I genuinely had no idea how this book would pan out. I was about 2/3rd of the way through and still couldn’t tell what was going to happen. What made Leila go to Spain? How were the police involved? Was Tess really dead? How would the story with Adrian pan out? It’s not very often I read a book and have no idea where it is going to take me. I may not be able to guess the killer straight away but I know that the book will conclude with the killer being revealed. Here I didn’t know if I was going to read about Tess turning up alive and well, Connor and Leila falling in love or Leila being charged with murder and I really liked that about the book. I was curious and in a way it really built suspense.
It was a strange one though as I don’t think I ever reached the ‘can’t put it down stage’ which I thought I would given that I had such little idea as to the ending. As I missed the meeting I didn’t finish the book during the scheduled month so it took me ages to read including one week where it wasn’t touched at all. Yet I found I was able to pick it up quite easily. There were very few characters in the book and perhaps this helped.
I found Leila’s character really interesting. The way she was so naive in some respects – sex and how close she had come to having it, removing the parking tickets as a favour to the builder next door yet she was on the ball on some things – the way women hold their handbags in the crook of their arm (guilty), the light bulb moment about buying the flat above the takeaway even though it was horrible just so she could spend more time with her mum. I found myself as the book went on thinking about the Rosie Project and wondered if she had some sort of mental illness/issues. She was very socially inept yet despite having a rubbish life she didn’t complain she just got on with it. Was this because she was so alone? The more I think about her the more I could talk about her and I love it when a character does that.
The book was very of the moment in relation to life being lived via email/Facebook. I do expect more books on this vein as people who have never known life without Facebook become adults. There was also shed load of morals/issues to discuss - What does it say that someone can just disappear and live life only via the internet? How easy is it for someone to pass themselves off as another person? Not to mention the whole suicide and euthanasia debate (latter in relation to Leilas mum).
I wasn’t sure why the book was called Kiss Me First. It led me to think it was going to be more of a love story than an on the ball look at the impact internet can have on real life. Maybe because kissing is one thing you can never do over the internet, and perhaps that is what Moggach was trying to say. We can spend hours researching someone, can reel off all the facts and figures and post photoshopped pics on Facebook but we can never truly be someone, we can never kiss, we can never properly love. I will mull that one over later.
I liked the possibility surrounding Ava Root that Moggach added at the end (won’t spoil it for you) but equally the drought in Spain offering a different ending. I cringed quite frequently – Leila stood at the bar waving her book around in an effort to accidently bump in to Connor!
I’m finding as I write this I have a better appreciation for the book. It really is a strange one as if you asked me if I loved it I would say no. If you asked me if I was really in to it I would again say no. If you asked me did I relate to any of the characters I would have to say no. Yet it was a good book with lots of discussion points and for this reason I really wished I could have attended the meeting.
The group gave the book 6.5 however I have been informed by a couple of people that the book raised some interesting questions so I can’t wait until next month to catch up and see what they spoke about. I may even have to add a mini post afterwards unless anyone else wants to add some comments????! (Always hopeful)
Next book is Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse
Question of the month. Which book has taken you the longest to read? Was it worth it in the end? The usual candidates spring to mind - War and Peace/ Lord of the Rings purely for their length but I read them one mini book at a time so they don’t really count. I’ve struggled to finish a few history books in my time that were just facts piled upon more facts (Kings of the North, Auschwitz and the Final Solution) diluting them by reading another light hearted book alongside them which only stretched the reading time out but got me through. There are a few that I had been meaning to read for years (Life of Pi) but really it’s never taken me more than a month or two of dipping in and out to finish a book.
It was a strange one though as I don’t think I ever reached the ‘can’t put it down stage’ which I thought I would given that I had such little idea as to the ending. As I missed the meeting I didn’t finish the book during the scheduled month so it took me ages to read including one week where it wasn’t touched at all. Yet I found I was able to pick it up quite easily. There were very few characters in the book and perhaps this helped.
I found Leila’s character really interesting. The way she was so naive in some respects – sex and how close she had come to having it, removing the parking tickets as a favour to the builder next door yet she was on the ball on some things – the way women hold their handbags in the crook of their arm (guilty), the light bulb moment about buying the flat above the takeaway even though it was horrible just so she could spend more time with her mum. I found myself as the book went on thinking about the Rosie Project and wondered if she had some sort of mental illness/issues. She was very socially inept yet despite having a rubbish life she didn’t complain she just got on with it. Was this because she was so alone? The more I think about her the more I could talk about her and I love it when a character does that.
The book was very of the moment in relation to life being lived via email/Facebook. I do expect more books on this vein as people who have never known life without Facebook become adults. There was also shed load of morals/issues to discuss - What does it say that someone can just disappear and live life only via the internet? How easy is it for someone to pass themselves off as another person? Not to mention the whole suicide and euthanasia debate (latter in relation to Leilas mum).
I wasn’t sure why the book was called Kiss Me First. It led me to think it was going to be more of a love story than an on the ball look at the impact internet can have on real life. Maybe because kissing is one thing you can never do over the internet, and perhaps that is what Moggach was trying to say. We can spend hours researching someone, can reel off all the facts and figures and post photoshopped pics on Facebook but we can never truly be someone, we can never kiss, we can never properly love. I will mull that one over later.
I liked the possibility surrounding Ava Root that Moggach added at the end (won’t spoil it for you) but equally the drought in Spain offering a different ending. I cringed quite frequently – Leila stood at the bar waving her book around in an effort to accidently bump in to Connor!
I’m finding as I write this I have a better appreciation for the book. It really is a strange one as if you asked me if I loved it I would say no. If you asked me if I was really in to it I would again say no. If you asked me did I relate to any of the characters I would have to say no. Yet it was a good book with lots of discussion points and for this reason I really wished I could have attended the meeting.
The group gave the book 6.5 however I have been informed by a couple of people that the book raised some interesting questions so I can’t wait until next month to catch up and see what they spoke about. I may even have to add a mini post afterwards unless anyone else wants to add some comments????! (Always hopeful)
Next book is Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse
Question of the month. Which book has taken you the longest to read? Was it worth it in the end? The usual candidates spring to mind - War and Peace/ Lord of the Rings purely for their length but I read them one mini book at a time so they don’t really count. I’ve struggled to finish a few history books in my time that were just facts piled upon more facts (Kings of the North, Auschwitz and the Final Solution) diluting them by reading another light hearted book alongside them which only stretched the reading time out but got me through. There are a few that I had been meaning to read for years (Life of Pi) but really it’s never taken me more than a month or two of dipping in and out to finish a book.
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