't really add anything to the story other than filler
- the pacing. not much happened in the first half, and then EVERYTHING seemed to happen in the second half
i've seen a few people mention they thought Mare read like a much younger teenager, but i didn't really get that vibe. idk about y'all, but i was still "reckless" and made impulsive decisions as a high school senior. i still do sometimes at 21. i definitely don't think she read like a 15 year old, that's for sure.
anyway, tl;dr, i think this was a solid debut novel. there were some things i didn't love and things that maybe needed to be worked out a little bit more, but still worth the read for me.
things i liked:
- the list of trigger warnings! i was still unprepared for the d-slur, but at least knowing there was homophobic content was better than nothing
- Mare's struggle with anxiety and being the "quiet girl"; that shit hurted it was so relatable
- the discussions of religion, more specifically not sharing a particular belief but feeling like it's constantly shoved down your throat
- the relationships; i loved the friendship between Mare and Jo, the sisterly relationship, and the romantic relationship between Mare and Sam. i definitely grew to love these characters by the end
- i enjoyed the writing style! i definitely saw hints of Katie's personality and humor in there, but that wasn't a bad thing in this case
- the ending. i think things wrapped up fairly nicely and i liked how Ashley stepped forward and showed growth
things i didn't love:
- trying to cover all of these different dark topics. some of them just got brushed aside and covered in a few paragraphs (aka homophobia, substance abuse, animal abuse & trying to have sex with a teacher). homophobia was dealt with okay, but was it necessary? the teacher thing wasn't great - i think it would have been better if Jo acknowledged why it was a bad thing to do?? i think getting him fired was mentioned, but it could have also gotten her expelled depending on how strict the school was, it could have affected her college future, stuff like that.
- the dog fighting plot line??? not necessary at all tbh. it didn't really add anything to the story other than filler
- the pacing. not much happened in the first half, and then EVERYTHING seemed to happen in the second half
i've seen a few people mention they thought Mare read like a much younger teenager, but i didn't really get that vibe. idk about y'all, but i was still "reckless" and made impulsive decisions as a high school senior. i still do sometimes at 21. i definitely don't think she read like a 15 year old, that's for sure.
anyway, tl;dr, i think this was a solid debut novel. there were some things i didn't love and things that maybe needed to be worked out a little bit more, but still worth the read for me.
I wish I had this book in high school. I feel like Meredith and I are so similar its scary, literally always deemed the quite one, no one noticed me, ugh I so so understood all her teen feels.
I felt it had really good pacing, it was one I didn't want to put down at all!
I felt it had really good pacing, it was one I didn't want to put down at all!
I was given an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
First impressions: the cover definitely is not for a fluffy YA contemporary book, which is good, because that is not what this book is. There is nothing fluffy about it. It tackles some pretty heavy topics and tries not to pull punches about them.
I appreciate how (mostly) realistic this book is. It follows a teenage girl who makes a pact with her friend to lose their virginity by the end of their senior year of high school. That in and of itself is not unrealistic, and neither is their choices of who they want to lose it to. The one friend caving to the wishes of the other is pretty normal as well, no teen girl wants to lose her BFF when she feels like she doesn't have any other friends. Beyond that, I am still figuring out my feelings about the book. It's well written, not too descriptive but not too vague, and does try to tackle those things that young girls would come up against in high school. Mean girls, overbearing parents, a crush...
And then the book goes from 0 to 60 in the space of about four pages. About halfway through the book, Mean Girl in Chief finds out about the pact and spreads it all around the school. Things go very downhill very fast, and so much is jammed into the last 10% of the book that my head was spinning and I wasn't sure what was happening. The pacing for everything was done in a very realistic timeline, and I do appreciate that so many things were addressed, because there are definitely situations that should absolutely be talked about. But it begs the question of, did we need that many hard hitting topics all in one book? As if one very VERY unlucky individual is going to go through all of that?
Overall, I did end up enjoying the book for the most part. It was pretty much exactly what I was expecting going in, based on the title and cover. Pacing was great, characters were consistent, the end was a little too perfect to be realistic, but all in all, there isn't really anything bad about the book.
First impressions: the cover definitely is not for a fluffy YA contemporary book, which is good, because that is not what this book is. There is nothing fluffy about it. It tackles some pretty heavy topics and tries not to pull punches about them.
I appreciate how (mostly) realistic this book is. It follows a teenage girl who makes a pact with her friend to lose their virginity by the end of their senior year of high school. That in and of itself is not unrealistic, and neither is their choices of who they want to lose it to. The one friend caving to the wishes of the other is pretty normal as well, no teen girl wants to lose her BFF when she feels like she doesn't have any other friends. Beyond that, I am still figuring out my feelings about the book. It's well written, not too descriptive but not too vague, and does try to tackle those things that young girls would come up against in high school. Mean girls, overbearing parents, a crush...
