Official Review: The Last Virgin Alive by Stephanie Crosby

[L_Therese]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Last Virgin Alive" by Stephanie Crosby.]

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One of the first novel forms was the epistolary novel. By writing out letters from one character to another, novels like The Sorrows of Young Werther and Lady Susan were able to use more conversational language to communicate the thoughts and emotions of their characters. Fiction writing has changed a lot since then, but in books like The Last Virgin Alive, authors like Stephanie Crosby use a diary format to achieve a similar effect as the epistolary novel, providing a window into the character’s head to reveal her thoughts, emotions, motivations, fears, and epiphinies.

The Last Virgin Alive is the story of Symphony Banks, an insecure teenage girl from a broken home who merely wants to be loved. Convinced of her own ugliness and worthlessness, she is sure that no one will ever find her attractive or be willing to work past her fears to pursue a romantic relationship with her. In the course of the book, Symphony must reshape the way that she sees herself and her place in the world around her, and the reader is given front-row seats to witness her changing perspective and the way that other characters help or hinder her growth.

When I read the description of this book and the author’s bio before committing to it, one thing that impressed me was the statement that the author seeks to discover and reveal beauty even in negative situations (not a quote). This is a sentiment that I find very admirable, and it is abundantly clear in this book. Symphony deals with obsessive hatred from her estranged sister, grief for her late mother, and racism among other ugly struggles that contribute to her poor self-image, but throughout this, the reader can see that she is thoughtful, driven, and compassionate from the very beginning. How can the reader do otherwise than cheer her on as she comes into her own?

Additionally, through Symphony's struggles, the reader gets to see the impact of some of the harmful attitudes that are too prevalent in society. Notable among those addressed are shame related to virginity and stigma attached to interracial dating. As Symphony works through her experience with these attitudes and how it affects her and the way she interprets other people's actions, the reader gets to see how vitally important it is to treat others with respect and consideration.

The book isn't perfect, though. It is riddled with misspellings and other typographical errors (although it is still understandable), occasionally passages are repeated word-for-word, and there are several minor elements that don’t exactly fit (i.e., a 17 year-old would not be permitted on Match.com). If you can tolerate a small degree of cognitive dissonance and just go with it, you’ll be okay. The book is more about Symphony’s mental and emotional journey than any external events.

At this time, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. However, I would very much encourage the author to take another look at it or maybe submit it to an editor and then re-release it. I think it carries huge potential and cleaning up the minor errors would greatly expand its appeal. This book would be best for young adults since the character would be most relatable for that age group and the language, being conversational in register, would be accessible for even reluctant readers.

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Buy "The Last Virgin Alive" on Amazon

[ALRyder]

This isn't the type of book that I would normally read, but you wrote a great review. It looks to have an interesting concept.