Not So Pure and Simple

This was really good! It touches on many important things (but mainly sexism and toxic masculinity) and it was just such a pleasant surprise. I think I went into it thinking it would be kind of rom-com-like with the “hihi-haha I'll pretend to pledge for virginity to get an in with a girl I like” plot we had going on, but it went so much deeper than that and I'm so happy it did, it was so good!
Del as a narrator was interesting, although he's not exactly likeable. He's very arrogant throughout most of the book and so fucking oblivious as well that I occasionally felt ready to punch him in the face. I also had a bit of a hard time with the plot revolving around Kiera, who I thought was pretty bland and she and Del had no chemistry whatsoever, which also made it weird that he kept on wanting to pursue her. This decision makes sense the further you get into the story, but it was quite frustrating at times. Especially considering that he had so much chemistry with Shianne, quite a lot with Mya too, and honestly I kinda wish he would have been written as bi because Jameer was there, hello, hi, Jameer. Oh well, a girl can't have everything.
Shianne was by far my favorite character of them all. She was honest, funny, cool, and she really knew how to put Del in his place. Like, I'm stuck between wanting to date her and wanting to be her, she was just chef's kiss.
I loved Jameer and Cwan too. They were just such great characters and I wish we had seen Del spend more time with them. At first I was suspicious of Jameer's intentions around helping Del because I thought he had the hots for Del and was doing senseless work helping Del get with Kiera while Kiera was helping Jameer get with Del... This was certainly not the case, although I wouldn't have minded lmao. It would have been fun and would have given me more Jameer, so it would have been a win for everyone, honestly. Cwan was just a really supportive friend who seemed like the type to learn from situations well, and I loved how he changed a bit after meeting Angie, although I also wish we would have seen more of him instead of Del always being like “he's off with Angie”. Oh, well, once again, a girl can only ask for so much, right?
The religious element in any story is very much a struggle for me, mainly because I personally feel so entirely estranged from believing in religion in almost any capacity, and in this story it was definitely aggravating me too. You can't put a bigoted character in front of me and say “oh, he's a good person deep down” like, nah, dude, he's bigoted and he's bad. I get the whole learning and getting better by the end, but before that I was just so put off by the idea because this man had shown quite literally no sense of progress so why would that even compell you to give him the benefit of the doubt?
On a last note, I will stand by the fact that Cressie and Jaylen are gay for each other till the day I die. 
Goodnight.