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V Valentine #1
Vegan, Virgin, Valentine
"Warmth and humor suffuse the story of Mara's senior-year transformation from tense, rigid perfectionist to relaxed, centered graduate. . . . Funny and optimistic." Kirkus Reviews
Mara Valentine is in control. She's a straight-A senior, a vegan, and her parents' pride and joy. She's neck-and-neck with her womanizing ex-boyfriend for number-one class ranking and plans to kick his salutatorian butt on her way out the door to Yale. Mara has her remaining months in Brockport all planned out, but the plan does not include having V, her slutty, pot-smoking, sixteen-year-old niece - yes, niece - come to live with her family. Nor does it involve lusting after her boss or dreaming about grilled cheese sandwiches every night. What does a control freak like Mara do when things start spinning wildly out of control? With insight, authenticity, and a healthy dose of humor, Carolyn Mackler creates an evolving Type A heroine that every reader will recognize - and root for.
Mara Valentine is in control. She's a straight-A senior, a vegan, and her parents' pride and joy. She's neck-and-neck with her womanizing ex-boyfriend for number-one class ranking and plans to kick his salutatorian butt on her way out the door to Yale. Mara has her remaining months in Brockport all planned out, but the plan does not include having V, her slutty, pot-smoking, sixteen-year-old niece - yes, niece - come to live with her family. Nor does it involve lusting after her boss or dreaming about grilled cheese sandwiches every night. What does a control freak like Mara do when things start spinning wildly out of control? With insight, authenticity, and a healthy dose of humor, Carolyn Mackler creates an evolving Type A heroine that every reader will recognize - and root for.
228 pages, Paperback
First published July 22, 2004
66 people are currently reading
4021 people want to read
About the author
Carolyn Mackler
24 books980 followersCarolyn Mackler is the author of the popular teen novels, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (A Michael L. Printz Honor Book), Infinite in Between, Tangled, Guyaholic, Vegan Virgin Valentine, and Love and Other Four-Letter Words. Carolyn's novel, The Future of Us, co-written with bestselling author Jay Asher, received starred reviews and appeared on several bestseller lists. Carolyn has also written Best Friend Next Door, a novel for younger readers. Carolyn's novels have been published in more than twenty countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, and Indonesia.
Carolyn lives in New York City with her husband and two sons. Her new novel for teens, The Universe is Expanding and So Am I, will be published in May 2018. This is the long-awaited sequel to the Printz-honor winning novel, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things.
Carolyn lives in New York City with her husband and two sons. Her new novel for teens, The Universe is Expanding and So Am I, will be published in May 2018. This is the long-awaited sequel to the Printz-honor winning novel, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 417 reviews
May 11, 2007
I read this because I am fascinated by the lack of adolescent literature featuring vegan/vegetarian protagonists, and I have to say I was a little disappointed. The story was okay - nothing groundbreaking, but I was more annoyed that veganism was treated as a "phase" that is synonymous with the need for control over one's life and a rigidity that is emotionally unhealthy. I didn't hate the book, but as someone who has been veggie since the seventh grade, I felt it was just another mainstream misinterpretation of teenage rebellion.
December 15, 2009
I have a very odd, complicated, and mixed relationship with this book. I thought some things were dead on, and others not so much.
Mara is on the fast track. She is in tons of activities in school, she takes college classes, works and basically an all around shining star. She feels like she has everything under control until she finds out maybe she doesn't want the things she thought she wanted. To make things a little more interesting we see V come into the picture. V is her niece that's only about a year younger than Mara, and the polar opposite of her. Things get kind of sticky when Mara hears that V was making out with her ex-boyfriend. Said ex-boyfriend is also the one she has to beat to get title of Valedictorian. Here we see it start to unravel...
The thing that really hit home for me was the feeling of having to live up to what you think others want. Mara has this deeply embedded in her and along the way she finds out what she really wants to do. I know this is going to sound strange but I was so glad that she and her niece didn't go to the prom because they knew they didn't have to go just to prove something. The aspect of the story I most appreciated was the dynamic between Mara and V. They are so different but they learn a lot from each other despite of that. The book breaks the boundaries of what people think is successful which isn't always the right definition and how doing everything fast doesn't necessarily mean better.
What really didn't set well with me was how Mara went about with her new relationship (can't say who!). She really is secretive about it and I get why, but when she reveals what has been happening I felt that the people around here didn't really seem to have a big reaction. Going behind people's back is a pretty big deal and I expected a bigger fallout. Then there is the thing that the guy she is with seems a little to well-spoken, but that might be just me. He is sweet and really is good for Mara. There is also this one part of the book I think is suppose to be pretty romantic but it felt a little forced to me.
This is a really engaging book and I stayed up late to find out what happened. It's getting a 3.5 star rating from me (yes I'm one of the fans of the half star:D) and I'm sure there are people who will love it more than I did. Oh I have to mention that don't let the cover title mislead you, this isn't light and fluffy. The story has a good amount of depth and reminds you to smell the roses sometimes.
Mara is on the fast track. She is in tons of activities in school, she takes college classes, works and basically an all around shining star. She feels like she has everything under control until she finds out maybe she doesn't want the things she thought she wanted. To make things a little more interesting we see V come into the picture. V is her niece that's only about a year younger than Mara, and the polar opposite of her. Things get kind of sticky when Mara hears that V was making out with her ex-boyfriend. Said ex-boyfriend is also the one she has to beat to get title of Valedictorian. Here we see it start to unravel...
The thing that really hit home for me was the feeling of having to live up to what you think others want. Mara has this deeply embedded in her and along the way she finds out what she really wants to do. I know this is going to sound strange but I was so glad that she and her niece didn't go to the prom because they knew they didn't have to go just to prove something. The aspect of the story I most appreciated was the dynamic between Mara and V. They are so different but they learn a lot from each other despite of that. The book breaks the boundaries of what people think is successful which isn't always the right definition and how doing everything fast doesn't necessarily mean better.
What really didn't set well with me was how Mara went about with her new relationship (can't say who!). She really is secretive about it and I get why, but when she reveals what has been happening I felt that the people around here didn't really seem to have a big reaction. Going behind people's back is a pretty big deal and I expected a bigger fallout. Then there is the thing that the guy she is with seems a little to well-spoken, but that might be just me. He is sweet and really is good for Mara. There is also this one part of the book I think is suppose to be pretty romantic but it felt a little forced to me.
This is a really engaging book and I stayed up late to find out what happened. It's getting a 3.5 star rating from me (yes I'm one of the fans of the half star:D) and I'm sure there are people who will love it more than I did. Oh I have to mention that don't let the cover title mislead you, this isn't light and fluffy. The story has a good amount of depth and reminds you to smell the roses sometimes.
August 3, 2011
I had read this once before when I was much younger and was very impressed at the age of 13 with Mara Valentine's extreme dedication to her school and upcoming college life. However, reading the book now, I notice how the author glorifies the idea of Mara throwing away her future (dropping out of a prestigious summer college programme, nearly not attending graduation, paying less attention to the last of her schoolwork/finals) just because her boss at the coffee shop she works at has become her boyfriend. Although I see what the author is trying to convey, that life should not be all work and no play and to make time to enjoy yourself instead of becoming a slave to your commitments, I think it is the wrong message to be giving young people, as so many of them are willing to throw opportunities away in favour of boyfriends. 2/5.
January 28, 2009
Ah, reading this book reminds me of why sometimes it’s good to ignore the negative reviews. Because, honestly, I only requested it for the title, which I thought was absurdly awesome (as are all of Mackler’s up ’til Guyaholic, which is pretty meh). My expectations were between a rock and a hard place, shot to hell by all the low-ratings on Amazon and GoodReads.
But you know what, I actually enjoyed this book. Very much so, in fact.
So I went back through all the negatives to see what people were on about. Be warned this review will pretty much be an anti-thesis to most of the criticism allotted to this novel. I’ll throw in my “original” thoughts somewhere, maybe, but until then:
So, Mara is a vegan (as one can probably guess from the title). She’s also a virgin. Her last name is Valentine. The mystery of the title is now resolved, and given they’re in the title, you’d think these three characteristics would play some big part in the novel. This in mind, I understand, to a certain degree, Criticism #1:
The character’s knowledge of and motivation for the pursuit of veganism were nonexistent.
