I really enjoyed this book, it was a solid book with a driven plot direction right from the start. I was very intrigued by the religious aspect of the book, it was a risky choice to have a character with a religious background want to break out of that mold. Mere was that character, I really enjoyed her point of view. She was shy, smart, focused, anxious, and yet had a side that you could really relate to if you feel trapped inside of yourself. A side more open than what she led on.
I would say with all the the triggers that this book had, they were handled with grace. It was not a book I had to convince myself to pick up, I was drawn to know what was going to happen next. Especially with the cute little romance.

The downfall for me was the way the ending was - loved the way the parents were handled, love that her and the sister could come to a common ground, but I did not like the romantic ending. NO - I do not need or want a happily ever after - that is not what this book was about, however I do not think Sam was seen to be the type to give up so easily so I was a little disappointed on that. I also would have liked to see Jo or the teacher have ANY interaction after what happened. BUT those are all personal preferences. Either way - this book was great and gripping, would highly recommend!

4/5 stars. I received an e-arc from NetGalley and all opinions stated in this review are mine and only mine.

I am not doing a proper review of this book. I have nothing against the author or where I got the arc I just do not feel the need to since it is not coming out until later this year.

Here is my review nevertheless.

TW: sexual assault, animal abuse, religion etc.

Mare and Johanna were the trope where one (Mare) is the good innocent girl, while Johanna was the wild one. I’ve personally never had a problem with this trope being in so many books, but I do know that some people do so I figured I’d mention it. In one review I saw on this book someone was saying how annoying it was that Mare kept making mistake after mistake, coming off as stupid, I just wanted to say that yes, that is all true. BUT she did not come off that way to me. YES she did make mistake after mistake, but the way her character is written makes her not “stupid” or even annoying. Ah honestly I LOVED Johanna she was such a mood and everything I could want in a character. Sam, though? Yes. I loved him. He was honestly so SO cute and amazing but I’m sad about the ending of this book still.

Thank you so much to the author and netgalley for allowing me to read an early copy of this book.
The anti virginity pact has been one of my most anticipated releases of 2020 and it didn't dissapoint. I was so excited to find what this was about since i saw Katie talking about it on her channel.
I can't say much about the book without spoiling it but I think the author did such a great job with this one. She touched really dark topics but I'm glad she did it because in the end they added a lot of dept to the story. Meredith is such an amazing character. I related to her a lot with some of her struggles and I think a lot of readers would be able to emphatize and understand her a little better. I really enjoy the dynamics between Mare and her family and how she sees the world. The love story is really sweet and cute. I was not expecting it because usually I'm not that into romance but the two main characters seemed genuine and they deeply care for each other. The relationship doesn't feel rushed and the author took her time to built it and I really appreciate that.
I think Katie has a great future as an author. This story proves that she has a way with words and she can explore some really deep subjects and she created really amazing characters that will stay with you for a long time. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next and she is an author i will support in the future.
Thank you so much again

Thank you to netgalley for providing me early access.

This book was unfortunately not for me. I was keen to read it seeing as I've been following the author for a while, but the experience was not for me. I was not the target audience, and I think that is the reason I didn't enjoy it as much as it should be.
I think this novel have a lot of potential to be loved by someone who isn't me.

I have been following Katie's work on YouTube for a while and I was very happy to receive an advance copy of her first novel to read. The Anti-Virginity Pact was worth the wait!
In this book, we accompany Meredith, an eighteen-year-old girl who has to deal with the consequences of a pact with her best friend and constant family pressure.
I loved watching Mere's story during her senior year in high school. I think the author managed to create a real character and very firm in her beliefs and motivations.
I loved how the author managed to approach several serious topics with great responsibility and without looking pedantic. Major trigger warnings for family oppression, bullying, sexual abuse and animal abuse.
The only problem I had with this book lies in the construction of the characters, who didn’t always act their age. Also, the plot is full of tropes, which can put away some more demanding readers.
Other than that, in The Anti-Virginity Pact you will find a very well written and very fast passed book. I highly recommend it to those looking for a quick and impactful read.

