Friday, July 11, 2014

ARC Review + Giveaway: Virgin - Radhika Sanghani

Virgin
Radhika Sanghani
Series: N/A
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Word Rating: Absolutely hilarious
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Virgin is about a 21-year-old girl named Ellie who happens to be, well, a virgin. While the story follows Ellie on her mission to lose her virginity, she goes on a whole other journey at the same time.

I got an ARC of Virgin at BEA this year. I wasn't completely sure I was going to read but when I got an email that it was read-now on Netgalley, I decided to give it a try. When I started reading Virgin, I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish it. The very beginning felt way too personal for me when I'm first meeting this new character - I wanted to shout, "TOO MUCH INFORMATION" and run away. Of course, I did continue reading and I'm glad I did.

After the very beginning of the story, it gets more into Ellie's every day life in her last year of university. To say Ellie's life is hilarious is an understatement - she gets into the funniest jams and everything that could possibly go wrong for her always does. The greatest thing about Ellie is that, despite her moaning and groaning, she's a trooper - she takes most of the awkward moments in her life with a sense of humor and, with some help from her friends, doesn't let it defeat her. Ellie's thoughts are so honest that you can't help but find them funny because she really tells it like it is - no sugar coating whatsoever.

Besides Ellie, there is an AWESOME cast of friends in her life. I would tell you about them but telling you about them is probably spoilery and you should meet them for yourself.

Even though the basic concept of the story is about a 21-year-old girl trying to lose her virginity, it's so much more than that. Ellie matures so much throughout the course of the book. Not only does she learn about friendship and what really matters but she kind of finds her identity and who she is. Most coming of age stories are written about teenagers but I think Virgin is an important coming of age story for college students. As a college student myself, I completely understand Ellie's confusion about what her future holds and I loved how she discovered her voice in a way she never would have expected.

All in all, Virgin is a coming of age story packed full of humor and honest portrayals of life. Not everything turns out how Ellie expects it to; she figures out that it's ok and it makes her who she is. As much as this is a fun coming of age story, it is still pretty graphic and descriptive about mature topics, so I'd say it is definitely more of a New Adult than a Young Adult story. That being said, it really is up to the reader what she/he is comfortable with. While Virgin is unlike anything I've ever read, it does have a similar feel to the TV show Awkward, and, with Ellie's empowering journey to self discovery, it's definitely a great book for all women!

Giveaway!

Like I said in the beginning of my review, I was lucky enough to grab an ARC of Virgin at Book Expo America this year. Since I was also able to get an eARC on Netgalley, I'd like to give away this unread ARC to one of you!

To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway is open US only, unless you are willing to pay the shipping, and is open through July 24th. The winner will be selected shortly after and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Best of luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2 comments:

  1. I am reading the boulton quest series, book 1 brothers, bullies and badguys finished and wrote a review on goodreads. Funny and exciting read, almost finished with book 2 sinners, survivers and saints.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just read The Far Side book with my kids. They didn't understand all of it, but I had fun explaining it a bit

    ReplyDelete