Frankly, I don’t know that much about veganism and couldn’t care less if she followed that lifestyle out of her own, singularly-formed conscience or if, as it happened, she decided to stop eating animal byproducts because she needed a new focus after her boyfriend broke her heart. Yeah, her foundation’s misconstrued, and I wouldn’t recommend people making every life decision on rebound impulses. But again: it’s veganism we’re talking about, and as it doesn’t play a huge part in my life, I don’t feel the weight of what she did incorrectly or not. (Nor, to be blunt, do I care.) I’m sure other girls have made more serious decisions without substantial consideration.
Though once more: I don’t know any vegans, I’m not a vegan, so this doesn’t hit home. If you hate books where the character is perhaps “gratuitously” vegetarian or vegan (which is to say, she isn’t so into it that she knows the rationale and animal-activism aim for every food she boycotts), perhaps this isn’t the right novel for ya.
Then there’s the question of Mara’s morality. In the beginning of the novel, she’s battling to become the valedictorian, take as many college courses as she possibly can, and enter Yale (early acceptance, baby!) as a second-year student. Then she begins changing, transforming, undergoing her own sort of awakening. She begins dating a new guy—who, unlike her old boyfriend, respects her—and being with him makes her question why she’s rushing through everything.
So, she ends up dropping a college course, not really caring about schoolwork anymore, and subsequently dropping out of a prestigious summer program to further advance her college credits. She begins thinking about the path she’s on and changing this according to what she sees fit. Yes, this means she’s swayed by the desire to stay with New Guy until the end of summer (thus why she dropped the summer program). But she struggles with all those decisions, questions herself and what her life’s been so far, and you know what? That’s pretty damn admirable. Whether she’s losing her morality or not, I choose not to judge because I believed Mara was doing what she felt correlated more with what she wanted, too.
Vegan Virgin Valentine? Good book, as far as I’m concerned. Examining oneself—taking a good look in the mirror—once in a while and asking, “Why?” is never, ever a bad thing. In contrast, I think beginning-of-the-novel Mara was narrow-minded and intolerant. Toward the end, I thought she became more mature and compassionate.
DID I MENTION HOW PROUD I WAS THAT SHE FINALLY CAME TO TERMS WITH WHAT SHE WANTED AND TOOK CONTROL OF HER LIFE?
Despite everything, she’ll still be attending Yale with excellent transcripts in the fall. Which goes to show you for her morality. Let the girl have a little fun in the meantime for god’s sake.
When all is said and done, I acknowledge people will always find something to nitpick, me most of all. They expected more out of the story, out of the ending, out of Mara. They’ll be judging her morality. (Which I’ll be guilty of doing in a couple of days, with another book. Hah, hypocrisy. Case-by-case basis, grasshopper.) I hope, however, that this review outlined what happens and my perspective on it, and above all, I hope someone, somewhere, understands what I’m saying. The writing was good; the character development was good for what was required of the novel; the self-discovery part was one I related to immensely, especially when Mara realized grades are very rarely the meter of someone’s intelligence, capability or potential.
What I’m saying is: I thought it was awesome. It’s not for everybody (evidently), but presented to the right set of eyes, this book is quite scrumptiously good. (And funny!)
But you know what, I actually enjoyed this book. Very much so, in fact.
So I went back through all the negatives to see what people were on about. Be warned this review will pretty much be an anti-thesis to most of the criticism allotted to this novel. I’ll throw in my “original” thoughts somewhere, maybe, but until then:
So, Mara is a vegan (as one can probably guess from the title). She’s also a virgin. Her last name is Valentine. The mystery of the title is now resolved, and given they’re in the title, you’d think these three characteristics would play some big part in the novel. This in mind, I understand, to a certain degree, Criticism #1:
The character’s knowledge of and motivation for the pursuit of veganism were nonexistent.
Frankly, I don’t know that much about veganism and couldn’t care less if she followed that lifestyle out of her own, singularly-formed conscience or if, as it happened, she decided to stop eating animal byproducts because she needed a new focus after her boyfriend broke her heart. Yeah, her foundation’s misconstrued, and I wouldn’t recommend people making every life decision on rebound impulses. But again: it’s veganism we’re talking about, and as it doesn’t play a huge part in my life, I don’t feel the weight of what she did incorrectly or not. (Nor, to be blunt, do I care.) I’m sure other girls have made more serious decisions without substantial consideration.
Though once more: I don’t know any vegans, I’m not a vegan, so this doesn’t hit home. If you hate books where the character is perhaps “gratuitously” vegetarian or vegan (which is to say, she isn’t so into it that she knows the rationale and animal-activism aim for every food she boycotts), perhaps this isn’t the right novel for ya.
Then there’s the question of Mara’s morality. In the beginning of the novel, she’s battling to become the valedictorian, take as many college courses as she possibly can, and enter Yale (early acceptance, baby!) as a second-year student. Then she begins changing, transforming, undergoing her own sort of awakening. She begins dating a new guy—who, unlike her old boyfriend, respects her—and being with him makes her question why she’s rushing through everything.
So, she ends up dropping a college course, not really caring about schoolwork anymore, and subsequently dropping out of a prestigious summer program to further advance her college credits. She begins thinking about the path she’s on and changing this according to what she sees fit. Yes, this means she’s swayed by the desire to stay with New Guy until the end of summer (thus why she dropped the summer program). But she struggles with all those decisions, questions herself and what her life’s been so far, and you know what? That’s pretty damn admirable. Whether she’s losing her morality or not, I choose not to judge because I believed Mara was doing what she felt correlated more with what she wanted, too.
Vegan Virgin Valentine? Good book, as far as I’m concerned. Examining oneself—taking a good look in the mirror—once in a while and asking, “Why?” is never, ever a bad thing. In contrast, I think beginning-of-the-novel Mara was narrow-minded and intolerant. Toward the end, I thought she became more mature and compassionate.
DID I MENTION HOW PROUD I WAS THAT SHE FINALLY CAME TO TERMS WITH WHAT SHE WANTED AND TOOK CONTROL OF HER LIFE?
Despite everything, she’ll still be attending Yale with excellent transcripts in the fall. Which goes to show you for her morality. Let the girl have a little fun in the meantime for god’s sake.
When all is said and done, I acknowledge people will always find something to nitpick, me most of all. They expected more out of the story, out of the ending, out of Mara. They’ll be judging her morality. (Which I’ll be guilty of doing in a couple of days, with another book. Hah, hypocrisy. Case-by-case basis, grasshopper.) I hope, however, that this review outlined what happens and my perspective on it, and above all, I hope someone, somewhere, understands what I’m saying. The writing was good; the character development was good for what was required of the novel; the self-discovery part was one I related to immensely, especially when Mara realized grades are very rarely the meter of someone’s intelligence, capability or potential.
What I’m saying is: I thought it was awesome. It’s not for everybody (evidently), but presented to the right set of eyes, this book is quite scrumptiously good. (And funny!)
July 10, 2013
Craptastic. And don't make "Vegan" the first word in your title unless you're prepared to get a whole S***storm of disgust from actual vegans who picked up the book excited about a vegan protagonist, only to read about a hypocritical, egotistical, completely oblivious bint. Yes, I used the word "bint." For the first time. In all of it's contextual glory. Also, she's not vegan, by any stretch of the term.
It wasn't just the vegan thing; the title was awful, the story was unimaginative, cliched (sorry, not sure how to add the accent with html), and completely anti-climatic.
Ms. Mackler....you suck. Thank God this was a library book. *mic drop*
It wasn't just the vegan thing; the title was awful, the story was unimaginative, cliched (sorry, not sure how to add the accent with html), and completely anti-climatic.
Ms. Mackler....you suck. Thank God this was a library book. *mic drop*
December 13, 2020
This book gets a one star because of James. James is the reason you shouldn't read this book or recommend it to any teens you know. James the creepy adult who owns a succesful business and decides to date one of his highschool aged employees. Who thinks it is okay to make a move on said employee. And the the goddamn author treats it like a non-issue.
This book would have been standard YA fair. A good junkfood read about an uptight girl who learns to let loose and re-evaluate her priorities. Something that could be a Disney Channel movie. It wasn't spectacular but it was a fun quick read. But then James happened.
Mara the main character is 17, lives with her parents and is very emotionally and finacially dependent on them, is very book smart but is ultimately emotionally immiture, and doesn't think much for herself. In order to remedy the broken heart Mara starts the novel with Mackler introduces a love interest for her. Unfortanely this love interest is an adult man who is her boss. Yes this adult man is only 22, only 5 years the protagonists senior but at this point in time that is a big age difference and it is not the only issue with their relationship.
