I really dont know what to say about this book. I had high hopes for it but I'm a little disappointed. Its not what I thought it was. The beginning was a little dull for me but I continued anyway and I wasnt feeling it. Idk, I just didnt click with this book.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So I did enjoy reading it for what it was. The writing style makes it quite a fast and easy read although it did feel like the book only started at 50% because the beginning was a bit dull... Also, I was disappointed that the pact storyline was not explored more, the idea was really interesting! Unfortunately, it felt like this book was trying to do a LOT, but it just ended up only scrapping the surface of any topic/story it introduced. There are enough mistakes (spelling or grammatical) to make it obvious that it needs a bit more editing.

The religious aspect was unlike my experience growing up surrounded by devout christianity. If you are a supposedly strict parent, you don't let teenagers without a curfew (it has nothing to do with being a "good girl"), AND you for sure would know about sex ed being taught -- that's ridiculous. The father seemed like he did not want his children to go to a public school in the first place, he would in all likelihood have reviewed their curriculum beforehand. A lot of it was nonsensical. If the parents were religious *spoilers* to the point of wanting to send their daughter to a camp, then they would definitely have had as much of an iron-claw on her life as possible. NEVER would they be okay having a boy over in her bedroom without talking about it/about the rules first. On the other hand, not every religious person or person part of the clergy will be that extreme or overreact. There's understanding and open communication even in religious households! I am by NO MEANS religious, but I just think it would have been nice to see a more balanced message here.

I think (as many others it seems) that the "dog" side plot was a bit too far fetched and I don't feel like it was necessary to make it into something bigger than it needed to be. Also, the adoption process was nothing from what I ever experienced as a rescued animal owner and a volunteer in multiple refuges. I've never seen a shelter having only one staff, that's insane. Plus, I never had an adoption done that way, unsupervised by a staff member. There's affinity between the potential owner and the animal that absolutely needs to be evaluated, and a million questions the adopter has to answer to make sure the pairing would be a good fit. Especially if it's a no-kill shelter. But that is my personal experience (I understand there are more careless places, it just didn't seem like that one should have been one).

There was a lot of cliché characters (a stereotypical villain that learns nothing & a best friend with no care in the world about anything) and cliché moments like the phone running out of battery when needed (she was in a car, it seems really strange that there would be no charger there..), or the whole mean girl gone crazy scene.

To me the story cannot feel fully wrapped up when there are loose ends, and there were a few things that were left either unexplained or without a follow up:
- the drawings (Sam will never see them then...)
- Jo’s pact (I guess we'll never know why hers was not leaked)
- the father and the whole sex ed situation (he said he wasn't done with it but we never hear about it after the dinner)

Also, at the beginning of the story the mom, who is French, says "oh non, non, non! Zoot!" and being French myself I was confused for a second, but I guess she meant "Zut!" ? That's a pet peeves of mine, when authors use another language and don't get it right.


All in all, it's a book that is an easy read, and it's good on the surface, but it lacks a fully fleshed out story underneath. It is reminiscent of a teen movie with mean girls doing some crazy unbelievable shit, and where everything that can go wrong does. So if you like drama stories, this may be one you want to check out!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book before release date.

This book was hard to read not because it was lacking quality, but rather because the subject matter of this story was so tough to read. This book is a pretty classic bildungsroman. We are introduced to our main character Meredith who is a high school senior, animal lover, preacher's daughter, and virgin. This book deals with super morally grey that tend to define any young person's growing up experience.

The two main strengths of this book are the quality of the writing which leads to having a main character that I, as a reader, actually rooted for through the entirety of the book. If Meredith wasn't likable this book would not have worked because damn this girl is down on her luck at lot during this book. If the writing wasn't as descriptive and imaginative as it was this book also would not have worked.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I think it is an important story for young people to have access to.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Meredith Beaumont has always been known as the "shy girl". She was the girl who's name you could easily forget or didn't realize you'd had classes with since kindergarten. While in her Senior year, Mare signs a pact with her best friend, Johanna, where they both agree to lose their virginity before graduation. But as life begins to spin out of control with Mare's overly religious family, how will she navigate the upcoming changes she's faced with and whom will she have by her side?

