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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
Actual Rating: 1.5 Stars
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me via Netgalley for an honest review.
Opinion:
“For the record, I don’t normally have a predisposition for making bad decisions.”
Cause girl,
yeah you do.
The Anti-Virginity Pact is a YA Contemporary about two senior girls who make a pact to lose their virginity before the end of high school. As the closet-atheist daughter of a preacher, Meredith’s anxiety has always made her shy and kept her in the shadows. Wanting to finally gain experiences, she and her best friend sign a contract to lose their virginity. But when the pact gets leaked and the entire school sees that Mute Mare signed it, she is suddenly descended upon by every guy in school who wants a turn.
This had so much potential to be an emotional, gut-wrenching, femi-empowering YA about familial expectations and self-exploration. It could have showcased the overwhelming guilt and obligation we feel to please our parents, and how our own wants and desires can be obliterated in doing so. Or put a blinding spotlight on rape culture, bullying and the endless double standards that exist in our society. Or the crippling fear and physical ailments that come with extreme anxiety. The panic, shortness of breath, feelings of drowning or being buried alive. The sheer peril that one experiences.
It had all the potential in the world to be deep, beautiful, raw and authentic.
But instead of my heartstrings being yanked and my tear ducts overflowing, I felt…
not much of anything.
The Anti-Virginity Pact has a fairly slow start that continues until about halfway, where it switches gears drastically and becomes a book with zero direction. The first 55% actually wasn’t bad, even though the banter between Meredith and her best friend was a little eye-roll inducing, I was enjoying the slow buildup.
Meredith is a senior in high school and the daughter of a preacher. But for years, Mare had began rejecting the idea of religion and now considers herself an atheist, unbeknownst to her family. Due to growing up in a highly religious family and also having severe anxiety, Mare has always kept to herself – blending into the wallpaper and speaking to few people. So when her best friend Jo suggests a pact to lose their virginity by the end of high school, as a means to experience everything they missed out on (sex, parties, sports) she signs her name on the dotted line. And then the girls go about picking the lucky guys, and of course…
one of them HAS to be a teacher.
Honestly, this angle didn’t bother me that much, probably because of the countless YA Thrillers I’ve binged. But the execution of this trope was odd. It’s a lot of Jo swooning over their teacher and expressing plans on how to seduce him, Mare telling Jo it’s a horrible idea, and then Jo stomping her foot because Mare isn’t jumping for joy and celebrating her wanting to SEDUCE A TEACHER.
But honestly, this and Mare’s anxiety are about the most and only emotional follow-through in this entire book. Every time a BIG moment happened (because yeah, there’s a lot of them shoved in here) Mare and Jo just brush over it and move onto the next tragedy. Moments that would cause a person to break down in sobs, scream at the sky and start shattering things are let go with a “this is shitty“ or “this sucks”, and thrown away. And it’s not like they are being brave or strong and can just handle what’s being thrown at them.
It’s that all that happens in this story are “hot topic“ explosions.
One explosion detonates, and before it can be dealt with or dissected, three more explosions go off, making it a ticking time-bomb of craziness that keeps falling from the sky in the most unrealistic way possible.
In a Middle Grade book, the story is set up to have the “and then, and then, and then” format to keep the young reader’s attention. That is exactly how this book is formatted. It’s a series of dramatic and controversial topics smashed together, without proper time and care being spent on each tragedy. Religion, bullying, sexuality, rape, anxiety, animal abuse, religious camps. It’s all here. But instead of each issue adding to the story or making an impact on the reader, it made it inauthentic and ridiculous. As if any detailed description and emotional focus would deter the author from checking off the mention of these “hot topic” issues.
I just couldn’t handle how Mare could experience crippling anxiety, and it being described in such a relatable and clear way, but then not having any strong reaction to the BIG situations that happen at the party, with Sam or with her parents. Mare’s life literally implodes, and instead of there being even a SINGLE moment of her having a reaction to it, her character is more concerned with talking to Sam about ignoring his phone calls.
Am I in 7th grade again?
But the WORST moment for me in this story, was the allude to a rape that…wasn’t a rape? Or…was it? I’m still not even sure. But the fact that I don’t even know, leaves such a bad taste in my mouth for how this was even done.
