I figured I should start this blog with a kind of
explanation, a preface as to what I intend to review, what I like, what I
dislike etc, but somehow that seems to be a stall. Another procrastination
technique resulting in me not actually getting around to doing any reviews at
all, simply a lot of introductions, apologies and goodbyes (and press repeat).
I also didn’t want to be limited to one kind of book, like YA, fantasy,
contemporary, adult, as, realistically, I like all of those genres and
categories a great deal. So, in light of these two thoughts, I decided to begin
this summer book review blog (and yes I know it isn’t summer but it is nearly
the beginning of my summer) with a YA
romance, not something I commonly read, but hey, I’m turning 20 soon and I want
to have that butterflies, will-they-won’t-they feeling at least one more time
before all films I watch dissolves into gun battles, forced adoption and bitter
sweet love. And so, without further ado, I begin my opinionated explanation of
Beth Reekles, ‘The Kissing Booth.’
Now I should clarify, I do have a bit of a soft spot for romance, because, as the cynicism runs through my blood like electrolytes after a sports drink, I need something to remind me that there is something that isn’t hard hitting misery contemporary novels involving kidnap, crying and lonely looking cottages, but, when beginning this book, I was nervous. The blurb of one kiss “changing everything” and “turning her world upside down” seemed guessable plot points, even for a romance, and the leading lady, Elle, didn’t really sell herself to me as a character. Though she did improve, with a little bit of bite to her (well a bit of bite by teenage romantic heroine standards), and her internal monologue was definitely funny, and even quite endearing at points, her love interest, Noah, or occasionally Flynn, on the other hand was the unrealistic rugged dreamboat to a tee (seriously, he had a motorbike and everything) and her friends seemed to be pretty two-dimensional (and also weirdly attracted to her and then suddenly not attracted to her at points). Overall, it wasn’t exactly unique in its fundamentals, and it didn’t initially play up to them enough to be all that fun.
Now I should clarify, I do have a bit of a soft spot for romance, because, as the cynicism runs through my blood like electrolytes after a sports drink, I need something to remind me that there is something that isn’t hard hitting misery contemporary novels involving kidnap, crying and lonely looking cottages, but, when beginning this book, I was nervous. The blurb of one kiss “changing everything” and “turning her world upside down” seemed guessable plot points, even for a romance, and the leading lady, Elle, didn’t really sell herself to me as a character. Though she did improve, with a little bit of bite to her (well a bit of bite by teenage romantic heroine standards), and her internal monologue was definitely funny, and even quite endearing at points, her love interest, Noah, or occasionally Flynn, on the other hand was the unrealistic rugged dreamboat to a tee (seriously, he had a motorbike and everything) and her friends seemed to be pretty two-dimensional (and also weirdly attracted to her and then suddenly not attracted to her at points). Overall, it wasn’t exactly unique in its fundamentals, and it didn’t initially play up to them enough to be all that fun.
But
in all honesty, it’s not the similarities to every other teen romance that hold
in this book, but the differences to the standard model. Whilst it holds
moments of romance that, whilst the sceptic in my brain raged loudly about ‘how
would that even work’, made my 15 year old self melt into my very seat with
sheer wistful longing for love like this, these are usually pretty quickly
rebutted with more sobering moments of a more logical nature from Elle. At
first glance, I saw these as weird polarised writing, and remember wondering
how anyone could be that indecisive, but then it did hit me: most hormonally
driven teenagers are. This isn’t a slam at hormonal teenagers; you are kind of
supposed to be mixed up, and confused, and indecisive at 17. It happens. And
Reekles puts that across in a way that I was actually pleasantly surprised by.
A novel in which Elle doted on Noah for 400 pages straight would have caused me
to fall asleep by page 10, but it is her changeable nature that actually comes
across pretty well, and works in the setting of a teenage life.
The ending, as differences from the standard teen romance go, was, I think, the greatest strength of this novel. Without spoilers, it is one of the most honest ending of unrealistic and overpowering romance I’ve ever read, with a somewhat moment of notably more adult clarity in an otherwise entirely . And that is what made me really enjoy this book. It isn’t the greatest romance ever told, no, but it is an honest depiction of how teenagers see their own romantic entanglements which is nostalgic (even I’ll admit that’s half of why I liked it) and, more than anything, comforting, sexy, and exciting. Hell, if I can suspend my disbelief for dragons in Game Of Thrones, I’ll certainly let this romance’s style of dramatization slide.
The ending, as differences from the standard teen romance go, was, I think, the greatest strength of this novel. Without spoilers, it is one of the most honest ending of unrealistic and overpowering romance I’ve ever read, with a somewhat moment of notably more adult clarity in an otherwise entirely . And that is what made me really enjoy this book. It isn’t the greatest romance ever told, no, but it is an honest depiction of how teenagers see their own romantic entanglements which is nostalgic (even I’ll admit that’s half of why I liked it) and, more than anything, comforting, sexy, and exciting. Hell, if I can suspend my disbelief for dragons in Game Of Thrones, I’ll certainly let this romance’s style of dramatization slide.
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