This book really romanticises the relationship between these two characters as healthy and glosses over the problematic elements of Mara and James dating going so far as to compare being short and being Mara's adult boss as being equitable reasons for them not to date. Here is the problem: being short is a cosmetic issue that doesn't mean that much while a teenager dating their adult boss is a distinctly unbalanced power dynamic that creates a false sense of security for the teenager while making them vulnerable to a creep who at best is an aloof idiot who doesn't understand why age isn't just a number when it comes to minors (and is thusly too immiture to date his own age group or date in general) or he is a manipulative creep who groomed a girl who has been under is emloy from the age of 16 into dating him.
Other problems with James is that he goes out of his way to avoid dating people who are his peers because he thinks he can get with a minor. As a boss he also creates situations for him and his employee to be alone together and is very explicitly romantic with her prior to dating. As well as using work time to fool around with his teenage girlfriend once they start dating. While James is comfortable telling the employees about their relationship he is fine hiding it from Mara's parents (until she tells them after several months of dating) which implies that he knows how they would react and why.
The majority of Mara's changing her future plans also revolves around her ability to spend time with James which is beyond messed up. Like yeah if you want to have a social life outside of school and have time off before starting uni and find yourself go ahead. But you can't tell me that quitting a prestigious program to spend more time with an adult man who is your boss and has fabricated situations for you to spend a lot of time together to the point where you are now having a semi sexual relationship is not the MOST FUCKED UP THING since Lolita. (The difference being Lolita is actually about how these creepy guys can manipulate people while this book glorifies it)
I'm mainly upset because I read this as an adult (26) and know what it is like to be 17 and 22 respecively and I think it is fucked up that the author makes it seem like it is okay for a relationship to have that sort of imbalance. I have been 22 and can confidently say that no healthy normal 22 year old wants to date a highschooler. I have also been 17 and can say that no matter how mature a 17 year old is they are not as mature or experience in life or at recognizing unhealthy behaviour as someone who has been exposed to the adult world for half a decade. And by making a book that says otherwise Mackler is making teens succeptable to the wills of some shady people.
This book would have been standard YA fair. A good junkfood read about an uptight girl who learns to let loose and re-evaluate her priorities. Something that could be a Disney Channel movie. It wasn't spectacular but it was a fun quick read. But then James happened.
Mara the main character is 17, lives with her parents and is very emotionally and finacially dependent on them, is very book smart but is ultimately emotionally immiture, and doesn't think much for herself. In order to remedy the broken heart Mara starts the novel with Mackler introduces a love interest for her. Unfortanely this love interest is an adult man who is her boss. Yes this adult man is only 22, only 5 years the protagonists senior but at this point in time that is a big age difference and it is not the only issue with their relationship.
This book really romanticises the relationship between these two characters as healthy and glosses over the problematic elements of Mara and James dating going so far as to compare being short and being Mara's adult boss as being equitable reasons for them not to date. Here is the problem: being short is a cosmetic issue that doesn't mean that much while a teenager dating their adult boss is a distinctly unbalanced power dynamic that creates a false sense of security for the teenager while making them vulnerable to a creep who at best is an aloof idiot who doesn't understand why age isn't just a number when it comes to minors (and is thusly too immiture to date his own age group or date in general) or he is a manipulative creep who groomed a girl who has been under is emloy from the age of 16 into dating him.
Other problems with James is that he goes out of his way to avoid dating people who are his peers because he thinks he can get with a minor. As a boss he also creates situations for him and his employee to be alone together and is very explicitly romantic with her prior to dating. As well as using work time to fool around with his teenage girlfriend once they start dating. While James is comfortable telling the employees about their relationship he is fine hiding it from Mara's parents (until she tells them after several months of dating) which implies that he knows how they would react and why.
The majority of Mara's changing her future plans also revolves around her ability to spend time with James which is beyond messed up. Like yeah if you want to have a social life outside of school and have time off before starting uni and find yourself go ahead. But you can't tell me that quitting a prestigious program to spend more time with an adult man who is your boss and has fabricated situations for you to spend a lot of time together to the point where you are now having a semi sexual relationship is not the MOST FUCKED UP THING since Lolita. (The difference being Lolita is actually about how these creepy guys can manipulate people while this book glorifies it)
I'm mainly upset because I read this as an adult (26) and know what it is like to be 17 and 22 respecively and I think it is fucked up that the author makes it seem like it is okay for a relationship to have that sort of imbalance. I have been 22 and can confidently say that no healthy normal 22 year old wants to date a highschooler. I have also been 17 and can say that no matter how mature a 17 year old is they are not as mature or experience in life or at recognizing unhealthy behaviour as someone who has been exposed to the adult world for half a decade. And by making a book that says otherwise Mackler is making teens succeptable to the wills of some shady people.
July 5, 2013
What bothers me:
Mara is SUCH a special snowflake who thinks that she's above everyone else, especially her sister (Aimee) and her niece (V).
"Getting into Yale wasn't a total shocker."
"But I'm convinced that my parents brought me into this world to compensate for my older sister, Aimee, who was eighteen and skidding down a road to nowhere."
"Aimee is now thirty-five and can't stick to one decision about her career, geographic location, or sexual partner."
"Besides, she [V] acquires a new bad habit in every town. In Vermont, she lost her virginity to an eighteen-year-old harmonica player." Losing your virginity is now a bad habit!
"Aimee has always been the Screwup. V, the Unrealized Potential. And me, the Only Hope."
"We do not, I repeat, DO NOT talk about sex, much less orgasms, in the Valentine household."
"I could tell by her smirk that she was thinking I'm a hand-raising, teacher-hugging goody-goody. But I didn't care because I'd already decided she was a class-ditching, chair-in-the-principal's-office-warming deadbeat."
"Not to mention that in the month since our split, he'd transformed into a male slut and was sleeping his way through the sophomore class."
"I've never been sure why James didn't go to college. He's one of the smartest people I've ever met."
"'Yeah, I'm a real refrigerator slut,' V said. 'Take out the "refrigerator" part and you're right on target.'"
"I knew I was being a bitch, but V had asked for it."
"I hope she has a biiig case of herpes, too." So just because your EX-boyfriend is dating someone else, you wish that she has an STD...
"I nearly snorted at the mention of 'strong morals' and 'Travis Hart' in the same breath..."
"I tried to distract her by pointing out our favorite Internet mismatch. The beanpole mama's boy and the butternut-squash-shaped mama." Way to make fun of your customers.
"And, besides, V has made this bed for herself- let her toss and turn in it." No. She does not deserve to be made fun of and insulted in such a derogatory way.
"Well, Mom, skanky is a term for a dirty slut who's riddled with sexually transmitted diseases. You know, a girl who'll drop her thong for every guy in school."
"I do not wish a fever and swollen glands on anyone." Yet you wished that a girl would get herpes earlier... Symptoms of herpes includes blisters that break, leaving painful sore taking weeks to heal. You can also have flu-like symptoms (including fever and swollen glands).
"Then I'd tell myself, No, no, I haven't done anything with James, especially not like what V did with Travis. So I'm still innocent, right?"
"Less than a day later, V realized her potential with Travis Hart in the boys' locker room of my high school, which left me with only one hope: that V would get the hell out of my life."
Um, he's your ex. It's not your business.
"How could she say this to me? I have been a freaking ambassador for this high school for nearly four years!"
"I'd always assumed I was brought into this world to give my parents award ceremonies and Yale bumper stickers and everything that Aimee didn't provide them."
"Why can't you control yourself? ...I mean, why do you have to say whatever goes through your head? Why can't you control your emotions?"
1) "'Why don't you leave me alone?' I said... 'I don't like your attitude,' Dr. Hendrick said. 'Well, I don't like your attitude, either,' I said."
2)"'Will you shut up already?... Didn't you hear me? I don't want to talk right now.' ...I clenched my fists. 'You don't know what my deal is?'"
3)"I chucked the remote control at V. She dodged it, so it smacked against the wall and split open."
4)"Then I shoved her, much harder than she'd pushed me because she stumbled backward."
Mara is SUCH a special snowflake who thinks that she's above everyone else, especially her sister (Aimee) and her niece (V).
"Getting into Yale wasn't a total shocker."
"But I'm convinced that my parents brought me into this world to compensate for my older sister, Aimee, who was eighteen and skidding down a road to nowhere."
"Aimee is now thirty-five and can't stick to one decision about her career, geographic location, or sexual partner."
"Besides, she [V] acquires a new bad habit in every town. In Vermont, she lost her virginity to an eighteen-year-old harmonica player." Losing your virginity is now a bad habit!
"Aimee has always been the Screwup. V, the Unrealized Potential. And me, the Only Hope."