Firstly, it was ONE paragraph. And it wasn’t even a long paragraph. But I reread it about 15 times trying to figure out what actually happened, and honestly, I still have no idea. And with how the incident is then brought up, with Mare’s reaction to it being the same as if she was talking about what kind of sandwich she would like to have for lunch…well.
I just don’t even have words.
But just like every other moment of trauma in this story, the main character brushes it under the rug because I guess she’s just a robot.
Bottom line, don’t waste your time with this.
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me via Netgalley for an honest review.
Opinion:
“For the record, I don’t normally have a predisposition for making bad decisions.”
Cause girl,
yeah you do.
The Anti-Virginity Pact is a YA Contemporary about two senior girls who make a pact to lose their virginity before the end of high school. As the closet-atheist daughter of a preacher, Meredith’s anxiety has always made her shy and kept her in the shadows. Wanting to finally gain experiences, she and her best friend sign a contract to lose their virginity. But when the pact gets leaked and the entire school sees that Mute Mare signed it, she is suddenly descended upon by every guy in school who wants a turn.
This had so much potential to be an emotional, gut-wrenching, femi-empowering YA about familial expectations and self-exploration. It could have showcased the overwhelming guilt and obligation we feel to please our parents, and how our own wants and desires can be obliterated in doing so. Or put a blinding spotlight on rape culture, bullying and the endless double standards that exist in our society. Or the crippling fear and physical ailments that come with extreme anxiety. The panic, shortness of breath, feelings of drowning or being buried alive. The sheer peril that one experiences.
It had all the potential in the world to be deep, beautiful, raw and authentic.
But instead of my heartstrings being yanked and my tear ducts overflowing, I felt…
not much of anything.
The Anti-Virginity Pact has a fairly slow start that continues until about halfway, where it switches gears drastically and becomes a book with zero direction. The first 55% actually wasn’t bad, even though the banter between Meredith and her best friend was a little eye-roll inducing, I was enjoying the slow buildup.
Meredith is a senior in high school and the daughter of a preacher. But for years, Mare had began rejecting the idea of religion and now considers herself an atheist, unbeknownst to her family. Due to growing up in a highly religious family and also having severe anxiety, Mare has always kept to herself – blending into the wallpaper and speaking to few people. So when her best friend Jo suggests a pact to lose their virginity by the end of high school, as a means to experience everything they missed out on (sex, parties, sports) she signs her name on the dotted line. And then the girls go about picking the lucky guys, and of course…
one of them HAS to be a teacher.
Honestly, this angle didn’t bother me that much, probably because of the countless YA Thrillers I’ve binged. But the execution of this trope was odd. It’s a lot of Jo swooning over their teacher and expressing plans on how to seduce him, Mare telling Jo it’s a horrible idea, and then Jo stomping her foot because Mare isn’t jumping for joy and celebrating her wanting to SEDUCE A TEACHER.
But honestly, this and Mare’s anxiety are about the most and only emotional follow-through in this entire book. Every time a BIG moment happened (because yeah, there’s a lot of them shoved in here) Mare and Jo just brush over it and move onto the next tragedy. Moments that would cause a person to break down in sobs, scream at the sky and start shattering things are let go with a “this is shitty“ or “this sucks”, and thrown away. And it’s not like they are being brave or strong and can just handle what’s being thrown at them.
It’s that all that happens in this story are “hot topic“ explosions.
One explosion detonates, and before it can be dealt with or dissected, three more explosions go off, making it a ticking time-bomb of craziness that keeps falling from the sky in the most unrealistic way possible.
In a Middle Grade book, the story is set up to have the “and then, and then, and then” format to keep the young reader’s attention. That is exactly how this book is formatted. It’s a series of dramatic and controversial topics smashed together, without proper time and care being spent on each tragedy. Religion, bullying, sexuality, rape, anxiety, animal abuse, religious camps. It’s all here. But instead of each issue adding to the story or making an impact on the reader, it made it inauthentic and ridiculous. As if any detailed description and emotional focus would deter the author from checking off the mention of these “hot topic” issues.
I just couldn’t handle how Mare could experience crippling anxiety, and it being described in such a relatable and clear way, but then not having any strong reaction to the BIG situations that happen at the party, with Sam or with her parents. Mare’s life literally implodes, and instead of there being even a SINGLE moment of her having a reaction to it, her character is more concerned with talking to Sam about ignoring his phone calls.