I really really enjoyed this book. Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 stars but I'll round it up to a 4 as that is what I planned to give it until the plot point introduced right before the end. Mare is great! She's a closet athiest living in a super religious home who loves animals and wants to be a veterinarian. She uses the Anti-Virginity Pact as a confidence booster and a way to break out of her she'll by putting herself out there with a boy she's known forever, Sam. Sam is a great character who has alot of great depth to him. He isn't just some boytoy put in for a romantic subplot, to me he because a good addition to the story. I did have an issue with the pacing towards the back half of the book. We were moving along at a great speed when suddenly it was like PLOT TWIST! AH! MORE PLOT TWISTS! CAN YOU HANDLE MORE? NO? TOO BAD! PLOT TWIST! Poor Mare got put through the ringer in less than 150 pages, and I would have been there for it, but for the dog fighting plot twist. Yes, you read that right, the animal lover has to face a dog fighting ring, but only for about ten pages. In my opinion, the book would have been so much better off without that subplot.

Overall, this is a light and quick read that hits on alot of issues facing today's youth. From sexual assault, dealing with crushing on older people/teachers, drugs, alcohol, sexualities, and even religious camps where parents send their children to be essentially rebooted. I feel like the writer does a great job of showing what high school is truly like, and would recommend this story for anyone 14 and older. Pick up a copy and see for yourself whay an Anti-Virginity Pact can do.

I really, really enjoyed this! Well written and thought provoking, it was a very quick read. One I will be looking to recommend to some of our older students as it raises a lot of questions about human nature, human treatment and feelings.

This book was enjoyable. I feel like some things got out of hand. So many negative situations happened all at once making this story Slightly unrealistic. It was easy to read and flowed fairly well. I wish we learned more about Johanna earlier in the book. Her development was mostly at the end. Overall good read. I am looking to see what else Katie will write.

The anti-virginity pack sounds like it’s going to be a great coming of age story about a young protagonist dealing with how to handle loosing her virginity right? Well, that’s sort of what this book is about. Spoiler alert… it’s also about rescuing a dog, very religious parents/religious identity and some crisis about going to college with little money and needing scholarships.

What this book for me lacked was a thread tying all of those things together. I don’t mind wacky things being thrown into books if they have a common thread that ties them together really well. This book just felt disjointed and wasn’t tied well together. I also felt that due to this, the pacing was off. The beginning of the book starts out how you would expect- laying out the pact and deciding who the girls should get to know so that they can carry out their pact. Then about halfway through- everything else piles on and its a sprint to the end with all the additional plot points.

Another thing that lacked for me was that all the characters read in one tone and read young… younger than they said they were. It was hard to believe that Mare, Jo, and Sam were 18 years old in their senior year. This also applied to the parents/adult figures.

What I do find to be some redeeming qualities is that this book does talk about what it is like to have different beliefs than those around you and what that means and how people internalize those difference so often. I do think that the sections in which this is talked about is some of the better writing in the book. (I think that Katie said on her channel that she had reached out to others to help make sure this type of stuff was correct.)

I will keep following Katie to see what she comes up with in the future.

Thank you to Katie and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I expected this book to be more fast-paced and feel more like a "Gossip Girl" inspired book. That is not to take away from the writing, which was nice, but the storyline in and of itself. I didn't feel connected to the book and I also didn't have the feeling of wanting to get through the book because I was dying to know what would come next,

4 STARS ★★★★✩
This book is for you … especially if you’re struggling in a social surrounding that is so religious their belief and behaviour in relation to it makes you miserable. Those who would like to experience a hushed part of religious practice will also enjoy this book. TW: Christian fanaticism, bullying, sexual assault, violence.

⤐ DISCLAIMER. If you’re religious and struggle with the criticism towards it, this book and review might not be for you until you're able to be more open-minded. I know people who are religious without all of what comes below (at least to my personal experience with them) so, yeah, not all Christians. This book is a chance for those suffering from religious fanaticism and religious individuals who would like to fight it – BUT you have to be willing to face the nasty of that community.