"We do not, I repeat, DO NOT talk about sex, much less orgasms, in the Valentine household."
"I could tell by her smirk that she was thinking I'm a hand-raising, teacher-hugging goody-goody. But I didn't care because I'd already decided she was a class-ditching, chair-in-the-principal's-office-warming deadbeat."
"Not to mention that in the month since our split, he'd transformed into a male slut and was sleeping his way through the sophomore class."
"I've never been sure why James didn't go to college. He's one of the smartest people I've ever met."
"'Yeah, I'm a real refrigerator slut,' V said. 'Take out the "refrigerator" part and you're right on target.'"
"I knew I was being a bitch, but V had asked for it."
"I hope she has a biiig case of herpes, too." So just because your EX-boyfriend is dating someone else, you wish that she has an STD...
"I nearly snorted at the mention of 'strong morals' and 'Travis Hart' in the same breath..."
"I tried to distract her by pointing out our favorite Internet mismatch. The beanpole mama's boy and the butternut-squash-shaped mama." Way to make fun of your customers.
"And, besides, V has made this bed for herself- let her toss and turn in it." No. She does not deserve to be made fun of and insulted in such a derogatory way.
"Well, Mom, skanky is a term for a dirty slut who's riddled with sexually transmitted diseases. You know, a girl who'll drop her thong for every guy in school."
"I do not wish a fever and swollen glands on anyone." Yet you wished that a girl would get herpes earlier... Symptoms of herpes includes blisters that break, leaving painful sore taking weeks to heal. You can also have flu-like symptoms (including fever and swollen glands).
"Then I'd tell myself, No, no, I haven't done anything with James, especially not like what V did with Travis. So I'm still innocent, right?"
"Less than a day later, V realized her potential with Travis Hart in the boys' locker room of my high school, which left me with only one hope: that V would get the hell out of my life."
Um, he's your ex. It's not your business.
"How could she say this to me? I have been a freaking ambassador for this high school for nearly four years!"
"I'd always assumed I was brought into this world to give my parents award ceremonies and Yale bumper stickers and everything that Aimee didn't provide them."
"Why can't you control yourself? ...I mean, why do you have to say whatever goes through your head? Why can't you control your emotions?"
1) "'Why don't you leave me alone?' I said... 'I don't like your attitude,' Dr. Hendrick said. 'Well, I don't like your attitude, either,' I said."
2)"'Will you shut up already?... Didn't you hear me? I don't want to talk right now.' ...I clenched my fists. 'You don't know what my deal is?'"
3)"I chucked the remote control at V. She dodged it, so it smacked against the wall and split open."
4)"Then I shoved her, much harder than she'd pushed me because she stumbled backward."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2008
This was okay. The whole concept of the niece who is the same age as the aunt going to live together seemed like it would be interesting but it wasn't developed very well. Their relationship in general wasn't developed at all almost. Mara the main character goes from hating her niece V then all of a sudden it seems like they just get a long. It kind of seemed dumb the whole novel and while it did hold my interest there wasn't much to it and it wasn't that deep. The ending bothered me as well. She pretty much gets everything she wants yet she still isn't happy. I probably wouldn't recommend it.
September 15, 2015
Another book about an overachiever with the path of her life planned out, merely coasting on her way to Yale. Like Vanessa in Plan B, Mara's life is overset by the arrival of a relative who comes to live with her family for the new school year. And like Reed, V is something of a screw-up and rebel. Indeed, these books are very similar; though I think Plan B is marginally better for its approach to the romantic (or unromantic) elements of Vanessa's life.
Mara isn't terribly likeable, really. She's engaging enough to read about, don't get me wrong. Her problems are interesting ones and Carolyn Mackler does a good job keeping the pace of events flowing so that I was never tempted to put the book away and move on to the next. But she's judgmental and self-centered and deeply resentful of V's intrusion into her well-ordered world. The book is about her learning to accept others and to figure out what she wants in life (as opposed to the expectations of others), so only some of her defects are addressed—i.e. she remains largely self-centered, just more healthily so by the end.
V's character is just this side of caricature. She's a bad girl, with bad girl habits, but with an underlying insecurity caused by moving around so much following her flaky mother. Of course she has a heart of gold. Duh. You can practically chart her character path from there. Yes, she blossoms under the love she receives from Vanessa's parents. Yes, she reforms (or is on the way to reformation) during the course of the novel. Yes, she and Mara develop respect, and eventually honest love, for each other. If the story were about V, we'd have a serious problem. As it is, there's enough heart, enough warmth, in her character to let me get over the stereotype she plays in this book and I was, quite frankly, relieved that she didn't turn darker and end up betraying Mara or hurting Mara's parents. Someone blossoming in a loving environment they've never had the chance to receive before isn't inherently unrealistic and Mackler does a good job making her character real-enough to remain believable.
The most interesting part of the book is Mara's romance with James—the 22 year-old college drop-out (can you have dropped out if you never applied?) who owns the successful coffee shop where Mara works. James is that guy with intelligence who decided to apply himself to business early rather than worry about more academic learning. As such, he's an acceptable, though unexpected, match for Mara and their relationship is an interesting one. Mara is naïve and inexperienced, as the book's title suggests, and James is both aware of that and man enough to respect Mara's uncertainty and concerns. He's also key to Mara exploring what it is that she wants and I liked him for his steady good sense and refusal to become just another voice telling her what she should do.
So yeah, the book is a little formulaic. There's just enough substance there to like it, though, so it earned the three stars I'm giving it.
Mara isn't terribly likeable, really. She's engaging enough to read about, don't get me wrong. Her problems are interesting ones and Carolyn Mackler does a good job keeping the pace of events flowing so that I was never tempted to put the book away and move on to the next. But she's judgmental and self-centered and deeply resentful of V's intrusion into her well-ordered world. The book is about her learning to accept others and to figure out what she wants in life (as opposed to the expectations of others), so only some of her defects are addressed—i.e. she remains largely self-centered, just more healthily so by the end.
V's character is just this side of caricature. She's a bad girl, with bad girl habits, but with an underlying insecurity caused by moving around so much following her flaky mother. Of course she has a heart of gold. Duh. You can practically chart her character path from there. Yes, she blossoms under the love she receives from Vanessa's parents. Yes, she reforms (or is on the way to reformation) during the course of the novel. Yes, she and Mara develop respect, and eventually honest love, for each other. If the story were about V, we'd have a serious problem. As it is, there's enough heart, enough warmth, in her character to let me get over the stereotype she plays in this book and I was, quite frankly, relieved that she didn't turn darker and end up betraying Mara or hurting Mara's parents. Someone blossoming in a loving environment they've never had the chance to receive before isn't inherently unrealistic and Mackler does a good job making her character real-enough to remain believable.
The most interesting part of the book is Mara's romance with James—the 22 year-old college drop-out (can you have dropped out if you never applied?) who owns the successful coffee shop where Mara works. James is that guy with intelligence who decided to apply himself to business early rather than worry about more academic learning. As such, he's an acceptable, though unexpected, match for Mara and their relationship is an interesting one. Mara is naïve and inexperienced, as the book's title suggests, and James is both aware of that and man enough to respect Mara's uncertainty and concerns. He's also key to Mara exploring what it is that she wants and I liked him for his steady good sense and refusal to become just another voice telling her what she should do.
So yeah, the book is a little formulaic. There's just enough substance there to like it, though, so it earned the three stars I'm giving it.
June 16, 2017
Somewhere in these pages is an interesting book about discovering who we are, learning how to veer off our planned path when it no longer suits our purposes, and not taking people at face value. I love the idea of a spoiled, much-younger child suddenly having to share her parents with a niece the same age who moves in with them for some needed stability.
What we have instead is a clichéd YA novel that makes it abundantly clear that, if you are an overachieving high-school student, you need to get your panties out of a bunch and learn to live. And remember girls: Boys must ALWAYS come before whatever other plans you have in life. You qualify for the Olympics but your boyfriend doesn’t want you to be away training? Dump the Olympics and stay with the boy! Who cares about your dreams and goals when you can have a boyfriend?!
I’m a big fan of boys and boyfriends. I also veered too close to choosing boys over life goals a few times, and guess what? Always regretted choosing the boyfriend, because here’s the thing: A guy who loves you and truly gets you? He supports those dreams, whatever they may be. And giving up dreams, well, it often leads to resentment.
I know. That’s not romantic at all. That’s the boring voice of experience.
But come on!
