Book Review: The Kiss by Lucy Courtenay

The Kiss
by
Lucy Courtenay
Genre: Contemporary, Romance

'Aphrodite kissed a mortal once by the light of this moon, many thousands of years ago. It drove him crazy. The next person that he kissed - boum. The craziness travelled like this from person to person. It travelled through time. Everywhere - boum! Tu comprends?' 'Where did it end up?' I whisper. His lips are on my cheek now. 'It ended with me. And now I am going to pass it to you. You will like that, mermaid?' Imagine the perfect kiss. A legendary kiss that makes people crazy with love. Imagine a summer's night, on a moonlit beach in the South of France, as French boy Laurent kisses 16-year-old Delilah after the best chat-up line she's ever heard. BOOM! Delilah is pretty sure the Kiss is fiction, despite her head-spinning holiday fling. But with all the sudden crushes, break-ups and melt-downs happening back at home, the Kiss starts looking a little too real for comfort. If only Delilah could keep track of where it's gone ...Who knew one kiss could cause this much trouble? A hilarious rom-com that will delight Geek Girls everywhere!

‘Love will come when it is ready, cherie. Not when Aphrodite is horny’

The Kiss is one of those very few contemporary romance books that made me question myself after reading, why is this my least favorite genre?

I was honestly only interested in reading The kiss at the mention of the Greek Goddess in the blurb. I'am a sucker in everything about Greek Gods and you have PJO series to blame for that. Anyway, I was expecting all sorts of things when I started this book, like insta-loves, cringe-worthy cheesy lines and teen romance gone wrong. So imagine my surprise when this book turn out to be a fun, fast-paced and very relatable read that I was having a hard time putting it down.

This book has great writing and intriguing story line that will keep making you flip on to the next page, but what make this book a winner for me was the realistic portrayal of the characters.

I find Delilah, the MC of this book adorable. Well, I can read a lot of hate being thrown at her on some reviews, and I can't blame them. She's.. someone who doesn't really make a good first impression. 

‘If you love me at all, don’t go all exclusive with the Onion. We’re young and free. Don’t you want to stay like that for a bit longer? Not answering to anyone and doing what you want when you want and not so it fits in with football practice nights?’

First she calls her bestfriend's boyfriend an onion, then she accuses him as a lousy kisser, just because she experience a lushiest kiss from a french, now she wants her bestfriend to break-up with her lovy boyfriend just because his kiss doesn't meet her standard.

But that's not the worst of it. Since she can't make Tabs, her bestfriend, break-up with the onion, I mean, Sam, she made her come to a party to experience a "proper" kiss to convince her not to get settled with the onion. Which, eventually ended up to break-up. 

Now tab's devastated and angry, Sam's found somebody else, and Delilah? Well, she's not happy either. Now she needs to make up for the things she messed up. How? Well creating trouble is easy.. fixing them is another story... 

I was once a teenager myself. So I can totally relate to Delilah's "we're young and free" attitude. Teenagers are notorious for being repulsive and hormone driven so I do understand where Delilah's attitude are coming from. She's far from being a perfect heroine that everyone could relate to, she makes mistakes, a lot of it in fact, but I think, it was written well enough for me to feel like she's a real character, not a special snowflake.

Delilah's been betrayed, hurt and cheated on, so she has a lot of trust issues, so flirting is her answer to get over it. I know it's not healthy, but hey, we all have to deal with pain on our own right?

‘This whole heartbreak thing, right? The way you see it on TV, it's awful for about five minutes and then there's an ad break for some super-strength mascara that gives your eyes like a demented panda and then you're out dancing with your bestfriens and fancying someone else. No one gave me that script.’

As her defense mechanisms, she wants to take over her life, her bestfriend's life or the life of her prospect love interest. It's not good and she know's that.

‘I think’, I say, staring at my pineapple juice, ‘that I like being in control of stuff. Even when that stuff's nothing to do with me. That's not good. Next time I do it, kick me.’

Atleast she acknowledge her mistakes and actually do something to make up for it.

Then there's Jem. The guy that made Delilah and me swoon.

There are a lot of talk about sex, drinking and drugs that aren't suitable for everyone. But if you love to read a fast-paced book with hilarious and angsty characters, then this book is more than worth a try. I enjoyed reading this a lot, considering I'am not much of a fan of a YA contemporary romance, that has to count for something.. right?

**I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.**

Buy Link:

(Amazon)

Lucy Courtenay has officially been writing children’s fiction since 1999, and unofficially for a lot longer than that. Her desk drawers are full of half-finished stories waiting for the right moment to emerge and dance around her study in a shower of exuberant paperclips. She’s written for series such as THE SLEEPOVER CLUB, ANIMAL ARK, DOLPHIN DIARIES and BEAST QUEST, NAUGHTY FAIRIES, DREAM DOGS, ANIMAL ANTICS, SCARLET SILVER and, most recently, WILD. In her spare time, she sings with the BBC Symphony Chorus and forages for mushrooms which her husband wisely refuses to touch.

Book Review: The Kiss by Lucy Courtenay