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A review by amwhtr
Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach
2.0
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.
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.