Friday, April 3, 2020

The Kiss Collector


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Today’s post is on The Kiss Collector by Wendy Higgins. It is 307 pages long and is published by Harper Teen. The cover is white with different boys’ pictures on with kiss marks on them and on with a heart. The story is told from the first person perspective of the main character Zae. The intended reader is someone who likes young adult novels and more complex plots than the back lets on.  There is some foul language, talk of sex and sexuality, and no violence in this novel. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the back of the book- Can a kiss ever be just a kiss?
Seventeen-year-old Zae Monroe is over relationships. After getting cheated on by the only guy she’s ever loved and watching her parents’ marriage crumble, she decides to turn the tables and go after what she wants, and what she wants are kisses. Athletes, musicians, poets, bad boys- their lips are all on her agenda, and it’s time to collect.
Zaa proposes a contest with her friends to see who can kiss the most boys during spring break. But what starts as a harmless competition leads to a downward spiral of drama. Zae is forced to face the reason behind her boy angst, and starts to wonder is maybe she was wrong about the make race… or at least some of them.
Review- This story sounds real cute and light but it really is not. Zae is trying to deal with some heavy issues like divorce, sexuality, and making the right choices for her future. Her long-time boyfriend wants to get more sexual than Zae is ready for, her friends have boy troubles, and then her father moves out to live with another woman. Zae has had it with men. So she wants a little fun with no strings, just like the boys. But of course it is never that simple. I liked that the plot was so much thicker than just a girl having some fun and maybe finding a boyfriend. It is really about Zae becoming a young adult. She has to make hard choices and live with them. Zae makes mistakes and has to learn how to fix them or not. Zae is a good character, very likable, understandable, and just enough of a trouble maker to be interesting. I would recommend this novel.  

I give this novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

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