⤐ Overall.
Despite the average rating of this book I read the synopsis and instantly knew I wanted to read it. The Anti-Virginity Pact brings forth a topic that religious communities love to keep under wraps and underestimate grossly: religious – in this case Christian – fanaticism. You can mean well with your love to your God up until the point you litter your social surrounding in Bible verses, force your ‘loved’ ones to attend service regularity and make them feel miserable about themselves because of the way you express and live your religious viewpoints so their only solution is to smother their identities to not rub against your spikes.

Katie manages to spin a well-written and important story about a teenage girl that struggles not only to live her identity as an atheist in a Christian family but is also a social outcast in her high school. She’s known as Mute Mare because she’s learned early on in Bible studies that expressing her own viewpoints can get her into trouble quite quickly.

That being said, I like how the The Anti-Virginity Pact deals with Jo and Mare’s attempt to finally making 'the best' of their high school experience. (view spoiler) This story has so many ups and downs and I felt every single one of them in my heart.

The great message in this book was hurt by the rushed ending. There were too many things happening at once (view spoiler). It’s the dominant topic that gives this book it’s special something. As a YA alone, some of the YA characters seem a bit exaggerated, especially towards the end, the stereotypical mean girl changes course too abruptly. Together with the rushed ending, in particular, it left me a bit unsatisfied in the suspense department. That virginity is a construct didn't come up at all, which I found weird since the myth is in great part perpetuated by religion.

This book is a chance for those suffering from religious fanaticism and religious individuals who would like to fight it – BUT you have to be willing to face the nasty of that community.

⤐ What’s happening.
‘I don’t care what the Bible tells us because that book – and that’s really all it is, a book – has made me feel terrible about myself all my life. I can see that believing in it helps you and comforts you and is true for you, but it’s not true for me. I have the right to choose what I believe, and if you loved me half as much as you claim to, then you’d respect that.’

Imagine even having to have this conversation with your own parents. Imagine this being your greatest fear. Imagine your parents’ belief causing you so much misery you smother your own identity into silence. Now decorate this with an (un)healthy portion of social awkwardness. Needless to say, your teenager self wants to make up for it – or your best friend actually does and because you only have that one and there’s actually some truth in said dilemma, you decide to go along with the pact. Because, in truth, you would love to feel emotionally and physically close to a boy, one boy in particular, but you’ve never found the guts to do so before.
_____________________
writing quality + easy of reading = 4*

pace = 3*

plot/story in general = 4*

plot development = 3.5*

characters = 4*

enjoyability = 4*

insightfulness = 5*

LOVED IT!!!!!! HONESTLY DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT BUT ALL I CAM SAY IS AWESOME!!!!! WOULD DEFINITELY READ MORE FROM THE AUTHOR.

4.5 Stars ( I received an e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

Full transparency, I have been subscribed to Katie for a couple of years and was constantly checking net galley for when the arc dropped. I absolutely love the cover design and over all loved reading this novel. I did see some typos in the book but didn't note where they were and there wasn't many. I fully appreciate the page of trigger warnings and is something I wish other authors included. I did find the mix of the amount of french Mare's family used a bit odd. Also the amount of times she skips Sunday service without getting caught surprised me, as the parents are very dedicated and the dad is the pastor. I initially wasn't the biggest fan of Mare's sister Harper but throughout the story her character becomes more developed and adds some representation. Mare's friendship/romance with Sam is precious and I love that they bond at the animal shelter (I LOVE SQUIRT!) One relationship I wasn't really a fan of, was with her best friend Johanna. Mostly due to the fact Mare voices her extremely valid concerns with Johanna's crazy idea to seduce their teacher and doesn't talk to her until Mare comes back groveling with an apology. What was done the best in my opinion was the high school drama and real life situations, did have to take a break due to my anxiety being triggered from some of the bullying content. Although the car gang up scene was a bit over the top. Some of the plots like Sam's book never really got resolved, some although foreshadowed seem out of place (Dog fight ring) and some seemed crazy yet could be a reality for some people. The ending was satisfactory, I did wish it went another way but not surprised that Katie went with the ending that she did.

