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A review by romanaromana
Vegan, Virgin, Valentine by Carolyn Mackler
medium-paced
2.0
2 stars.
[Content warnings: a dodgy age gap relationship (17yo x 22yo); slut-shaming; weed; mentions of sexual assault/harassment. Nothing in this review].
In short, this book has not aged well.
Speaking of age...yeah. There are only a couple of sentences at most which attempt to digest the fact that the protagonist - a 17-year-old girl - has a love interest who is 22 years old AND her boss. There was also very little actual romance to help readers understand why the protagonist is so swept up in this guy anyway - she just, like, decides he's cute and he can carry a conversation. That's kind of it.
The other supporting characters also felt under-developed. V is an interesting character with heaps of potential, but what began explosively was very quickly subdued and she became a filler of sorts - occupying Mara's parents and not doing much else.
I was similarly disappointed by how things developed with Travis and Bethany - the latter of whom faded from the narrative completely.
I suppose Mara herself was decently written, and I was at least clearer on who she was and how she changed over the course of the book. But I didn't particularly care for her, and a lot of my thoughts were clouded by the 'romance' which unnecessarily (and worryingly) occupied so much of her time and attention in the narrative.
Ultimately, there wasn't much driving me to keep reading Vegan Virgin Valentine. It's incredibly short so at least that made it easier to finish without the usual hook or clear arc I would enjoy.
[Content warnings: a dodgy age gap relationship (17yo x 22yo); slut-shaming; weed; mentions of sexual assault/harassment. Nothing in this review].
In short, this book has not aged well.
Speaking of age...yeah. There are only a couple of sentences at most which attempt to digest the fact that the protagonist - a 17-year-old girl - has a love interest who is 22 years old AND her boss. There was also very little actual romance to help readers understand why the protagonist is so swept up in this guy anyway - she just, like, decides he's cute and he can carry a conversation. That's kind of it.
The other supporting characters also felt under-developed. V is an interesting character with heaps of potential, but what began explosively was very quickly subdued and she became a filler of sorts - occupying Mara's parents and not doing much else.
I was similarly disappointed by how things developed with Travis and Bethany - the latter of whom faded from the narrative completely.
I suppose Mara herself was decently written, and I was at least clearer on who she was and how she changed over the course of the book. But I didn't particularly care for her, and a lot of my thoughts were clouded by the 'romance' which unnecessarily (and worryingly) occupied so much of her time and attention in the narrative.
Ultimately, there wasn't much driving me to keep reading Vegan Virgin Valentine. It's incredibly short so at least that made it easier to finish without the usual hook or clear arc I would enjoy.