It Only Happens Once

All right, so today I'm reviewing a book a little different from the ones I usually tell y'all about. This book is called The Virgin Diares and it was compiled and editied by Kimberly A. Johnson and Ann Werner. (I am aware that you can see this on the cover, but still.) I want to make a few things clear before I tell you my thoughts on this book. First is that this book is NOT a whole bunch of sex scenes thrown together into some inappropriate piece of literature. Second is that this book IS age appropriate for me. The title seems decieving, but once you find out what the book is really about, and why it was written, all should be well.

The Virgin Diaries is a bunch of stories - 72, to be exact - of many different people's first time having sex. Losing their virginity. Which would explain the title. But that's not all. This brings me back to my point where I said that this book was not "a whole bunch of sex scenes thrown together." The people telling their stories explain about their views on sex before and after, what it was like - emotionally as well as physically - what their relationships with the other people are like now, and they give advice to virgins about when THEY (the readers) have their first times.

This book is aimed toward virgins and teenagers. Mostly teenagers. Honestly, when I was sent a request to review this book, I was VERY hesitant to accept. But then as I looked more in to this book, I really began to like the concept. I'm actually really glad I chose to review this book. It is a great source of information for virgins, especially those who are very confused and curious about sex.

Let's all be honest - most parents don't address the topic of sex all that well with their children. The most advice a parent will give their child would be to use protection. They usually don't go into much more detail than that. I'm not saying that this is how it is for ALL parents and their children, just a majority as far as I can tell. The Virgin Diaries is a very good book for giving more information to virgins so that they aren't wholly unprepared when they think they're ready to give up their virginity. No, this book does not answer every single question anyone could ever ask about sex. I don't think it's possible to do that until you experience it for yourself. But it DOES give you a better idea of what to expect and how to tell when it's the right time for you.

Something I really liked about this book was how all the stories were written by the person who experienced what happened. And by this I mean that there were so many different voices behind all of the stories and I loved that. Instead of the authors of this book writing about what the people said their first times were like, the people who experienced it told their own stories. This way, we don't have one person telling us secondhand what it seemed to be like for someone else, we have the story directly from that person. A story told in their own words, in their own way.

Another thing that I liked about this book was the emotion in the stories. This probably is directly connected to the fact that these stories were written firsthand by the people who experienced them. I loved how the men and women described their emotions. Some of the stories were sad. Like, seriously, "awwww!" Others were funny. Others were just plain awkward. Some were sweet. Some were frustrating. But they were all REAL, and that is the most important part in my eyes.

A valuable thing - to me, anyway - about this book was the fact that there were stories from both men AND women. This means you get to read what it was like for both genders. I think this was beneficial because what girl doesn't ever wonder what's going on in a guy's head? Guys think girls are mysteries, but they can be just as confusing to us as we are to them. So I really liked reading about how the guys felt and what they thought. It was helpful insight into the way guys can think.

No, this book is not a thrill-ride fictional tale that is exciting to read. Of course it's not; it's non-fiction. Still, this book is immensely interesting because it gives you access to information that most people are too shy to ask for and too shy to share. I would DEFINITELY recommend this book to . . . well, anyone. This is the kind of book that is so informative that it could be nice for anyone to pick up and read. It will hold your attention because this topic is something that everyone is always curious about.

Okay, so that's all I have to say about this book. I STRONGLY suggest that you, as my wonderful blog reader, take a look at the book for yourself. On that note, The Virgin Diaries will be free - yes, FREE - for Kindle on April 26th. Yes, that is THIS THURSDAY. This is the perfect opportunity to see what I am such a strong advocate for today. You can get it for FREE - as in, no money necessary; this is usually a HUGE selling point for me - for Kindle. When? This Thursday. April 26th. What do I have to say about this? GET IT. You won't regret it. ;)

Than y'all for reading my review and visiting my blog today! Come again soon!

♥Jessica(: