Blog Tour – Bad Habits

From Goodreads:

Alex is a rebel from the tip of her purple fauxhawk to the toes of her biker boots. She’s tried everything she can think of to get expelled from her strict Catholic boarding school. Nothing has worked so far – but now, Alex has a new plan.

Tired of the sexism she sees in every corner of St Mary’s, Alex decides to stage the school’s first ever production of The Vagina Monologues. Which is going to be a challenge, as no one else at St Mary’s can even bear to say the word ‘vagina’ out loud . . .

This was cute. While I didn’t find this as laugh out loud funny as other readers, I did enjoy the humorous style to the writing. It really flows easily and tells a fun and cute story, with a good dollop of friendship and a splash of romance. It was a fun afternoon of reading.

However, for me this felt to much like teen movies I have seen before. There were a lot of stereotypes and clichés and while entertaining didn’t stand out as special for me. I have met the purple haired rocker chick with a heart of gold, the boy obsessed smart girl and the sensitive and caring jock too many times. They don’t really do anything break out of these boxes. I also need to gripe a little about the portrayal of Feminism in this book particularly when it comes to separating the Main characters views from Feminism as a whole. This book is very anti-slut shaming which is awesome, it is sex positive and talks a lot about female sexuality and these are very very important! However, it does this at the expense of those who choose to abstain, for what ever reason. The main character actively ‘virgin-shames’ other characters who maybe do not have her sexual confidence or have just decided that it is not the right time, occasion for them. While the MC is called on her shit, which for me was the best part of the book, there wasn’t really enough personal growth in the MC for her to change her thinking. In fact she backs up her beliefs during the calling out and I think it messes up the messaging of the book about accepting female sexuality in all its forms.

Other than that gripe, this really was a quick, fast paced and entertaining read. I think most will find it an enjoyable read and will relate to the ladies of saint Mary’s in some way. It covers some great topics (even if I am not completely happy with its stance) that need more discussion in a light an humorous way.