Am I in 7th grade again?
But the WORST moment for me in this story, was the allude to a rape that…wasn’t a rape? Or…was it? I’m still not even sure. But the fact that I don’t even know, leaves such a bad taste in my mouth for how this was even done.
Firstly, it was ONE paragraph. And it wasn’t even a long paragraph. But I reread it about 15 times trying to figure out what actually happened, and honestly, I still have no idea. And with how the incident is then brought up, with Mare’s reaction to it being the same as if she was talking about what kind of sandwich she would like to have for lunch…well.
I just don’t even have words.
But just like every other moment of trauma in this story, the main character brushes it under the rug because I guess she’s just a robot.
Bottom line, don’t waste your time with this.
I honestly loved this book so much. My family was very religious growing up while I on the other hand was the complete opposite so I related to Meredith quite a bit. I loved how Katie portrayed living with a very religious family. She also did an amazing job with speaking about how fast rumors and things travel in high school and I could not put this book down. I am hoping there is a sequel or something to this book because I felt a connection to this story and its characters.
**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review**
First of all I love the cover, and that is what first caught my attention. After reading the blurb this sounded like a very interesting book full of teen angst, which I love by the way. I don't read a lot of coming of age/Young adult novels but I wanted to give this one a try. I was definitely intrigued and looked forward to what would happen. However, the second half/last quarter became a bit of a mess. It was very chaotic and a lot was going on, some of it felt a bit unrealistic in my opinion. Also I had a very hard time connecting to the main character Meredith. However, the author was able to keep me curious enough to finish the book, which isn't always easy. But at the end of the day this was just an okay read for me. I wasn't sucked into the story, and I was just on the outside looking in. I didn't feel anything for the characters, which is a big deal for me when I am reading a book. Maybe it is just me, so if you are intrigued by what you read in the blurb then I say give it a go.
First of all I love the cover, and that is what first caught my attention. After reading the blurb this sounded like a very interesting book full of teen angst, which I love by the way. I don't read a lot of coming of age/Young adult novels but I wanted to give this one a try. I was definitely intrigued and looked forward to what would happen. However, the second half/last quarter became a bit of a mess. It was very chaotic and a lot was going on, some of it felt a bit unrealistic in my opinion. Also I had a very hard time connecting to the main character Meredith. However, the author was able to keep me curious enough to finish the book, which isn't always easy. But at the end of the day this was just an okay read for me. I wasn't sucked into the story, and I was just on the outside looking in. I didn't feel anything for the characters, which is a big deal for me when I am reading a book. Maybe it is just me, so if you are intrigued by what you read in the blurb then I say give it a go.
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An enjoyable read from Katie Wismer. I've followed her on booktube for a while now and finally decided to read her debut novel.
Some mixed feelings, mainly with pacing as it was a bit too slow in the beginning but then picked up later on with everything happening quite quickly at the end.
I'm glad I read this though as it was an enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading more from Katie as I can only imagine how she's improved from this.
Some mixed feelings, mainly with pacing as it was a bit too slow in the beginning but then picked up later on with everything happening quite quickly at the end.
I'm glad I read this though as it was an enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading more from Katie as I can only imagine how she's improved from this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Please read the trigger warnings beforehand. There are some rape/sexual occurrences that triggered me at least. I knew about the triggers beforehand, but I’ll read anything Katie puts out.
I really enjoyed this.
It left me in tears, but then again, everything Katie puts out leaves me in tears
I think this book tried to do too much and ended up doing too little. It had a lot of potential but didn't reach it.
It was hard to keep up with it. The storyline, the characters and the relationships between characters were not well developed.
However, I really enjoyed the writing style and it did hold my attention. I loved how it explored controversial topics but those topics should've been deeply explored.
I really liked the concept of the book and I'm definitely reading more of this author.
It was hard to keep up with it. The storyline, the characters and the relationships between characters were not well developed.
However, I really enjoyed the writing style and it did hold my attention. I loved how it explored controversial topics but those topics should've been deeply explored.
I really liked the concept of the book and I'm definitely reading more of this author.
