2003 - Dutton Books (Penguin)
198 pages
I really wanted to like this book. Prior to this I had read the author's scandalous internet chat series (ttyl, ttfn, and l8r,g8r) and while I didn't love them, I thought they were memorable enough to warrant me checking out some of the author's other materials. Kissing Kate, however, just seems a bit bland. I really like the premise of a person dealing with the aftermath of kissing their best friend and I felt there was a lot of promise in that, but there isn't really much of a follow through. Large parts (at times seeming to be most) of the story concern sideplots and the introduction of characters that just never feel that developed. One of the more interesting characters, a young co-worker of Lissa's named Kimberly/Ariel, but even she feels a bit added on at times. And even the sideplots seemed lackluster and to just conclude without much conclusion.
This was Myracle's debut work, so I feel I shouldn't be too difficult on her for it. For a first novel, this isn't terrible but it still was difficult to keep my interest in the story.
Rating: 2.5-3 out of 5.
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3 comments:
Yay, O Tedious One has posted a new blog entry! Why do I hear Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl (and I Liked It)" in my head while reading this entry? I imagine the author makes a reference to this song.
Is this a case of hero worship on the part of one of the girls? Or is it truly a serious crush which raises the question of the young woman's sexuality? It intrigues me that women can seemingly drift into same sex affairs whereas men are either/or when it comes to relations with other men but hey, what do I know about girls kissing each other?
Is this a gender thing? Does the author even go there? Discuss, group.
Mark, I didn't even make the connection, but you're off by a few years. Katy Perry didn't start singing that song until a few years after this book.
I think it is truly the case of a crush in the book. It may have been partly something where the one girl wanted to try it and it turned out that only one of the girl's liked it. Part of me suspects that it may be that the one girl was repressing her urges because, back then, it was less acceptable in society than it is today.
The author doesn't go anywhere near that, though it would be an interesting discussion. There does seem to still be a bias against male homosexual/bisexual behaviour in society at this time.
OTO,
Thanks for the reply. I am off by more than a few years, if you catch my drift. You might want to check out the movie Lost and Delirious which deals with one girl's rejection of another girl's love that is more than a crush. Their relationship is accidentally exposed and the one doing the rejecting is afraid of what her parents will do if they find out she is a lesbian. Her rejection results in tragedy for the other girl.
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