The Kissing Booth – Beth Reekles

Synopsis

Meet Rochelle Evans: pretty, popular – and never been kissed. Meet Noah Flynn: badass, volatile – and a total player. And also Elle’s best friend’s older brother… When Elle decides to run a kissing booth for the school’s Spring Carnival, she locks lips with Noah and her life is turned upside down. Her head says to keep away, but her heart wants to draw closer – this romance seems far from fairy tale and headed for heartbreak. But will Elle get her happily ever after?

2/5 stars

 

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My Review

I had wanted to read The Kissing Booth for a while now but when my computer crashed one night, I forgot what the book was called, seeing as I had a whole load of books in different tabs. But when I was browsing on NetGalley, this book appeared and reading the synopsis, I knew this was the book.

So thanks to NetGalley for approving me to read The Kissing Booth.

I really started out liking this book. The whole good girl/bad boy, best friend’s brother scenarios really catch my attention and I love reading them!! You’ve got to love a bad boy and how deep down he’s not really that bad, he’s just been ‘looking’ for the right girl.

Elle started off great. She’s popular, had the same best friend, Lee, all her life and has harboured a crush on Lee’s brother for years – even if she denies it to everyone and herself. She’d never been on a date, let alone kissed a guy, but it’s never seemed to bother her. She seemed content in her life, going to school, hanging out with Lee and their friends, life seemed great. Then The Kissing Booth came along and she kisses Noah – Lee’s brother – and that changes everything about her. And that is when Elle changes too. When her crush grows once again for Noah and he starts to harbour feelings for her too.

But then I started to get bored. It started to get tedious and Elle started to grind on me really badly. After the kiss, it was all back and forth, hiding this ‘relationship ‘which wasn’t even a relationship really. I’d describe it more as hook-ups – even though all they did was kiss. She never acted like she was taken, but I suppose you wouldn’t if you were keeping it a secret from your BFF, but still! She got pissed at him like all the time. I literally wanted to shake her and be like ‘GIRL! Just tell Lee so you can stop acting so goddamn bitchy and irritating.” If I was Noah, I’d tell her to grow the F up and tell Lee they were together. If my BFF and brother got together, I’d be more than happy they were both happy with one another. Although her reasoning was because she didn’t want to lose Lee, if he was any kind of best friend, he’d support they relationship, even if he didn’t really approve of it.

Okay so Noah. It seemed that he had always liked Elle, seeing as he warned off every guy from going near her or asking her out. Okay, so that would majorly have annoyed the hell out of me if my BFF’s brother did that, but Elle didn’t know he was doing that until someone tells her. I never really understood why Noah did that, because it’s just immature. She’s a big girl, she can date whomever she wants, but each to their own I suppose.

I didn’t actually think Noah should have been blamed for everything that happened. Elle should have taken the blame too. She seemed to let Noah take the blame, which annoyed me so much. He wasn’t even a player, like everyone dubbed him. We never saw that side. What we did see was a hot, overprotective, caring and sweet guy who truly liked Elle, even if he went a weird way of showing her at times. I never really understood why he wanted Elle though. She was just so irritating. But you can’t help who you fall for.

I did love the friendship that Lee and Elle had. It was great to see BFF’s that didn’t fall in love. Their friendship withstood anything thrown their way AKA the Noah fiasco. They were protective of one another, spent all their time together and were just there for each other, through the happy and sad times. I truly did love their relationship and it did show you the value of friendship, being there for one another when you don’t actually approve. (Even though Lee did get over the fact his BFF and brother were together in the end.)

I have to say, when I was sixteen and in 6^th form, I was going to 6^th form parties hosted by people in our school and getting drunk beforehand as we knew we wouldn’t get served alcohol. I was also going to house parties and drinking. I know many people are moaning about that fact, but most people who are 16 are drinking and having sex, so this didn’t bother me in the slightest.

The ending. Yeah it was okay. It did end on a way where there could be another book but if there isn’t, then it’s a nice way to finish it. We, as the readers, can think about what happens to Noah and Elle and if they do stay together or not. I, for one, would like to see another book, to see how they manage the relationship, but if there isn’t, then I can only imagine.

I’d also like to say that before reading The Kissing Booth, one of my friends mentioned that a girl from our (old) secondary school wrote it (This was before she knew I was about to read it) and when I googled Beth Reekles and the book, it really made me proud that someone local wrote this book and also acknowledged my old English language teacher at the end. He was a great teacher, got to be said!

So would I recommend it? I’m going to say yes. It probably wasn’t the book for me but it may be the book for you.