Oh, and once again, a YA author tackles veganism without any actual understanding of what vegan or vegetarianism is and instead turns it into a control issue. Which, hey, I live in Los Angeles, I know people who do weird diets as a way to justify and hide eating disorders. An author, however, should at least understand and respect a diet that a lot of people follow for solid reasons, even if that’s not their character. But what would be the fun in that? I guess the acceptance message in this book does not extend to high achievers and vegans. Not recommended.
What we have instead is a clichéd YA novel that makes it abundantly clear that, if you are an overachieving high-school student, you need to get your panties out of a bunch and learn to live. And remember girls: Boys must ALWAYS come before whatever other plans you have in life. You qualify for the Olympics but your boyfriend doesn’t want you to be away training? Dump the Olympics and stay with the boy! Who cares about your dreams and goals when you can have a boyfriend?!
I’m a big fan of boys and boyfriends. I also veered too close to choosing boys over life goals a few times, and guess what? Always regretted choosing the boyfriend, because here’s the thing: A guy who loves you and truly gets you? He supports those dreams, whatever they may be. And giving up dreams, well, it often leads to resentment.
I know. That’s not romantic at all. That’s the boring voice of experience.
But come on!
Oh, and once again, a YA author tackles veganism without any actual understanding of what vegan or vegetarianism is and instead turns it into a control issue. Which, hey, I live in Los Angeles, I know people who do weird diets as a way to justify and hide eating disorders. An author, however, should at least understand and respect a diet that a lot of people follow for solid reasons, even if that’s not their character. But what would be the fun in that? I guess the acceptance message in this book does not extend to high achievers and vegans. Not recommended.
July 19, 2015
I liked it and thought it was cute, however I prefer the author's other novel, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. That one just has something that's really special and I gave 5 stars to. This book was just good. Which isn't a bad thing!
June 19, 2011
Ah, YA! So few and far between you are, but I am currently on that page of my list, so I am finding more then usual. This was your typical, type-A personality high school senior who is headed off to Princeton (why not Harvard?) and will enter as a second year, as she has enough AP whateverness to do that. Oy. Someone needs to write a book on a NORMAL person. After reading this book, I totally wanted to write a book on my senior year, which while accomplished nothing, was awesome. ANYWAY. The girls niece (who is a year younger then her) comes to live with her and her parents and proceeds to piss the girl off. But not really! They start to get along really fast. So pointless. The girl is a vegan so she can have some control in her life. After she broke up with her boyfriend the year before (because she wouldn’t have sex with him) she wanted something to fill the void, so she became a vegan. DUMBEST REASON EVER. And in the book, she starts dating her MUCH old boss at the coffee house she works at. She is 17 and he is 22. Seriously, creepy. But whatever. And now because of this, she doesn’t want to go to some pre-college program at John Hops. SO LAME! Agh, I hate shit like this. I hate when smart people do stupid things. LAME.
Grade: C-
Grade: C-
March 13, 2009
Senior Mara Valentine has got the most well-put-together life. She got in early decision to Yale, is chairperson of numerous committees, holds down a steady job at a locally owned coffee shop, and is determined to beat her ex, Travis, in the valedictory race. In short, she's all set on breaking out of Brockport, New York.
However, in the second half of her senior year, Mara's niece (yes, niece), who calls herself V, comes to the school. V is a self-proclaimed slut and stoner. Mara hates her, mostly on principle, but also because she hooks up with Travis on the very first day of school.
But things are changing for Mara and V. V lands a leading role in the school musical, and Mara finds herself falling in love with the coffee shop's owner, James. With both girls shedding their previous masks and carefully carved facades, aunt and niece inevitably grow closer.
While not as impressive as her first two books, VEGAN VIRGIN VALENTINE is nevertheless an entertaining read. The characters lack depth, but Carolyn Mackler has got the teenage language down right.
However, in the second half of her senior year, Mara's niece (yes, niece), who calls herself V, comes to the school. V is a self-proclaimed slut and stoner. Mara hates her, mostly on principle, but also because she hooks up with Travis on the very first day of school.
But things are changing for Mara and V. V lands a leading role in the school musical, and Mara finds herself falling in love with the coffee shop's owner, James. With both girls shedding their previous masks and carefully carved facades, aunt and niece inevitably grow closer.
While not as impressive as her first two books, VEGAN VIRGIN VALENTINE is nevertheless an entertaining read. The characters lack depth, but Carolyn Mackler has got the teenage language down right.
August 18, 2021
It started off okay. I knew what I was getting into what I started it—a typical coming-of-age story that has some of the usual cliches about high school and growing up.
But I found the main character annoying. She has a complete “change in character” towards the end, but I have no idea why…other than the fact that she just can. Which didn’t at all fit the book or the character. I honestly didn’t see any reason for it.
Along with that, the romance in it felt completely forced. She says early on that this guy is just a friend, and she doesn’t see him as anything more than that, but he starts to show feelings for her and suddenly she loves him too.
So, I didn’t have high expectations from the start, but I still got even less than what I was expecting. I found the book to be more frustrating and annoying than enjoyable.
But I found the main character annoying. She has a complete “change in character” towards the end, but I have no idea why…other than the fact that she just can. Which didn’t at all fit the book or the character. I honestly didn’t see any reason for it.
Along with that, the romance in it felt completely forced. She says early on that this guy is just a friend, and she doesn’t see him as anything more than that, but he starts to show feelings for her and suddenly she loves him too.
So, I didn’t have high expectations from the start, but I still got even less than what I was expecting. I found the book to be more frustrating and annoying than enjoyable.
July 11, 2010
fabulous title (so memorable!), but the book was so less than. I particularly had issues with the ending, mostly because there really was no ending. It seemed to me like the author didn't want to go through the trouble of thinking up a valedictorian speech, so she left her character unprepared for one of the biggest moments of her life. And then the reader was just left hanging, wondering what happened at graduation after the big build-up.
Overall, after a strong start with the title, the book went slowly downhill and ended up being a terrible letdown.
Overall, after a strong start with the title, the book went slowly downhill and ended up being a terrible letdown.
August 24, 2007
Honors Student and all-around Perfect Child Mara is thrown for a loop when her niece V (who is only a year younger than her) moves in. This book started out well- I really identified with Mara, since I was also an overachiever. But it kind of got lost along the way. It was a quick read, but I guess I didn't like the romance aspect. Or the seeming moral of "If it feels good, it must be good." (I think that's called emotional reasoning, and psychologists will tell you to avoid it.)
June 4, 2023
Molte, tante, troppe imperfezioni, ma tre per il viaggio, perché non volevo scaraventarlo per la stanza.
January 12, 2025
Typical, teen chick lit, with a primary focus on personal growth and female relationships
As the story opens, Mara Valentine is a senior in high school. She has been accepted at Yale and is fiercely competing for the position of class valedictorian against her ex-boyfriend, Travis Hart, who is a brilliant honor student like her. Travis is the only person Mara has ever dated. They were a couple for three months during their junior year, but he dumped her, because she wouldn't have intercourse with him. Which was actually a fortunate thing, because he is an unrepentantly promiscuous petri dish for STDs. (Having said that, I personally have trouble believing that a misogynistic jerk like Travis, with a reputation as a user, would have continually encountered girls at their school who are blithely willing to act as his current, temporary sex object.)
Mara has such loving, supportive parents, it is not clear why she became so intensely uptight, because they have never pressured her. And she was not raised around her flakey 35-year-old sister, Amy, thereby deciding to be her complete opposite. Although, as to Amy herself, it is equally unclear why she turned out so badly, since she also received loving, supportive parenting.
The inciting incident that throws Mara's rigorously controlled life off track is when her parents bring 16-year-old V, Amy's daughter, who is the result of a passing fling, to live with them. They are absolutely convinced that they can reform V, who could definitely use a helping hand. V smokes cigarettes, drinks hard liquor, smokes marijuana, and is even more promiscuous than Travis. V is also a slob, who drinks out of milk and juice cartons like a cliche, gross teenage boy. Simultaneously, V is conniving enough to butter up her naive grandparents and wrap them around her finger.
Within 24 hours of living in Mara's house, unsurprisingly, given that both of them are equally indiscriminate in their sexual encounters, V has intercourse with Travis in the boys' locker room during her first day attending Mara's high school. Though it has been nine months since she and Travis broke up, and Travis has been with multiple other sexual partners during that time, Mara is not only disgusted by V's indiscreet behavior, she is jealous. With self-righteous anger, she informs V that she has broken girl code by having sex with her aunt's ex.
