In case the title and the synopsis weren't clue enough, this book is about one girl's journey to get laid. She believes that she's the only virgin left in her senior class and this is an issue that she needs to immediately rectify. So, what better way to get rid of her pesky virginity than by losing it to her hot, college junior coworker, Dean?
Simple plot. Pretty straight forward. Pretty problematic, I think.
In this book, being a virgin is like having a disease. That's actually a quote in the book: "being a virgin in college is like having a disease." It's something that Keely wants to get rid of because she feels that she must, and that point of view isn't changed or even really challenged.
This is a YA novel and I think that we need to remember what "Young Adult" really means, and who the target audience really is. In the back of the ARC I got it says, "Ages 14 & up". Why is it ok to tell 14-year-old girls, or any girl in general, that they can't possibly be a virgin by the time you graduate high school because that's just 'not cool'. If you want to be a virgin, be a virgin! Sex is not a rite of passage nor something that you should do, just to get it out of the way so you have a good life.
And yes, in the end, we find out that Keely isn't the only virgin in her class, but that doesn't really change Keely's ultimate goal, it only changes who she wants to lose it to.
I don't want it to seem like I'm against Keely having sex. I'm not. Although, this book probably lowkey does. There is so much slut-shaming in this 'sex-positive novel'. And the worst part, the shaming is mostly done by other women!
All the guys in this book were horrible people! And what bothers me is that none of them face any consequences for their actions. People either let their actions slide or their mistakes are inconsequentially forgiven. They were all oblivious, sexist jerks! All except for Andrew of course, because he was a love interest!
Which brings me to the romance.
I didn't like Dean. But it's ok, he wasn't really meant to be too likable so let's not talk about him. This isn't a spoiler because we've all read YA contemporaries, we know how this goes. Let's talk about the best friend, Andrew.
Andrew and Keely were good friends and had great chemistry. But like, was it me, or did they never act like they were in love? I believed their friendship 100%. Their romance? Questionable at best.
I would have wanted more of their interactions and seeing them slowly come to terms with their emotions.
All of that said. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was pretty cute and kinda funny and very easy to read. I liked Keely and her friends. I also surprisingly really liked Danielle, who was a mean and horrible friend, but still strangely likable?
Overall, I liked this book, despite the fact that it's pretty gosh darn questionable. I don't know what that says about me.
Simple plot. Pretty straight forward. Pretty problematic, I think.
In this book, being a virgin is like having a disease. That's actually a quote in the book: "being a virgin in college is like having a disease." It's something that Keely wants to get rid of because she feels that she must, and that point of view isn't changed or even really challenged.
This is a YA novel and I think that we need to remember what "Young Adult" really means, and who the target audience really is. In the back of the ARC I got it says, "Ages 14 & up". Why is it ok to tell 14-year-old girls, or any girl in general, that they can't possibly be a virgin by the time you graduate high school because that's just 'not cool'. If you want to be a virgin, be a virgin! Sex is not a rite of passage nor something that you should do, just to get it out of the way so you have a good life.
And yes, in the end, we find out that Keely isn't the only virgin in her class, but that doesn't really change Keely's ultimate goal, it only changes who she wants to lose it to.
I don't want it to seem like I'm against Keely having sex. I'm not. Although, this book probably lowkey does. There is so much slut-shaming in this 'sex-positive novel'. And the worst part, the shaming is mostly done by other women!
All the guys in this book were horrible people! And what bothers me is that none of them face any consequences for their actions. People either let their actions slide or their mistakes are inconsequentially forgiven. They were all oblivious, sexist jerks! All except for Andrew of course, because he was a love interest!
Which brings me to the romance.
I didn't like Dean. But it's ok, he wasn't really meant to be too likable so let's not talk about him. This isn't a spoiler because we've all read YA contemporaries, we know how this goes. Let's talk about the best friend, Andrew.
Andrew and Keely were good friends and had great chemistry. But like, was it me, or did they never act like they were in love? I believed their friendship 100%. Their romance? Questionable at best.
I would have wanted more of their interactions and seeing them slowly come to terms with their emotions.
All of that said. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was pretty cute and kinda funny and very easy to read. I liked Keely and her friends. I also surprisingly really liked Danielle, who was a mean and horrible friend, but still strangely likable?
Overall, I liked this book, despite the fact that it's pretty gosh darn questionable. I don't know what that says about me.