review: cherry

I received Cherry by Lindsey Rosin as a review copy and didn't really know what to expect. The main gist of it from the blurb got me curious and intrigued. It sounded like it was going to be a light and funny book, and in a way it was. Unfortunately, i had mixed feelings about it, but i still did enjoy some parts of it. I'm rating this 3 out of 5 stars.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In this honest, frank, and funny debut novel, four best friends make a pact during their senior year of high school to lose their virginities—and end up finding friendship, love, and self-discovery along the way.
To be honest, the sex pact wasn’t always part of the plan. 
Layla started it. She announced it super casually to the rest of the girls between bites of frozen yogurt, as if it was just simply another addition to her massive, ever-evolving To Do List. She is determined to have sex for the first time before the end of high school. Initially, the rest of the crew is scandalized, but, once they all admit to wanting to lose their v-cards too, they embark on a quest to do the deed together... separately.
Layla’s got it in the bag. Her serious boyfriend, Logan, has been asking for months.
Alex has already done it. Or so she says.
Emma doesn’t know what the fuss is all about, but sure, she’ll give it a shot.
And Zoe, well, Zoe can’t even say the o word without bursting into giggles.
Will everything go according to plan? Probably not. But at least the girls have each other every hilarious, heart-warming, cringe-inducing step of the way.
From debut author Lindsey Rosin, Cherry is a coming-of-age, laugh-out-loud tale of first times, last chances, and the enduring friendships that make it all worthwhile.

I have to admit, I was actually quite shocked at how many sex scenes there were in this book, though this is mostly because I didn't think Young Adult books would have a lot of it with more detail compared to most YA contemporaries. The four best friends - Layla, Zoe, Alex and Emma - are extremely close and very open to one another about their sex life. I come from a pretty conservative country, where talking about sex even amongst friends doesn't happen often and not to everyone, so reading about how these four friends were very honest about their interest in sex was interesting. I'm not sure how representative it is of the American culture, but i liked comparing the cultural differences with my own experience.

I thought that the whole sex pact idea was absolutely ridiculous. Like, why do you NEED to lose your virginity before high school ends? I'll never understand it. But again, cultural differences. I didn't like the idea of it, but it did make an interesting story. It became a reason for these four girls to step out of their comfort zone and try out new things, and not just having sex. I saw a lot of character development in most of the main characters, which was good because it compensated for the lack of plot. Not much had actually happened, so it really is more of a coming-of-age/finding-yourself kind of book.

I adore the friendship between the girls. I had my own little group of best friends during high school, and some of their conversations made me reminisce the good old days. We were probably not as open as the girls were about sex and all, but their friendship reminded me of us going through so many things together and being there for one another. Everyone in the book was different from one another and had their own interests and distinct personality. I did find some of the characters immature and annoying, but ultimately I enjoyed everyone's point of view and story.

I didn't appreciate how almost all the characters in the story was described as being very attractive, especially the male characters. It was just too cliche and unrealistic. Everyone just wanted to have sex or go straight to "I love you" and it made me roll my eyes at how naive they were. But of course, a lot of us were naive in high school so even though it annoyed me, I like how honest it was. I think this book also explored the topic of sex in a somewhat educational way. Like, someone who is absolutely clueless about how these things work might actually learn a thing or two about protection or sexual preferences or having consent. Of course, you gotta be more open-minded about it and see it positively.