17 First Kisses
Author: Rachael Allen
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: June 17, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
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.
First Sentence: Finding a guy to kiss in this town is next to impossible.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
My Review:
I honestly wasn’t expecting anything much from 17 First Kisses. First of all, it’s a contemporary novel and contemporaries rarely manage to impress me at all, most of them bore me to death. I’ve also heard nothing much about 17 First Kisses, which made me start it with the lowest expectations ever. To my surprise, 17 First Kisses is actually a really cute book about friendships and the boy drama that comes with liking the same boy in said friendships. While 17 First Kisses was not exactly what I’ll consider a fluffy book since Claire faced a lot of hard problems, it is definitely a enjoyable read nevertheless.
I’m going to back off and let Megan have him. Even though I saw him first. Even though it’s obvious we have way more in common…Because my best friend likes him a lot, and I’m not sure I like him enough. (ARC 50)
Besides the boy problem in the summary of 17 First Kisses, 17 First Kisses also focuses on friendship and the rough side of it. Claire and Megan’s friendship is not all sunshine and rainbows; their friendship is full of rocky moments and drama. There was the popularity drama, the family drama, and especially the boy drama, up to the point that I personally thought part of their friendship was ridiculous. There were moments in their friendship where I was urging Claire to drop Megan, moments where I was wondering how could those two be friends?, and moments where I was awwing over their sweet moments.
I love the way 17 First Kisses was written. In between chapters, Rachael Allen wrote the history of Claire’s kisses, first kiss number one, two, three, and so on. Those kiss chapters (man, that sounds so awkward) were also flashbacks that gave an in-depth view of events that had happened in Claire and Megan’s friendship, Claire’s family history, and a glimpse of all the boy and friendship drama in Claire’s life. I liked reading the present day chapters and the history of Claire’s many kisses chapters, trying to piece together what had happened and what ultimately led to the events that were currently happening in present day.
Before he turns back to the house, the right side of his mouth curves into a smile. “Cool.”
I think he gets me too. (ARC 21)
I really liked the ending to 17 First Kisses. It left things perfectly: the romance, the friendships, etc. In fact, 17 First Kisses left things so perfectly that I want a sequel and am really close to demanding one from the author. I want to know what happens next! (I was so close to typing that sentence in all caps.)
Overall, I definitely recommend 17 First Kisses, especially if you’re a fan of contemporaries. 17 First Kisses is a cute, surprisingly deep book that will definitely keep you entertained throughout the day.
I’m so glad to hear you liked this book! I have an eARC copy and now that I know more about it, I’ll give it a try soon!
I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did Lis! :D<3
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: School
I can’t wait to read this book, it sounds so good! Great review, very helpful!
Librarian Lavender recently posted…Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Cafe by Rebecca Raisin
I hope you’ll enjoy this one Lavender! :D
And thank you! (:
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: School
I thought this book was going to be ‘meh’ but I decided to give it a go and I liked it! I really hate Megan though. I just wanted to slap her lol (I’ve never slapped anyone before though haha).
Agreed! I’m glad we both liked it Leigh!
OH YES. Megan was such a terrible friend, so entitled and everything. And a liar.
Don’t worry, I’ve never slapped anyone before either. ;D<3
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: School
I don’t know, I’m not really a “cute” reader and I don’t care for books about boy drama (I’m not often impressed by contemporaries either). But it’s cool that you ended up liking this one. It’s nice that the friendship is a big part of the novel.
P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex recently posted…Review: A Monster Calls
I normally wouldn’t read this one either because ewww boy drama and contemporaries? No thank you. However, the publisher sent me this one and so, I had to give it a fair chance.
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: School
I’m so glad you liked this book Kelly! I’ve heard about it a few times, but I’ve been hesitating on whether I should read it or not. But now I know I have to! (And I do listen to you. A copy of Since You’ve Been Gone is waiting on my bookcase to be read already! :P). But I really think I’ll be reading this one. It sounds so great! :D And I love contemporaries. Especially when they’re written the right way with so many interesting subjects woven throughout the story. Thanks for loving this one! ^_^
YESSS to reading this one (it’s surprisingly good!) and all the YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSES to Since You’ve Been Gone! -flails- You MUST tell me what you think of Since You’ve Been Gone once you’ve read it! :D
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: School
I have been really enjoying contemporaries lately! I will have to add this one to my list!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
Missie recently posted…Book Tour with Dark Metropolis
Surprisingly, I’ve been reading a lot more contemporaries this year and only some of them disappoint me.
Yes, definitely do!
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: School
I have been reading mixed reviews of this one and I think you’ve convinced me to try this, or maybe it helped that you weren’t really expecting anything. I love contemporaries, but sometimes they get too cliched and boring. Maybe this can be a perfect light read and I like the first line already. :)
Great review Kelly :)
Ella recently posted…Review: More Than Music by Elizabeth Briggs
Hmm…well this one is a bit cliche because boy drama between best friends have been done before, but the way the book was written is certainly unique. I think you’ll enjoy this one Ella!
Thank you! :D
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: School
Interesting that it isn’t such a fluffy book. I really thought it’d be fluffy (probably because of that title. It screams fluff…)
Sounds really good though! I’ll definitely try get my hands on a copy :D
Nara recently posted…Review: The Caller by Juliet Marillier
Exactly! I was surprised to see how deep 17 First Kisses went.
Yes, definitely get a copy of this one! I hope you’ll enjoy this one Nara! :D
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: School
Yay, I’m so glad to hear you liked this one, and even better, since you don’t read contemporaries much! The way the story is told sounds awesome, I love it when it’s told in flashbacks or some other unique way. And hooray for a good ending to the story! This seems like a good contemporary to read in between sci-fis and fantasies. Thanks for the wonderful review, Kelly!
I love contemporary,plus YA – perfect read for me :)
Thank you for the great review :)
I’ve heard both positive and negative reviews of this book, so I’m glad to find another good one! I’m a little on edge still about this book though. I really like the concept and it seems like a great summer read!
Katherine recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer TBR List
Just added to my TBR list! Heard nothing but good things about this book so far. :-)
Jessica recently posted…Waiting On Wednesday: Fairest by Marissa Meyer
Glad to hear you liked it! I’ve been debating reading it and I think I will since it sounds so cute and the reviews seem to be pretty good! I feel like this year is the year of contemporaries, haha. Thanks for the review!
Cyn recently posted…Romantic Thursday Review: The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Literally the ten thousandth review of this book I’ve seen that has been positive (okay, that’s an exaggeration, but you get what I’m saying). WHY DIDN’T I DOWNLOAD THIS ONE FROM HARPER D: I generally dislike contemporary novels, so when Harper uploaded all of their spring and summer contemporary titles, I took like… two. This was not one of them. Oops? I think I should have gotten it. Fabulous review, Kelly!
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Alyssa Susanna (The Eater of Books!) recently posted…Review: Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland
Ah, you found this to be enjoyable. I’m glad! I kept seeing bad review talking about the main girl & they were slut-shamming her. Anyway, I’m glad you liked this & I hope to read also, thanks!
**shaming
Sounds great! I’ve been reading a lot of contemporaries lately and I admit that not a lot have made a significant impact. Looking forward to reading 17 first kisses and hopefully will turn out different :)
This review has given me an interest to read the book. I’ll be reading it tomorrow. :)
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