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2.92 AVERAGE
2.92 AVERAGE
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*
4.5/5 ⭐️s
This book was everything I wanted it to be and more! As someone who was raised in a deeply conservative and religious home, someone who experienced purity culture at its most toxic, I wish I’d had a book like Purity to read when I was fresh out of college and learning where I stood outside of the culture I was raised in.
Livvy is the perfect heroine for this story. She’s all the things that “good Christian girls” are meant to be: kind, loving, compassionate, selfless, submissive. But she turns all of it on its head with her impurity contract. What I loved about Livvy is that she is STILL kind and loving…but she’s also learned to be adventurous and embrace her sexuality. And she stands up for her choices throughout this entire story. I fucking loved her!
And Cole? Dear god, I was ready for him to devour Livvy the first time she asked him to make her impure. You could FEEL his raw desire for her. It was heady and carnal, and the fact that he wanted to keep it reigned in to respect her? Well, I love that Livvy isn’t having it (because she knows what she wants), but it’s also incredibly endearing of him!
I can’t say enough about their relationship! Their communication was on point. Their chemistry was on fire. Their angst was palpable. I loved them to death, and I’m so glad Skyler gave us a bonus epilogue so we could stick with this couple for just a little while longer!
As for the purity culture topic…I cried a lot. The catharsis of reading about a young woman learning to live for herself and all the small moments I remember experiencing as well. It gave me a chance to purge emotions I didn’t know I’d held onto in the safety and comfort of a genuinely amazing romance story. I’m incredibly thankful to Skyler for this book!
Spice: 2/5
4.5/5 ⭐️s
This book was everything I wanted it to be and more! As someone who was raised in a deeply conservative and religious home, someone who experienced purity culture at its most toxic, I wish I’d had a book like Purity to read when I was fresh out of college and learning where I stood outside of the culture I was raised in.
Livvy is the perfect heroine for this story. She’s all the things that “good Christian girls” are meant to be: kind, loving, compassionate, selfless, submissive. But she turns all of it on its head with her impurity contract. What I loved about Livvy is that she is STILL kind and loving…but she’s also learned to be adventurous and embrace her sexuality. And she stands up for her choices throughout this entire story. I fucking loved her!
And Cole? Dear god, I was ready for him to devour Livvy the first time she asked him to make her impure. You could FEEL his raw desire for her. It was heady and carnal, and the fact that he wanted to keep it reigned in to respect her? Well, I love that Livvy isn’t having it (because she knows what she wants), but it’s also incredibly endearing of him!
I can’t say enough about their relationship! Their communication was on point. Their chemistry was on fire. Their angst was palpable. I loved them to death, and I’m so glad Skyler gave us a bonus epilogue so we could stick with this couple for just a little while longer!
As for the purity culture topic…I cried a lot. The catharsis of reading about a young woman learning to live for herself and all the small moments I remember experiencing as well. It gave me a chance to purge emotions I didn’t know I’d held onto in the safety and comfort of a genuinely amazing romance story. I’m incredibly thankful to Skyler for this book!
Spice: 2/5
I feel like this was 100 pages too long and it felt way too repetitive which I feel like might make sense for the topic of the book but at the same time it probably is what added to it being longer than it needed to be while at the same time feeling like nothing actually happened
for being the trope that it is, she actually had not awful agency and that was a pleasant surprise
i am so sorry to the author, but this book was not good. i read it on a whim since i got a recommendation on booktok, luckily is very short and easy to read.
i know the plot was basically the protagonist giving up on purity culture, but the dialogue talking about it (and religion) felt forced and unnatural. olivia is sort of a mary sue, which made me dislike her strongly haha, and cole feels so... mysoginistic, even when he realizes that he is in fact manipulative and possessive. anyways, very bored by the fact that everyone around olivia acts the way they do... idk, it feels incredibly stiff. oh, and i didn't really like the smut? but maybe because it is not really my thing.
i know the plot was basically the protagonist giving up on purity culture, but the dialogue talking about it (and religion) felt forced and unnatural. olivia is sort of a mary sue, which made me dislike her strongly haha, and cole feels so... mysoginistic, even when he realizes that he is in fact manipulative and possessive. anyways, very bored by the fact that everyone around olivia acts the way they do... idk, it feels incredibly stiff. oh, and i didn't really like the smut? but maybe because it is not really my thing.
