Author: Jackson Pearce
Publisher: Little Brown, 218 Pages (April 24th, 2012)
From: the Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Add to: Goodreads
Synopsis: A novel about love, loss, and sex -- but not necessarily in that order.
Before her mother died, Shelby promised three things: to listen to her father, to love as much as possible, and to live without restraint. Those Promises become harder to keep when Shelby's father joins the planning committee for the Princess Ball, an annual dance that ends with a ceremonial vow to live pure lives -- in other words, no "bad behavior," no breaking the rules, and definitely no sex.
Torn between Promises One and Three, Shelby makes a decision -- to exploit a loophole and lose her virginity before taking the vow. But somewhere between failed hookup attempts and helping her dad plan the ball, Shelby starts to understand what her mother really meant, what her father really needs, and who really has the right to her purity.
Review: 4 Stars - Purity, the first contemporary novel from Jackson Pearce is
a story about life and some of the lessons we all learn along the way.
Shelby lives her life to keep the three promises she made to
her mother when she was little. What she didn’t understand was that these were
her mother’s last wishes for her before she died. Now, Shelby’s a teen in high
school looking for loop holes in everything she wants to do to keep to her moms’
promises. The only problem, sometimes the promises can be conflicting to each
other and sometimes she herself doesn’t know enough about what she wants in
life. Shelby has two great friends who help her keep her promises and also help
her to cross things off of her life list.
Shelby has a somewhat strained relationship with her father,
yet there’s no doubt of the love they have for each other. He doesn’t know
about the promises and it’s really them that help to hinder their relationship.
Along with a HUGE lack of communication. I imagine it’s hard for any single
parent to raise a child of the opposite sex, especially when the child reaches puberty
and beyond.
The great thing about this book was the openness Shelby has
with her friends and getting a chance to watch her change and grow from
beginning to end. The virginity side of things was sad to me. I didn’t like how
flippant she was to having sex. I understand that many teens these days are
growing up faster and faster and that a lot of them have this same attitude, it’s
just so sad and at times was a bit hard to read. Yet it was great to see just
how realistic Jackson was able to get the story.
As someone who’s not very religious, that side of the story
wasn’t as imposing as I thought it would be. Since the Princess Ball is usually
done through churches I had feared it would venture off into areas that would
stray from the story.
All in all, Purity is an extremely well written story about
a teen and her family. Shelby was a character that I enjoyed getting to know
and liked seeing her grow and change even more so. I believe that anyone who
likes a good contemporary story will thoroughly enjoy this story.
FTC Disclaimer: I did NOT pay for this book, nor have I been compensated at all in any way or means for reading and writing this HONEST review.
This sounds interesting and i am often quite shocked by young girls today and their attitude towards sex.
ReplyDeleteThis is the 2nd positive review I've seen of this book. I don't really read contemporary but this just looks so darn fun!
ReplyDelete