Purity by Jackson Pearce: Book Review

PURITY by Jackson Pearce Book Review
Publication Date: April 24th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Rating: – Acceptable |

Book Summary: 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.

Purity by Jackson Pearce Book Review Overview:

Oh hey, this book is more about sex; there’s friendship and father/daughter relationships and mourning (intense!)
I loved the relationship between Shelby and her dad; it was so nice to read about how they both grew closer because of this debutant ball
Would have liked an ending that was a bit more tied up

PURITY by Jackson Pearce is so straight-forward to the point that it was predictable – but it’s not something that is necessarily a bad thing. Jackson Pearce makes the reading experience a fun one regardless of the predictability because of her relatable characters and the overall execution of the novel. However, I still found that something was missing from PURITY to leave a lasting impression in my mind.

The main thing that stood out to me about PURITY by Jackson Pearce was the fact that this book actually manages to cram a lot of heavy and serious material in such a little and pretty package. From the very first page, you know as a reader that PURITY by Jackson Pearce is way more than just a book about a girl trying to lose her virginity on a deadline. Shelby is still mourning the loss of her mother, and she keeps her memory alive by keeping the three promises she made to her mother before she died. PURITY by Jackson Pearce is about Shelby’s internal struggle to live by these promises.

I absolutely enjoyed reading how Shelby mended her relationship with her dad. More than anything, this book is about how a father and daughter learn to cope and live after the death of a wife and mother. Shelby and her dad had a truly awkward relationship at the beginning of PURITY by Jackson Pearce, so it was such a rewarding treat as a reader to see them slowly bridge the gap between them.

I felt as if the ending of PURITY by Jackson Pearce left me hanging for more. I didn’t expect the ending to be tied up complete with a Happily Ever After, but I shouldn’t have felt like the ending was so abrupt.

I enjoyed PURITY by Jackson Pearce and I can see why so many readers are her fans. I look forward to reading her other novels. However, while I enjoyed PURITY as I read it, but it was missing something for me to leave a lasting impression.

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Mermaid Visions
A Reading Nook
RJ Does Books

About the Author

Jackson Pearce currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with a slightly cross-eyed cat and a lot of secondhand furniture. She recently graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English and a minor in Philosophy and currently works for a software company even though she auditioned for the circus (she juggled and twirled fire batons, but they still didn’t want her). Jackson began writing when she got angry that the school librarian couldn’t tell her of a book that contained a smart girl, horses, baby animals, and magic. Her solution was to write the book herself when she was twelve. Her parents thought it was cute at first, but have grown steadily more concerned for her ever since.