Monday, August 11, 2014

Virgin by Radhika Sanghani

The Basics:
Virgin by Radhika Sanghani
Berkley Trade
Mainstream
Published August 5, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com

Why I picked up this book:

This seemed, from the blurb and cover, like it could be an 'it book,' so I thought I'd try to get on board before the masses.


Blurb:

Okay, I admit it…I didn’t do it.

Yet.

This is normal, right? I mean, just because everyone I know has talked like they’ve already done it doesn’t mean that they’re telling the truth…right?

It’s not like I’m asking for that much. I don’t need the perfect guy. I don’t need candlelight or roses. Honestly, I don’t even need a real bed.

The guys I know complain that girls are always looking for Mr. Right—do I have to wear a sign that says I’m only looking for Mr. Right Now?

Sooooo…anyone out there want sex? Anyone? Hello? Just for fun?

I am not going to die a virgin. One way or another I am going to make this happen.

Hey, what have I got to lose? Besides the obvious.

My thoughts:

Up front, I didn't read all the pages of this book. I read the first hundred, skipped to the end to read the last fifty and then went back and read maybe twenty in the middle.

So, definitely not the whole book, and not in order.

Why, you might ask, is that?

I struggled to get into this story. I found main character Ellie unsympathetic. I should have realized from the blurb that she was obsessed - but it didn't occur to me how *how* obsessed this woman is with both losing her virginity and with her lady parts.

Now, granted, I was in a long-term relationship at the end of my undergraduate degree, but I still cannot comprehend how someone in the last year of their post-secondary education could spend so little time thinking about school and so much time thinking about... well... not school.

I thought that all the grooming chat was over the top detailed and I found it over board in how unsuccessful Ellie was. I also was really surprised by the reactions to her grooming choices (or non-choices). I guess I just didn't understand all that concern.

I can appreciate that the sex discussion-positive message is one that we all need to hear. If we'd stop treating sex as this top-secret thing and discussed it more openly, particularly with teenagers!, I think everyone would be better off. Perhaps by removing some of the mystery and the hoopla and making talking about it less taboo, we could do away with the slut/virgin-shaming and the judgments. BUT I did think that Ellie was bizarrely uninformed. There *is* information out there, good information, and I don't know how she could exist in such a bubble about it all... But possibly I am old and out of touch.

On the other end of the spectrum, I thought that the early dating references felt pretty realistic. I think that sense of awkwardness and being absorbed in what kind of an impression you're making rather than instead focusing on how you gel with a person is really common to first/early dating experiences.

Also, the vlog ? Every time, I screamed at my ereader that a vlog is a video blog, not a clever name for a blog about vaginas. Sorry, but I couldn't let it go. Could not. That's probably a good summary of my response to this book - I just could not let things go, and they started to pile up until I had to put the book away.

Bottom line:

This book was definitely not for me. I can see how you might find it humorous or witty or an interesting commentary on young adult women trying to figure themselves/sex/their vaginas out. I just...didn't. I found it obsessive and uncomfortable (not unlike Ellie). I recommend passing on this one.

2 stars
For fans of novels about women, about maturing pains, about grooming.

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