It is almost Valentine's Day, and Mara hates this holiday because it is ridiculously sentimental, though logically you would think it would be because people are eternally teasing her about having the last name, Valentine, something that doesn't happen in this story. The only time Mara ever did anything remotely related to the holiday on Valentine's Day was a year ago, when she and Travis went around their high school together, selling flowers for a fundraiser, which they were participating in to pad their applications for Ivy League universities.
On top of her very heavy scholastic load, Mara has a part-time job at a coffee shop called, Common Ground, which is owned by 22-year-old James, a handsome Cinnamon Roll who, at 50% of the novel, becomes Mara's love interest. James opened the coffee shop at age 19 instead of going to college, even though he is just as brilliant as Mara and had just as many options for an Ivy League education as Mara does right now.
A 20-year-old college student named Claudia works at the coffee shop and has a huge crush on James, but he has never asked her out, and she is too timid to ask him out herself. Every scene in the coffee shop featuring Claudia onstage with Mara is dedicated to Claudia rhapsodizing to Mara about her unrequited adoration for James. When Mara and James eventually start dating, Claudia quits her job at the coffee shop and dumps Mara as a friend, claiming Mara is forbidden, by that self-same unwritten law of girl code, from dating a guy that her girlfriend is interested in, even if the guy in question has never reciprocated her feelings.
As is typical for chick lit, whether teen or adult, the primary focus is on the narcissistic self-obsession of the FMC, her significant female relationships, and her chance for romance coming in a distant third.
Though we only are exposed to the first-person POV of Mara, both she and V are massively transformed in their own individual personalities and their relationship with each other across the course of the novel. Theirs is an "enemies to friendship" relationship.
I would rate this novel PG, mainly because, though there isn't a lot of overt description, the whole process of Mara dating James and ultimately choosing to lose her virginity with him takes up quite a bit of page space.
I personally found it barely motivated as to the degree that Mara and V drastically evolve from their initial personality issues at the start of the book and their much more emotionally mature status by the end of a book. In addition, though I do understand that chick lit has little respect for the standard ground rules of the romance genre, it was also frustrating to me that Mara's relationship with James is left dangling at the end of the novel in a barely HFN resolution.
I had free access to this novel in audiobook format through my Audible membership, and it is also available in ebook format through Hoopla.
As the story opens, Mara Valentine is a senior in high school. She has been accepted at Yale and is fiercely competing for the position of class valedictorian against her ex-boyfriend, Travis Hart, who is a brilliant honor student like her. Travis is the only person Mara has ever dated. They were a couple for three months during their junior year, but he dumped her, because she wouldn't have intercourse with him. Which was actually a fortunate thing, because he is an unrepentantly promiscuous petri dish for STDs. (Having said that, I personally have trouble believing that a misogynistic jerk like Travis, with a reputation as a user, would have continually encountered girls at their school who are blithely willing to act as his current, temporary sex object.)
Mara has such loving, supportive parents, it is not clear why she became so intensely uptight, because they have never pressured her. And she was not raised around her flakey 35-year-old sister, Amy, thereby deciding to be her complete opposite. Although, as to Amy herself, it is equally unclear why she turned out so badly, since she also received loving, supportive parenting.
The inciting incident that throws Mara's rigorously controlled life off track is when her parents bring 16-year-old V, Amy's daughter, who is the result of a passing fling, to live with them. They are absolutely convinced that they can reform V, who could definitely use a helping hand. V smokes cigarettes, drinks hard liquor, smokes marijuana, and is even more promiscuous than Travis. V is also a slob, who drinks out of milk and juice cartons like a cliche, gross teenage boy. Simultaneously, V is conniving enough to butter up her naive grandparents and wrap them around her finger.
Within 24 hours of living in Mara's house, unsurprisingly, given that both of them are equally indiscriminate in their sexual encounters, V has intercourse with Travis in the boys' locker room during her first day attending Mara's high school. Though it has been nine months since she and Travis broke up, and Travis has been with multiple other sexual partners during that time, Mara is not only disgusted by V's indiscreet behavior, she is jealous. With self-righteous anger, she informs V that she has broken girl code by having sex with her aunt's ex.
It is almost Valentine's Day, and Mara hates this holiday because it is ridiculously sentimental, though logically you would think it would be because people are eternally teasing her about having the last name, Valentine, something that doesn't happen in this story. The only time Mara ever did anything remotely related to the holiday on Valentine's Day was a year ago, when she and Travis went around their high school together, selling flowers for a fundraiser, which they were participating in to pad their applications for Ivy League universities.
On top of her very heavy scholastic load, Mara has a part-time job at a coffee shop called, Common Ground, which is owned by 22-year-old James, a handsome Cinnamon Roll who, at 50% of the novel, becomes Mara's love interest. James opened the coffee shop at age 19 instead of going to college, even though he is just as brilliant as Mara and had just as many options for an Ivy League education as Mara does right now.
A 20-year-old college student named Claudia works at the coffee shop and has a huge crush on James, but he has never asked her out, and she is too timid to ask him out herself. Every scene in the coffee shop featuring Claudia onstage with Mara is dedicated to Claudia rhapsodizing to Mara about her unrequited adoration for James. When Mara and James eventually start dating, Claudia quits her job at the coffee shop and dumps Mara as a friend, claiming Mara is forbidden, by that self-same unwritten law of girl code, from dating a guy that her girlfriend is interested in, even if the guy in question has never reciprocated her feelings.
As is typical for chick lit, whether teen or adult, the primary focus is on the narcissistic self-obsession of the FMC, her significant female relationships, and her chance for romance coming in a distant third.
Though we only are exposed to the first-person POV of Mara, both she and V are massively transformed in their own individual personalities and their relationship with each other across the course of the novel. Theirs is an "enemies to friendship" relationship.
I would rate this novel PG, mainly because, though there isn't a lot of overt description, the whole process of Mara dating James and ultimately choosing to lose her virginity with him takes up quite a bit of page space.
I personally found it barely motivated as to the degree that Mara and V drastically evolve from their initial personality issues at the start of the book and their much more emotionally mature status by the end of a book. In addition, though I do understand that chick lit has little respect for the standard ground rules of the romance genre, it was also frustrating to me that Mara's relationship with James is left dangling at the end of the novel in a barely HFN resolution.
I had free access to this novel in audiobook format through my Audible membership, and it is also available in ebook format through Hoopla.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2019
Vegan, Virgin, Valentine by Carolyn Mackler is actually my first book to read this year. The story is light and short. It's a good read to start the year. The story is all about Mara Valentine, a straight-A senior high school student who's taking college courses so that she will enter Yale as a second year already. She's living under the expectations of her parents because her older sister (almost 20 years of age gap) is the black sheep of the family, didn't pursue college, has no concrete direction in life and has a seventeen-year old daughter, V Valentine. Mara's life changed when her niece, V, decided to live with them. Both of their lives changed in a good way. Mara gave herself a break and tried to loose some threads. V found her love for musical acts and put herself together. The story is almost the same with other YAs but it's a good one.
Sometimes all you need in your life is to learn that, it is only you who can decide what is right for yourself and not the standards that you should follow because you think that it was the right thing to do.
Sometimes all you need in your life is to learn that, it is only you who can decide what is right for yourself and not the standards that you should follow because you think that it was the right thing to do.
February 13, 2019
It was a good book but really slipped off near the end. Disappointed with the ending.
September 4, 2010
Mara is a strict vegan. She's taking college classes, she has early acceptance to Yale and she's a virgin. Mara thinks her life is going just fine, until her niece V, who is only a year younger than her, moves in and everything changes. V is Mara's total opposite. She's loud, she's rude and having a good time is number one on her priority list. Mara doesn't know how to handle her, and lately she's having trouble concentrating on anything at all. She keeps dreaming about grilled cheese sandwiches, and other things that are off limits. But with the fight to become Valedictorian and to achieve the highest GPA in the school, Mara doesn't have time to sort out her problems. What's a girl to do?
I started reading Vegan Virgin Valentine knowing nothing about it at all. I didn't read any reviews for it, so I had no idea what to expect. I ended up liking it quite a lot. Mara was a character I could relate to; it was easy to understand why she was so stressed out, and I could see that she was struggling to juggle all her classes and extra-curricular activities, as well as the difficulties she was experiencing to stay vegan. I liked how Mara wasn't perfect; she broke out in spots occassionally and said stupid things sometimes, just like other teenagers, and all of this made it feel more realistic and believeable to me. I liked the way she was so determined, and how this was both one of her strengths and weaknesses - her determination meant that she felt she always needed to be in control, something that she found progressively harder with each day.
