Title: The Anti-Virginity Pact
Author: Katie Wismer
Genre: YA Contemporary
Releases on: June 16th, 2020
Pages: ? (no page count on kindle arc, nor goodreads)
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Synopsis: A shy senior in high school, Meredith hasn’t done much of anything to stand out, like kiss a boy, or even talk out in class. Most people don’t even realize she exists, so signing the pact to lose her virginity before graduation is more of a joke than anything. But she is tired of hiding her true self inside…tired of being invisible, tired of doing nothing, and tired of acting like she believes in all the things her devout Christian/pastoral parents believe. She would never tell them, of course, but she wants nothing to do with the church, nor the beliefs that go along with it, and so she stands to follow through with the pact. And it actually goes really well…for a time. Until all kinds of hell breaks loose.
My Thoughts: This took me awhile to get into. It seemed to have very simplistic writing, at the start, and it was very difficult for me to separate the voice as imagining Katie narrating it. That may have put a slight damper on the beginning of the book for me.
But I also may have taken slight offense as well to the basis of this character, and her actions. All the details of the main character, Meredith…I practically LIVED. I was a super quiet kid, never talked to anyone besides my close friends unless I had to, never spoke up in class. Kids looked over me, as I wasn’t good at anything specific. I however, did not grow up in a Christian home, but now try to lead a Christian home for my own children. So I get the feelings behind not believing.
I feel like the description of Katie’s family is conflicting. For a super devout Christian family to be so over the top about their beliefs…I feel like would be similarly controlling over all aspects of things related. Like wardrobe. And friends. And activities. She does mention, once, that her father would approve of certain outfits more, because they cover more skin…but then she talks about wearing shirts too tight for her chest, and her parents say nothing. Her parents don’t seem to care about who she hangs out with, or where she goes and what she does, more than being excited that she starts dating a kid who they presume to be a well-standing Christian kid, as well. THEN, not only are they excited, but they PUSH it a bit. Just all slightly conflicting actions, and doesn’t make sense.
Also, the plot line progresses so easily at the beginning, it’s hard not to feel like things happen specifically for this book, and that because the book is being read is why they are happening. I’m not sure what this is called, but this is the 2nd book recently to do this, and makes the starting of the plot line kind of cheesy. Once things start happening and progressing, by about halfway through the book, things start looking up and I get hooked to the story, making the rest fly by.
Katie’s character goes through a severe arc. She does seem pretty young and naive at the start, and traits by other characters just seem senseless. The fact that all the girls fawn over a teacher and try to get his attention is a bit ridiculous. She goes from not talking to anyone and an anxiety ridden child to a bad-ass, rule breaking 18 year old who doesn’t care who she hurts. I don’t see her starting character as being so true, and feel its a bit severe. It never comes back into play, the rest of the book, but for being severely lacking in the communication department.
Overall, once I finished the book, I enjoyed my time reading it, but despite the several heavy topics, the final impact wasn’t very noteable. It’s not one I find super important that people read, or making a mark on the world. Not that I care about that sort of thing. I just don’t think this one is going to stay with me.
I received this ARC from NetGalley for free, in exchange for an honest review.
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