Book Review: Radhika Sanghani’s Virgin

Posted August 8, 2014 by Kathy Davie in

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review: Radhika Sanghani’s Virgin

Virgin


in eBook edition on August 5, 2014 and has 304 pages.

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Virgin is chick lit for a New Adult audience and revolves around Ellie Kolstakis who, shhhh, still has her V-card. Oh. My. God.

My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing this ARC for me to read.

My Take

I found this an odd combination of silly, embarrassing, and practical. What I greatly disliked is the melodrama. Oh. My. God. But then that is what teens are all about, the melodrama. Although, at 21, I would have expected that Ellie would be beyond this level of it..

The anguish Ellie goes through at the thought — horrors — of her medical record stating that she’s a virgin. Big deal. It’s not like the doc is gonna post it up on Facebook! Her big dream is to have to take a test for chlamydia. What is she doing in college with this kind of mentality?.It’s her desperation that turns me off the most. It’s also messy and yet also informative..The agony she goes through in trimming her bush and trying to de-hair herself is enlightening and a crack-up. I have to confess, I had no idea there was so much involved, and Ellie is such a klutz. Guess I’ve been out of the dating game too long, lol.

“It looked like a sad, bald potato sprouting hairs.”

I so believe Lara when she says Ellie has a crisis every day. She doesn’t have a life as she’s so focused on getting a man. Emma tells her that she’s fun when she’s not moaning about how crappy her life is..

I like their idea of a blog. There are all sorts of questions out there that sex ed does not answer, and parents are certainly reluctant to explain anything. They’re more likely to ground you for the thoughts you’re having!! Nor do novels really get into the nitty-gritty. As Ellie points out, “these fictional girls magically knew exactly what to do.”.I also appreciated that “Ellie” was willing to get down and dirty about her experiences with getting a wax. I can imagine having all these questions running through my mind too, lol. There’s the blow job research she engages in with Paul. The chat about period sex..What is most frustrating is how our society looks at sex. How it embraces it publicly but secretly thinks it’s so dirty and disgusting. I suspect there’d be a lot more happy marriages and happy people if we could get past this..Oh, thank god, Lara gives Ellie good advice.

The Story

It’s that fight with Lara that sends Ellie focusing on Emma. And it’s Emma who pushes Ellie out there. To try, to blog about her issues, lol.

The Characters

Ellie Kolstakis is a nonsmoking virgin who is so clueless it’s mortifying; she wants to be a writer. Her mother wants her to find balance, but the only balance Ellie can find is when her teeter-totter has fallen to one side or the other. .

Lara has been Ellie’s best friend forever. Jez is her on-again/off-again boyfriend. Nikki Pitsillides is a neighbor with the druggie boyfriend, Yanni; Paul is the brother Ellie’s mom sets her up with. At least Ellie can help Paul out, lol. Vladi is Paul’s first. Debbie Pitsillides is their matchmaking mother. Leah is the fellow student who made Ellie brave again..Emma is kind and real — and a serious player..Jack Brown is a graphic designer and a writer on the side; his friend Eric is the one who brought him to Amelia‘s party. And Eric is dating Hannah. Luisa is the girl Jack loves..Kara. Luke is the leader of the cool group in Ellie’s English Literature course. Hannah Fielding thinks she’s cool and will sleep with anyone, including Kara’s now ex-boyfriend Tom. Charlie is the joker of the group. Marie is a Belgian ex-model. .James Martell is her first bj. Almost. Chris is a kisser and leaver while his friend Angus doesn’t have any problem coming home with Lara. Sergio is getting an MA in Creative Writing.Dr. E. Bowers is the medical authority at college. Pi magazine is looking for a columnist; Sarah is the editor. Maxine is the editor for London magazine.

The Cover and Title

The cover has a white background with a red V made up of rose petals. The “V” itself is poised above a black box containing the title with upside-down exclamation marks for the “i”s. It’s a surprising cover as it’s so clean and crisp, so very unlike the story..

The title is what the focus is, being a Virgin and wanting it to stop.