I liked the way V and Mara's friendship developed; they started off as almost-enemies and ended up actually caring about each other. I thought V balanced Mara out a bit, and they were both quite funny characters with their own quirks and flaws. V seemed quite tough on the outside, but was really actually quite understanding underneath.
Though I liked James' character, I wanted to know more about him. He was very sweet and charming, but I felt like I didn't know much about his character except he was twenty-two and owned a coffee shop. I also felt the same way with his relationship with Mara; I wanted to know why they both liked each other and what made them want to be together. I also thought that Claudia's character could have been explored a little more, though I did like her and thought she was pretty fun.
Another thing I enjoyed was the relationship between Mara and her parents, and how Mara started off not minding all the phone calls and check-ups and ended up bursting out a bunch of secrets she'd been keeping. Mara felt like her parents only had her to make up for her older sister's failures, so I thought it was funny when Mara's mother had a chat with her about this, because it was something Mara really didn't expect. I thought that perhaps her parents would have been a little more shocked by her outburst, but I'm glad that everything worked out in the end. As for Aimee, V's mother and Mara's sister, I definitely understood why V sometimes resented her, and I was pleased that V got to do something she enjoyed for a change.
In conclusion, Vegan Virgin Valentine was a quick (could've been longer in my opinion - I wanted to know more!) and entertaining read and I'm very happy I read it. Recommended.
I started reading Vegan Virgin Valentine knowing nothing about it at all. I didn't read any reviews for it, so I had no idea what to expect. I ended up liking it quite a lot. Mara was a character I could relate to; it was easy to understand why she was so stressed out, and I could see that she was struggling to juggle all her classes and extra-curricular activities, as well as the difficulties she was experiencing to stay vegan. I liked how Mara wasn't perfect; she broke out in spots occassionally and said stupid things sometimes, just like other teenagers, and all of this made it feel more realistic and believeable to me. I liked the way she was so determined, and how this was both one of her strengths and weaknesses - her determination meant that she felt she always needed to be in control, something that she found progressively harder with each day.
I liked the way V and Mara's friendship developed; they started off as almost-enemies and ended up actually caring about each other. I thought V balanced Mara out a bit, and they were both quite funny characters with their own quirks and flaws. V seemed quite tough on the outside, but was really actually quite understanding underneath.
Though I liked James' character, I wanted to know more about him. He was very sweet and charming, but I felt like I didn't know much about his character except he was twenty-two and owned a coffee shop. I also felt the same way with his relationship with Mara; I wanted to know why they both liked each other and what made them want to be together. I also thought that Claudia's character could have been explored a little more, though I did like her and thought she was pretty fun.
Another thing I enjoyed was the relationship between Mara and her parents, and how Mara started off not minding all the phone calls and check-ups and ended up bursting out a bunch of secrets she'd been keeping. Mara felt like her parents only had her to make up for her older sister's failures, so I thought it was funny when Mara's mother had a chat with her about this, because it was something Mara really didn't expect. I thought that perhaps her parents would have been a little more shocked by her outburst, but I'm glad that everything worked out in the end. As for Aimee, V's mother and Mara's sister, I definitely understood why V sometimes resented her, and I was pleased that V got to do something she enjoyed for a change.
In conclusion, Vegan Virgin Valentine was a quick (could've been longer in my opinion - I wanted to know more!) and entertaining read and I'm very happy I read it. Recommended.
March 25, 2013
I had high hopes for this book. As a straight-A student and a wannabe vegan, I was hoping that I was finally going to find a character that I could relate to. I thought she was going to find a way to have more fun while still being herself. I thought she was going to slowly learn how to relate to the people around her.
Instead, she drops out of her summer college classes to spend more time with her boyfriend, who becomes the most important thing in the world to her. She finally gets the title of valedictorian, and she almost skips graduation and ends up showing up un-showered, without a bra, wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts. I’m sorry, but that is what we’ve been waiting to see happen? That is the moral of this story? Hey girls – don’t spend all your time studying and trying to get somewhere in life. Instead, blow off college and make out with a guy instead.
There were some interesting parts of this novel. The first half of the book sort of dragged for me, but there was a good quarter of the novel where I just wanted to keep reading. I did want her to get with the guy she had a crush on. I just wanted to find a way for her to have both him and the college summer classes. I wanted her to still care about the things she cared about before. I guess I wanted it to be more like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Twilight Sparkle, the main pony in that show, starts out obsessed with books and doesn’t care about friendship at all. When she finally does learn that friendship is important, she doesn’t change who she is – she still loves reading and learning. She still freaks out if she doesn’t live up to her standards. She just also has friends that she makes time for, and they help her relax without giving up everything that was important to her before.
I guess I’m just sad that Mara couldn’t learn that same lesson. Also, I’m pissed that this is the first vegan character I’ve read about, and she was only a vegan because she wanted something to obsess about. Vegans get enough of a bad rep in life; it was annoying to read about another one who wasn’t really into it. All we really saw were the bad parts of being a vegan – namely giving up cheese and having a hard time eating out at small little diners. I’m not saying it was the author’s job to educate people to the lives of vegans, but it would have been nice not to cast them in such a bad light.
Also, there wasn’t really as much Mara/V interaction as I was hoping for. There’s one scene where Mara learns that V stood up for her, and she starts to reconsider her opinion of her niece, but for the most part there’s not much in the way of getting to know each other. There are just a few scenes at the end, after they’ve stopped hating each other. I would have liked to see more of a middle, where they still don’t like each other but don’t outright hate each other, either.
I was originally going to rate this book higher than I did, but then I waited a few days to write the review, and the parts that jumped out to me were the bad parts. I would not recommend this book to others.
Instead, she drops out of her summer college classes to spend more time with her boyfriend, who becomes the most important thing in the world to her. She finally gets the title of valedictorian, and she almost skips graduation and ends up showing up un-showered, without a bra, wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts. I’m sorry, but that is what we’ve been waiting to see happen? That is the moral of this story? Hey girls – don’t spend all your time studying and trying to get somewhere in life. Instead, blow off college and make out with a guy instead.
There were some interesting parts of this novel. The first half of the book sort of dragged for me, but there was a good quarter of the novel where I just wanted to keep reading. I did want her to get with the guy she had a crush on. I just wanted to find a way for her to have both him and the college summer classes. I wanted her to still care about the things she cared about before. I guess I wanted it to be more like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Twilight Sparkle, the main pony in that show, starts out obsessed with books and doesn’t care about friendship at all. When she finally does learn that friendship is important, she doesn’t change who she is – she still loves reading and learning. She still freaks out if she doesn’t live up to her standards. She just also has friends that she makes time for, and they help her relax without giving up everything that was important to her before.
I guess I’m just sad that Mara couldn’t learn that same lesson. Also, I’m pissed that this is the first vegan character I’ve read about, and she was only a vegan because she wanted something to obsess about. Vegans get enough of a bad rep in life; it was annoying to read about another one who wasn’t really into it. All we really saw were the bad parts of being a vegan – namely giving up cheese and having a hard time eating out at small little diners. I’m not saying it was the author’s job to educate people to the lives of vegans, but it would have been nice not to cast them in such a bad light.
Also, there wasn’t really as much Mara/V interaction as I was hoping for. There’s one scene where Mara learns that V stood up for her, and she starts to reconsider her opinion of her niece, but for the most part there’s not much in the way of getting to know each other. There are just a few scenes at the end, after they’ve stopped hating each other. I would have liked to see more of a middle, where they still don’t like each other but don’t outright hate each other, either.
I was originally going to rate this book higher than I did, but then I waited a few days to write the review, and the parts that jumped out to me were the bad parts. I would not recommend this book to others.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2017
Mara Valentine is a parents’ dream child. She’s smart, she’s involved, she’s not experimenting with drugs or her sexuality, and she’s Yale-bound. Her parents have another child who is much older then Mara and whose personality is a lot different. She’s the one who is always experimenting and finding herself and chasing after bums. She has a daughter, too, Vivienne (or V), who is a year younger than Mara. When Mara’s sister moves to South America to follow her latest dream and bum, V comes to live with Mara and her grandparents. The first thing she does is make out with Mara’s ex-boyfriend, which does not set the stage for any closeness between the two girls. Mara becomes a refugee from her own house in her efforts to avoid V, and V seems set on being a juvenile delinquent. They don’t seem to have anything in common at all – except family. But things change for both of them. Mara becomes a lot less stuffy when she falls in love for real, and V becomes a lot more responsible when she has some stability in her life and the time to explore some of her own passions.
