Review: Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith

Title: Kiss Crush Collide
Author: Christina Meredith
Series: Stand Alone
Published By: Greenwillow Books (Dec. 27, 2011)
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Goodreads Description:

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. 

My Review: 

I know a lot of people were really disappointed with this read, expecting it to be like Elkele's Perfect Chemistry, I however did not, which may be why I actually did in fact like this book.

I learned long ago to not compare two different works, or at the very least, not to go into a book expecting it to be like the work of someone else. After all, no two people are alike and even writers that have similarities between them are still very much different and their work can be distinguished one from the other. .

I think anyone going into this read expecting it to be like Perfect Chemistry would definitely be disappointed, honestly, I am not even sure why someone compared the two to begin with.

Was it a crazy editor? Fan? Some reviewer? An agent that really wanted this book to sell?

I don't know but whomever it was obviously hasn't really read the two because truly, these two books are not alike, they have very few things in common other than two people from different backgrounds having and sharing a mutual attraction for one another. That is pretty much it. That is where the similarities really end, well that and both moms in the book are a little cook coo and controlling but both were for completely different reasons.

This was a sweet coming of age read. There isn't really a lot of romance per se, (in fact I would even say it is pretty packing in that department) more the anticipation of it really and the bond and friendship that develops between the two main characters.

But more than that, this story is about a young girl trying to find where she fits not only in her family life but in the world. Who she wants to be and become and most importantly, who she isn't.

I think this was a great first novel to be honest and really should get more credit than it probably has been getting. I mean there were some great characters in this book and some truly horrid ones, like the mom. I think anyone with a mom like the one Leah had would be slightly mixed up and looking for a way out too.

I think the author has a lot of potential and I know I wouldn't hesitate to pick up whatever she writes next, in fact I look forward to it.