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
1.5/5
Oh man... Where do I begin?
I was very excited for this book. It had so many tropes and themes that I LOVE but unfortunately, this was a flop. It was sitting at a solid 2 star rating but with the way the ending played out, I had to bump it down. I was expecting something dark, sexy and harrowing but what I got was a mess of plot and immature, cliche characters. I think if this story had a bit narrower of a focus it could have been much better but throwing in unnecessary plot points (animal abuse) and seemingly abandoning the main plot really did this story dirty.
Frankly, I was just bored, frustrated and disappointed.
Oh man... Where do I begin?
I was very excited for this book. It had so many tropes and themes that I LOVE but unfortunately, this was a flop. It was sitting at a solid 2 star rating but with the way the ending played out, I had to bump it down. I was expecting something dark, sexy and harrowing but what I got was a mess of plot and immature, cliche characters. I think if this story had a bit narrower of a focus it could have been much better but throwing in unnecessary plot points (animal abuse) and seemingly abandoning the main plot really did this story dirty.
Frankly, I was just bored, frustrated and disappointed.
** Please check this book prior to reading for trigger warnings **
I saw this author make a YouTube video and I thought I'd give her a shot! I mean, who doesn't want to support lesser known "indie" authors??
I'm going to give this book the good ole' criticism sandwich. The top layer - Our main character was unlikeable. Okay. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but she made one or two piss poor decisions (as teenagers do) that made me want to give myself a literal concussion. The middle layer (aka the positive) is that the writing style was very easy to follow and read. The story itself is engaging-ish butttt.... that takes us into our third and final layer. The bottom layer. There were multiple issues that our main character faced but…. I feel like none of the issues presented were astounding or took precedence over another. Like I was waiting and waiting for there to be a climax in the book, but one never came. I was kinda underwhelmed.
SPOILER BEGINS HERE:
The one thing that confused me is why all of a sudden Ashley decided to switch up? Like, she's been a complete asshole for 85% of the book, after she's kidnapped you, drug you through the mud, and threatened you, but you guys are just civil now after she chose to do a 180? Also, why go back to your wackadoodle parents if they kicked you out and THENNNN *get this shit!* try to have one of those CRAZY CHRISTIAN CAMPS TAKE YOU AWAY?! I mean, if it were me and I was in that situation, I would continue to live with my best friend. Her parents needed charges pressed, I said what I said.
Overall, would I recommend this to any of you? The high school/early college reader? Someone who's looking for a little drama? The answer is....... drumroll please....... absolutely not. please don't waste your time. This is one of those instances where I suppose I really should have paid attention to the Goodreads ratings before reading this. I never really do that regardless because I like to go into each of my reads with an open mind.
I saw this author make a YouTube video and I thought I'd give her a shot! I mean, who doesn't want to support lesser known "indie" authors??
I'm going to give this book the good ole' criticism sandwich. The top layer - Our main character was unlikeable. Okay. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but she made one or two piss poor decisions (as teenagers do) that made me want to give myself a literal concussion. The middle layer (aka the positive) is that the writing style was very easy to follow and read. The story itself is engaging-ish butttt.... that takes us into our third and final layer. The bottom layer. There were multiple issues that our main character faced but…. I feel like none of the issues presented were astounding or took precedence over another. Like I was waiting and waiting for there to be a climax in the book, but one never came. I was kinda underwhelmed.
SPOILER BEGINS HERE:
The one thing that confused me is why all of a sudden Ashley decided to switch up? Like, she's been a complete asshole for 85% of the book, after she's kidnapped you, drug you through the mud, and threatened you, but you guys are just civil now after she chose to do a 180? Also, why go back to your wackadoodle parents if they kicked you out and THENNNN *get this shit!* try to have one of those CRAZY CHRISTIAN CAMPS TAKE YOU AWAY?! I mean, if it were me and I was in that situation, I would continue to live with my best friend. Her parents needed charges pressed, I said what I said.
Overall, would I recommend this to any of you? The high school/early college reader? Someone who's looking for a little drama? The answer is....... drumroll please....... absolutely not. please don't waste your time. This is one of those instances where I suppose I really should have paid attention to the Goodreads ratings before reading this. I never really do that regardless because I like to go into each of my reads with an open mind.