Thank you Netgally for a chance to read and review this book.
This is a book I wouldn’t usually pick up, but I wanted to support the author, as she is my favorite YouTuber I couldn’t miss the chance.
Holy moly this was a ride.
I didn’t know what to expect from this one, but I’m here to tell you that I really enjoyed it. We follow Meredith, a senior in high school and her best friend Johanna as they make a contract to lose their virginity before the end of the school year. Everything seems to be going so well in Mare’s life, but nothing really is at the end, not even for Johanna. There is a lot going on in this book, so yes pay attention to the trigger warning in the beginning of the book (I really appreciate when authors have them). I loved the writing. The whole story was interesting and it kept me on my toes until the very end, it kept me wanting more. It went by so quick, and so much happens, sometimes that’s a bad things in books, but for this one it just flowed so perfectly. It felt just like watching a movie. I really liked every character, and like how much Mare grows from the beginning till the end of the book, even though it is so much more darker than I expected.
Overall, a great, fast faced read that I think others will enjoy.

Okay I have many thoughts.

Okay I want to first start by saying that I don’t want anyone to think that I didn’t enjoy this book. I did. I inhale read it in less than 24 hours and overall did enjoy my time. Let's start with some of the things I did like about the book. First of all, the writing is great. I constantly wanted to keep reading and I was engaged throughout the entire story. I will definitely be reading the next book this author puts out because it was very entertaining. That being said, I just think there are a lot of things that this book needed to tighten up a bit in terms of plot and pacing.

All that being said, this book is wayyy overdramatic in both the plot and the writing style. In terms of the plot it kind of reads like a teen high school movie, you know the ones where everyone has awful or absent parents, people do things like throw food on each other, and popular kids rule the school. Also, the writing style itself is also really melodramatic. For example, there is a MINOR detail at the beginning of the book where the main character says that she needs to park in the second row of parking spots because the first row is for popular kids and if she were to park there someone would key her car. Now, this is a bit much if you ask me. Keying a car is vandalism. Vandalism is a crime. If this is an actual threat at this school, then this town has some major problems and it didn't really seem like a crime-ridden neighborhood. At this point in the story the main character is the quiet girl who no one has an issue with, so it is surprising to me that she actually fears getting targeted and having her car keyed. So next I thought that she was being hyperbolic, but it didn’t feel super genuine to have her tell this so dramatically, because then I'm not sure when to trust her. Again, this is like one of the smallest details in the book and I’m not sure why this one, in particular, bothered me so much, but this is just one instance where the writing is super melodramatic, and it carries over into much bigger aspects of the story.


My other critique of this book is that I think it tries to handle way too many things. It covers teacher-student relationships, bullying, harassment, sexual assault, animal abuse, religion, slut-shaming, anxiety, LGBT related bullying, religious reform schools, and many other heavy topics. These are all important issues, don’t get me wrong, and I’m happy that there are people out there shining a light on these issues, however, I wish she had taken a few of them out and delved way deeper into each one. Like for example, it is mentioned at the beginning of the book that the main character is on mediation for anxiety, but that was about the extent to which it was talked about. There is no mention of therapy or her journey with her mental health that would make me believe that this is something that she deals with daily. I feel like this could have packed a bigger punch had it been more prevalent thematically throughout the story.

Finally, the events of the synopsis happen about 50% of the way through the book, which left the pacing a little clunky. That's not to say that I didn’t enjoy the beginning of the book, but it left me wondering how much more they could have dove into those issues had they happened earlier.

I feel like the experience reading this book is kinda like watching a TV show like Pretty Little Liars or Riverdale. There is a lot to critique about those shows, but there is a reason that so many people watch. Those shows are so overdramatic and have quite a few eye-roll moments, but did I watch and eat up every second? Yes. I rate my books mostly out of enjoyment, which is why this got 3 stars from me. It was definitely enjoyable, but this was just a wilddddd ride.

Cw + TW: sex, religion, harassment, assault, rape and attempted rape, blackmail, slut-shaming, teacher-student relationship, animal abuse, bullying, substance abuse, anxiety, trauma, LGBT-related bullying, strained family relationships

Katie Wismer aka KatesBookDate on YouTube has been watched constantly and looking up to. I have consistently seen her dedicate a lot of time and effort into whatever she's writing which often inspires me to do more when I'm writing. When I heard I could get an advanced copy of this for review, I couldn't help myself but get it. With that being said, I was not expecting this to be what it was. I knew it would be dark and feature some sensitive topics but, DAMN. She didn't have to go this hard.

