Review: Purity by Jackson Pearce

Title: Purity
Author: Jackson Pearce
Publisher: Little, Brown for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Category:  Contemporary
Release date: April 24th, 2012
Pages: 218 (Hardcover)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Source: Won
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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.

When Shelby's mom made her promise three things, Shelby hadn't thought much of it, but now that she's gone, she feels the pressure to keep them.  After all, you can't break the promises you made to your dead mother.  Purity shows us the life a teenage girl who only has the three instructions her mom has given her to guide her along the way.  She surely obeys her father and she's even made a "Life List" to help her live without restraint.

The story was easily able to keep my interest as I learned about Shelby and her relationship (or lack thereof) with her father and being sucked into planning a Princess Ball with him.  When she finds out that you must take vows of purity at the dance, she's in quite a predicament.  On one hand, her father is extremely looking forward to this father-daughter event so she can't just say no, but on the other hand, if she takes vows that she doesn't mean, she'd be lying to her father which goes against rule one.

Therefore, Shelby and her friends come up with Operation LOVIN (Lose Virginity Now).  Over the next few weeks, she gets so caught up in trying to lose her virginity that she completely forgets rule #2, love as much as possible.  For me, Shelby was the perfect main character for this book.  She was witty and quirky and all-around entertaining.  Like her friends, who tried their best to help her out whenever possible, this book was honest and heartwarming.

There's no doubt about it, I adore Jackson Pearce.  She's got an amazing personality which I see reflected in her writing.  She wasn't afraid to write about a girl just wanting to get laid to fulfill a promise, which that takes balls, because I'm sure many will criticize this book for it.  In fact, Purity reminded me a bit of Kody Keplinger's work, which I also can't get enough of.  Overall, this book was fast-paced, heartfelt and full of emotion.