This book was awful

I’m having a hard time explaining why this is so good. It’s thoughtful. The premise is really original. I think the biggest thing is how well done the narrator is - she clearly doesn’t see the world the same way others do, but she doesn’t seem to be super aware of it. Her assumptions about how other people operate, contrasted with their reactions to her assumptions, are what really make this book so interesting and engaging.

Originally posted at http://rabbitholereads.blogspot.co.uk/

This book pissed me off.

I don't need a likeable protagonist in order to enjoy a book. I don't need a magical, wonderful, NICE character in order to like a book. But I do need a protagonist who doesn't make me want to scream obscenities at an eReader.

I'm not going to get into a debate about euthanasia or assisted suicide, or any of the other 'philosophical' questions the novel tries to ask. But I will say that the premise - whilst intriguing - left me enraged.

Our lead loner Leila has no friends, no family and absolutely no redeeming qualities. She finds herself taken under the wing of the King of Losers Adrian, who runs the philosophical website that Leila devotes all of her time to. Adrian offers Leila the opportunity to participate in party girl Tess's grand master plan, that of ending her life without letting her family know. Leila agrees to study Tess's life obsessively so that she can eventually take over her online persona because, for reasons known purely to the author and the author alone, Tess wants to commit suicide without letting her family know. Yeah, I don't understand it fully either.

Things take a disastrous turn for the worse when Leila begins to go full on weirdo on us. Rather than simply impersonate Tess through emails and Facebook updates, Leila develops a bizarre attachment to one of Tess's ex boyfriends, going as far as to convincing herself that he LOVES HER and wants to BE WITH HER. Because, of course, WHY WOULDN'T HE?!?!

SPOILER - He doesn't want to be. Because, logic.

In addition to basically stalking Tess's ex boyfriend, Leila takes matters into her own hands and decides that a virtual Tess isn't good enough. Nope, Leila decides to cross into even weirder territory by starting to make phone calls and becoming somewhat overly attached with Tess's despairing mother. Leila went from being slightly unlikeable in chapter one to downright creepy as the book progresses.

One good thing about Kiss Me First was the way it kept me reading, even when I didn't want to. But that left me even more frustrated because the twist ending I could see coming from a mile away? Totally didn't happen. There was no twist ending. There wasn't really any real ending to speak of, everything just fizzled out.

I will say that Moggach obviously has a flair for writing and will no doubt continue to thrill readers for years to come. I just can't say I'll be one of them.

Really intriguing premise and a great story. It's not "literary" by any means, but definitely compelling and original. My full review is here.

3.5/5* Review.

So, this wasn't what I was expecting.

I knew nothing about this book when I picked it up, and from the title I was expecting a dramatic and romantic storyline. That is not this book. Kiss Me First is one of the only books I've read that scarily, yet somehow eerily accurately, depicts the dangers of the Internet... especially when in the wrong hands.

There are seriously sinister undertones throughout this novel, and yet the main character, Leila, is still relate-able at times, and humanised by the author. A very clever move.

Leila is an unreliable first-person narrator, and although she's painted as an un-likeable character, there are definite sympathetic and vulnerable elements to her character, that somehow made me connect with her in a way that I was almost uncomfortable with. Tess on the other hand is the popular girl-about-town, who is dealing with mental health issues that make her an erratic fireball of a character. Oddly, I struggled with her a little more than I did Leila.

Overall, the plot was very well executed, if a little slow at times, but I was entertained right until the end as the mystery unravelled.

Check out the full review here:
http://confessionsofabookgeek.com/2015/10/21/review-kiss-me-first/

completamente diverso dalla serie, ma l'ho apprezzato come prodotto a sé.
Credo che questo sia possibile solo perchè per caso ho visto prima la serie netflix, nella quale, della storia narrata nel libro rimane ben poco, diciamo lo scheletro.
Avessi letto prima il libro, probabilmente avrei giudicato negativamente l'adattamento netflix.
Ringrazio comunque la serie perchè mi ha portato a cercare e leggere il libro, entrambi offrono ottimi spunti di riflessione sullo stesso tema. Tra l'altro, secondo me, sarebbe un libro da inserire nelle liste di lettura scolastiche, nonostante sia ambientato quasi una decina di anni fa e la tecnologia da allora sia avanzata, rimane molto attuale.
So che questa recensione è terribile, ma ho l'influenza e volevo giusto mettere giù due pensieri.
come ultima cosa posso dire che il finale ha senso, ma per curiosità mia avrei voluto andasse più avanti, che venissero svelati ulteriori particolari, soprattutto su Adam.

4.5 stars.

A very clever and chilling marketing campaign (if you haven't seen the trailer, have a look, just not on a mobile) meant this one was a definite 'let's give it a whirl' book.

The trailer does lead quite nicely into the themes and story of the book.

A twenty-something loner, Leila, whose mother had recently died from MS becomes involved in a website that leads her from philosophical discussions to taking over another person's identity, using social media.

A very contemporary tale on depression, identity, the perils of online communication, and self-delusion.

It's a brilliant debut, very cleverly put together, with an unreliable narrator, lots of back and forth time slips to fill in the stories of Leila becoming involved with Tess and then later after she's taken over her life. And lots of very realistic references to modern online life (World of Warcraft, Facebook).

You gradually come to realise that everyone had their secrets, and not even a narrator can be trusted to tell a story or see a person without bias.

It became more intriguing the further in I read and by the end is almost a modern morality tale. Certainly one to ponder and dwell on.

What if you wanted to disappear from the world? Commit suicide and have no one know what happened to you? In today's world of social media, twitter, Google and Facebook this is virtually impossible. But what if you can hire someone to take over your life? Update your social media accounts, reply to your emails and keep your online presence alive? That's exactly what Leila is hired to do. When Tess decides she wants to end it all she hires socially inept Leila to make people believe she is still alive.
A seemingly far-fetched idea but Moggach paints a very realistic picture of how this could be possible in today's day and age. Moggach shows us the grim reality of social media. How we believe our connections are real when in reality we use Facebook/Instagram/Twitter etc to paint pictures of what we want people to see. This really is a fantastic story that will compel the reader. By the end of it you will be thinking about your world and connections in a whole new way.