This book is not your typical high school contemporary. There are many other elements to this, some of them much darker than I was expecting. When each of the topics was first introduced, I was shocked and feeling a bit uncomfortable. But once the story continued, I enjoyed what happened. I liked that Katie talked about each of these things. It's not something I read very often in young adult books or get a younger person's perspective on.

As I was reading, I did notice a few things that could have done slightly better. One of those things was the pacing of the story. I'm not entirely sure how long this book is (nowhere features a page number) but, I think I would have enjoyed this better if there were another 50-100 pages. Because there were numerous things discussed throughout the story, those extra pages would've given the events and the characters in the story more time to be fleshed out. Some things seemed to be talked about and moved on from quicker than others. Another thing that was bothering me while reading was having to keep reminding myself that the characters are in high school, varying in ages and grades. For some reason, they read younger in some of their social interactions but read older when they went out to do something.

Despite those things, I enjoyed what I read. I'm glad Katie is continuing with her writing because I believe she has a great future ahead of her.

A very interesting concept that was well executed. It explored a lot of deep themes well and I appreciated how they were handled.

Overall I liked the book and I liked the main character of Mare and was a quick read. However I feel that it covered just a bit too much in such a short book and some of it felt a bit rushed especially the ending. Some of it I found a little unbelievable and definitely felt sorry for Mare's little sister through the book. But overall it was a good read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The writing style made for a very quick read that kept me interested in the story the whole way through. I’m much older than the main character and past many of the experiences she is dealing with, but I still found her very relatable and I loved seeing her character develop over the course of the story.

My only issue with the story is that I felt like there were way too many things going on, which made it impossible for the author to fully dive into each aspect of the story. There was bullying, absentee parents, alcoholism, sexual assault, struggles with family over religious differences, discussions of teacher-student relationships, struggles with sexuality, and even dog-fights (wth?). I would have loved to have seen these plot points a little more focused so that we could fully explore all issues in the book, instead of having so many things briefly touched on but not fully explored.

A huge thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I think so highly of the author but my personal opinion of this book was that it was inconsistent and a little irritating to read. I think I might not be the target audience and so that could have played a part but I can't get past the whole vibe while reading this. The main character is completely immature and to me unlikeable. I thought this book tried to do too much for not a ton of payoff. I think this book would would work for other people, it just didn't work for me.

This had potential. However, I feel like the author tried to cram too many storylines into one book that was only 330 pages long.  

I was really enjoying the religious aspect to the plot, especially when the main character's father is a preacher. I think the premise of a daughter of a preacher who doesn't agree with her family's beliefs and is experiencing her first love would have been really compelling. We never really saw much of the home life with a religious family except for two instances of going to church. That whole story could have been fleshed out if it was given more of an "A" storyline.

I would have liked Meredith struggles with anxiety to have been explored, instead of just glossed over in passing. It could have played into her blossoming relationship or how her family feels about it.The whole plot line of the "The Pact" was fine, but I could have done without it. I would have maybe liked that part more if it was a separate book. 

Something that really bothered me and it might be silly, but the story took place in April and the characters were still doing college applications. As second semester seniors. It's universally known that kids apply to colleges in the fall of their senior year through January at the very latest. 

The writing was good and I definitely was engaged, I just think it could have been better. 

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this. Review to come.

Okay, so... I read this book really fast and it's easy to read and overall, it's not a bad book. I just didn't get certain things about it....

Like when <spoiler> Mare is KIDNAPPED by a classmate and doesn't tell anyone? </spoiler> or when <spoiler> they stumble into a dog fighting ring and don't tell anyone? (I mean, they call the cops afterwards but okay... )</spoiler> or when <spoiler)her parents want her to be taken away by people in dark suits in an SUV because she's an atheist.</spoiler> Any of these plot points in one book, I'd be down for but it just seemed like a lot all in one book.

Mare's best friend, whose name is escaping me right now, I wanna say Jo?, also sort of got under my skin when she was getting mad at Mare for being understandably upset when Jo was making a god awful decision. That was resolved pretty well, in my opinion.

All of this is coming off much more negative than the reading experience actually was. I'm looking forward to seeing what she writes in the future. I do watch the author's vlogs and I'm curious to read her sci fi stuff that she's going to release. I think I'll get on better with that.