The Kiss Off (The Kiss Off, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Mar 29, 2012 Nicole rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: blog-tour

I was completely blown away by how much I loved this book. If you follow my blog at all, you know that I don't read a lot of contemporary. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm a writer of paranormal, and hence I love reading paranormal. But this book was just amazing. I literally read it in one day, and while it's not that long of a book, I just couldn't stop reading. Ms. Billington, you successfully made me laugh out loud and even cry. Twice.

I think what really grabbed me with this I was completely blown away by how much I loved this book. If you follow my blog at all, you know that I don't read a lot of contemporary. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm a writer of paranormal, and hence I love reading paranormal. But this book was just amazing. I literally read it in one day, and while it's not that long of a book, I just couldn't stop reading. Ms. Billington, you successfully made me laugh out loud and even cry. Twice.

I think what really grabbed me with this book is that we've all imagined at some point being the girlfriend of a rock god. But it'd be even cooler if your song about a sucky ex-boyfriend was what made the band into a world-wide phenomenon. And there's so much more! I loved that Poppy herself was an artist. She wasn't just riding on the coat tails of her famous maybe love interest, but she actually wrote the song that they rocked-up (yes, that is a word...). I used to play an instrument and I even tried learning the guitar because I thought it would be awesome to be in a rock band. Let's just say the case is quite dusty now and I'm a better singer anyways. But I really loved the perspective of this normal girl who becomes the center of attention for the entire country from her own song. And that includes her budding relationship with before-mentioned rock god, Tyler.

I loved the romance in this one. That is one of the best things about contemporaries; it's almost always about the romance. It's so weird because I once had a boyfriend in my freshman year of high school who was named Cameron. I won't get into the details but what happened in this book between Poppy and Cam kind of reminded me of that. The fact that he was named Cam helped too. But I have never dated anyone name Tyler so luckily that slate was clean. Tyler is definitely on of my favorite YA boys after reading this one. He's sweet and charming and humble, but just like all people that end up being in the spotlight, his acts in public get seriously twisted by the media. I don't why, but their relationship kind of reminded me of that scene in Ocean's 11 where Clooney asks, "Does he make you laugh?" and Roberts says, "He doesn't make me cry." And, oh, was I crying. And laughing. And sobbing. And laughing again. This book is a total emotional roller coaster, but it's worth the tears and fruitless gasps for air.

I think my only issue was that her friends kind of fell flat. I realize that Poppy was grounded. A lot. But I wish they had been more present. Otherwise, this was a very worthwhile read. You can never be sure when you get books like these that are published by Indie publishers and that are only available in ebooks. But if you're looking for the next YA Indie contemporary to read, this is it. Or just next YA contemporary in general! I honestly cannot wait for the next one. I didn't even know there was going to be a sequel! ...more

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