ARC Review: Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith

Leah has the life most high school girls would kill for—popularity, glowing grades, a rich, athletic boyfriend. So why does she feel like she can’t breathe? And why can’t she stop thinking about the boy from the country club? The one who isn’t her boyfriend, the one that her mother would never, ever approve of, the one that her perfect older sisters would never, ever look at twice. The one who is always looking back at her. Irresistible attraction, smoldering glances, the bad boy and the good girl—Kiss Crush Collide has everything that a steamy forbidden romance should, and then some.

With graceful and honest writing and an electric love story, this is a book about growing into your own skin. For fans of Perfect Chemistry, Sarah Dessen, and John Green. (YA)

Review:

I was pretty excited to receive Kiss Crush Collide for review. The cover is very sexy and the book is recommended for "romance fans of Perfect Chemistry". That would be me.

I admit I had certain expectations going in that weren't met. I also think it's a disservice to the reader to compare this book to PC. The only things they have in common are a poor guy from the wrong side of the tracks and a wealthy blond haired girl with big boobs (this is something she repeatedly points out about herself - not me being sarcastic).

The similarities end there. Rather than a hot forbidden romance novel this is about a girl living in the shadow of her perfect sisters, harsh task master of a mother and sweet but passive father.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that - it's just that a reader has certain expectations based on the summary/cover.

Now that I have that out of the way I'll address the actual story.

Leah has a seemingly picture perfect life. The perfect family and the perfect boyfriend, Shane, however Leah always feels like she's living a carbon copy of her sister's lives. She is expected to be the valedictorian and marry her boyfriend right after high school. Just like her sisters. Only Leah feels she can't live up to their standards. She's not as pretty, not as smart and not sure she loves Shane.

As the pressure mounts for Leah to meet her families expectations she feels the need to rebel. When she meets a boy that sets her on fire in a way that Shane never did she starts meeting him secretly.

I really wanted to sympathize with Leah and feel that passion leap off the page when she and Duffy are together but it just didn't happen for me. One problem for me was that Kiss Crush Collide is told exclusively from Leah's POV. Without knowing why Duffy is with her and Leah barely explaining their encounters, it felt like a random hookup to me. There was a point where they got in a fight about lies they've told each other and I was kind of stunned at how upset they were. They hadn't even exchanged phone numbers yet.

As for Leah herself, I just could not connect with her. I did at first but as the story continued I felt less and less sympathetic towards her. She is treated incredibly harshly by her mother and her sisters are indifferent at best so when she has the opportunity to befriend a sweet girl from school it was shocking how badly she treated the girl.

There are very interesting family dynamics in this book but by dividing the story between Leah's family and the romance, neither plot got the full attention it deserved. Instead, I just ended up disliking everyone except Duffy. Unfortunately I didn't get to know him enough to form an opinion but he seemed nice enough in that rebellious but sweet sort of way. I felt the story had unfulfilled potential. 

Rating: 1.5 out of 4 The summary isn't entirely accurate. Kiss Crush Collide is less about forbidden romance than about a girl coming to terms with her family and future. I was never able to connect with Leah and there just wasn't enough of Duffy.

Author: Website | Facebook
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Source: ARC courtesy of the publisher for my honest review
Buy the book! Kiss Crush Collide Publication date - December 27th, 2011