And then the book goes from 0 to 60 in the space of about four pages. About halfway through the book, Mean Girl in Chief finds out about the pact and spreads it all around the school. Things go very downhill very fast, and so much is jammed into the last 10% of the book that my head was spinning and I wasn't sure what was happening. The pacing for everything was done in a very realistic timeline, and I do appreciate that so many things were addressed, because there are definitely situations that should absolutely be talked about. But it begs the question of, did we need that many hard hitting topics all in one book? As if one very VERY unlucky individual is going to go through all of that?
Overall, I did end up enjoying the book for the most part. It was pretty much exactly what I was expecting going in, based on the title and cover. Pacing was great, characters were consistent, the end was a little too perfect to be realistic, but all in all, there isn't really anything bad about the book.
3.5
We follow Meredith the preacher’s daughter who is going through a hard time, she struggling with her belief and about how to tell people then, she’s got pretty bad anxiety which I have to say is depicted well but I think that is a personal opinion cause not everyone with anxiety experience in the same way.
‘Not that I should be surprised – my anxiety has always been an unwanted but expected houseguest. I can usually anticipate it long before it starts to manifest, but no matter how hard I try to prepare or reason with my body, it still reacts as if the millions of times before haven’t taught it this is not a life or death situation. That it is, in fact, only making things even more difficult than necessary.’
She made a pact with her best friend Jo that they’d both lose their virginity before the end of senior year. Then Meredith gets worried when Jo decides she wants Mr. Graham, her teacher to be her first. I did like how it showed Meredith voicing her concerns about the idea, I just wish she never caved on what she thought was wrong, Because nothing good comes out of these situations. There was more talk of religion and believing or not believing that I thought was a really good undertone to have. It didn’t take up the full narrative but it went a long way in helping build the background of the character showing us why Meredith is the way she is when the book starts, and there were some good points where made.
I feel like the experience reading this book is like watching a TV show like Pretty Little Liars or Gossip Girl. I love these shows and find them entertaining which is exactly what I found in this book. This book is not a light or easy read it covers things like: Bullying, Religion, Sexual Assault, Animal Abuse, Substance abuse, Anxiety, and trauma. It is however addicting and keeps you glued to the pages wanting to find out what happens.
‘Eyes will zero in on my read cheek and the beads of sweat in my hairline. I’ll try to speak. My blood will thunder so loudly in my ears I’ll barely even hear my own voice as it comes out thin and shaky – a dead indicator to everyone around me of just how nervous I am over something completely simple and stupid like getting called on in class. They’ll all know in a panicked, shaky mess.’
One of my favorite aspects of this book is the sisters. I found Mare and Harper’s relationship quite endearing and totally realistic, especially towards the end of the novel. I think the whole book came off as quite realistic, it has some important message and the writing was solid. It really did feel like an appropriate narrative the characters sounded and acted their age. The writing of the characters came across as genuine. I didn’t have any expectations going into this. I watch Katie Wismer’s book tube channel and was excited to get approved for an arc from NetGalley but I went in expecting nothing and came out with a book I enjoyed.
We follow Meredith the preacher’s daughter who is going through a hard time, she struggling with her belief and about how to tell people then, she’s got pretty bad anxiety which I have to say is depicted well but I think that is a personal opinion cause not everyone with anxiety experience in the same way.
‘Not that I should be surprised – my anxiety has always been an unwanted but expected houseguest. I can usually anticipate it long before it starts to manifest, but no matter how hard I try to prepare or reason with my body, it still reacts as if the millions of times before haven’t taught it this is not a life or death situation. That it is, in fact, only making things even more difficult than necessary.’
She made a pact with her best friend Jo that they’d both lose their virginity before the end of senior year. Then Meredith gets worried when Jo decides she wants Mr. Graham, her teacher to be her first. I did like how it showed Meredith voicing her concerns about the idea, I just wish she never caved on what she thought was wrong, Because nothing good comes out of these situations. There was more talk of religion and believing or not believing that I thought was a really good undertone to have. It didn’t take up the full narrative but it went a long way in helping build the background of the character showing us why Meredith is the way she is when the book starts, and there were some good points where made.
I feel like the experience reading this book is like watching a TV show like Pretty Little Liars or Gossip Girl. I love these shows and find them entertaining which is exactly what I found in this book. This book is not a light or easy read it covers things like: Bullying, Religion, Sexual Assault, Animal Abuse, Substance abuse, Anxiety, and trauma. It is however addicting and keeps you glued to the pages wanting to find out what happens.
‘Eyes will zero in on my read cheek and the beads of sweat in my hairline. I’ll try to speak. My blood will thunder so loudly in my ears I’ll barely even hear my own voice as it comes out thin and shaky – a dead indicator to everyone around me of just how nervous I am over something completely simple and stupid like getting called on in class. They’ll all know in a panicked, shaky mess.’
One of my favorite aspects of this book is the sisters. I found Mare and Harper’s relationship quite endearing and totally realistic, especially towards the end of the novel. I think the whole book came off as quite realistic, it has some important message and the writing was solid. It really did feel like an appropriate narrative the characters sounded and acted their age. The writing of the characters came across as genuine. I didn’t have any expectations going into this. I watch Katie Wismer’s book tube channel and was excited to get approved for an arc from NetGalley but I went in expecting nothing and came out with a book I enjoyed.