There were a few aspects of this novel that I did enjoy, but I think it was let down by some missing development and a few missed opportunities. It was enjoyable and I finished the novel, but just wished I had gotten more overall.
Quick Synopsis: Livvy has lived her life according to what her parents and church have told her is “right” for a woman: no sex, no physical intimacy, dressing convservatively, etc. until she is married to a man. Livvy has had an awakening recently however and in her senior year of college she is no longer content to live according to those rules. With her last year of college fast approaching, Livvy wants to use the summer to explore her sexuality and complete her “unpurity list.” She enlists her best friend Cole, who she has been in love with for years, to help her, but she didn’t expect to push their relationship as far as she wants to.
Trigger warnings: Patriarchal constructs that lead to abuse; emotional abuse; cheating (not MCs); absentee parents
Here’s what I liked:
-As someone who grew up in purity culture, this resonated a lot. It had a lot of good messages, arguments for and against, parental relationships and scrutiny, discussion of patriarchal constructs, etc. It really hit hard.
-The spice was spicy (for the most part) and I liked how our main character gew and developed as a character overall.
What I struggled with:
-There were a lot of opportunities for development that were glossed over: our main characters relationship with her Father, I didn’t get Cole’s full relationship with his Father either. It was kind of discussed in one large data dump conversation, but not fully.
-The discussions that were held with the parents were both data dumps. There were no discussions over time to full flesh out the relationships, but just one conversation towards the ed of the novel. I would’ve gotten more out of it if I’d had this conversation broken up throughout the novel.
-I genuinely hate it when characters are like “I’m never going to let you out of my bed” and then they’re in bed for exactly 30 minutes.
-Overall, there were pacing issues and too many data dumps for a 200 page novel (give or take).
-While I liked the ending, I felt it was rushed.
-I liked our main characters, but they felt 2-dimensional to me in some ways. I wanted more information about them; they just weren’t fully developed.
Altogether, I think this was a fine novel, I just wish it was more.
Quick Synopsis: Livvy has lived her life according to what her parents and church have told her is “right” for a woman: no sex, no physical intimacy, dressing convservatively, etc. until she is married to a man. Livvy has had an awakening recently however and in her senior year of college she is no longer content to live according to those rules. With her last year of college fast approaching, Livvy wants to use the summer to explore her sexuality and complete her “unpurity list.” She enlists her best friend Cole, who she has been in love with for years, to help her, but she didn’t expect to push their relationship as far as she wants to.
Trigger warnings: Patriarchal constructs that lead to abuse; emotional abuse; cheating (not MCs); absentee parents
Here’s what I liked:
-As someone who grew up in purity culture, this resonated a lot. It had a lot of good messages, arguments for and against, parental relationships and scrutiny, discussion of patriarchal constructs, etc. It really hit hard.
-The spice was spicy (for the most part) and I liked how our main character gew and developed as a character overall.
What I struggled with:
-There were a lot of opportunities for development that were glossed over: our main characters relationship with her Father, I didn’t get Cole’s full relationship with his Father either. It was kind of discussed in one large data dump conversation, but not fully.
-The discussions that were held with the parents were both data dumps. There were no discussions over time to full flesh out the relationships, but just one conversation towards the ed of the novel. I would’ve gotten more out of it if I’d had this conversation broken up throughout the novel.
-I genuinely hate it when characters are like “I’m never going to let you out of my bed” and then they’re in bed for exactly 30 minutes.
-Overall, there were pacing issues and too many data dumps for a 200 page novel (give or take).
-While I liked the ending, I felt it was rushed.
-I liked our main characters, but they felt 2-dimensional to me in some ways. I wanted more information about them; they just weren’t fully developed.
Altogether, I think this was a fine novel, I just wish it was more.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It’s one of my favorites for sure!
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The growth out of purity culture is a little women’s fiction, but by the end the romance pulled through.