A good, funny, light read. I am not going to remember this one forever, but it is well-written, and better than most.
[EDIT] I reread this in May of 2017 not realizing that I'd already read it back in 2005! This is the first time I've ever completely forgotten something! I liked it better the second time around - giving it 4 stars instead of the 3 I'd originally assigned. I wrote a new review, too:
Mara Valentine is a model student and daughter and has her whole future mapped out for her when her “niece” V comes to live with her. V is almost the same age, and is wilder, freer, and more spontaneous than Mara could ever hope to be. And she’ll be attending the same high school. And Mara’s parents want Mara to help V adjust. Mara and V clash repeatedly, but eventually begin to understand one another and see something other than “perfectionist” and “loser” when they look into each other’s eyes. Having a stable home and structure and people who care about her and encourage her really brings out another side of V. Having V around and falling in love and slowing down the breakneck pace of her life really helps Mara start to identify what she wants. Their discovery of their true passions and the connection that forms between Mara and V is empowering and uplifting. Smart, fun, emotional, and funny – realistic fiction at its best.
A good, funny, light read. I am not going to remember this one forever, but it is well-written, and better than most.
[EDIT] I reread this in May of 2017 not realizing that I'd already read it back in 2005! This is the first time I've ever completely forgotten something! I liked it better the second time around - giving it 4 stars instead of the 3 I'd originally assigned. I wrote a new review, too:
Mara Valentine is a model student and daughter and has her whole future mapped out for her when her “niece” V comes to live with her. V is almost the same age, and is wilder, freer, and more spontaneous than Mara could ever hope to be. And she’ll be attending the same high school. And Mara’s parents want Mara to help V adjust. Mara and V clash repeatedly, but eventually begin to understand one another and see something other than “perfectionist” and “loser” when they look into each other’s eyes. Having a stable home and structure and people who care about her and encourage her really brings out another side of V. Having V around and falling in love and slowing down the breakneck pace of her life really helps Mara start to identify what she wants. Their discovery of their true passions and the connection that forms between Mara and V is empowering and uplifting. Smart, fun, emotional, and funny – realistic fiction at its best.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2010
In Vegan Virgin Valentine, Mara Valentine has a somewhat perfect life. She's an honors student, going to Yale, a perfect daughter and planning on entering Yale as a second year student. But then comes her niece Vivienne Vail Valentine or V and she comes and changes her life. At first Mara hates V for fooling around with her ex-boyfriend Travis Hart, smoking behind her parents back and giving herself a bad reputation at school. But as the book goes on you can see how V changes Mara's life also for the better. Mara realizes she doesn't have to be this perfect daughter. As Mara starts lying to her parents and taking risks like dating her boss James who is 22 and not really the type of guy she'd usually date or deciding to drop a class. As things change with Mara, V starts changing for the better too. V is now living up to her potential. She's now into school activities like musicals which she's the star in and getting her grades up by SAT classes. V and Mara have changed their lives for the better and have even become closer. I really liked this book and I actually think Im most like Mara. Im constantly trying to impress my parents and make them proud. I think I've learned a lot from this book.
July 11, 2016
Mara's one of those girls, the ones who seem to be effortlessly at the top of everything. Vying for the top ranking in school, a list of extracurriculars as long as her arm, a job she likes, doting parents. She's passionate about her veganism. She has her Ivy League acceptance in hand and plans to finish university a year early. And then along comes her just-barely-younger-than-Mara niece, and things change.
I read this largely for the fact that it had 'vegan' in the title, and I was curious to see how that would be addressed. To that end I'm a bit disappointed, as Mara's veganism is ultimately something tied to her need for control and order, not something that's really organic to who she is / how she approaches the world. Still...I enjoyed the back-and-forth between Mara and V (and the balance they ultimately have to find), and I enjoyed having a pretty grounded heroine whose rebellions against the norm—against 'perfect'—are on a small, realistic scale.
I read this largely for the fact that it had 'vegan' in the title, and I was curious to see how that would be addressed. To that end I'm a bit disappointed, as Mara's veganism is ultimately something tied to her need for control and order, not something that's really organic to who she is / how she approaches the world. Still...I enjoyed the back-and-forth between Mara and V (and the balance they ultimately have to find), and I enjoyed having a pretty grounded heroine whose rebellions against the norm—against 'perfect'—are on a small, realistic scale.
April 9, 2008
Vegan Virgin Valentine is a book written by Carolyn Mackler, and its about Mara Valentine, who is a good girl. She gets good grades, shes a strict vegan, and shes running against her womanizing ex-boyfriend for valedictorian. She even got into Yale. Shes all her parents could have ever wanted, and everything was going perfectly.. until she got the news from her parents that her sixteen year old neice, V, was coming to live with her. She wasn't exactly V's biggest fan, and she didn't want her to come and ruin everything for her. Which is basically what she did. Now, Maras incredibly stressed, and it doesn't help that shes falling for her twenty two year old boss, who one of her friends happens to be in love with. Shes even begun to dream about grilled cheese sandwiches.
I really liked this book, and i would recommend it to anyone.
I really liked this book, and i would recommend it to anyone.
May 3, 2013
Mara is in high school and she is a very goo student. She takes extra curricular things, college classes, and sports. Her life is basically going well. But then her cousin,V, comes and she doesn't really have a good relationship with her. V is the type of girl that can just really get any guy she wants. So Mara sees that and gets a boyfriend but she keeps it on the down low. When this happens it creates other not so great things to happen, which I'm going to leave for you to read and you to find out. Carolyn Mackler is like one of my favorite authors. All the books I red by her make me want to keep reading. I guess the reason being is because I like love stories and drama. I would recommend this book to a mature age group. This book makes you want to keep on reading. All the books by Carolyn Mackler are very good.
May 15, 2009
*SIGH* And also, spoiler alert...
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Okay, if you're still here, don't say I didn't warn you.
I was excited about this book, mainly due to the word 'vegan' in the title. Also, I've got a soft spot for angsty-teen books. Plus, I basically was this girl until jr year of high school (except the vegan part, but she wasn't vegan then either). Anyway, I was thinking 'woot, a vegan protagonist!' and then, 1/2 of the way through the book she says she'll eat honey (though she points out that some vegans don't). Meh, okay. Well, 3/4 of the way through the book, she eats cheese. And then milk (I think?) and then "hidden" eggs (like in muffins, etc). *SIGH* Oh well. I guess I won't be reading any sequels.
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Okay, if you're still here, don't say I didn't warn you.
I was excited about this book, mainly due to the word 'vegan' in the title. Also, I've got a soft spot for angsty-teen books. Plus, I basically was this girl until jr year of high school (except the vegan part, but she wasn't vegan then either). Anyway, I was thinking 'woot, a vegan protagonist!' and then, 1/2 of the way through the book she says she'll eat honey (though she points out that some vegans don't). Meh, okay. Well, 3/4 of the way through the book, she eats cheese. And then milk (I think?) and then "hidden" eggs (like in muffins, etc). *SIGH* Oh well. I guess I won't be reading any sequels.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2009
I like the books Carolyn Mackler writes a lot. Her characters have real depth and she doesn't fall into a lot of the cliche and unrealistic ideas of teenage girls that plague young adult fiction. However, the way this book trivialized veganism really bothered me. The main character seems to identify herself as an ethical vegan at the beginning of the book, but as the story goes on it becomes clear that her vegan diet is just the symptom of some sort of bigger, unhealthy "control problem." Finally, at the end of the book, the formerly vegan protagonist is glad she lighted up and let some milk back into her life. Laaaame.
November 12, 2010
The book im reading is "Vegan Virgin Valentine" this book is really good. I feel really comfortable about reading this book. Even though This girl is an straight A student I like it.
I think that I'm going to like this book, I think that it's going to be a good one I made a good choice I'm in chapter 5 and I'm liking it. What I hace read it's that this girl is having problems with V "Vegan" and her mom. She don't want that V stay in her house.
In conclusion I really recommend this book, specially to girls that feel stress about someone that is in your house or your mom treats you like a baby. This girl is really upset with both of mom and V she don't like her.
I think that I'm going to like this book, I think that it's going to be a good one I made a good choice I'm in chapter 5 and I'm liking it. What I hace read it's that this girl is having problems with V "Vegan" and her mom. She don't want that V stay in her house.
In conclusion I really recommend this book, specially to girls that feel stress about someone that is in your house or your mom treats you like a baby. This girl is really upset with both of mom and V she don't like her.
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