4.5 stars but definitely deserves to be rounded up.
I was so excited when I got approved for this arc and preordered the physical book before even reading it.
I loved this book however I believe I would have enjoyed it more a few years ago. As a 27 year old it was a little difficult to fully connect to an 18 year old but the story was so well done I couldn’t put my phone down. I definitely recommend this book to everyone. Katie handled difficult topics in such a beautiful way.

*There may be some spoilers.

I absolutely love Katie's Youtube channel. She is so dedicated to all of her projects and often inspires me to work harder. When she announced "The Anti-Virginity Pact", I couldn't wait. I was even more excited when I was chosen for an ARC. All of those things are what makes this review so hard to write...

I did not like this book at all. I expected a gritty, YA drama but that just isn't what this is. If I had to choose one word to describe the entire thing, it would be bland. There was truly nothing I enjoyed. The main character, Meredith, is 18 years old but thinks and acts like a 15 year old, at max. Meredith makes one stupid decision after another. It would be one thing if she was supposed to be a stupid person but she's not. It was obvious that the decisions she made were to create drama in the story but those decisions just didn't fit with an 18 year old who's smart enough to go to college to be a vet.

However, Meredith's best friend, Johanna, was truly the worst. I'm not sure if it would be considered a trope but I am so sick of, in YA, there being two female friends and one of them having to be the feisty/wild one while the other is quiet/responsible. Johanna is our wild and reckless one in this story. To put it mildly, she's cringy. She's the kind of person that gets on my nerves in real life AND in books.

Meredith also has a ridiculous pair of parents and annoying younger sister. Her sister, Harper, is supposed to be around 15 but again, acts very immature. The parents are religious zealots. Religion plays a big part in this book and that's fine. It's totally normal for people to question and even change their religious beliefs. However, I've been a Christian my whole life. I live in Alabama, the belt buckle of the Bible belt. I have NEVER, not even once, seen Christians act like the ones in this book. The dad literally loses his mind because his daughter has to take a health class... They try to kidnap Meredith and ship her off to a Christian reform camp... That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. It was so over the top to the point that it wasn't believable or even enjoyable as just pure drama.

Speaking of drama, there was none. Sure, there were moments like what I mentioned above and there was a weird, random dog fighting ring plot point that was just tossed in but actual, interesting drama was nowhere to be found. With a name like "The Anti-Virginity Pact", I excepted some sex or sexual tension but there wasn't any of that. Meredith's relationship with her kind of boyfriend, Sam, was as spicy as water. There was, however, a lot of bullying that made no sense. Meredith is so anxious and shy that she can barely string two sentences together but for some reason the whole school hates her. There's even a scene where some of the kids throw ketchup packets at her windshield until it "looks like a crime scene." Think about how many ketchup packets you would have to throw and the force with which you'd have to throw them to cover a windshield... but yet, this is supposed to have happened in a matter of minutes. That's the level of drama in this book, simply childish.

As I stated above, I really enjoy Katie's channel. This is NOT a review of her. I wish her all the best and I'm sure others out there will enjoy this book. The 14-16 age range would probably get the most out of it.

What a story! Half way through, I couldn't read fast enough to see how things were going to turn out. All kind of emotions came up. The mean girls, the incident at the party, the dog fighting ring, Mere’s parents trying to ship her away...how’s this going to end! I loved how it did but I am hoping for a sequel. I can picture Sam and Mere living happily ever after with Squirt dressed up in the engagement photos!

Before I go into specifics, I want to say that this would be a great read for anyone who loves reading fast-paced addictive contemporary novels. This is the kind of book I read (or reread) whenever I'm in a reading slump.

