I am SUPER excited to be a part of Rachael’s blog tour for 17 First Kisses!! (:
***I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to HarperTeen!***
***As always mild spoilers may follow***
Rating: 5 stars
Pub date: 17 June 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Format: ARC provided by the publisher
Status: standalone
Summary:
No matter how many boys Claire kisses, she can’t seem to find a decent boyfriend. Someone who wouldn’t rather date her gorgeous best friend, Megan. Someone who won’t freak out when he learns about the tragedy her family still hasn’t recovered from. Someone whose kisses can carry her away from her backwoods town for one fleeting moment.
Until Claire meets Luke.
But Megan is falling for Luke, too, and if there’s one thing Claire knows for sure, it’s that Megan’s pretty much irresistible.
With true love and best friendship on the line, Claire suddenly has everything to lose. And what she learns—about her crush, her friends, and most of all herself—makes the choices even harder.
In her moving debut, Rachael Allen brilliantly captures the complexities of friendship, the struggles of self-discovery, and the difficulties of trying to find love in high school. Fans of Sarah Ockler, Susane Colasanti, and Stephanie Perkins will fall head over heels for this addictive, heartfelt, and often hilarious modern love story
My thoughts:
I cannot ever remember devouring a contemporary in one afternoon. I was surprised to receive an ARC from HarperTeen. As I’ve said before, I’m not the biggest fan of contemporary, but I thought I would give it a try. Alsison Linsow took the time to send it to me, so I could at least give it a chance. I’m very happy that I did. I believe this is a below the radar greatness that needs to be shared. It’s not your typical fluffy high school tale and I really enjoyed that.
I instantly related to Claire as the girl living in a small town, super excited to blow that popsicle stand. Hello, high school me! I also related to Claire on the “a boy is threatening our friendship deal.” Only I didn’t come out of my experience with my friendship intact. Now that neither of us are with said boy, we ocassionally talk, but our friendship was all but destroyed. Over a boy. A boy neither of us are with now. I’m even married with two kids! I would love to go smack our 16 year old selves and be like HE IS NOT WORTH IT. *sigh*
I loved including the story of how each kiss happened. It left me reflection on my kisses. Some I still remember fondly. Others, I wonder what the crap I was thinking. I mean, really.
Despite the name, the focus is on family and friend relationships which I really enjoyed.
It was chock full of flawed characters and uncertain situations and I loved it. I don’t like perfect characters or plots. I hate cookie cutter lives. Life isn’t like that and I think that’s my main problem with most contemporaries.
I did have a problem with the slut shaming. Kissing a few boys at a party makes a slut now?! Grr. Flirty? Yes. Slut? Not even remotely. That made me so angry and my heart went out to Claire. 17 First Kisses shows sex in a responsible, truthful way. Not hushed up like it’s shameful, but also not presented as a sex for all with no consequences. Classy and tasteful presentation. Brava, Rachael!
This debut is underrated thus far, and I hope it gets a chance to explode on the scene. There are lovey dovey scenes, snarky scenes, cliche scenes, everything and more to make a quick and enjoyable contemporary. I highly recommend it. Go forth and enjoy it! (:
About the author:
Rachael Allen lives in Atlanta, GA where she’s working furiously on her PhD in neuroscience. When she’s not doing science or writing YA, you can find her chasing after her toddler and her two sled dogs. Her debut YA novel 17 FIRST KISSES, is forthcoming from Harper Teen. Rachael may or may not have had 17 first kisses…luckily she doesn’t kiss and tell.
Website: http://rachaelallenwrites.blogspot.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7326808.Rachael_Allen
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachael_allen
– US Only giveaway
– Must be 13 or older to enter
– Giveaway starts JULY 7th until JULY 14th
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