Since I was lucky enough to read it before its release, I want to do a thorough non-spoiler review.
-Let's start with the writing. I think this is one of the strongest points of the book. It's the perfect writing for a YA contemporary. It fits the main character (it's written in the first person) and sounds very natural, which makes the reading experience very smooth. I can see people reading this in one sitting because of the writing and the pace.
-What about the characters? Well, I think Mare, our protagonist, is a very interesting character. She's definitely your average teen who is still trying to find out who she really is, which makes her very relatable. Also, the way her anxiety is described is a very good representation of it and very respectful. I feel like, often, writers include anxiety in their books as a character trait but without doing the proper research.
I adore the character of Johanna, Mare's best friend. I wish there were even more scenes with her.
Sam was also a character that I really liked. I enjoyed the way "his story" ended. I can't say much without going into spoilers, but I feel like it was the right move for his character.
My biggest complaint would be that we didn't get enough Harper. Mare's sister was really interesting as a character and I expected her story to be more relevant, especially during the conflict of the book.
-The plot was what convinced me to read the book. I don't normally read YA contemporary unless there is more to the story than just romance or something like that. So I appreciated the debate about religion a lot, even though I understand it can put some people off. This is fiction and obviously has been taken to an extreme, so it makes for a more interesting story, but fiction usually allows us to start conversations that are important. I also think it's very brave as an author to tackle this subject in a debut novel.
But there are more topics brought to the table. As I said, I liked the way anxiety is represented. But sexual assault and animal abuse are also mentioned throughout different parts of the story. They are not introduced in a cheap way, in my opinion, and it allows us to start those conversations too.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading other books by Katie, especially knowing that she is working in more than one genre. It will be interesting to follow her journey and to see which genre is the one where she shines the most.

~ Thank you NetGalley for the early copy~

The Anti-Virginity Pact is a hard hitting contemporary novel following Meredith and her bestfriend Johanna as they decide to make a pact to lose their virginity. I really loved the dynamic between Meredith and Johanna. Johanna is more of the rebellious friend and. I think I can see myself more in Meredith in that she is the more protective friend. Meredith also has a sister named Harper who can't come out and is struggling with that since their parents are extremely religious. Meredith herself is an atheist.. I will say if you're a hardcore Christian this might not be for you as it has more of the atheist points of view then anything. I also really enjoyed Sam and Merediths relationship. I liked how this book tried to cover different important topics and it didn't gloss over anything. I would definitely recommend everyone to pick it up!

My Rating: 4 stars

When I saw Kate was coming out with a new book I was so excited because I am an avid viewer of her youtube channel and I have followed her journey writing this book. I wasn't disappointed!

This book centres on a girl named Meredith - an all-around "good girl" with religious parents and a wallflower personality. Meredith's more extroverted friend Johanna makes what they call an anti-virginity pact, promising each other that they will both lose their virginity (I believe) before graduation. Although reluctant, Meredith signs this agreement, little does she know that it might come back to haunt her.

I have a wide array of thoughts for this book.
First of all, I was surprised at how much I was sucked in by Katie's writing. There was just enough vivid description and dialogue to make the book flow right without overuse of flowery language or dramatics.
I also loved Meredith's character. I related to her enough that her decisions were plausible and she seemed like the kind of girl I would want to hang out with. I think Sam and Johanna were also well explored too for secondary characters.
I was very interested in the religious parent perspective as this is something that has always fascinated me as I come from a very atheist household. I liked that Katie really highlighted her parent's religious beliefs without every other second throwing some scripture into the book as if her parents go around preaching. This is an issue I have found in other books though Katie avoids this well.

The only issue I had (which may not bother all) was that I felt it was a very slow start. Don't get me wrong, I liked where the book was going and I think without the pact 'getting out' for everyone to see, the book would be fine enough on its own. However, 50% in I had to double-check I was still reading the right book because up until then, this anti-virginity pact had only been mentioned less than a handful of times. It finally came back into play around 53% which I guess isn't much after but I just felt like I was expecting it to be a much bigger plotline that what I felt like it was.

Overall, a solid read as a debut from Katie. I would definitely recommend for an easy, enjoyable read. I can definitely see readers enjoying this book around a pool in the summertime.

4 stars.
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.