There are a lot of things to like about this book, and it’s easy to recommend it. That said, I didn’t find that I was actually all that invested in anyone’s relationships or would-be relationships succeeding, or even in finding out how things ended, but maybe this book wasn’t supposed to be about getting the guy or the girl. Maybe it was supposed to be about pursuing happiness, and learning how to be happy independent of a relationship (or make-out buddy). If that’s so (and I’m choosing to read it that way), then the relationships are almost beside the point, and the book is a success all around. So I’m going to write this review as if the point is not to find a partner, but to become strong in one’s self.

There are spoilers ahead. I apologize. So let’s get my main complaint out of the way first.

Beau calls Emmaline “Pigeon.” Ew. I can’t help thinking of Lady and the Tramp or Beautiful Disaster. Neither is a great association for a YA novel that’s supposed to be sex-positive and support feminine empowerment. Also, Beau does that thing where he lists all the things he’s noticed about the girl he likes, I guess to shorthand that he knows her well and cares about her and all, but it just seems so creepy, particularly since it would probably make her self-conscious about doing any of those things ever again, now that attention’s been brought to it. At least he’s good about checking for consent, and not just once, but each time things escalate within an encounter.

Okay, now that that's done...

I appreciate the positive message about post-high school plans that don’t involve college. Not only does Hayden not plan to attend college, but she’s actively working toward setting herself up to be a tattoo artist after graduation by taking all the design courses she can, creating a portfolio, and reaching out to tattoo artists she respects about apprenticing with them. This is a great example of a young person planning for their future without treating college as the end-all, be-all of life after high school. Also, it’s nice that the allusion to 80s teen movies was Can’t Buy Me Love instead of yet another John Hughes film. And that they don’t shit on rom-coms just because the MC is a fan of zombie films (because she’s so atypical).

There’s a line Nolan says when he’s fighting with Hayden, “would you stop calling yourself names and then laying them at my feet like I’ve said them?” I really like that. Rom-coms spend a lot of time with people putting words in each other’s mouths and even when they’re called on it they stalk off in a huff, usually, before the person being assigned opinions really has a chance to do more than point out that they didn’t say that thing, or maybe even think it. I like that Nolan has called Hayden out for doing that, even though she completely ignores that he’s correct and attacks from another avenue. That said, I’m proud of Hayden for this other thing: even though she’s mad and deliberately using her sexuality to make Nolan uncomfortable, Hayden still asks if it’s okay to kiss him.

Speaking of Nolan and kissing, I’m glad Nolan had the gumption to break up with his girlfriend rather than string her along until he was sure Hayden’s a sure thing. And for anyone who says his girlfriend is unreasonable in the way she behaves, those folks need to check themselves. She got blindsided, to say nothing of the fact that she was, in fact, cheated on, even if Nolan handled it pretty well. She has a right to be hurt and angry, just as Nolan has a right not to be as in love with her as she was with him.

One last thing on the subject of kissing (consider the title of the book!), two of Emmaline’s friends who practice kissing each other at Hayden’s behest find that they enjoy kissing each other and choose to explore that and no one gives them any crap for it. That’s awesome.

Like I said at the beginning, there are a lot of good things about this book and it’s easy to recommend, but I can’t see myself purchasing it for myself or as a gift. Even with the mental adjustment that the point of the book isn’t to end up in a relationship, I never really cared how the book ended (mostly happily, by the way), and I don’t really know why.

Kissing Lessons is a standalone young adult contemporary romance by Sophie Jordan. This book was pure fun. I loved so many things about the story- the characters were all so different, and the romances were great. Yes, I said romances. There were multiple couple in Kissing Lessons, which took me by surprise. If you are a fan of steamy young adult contemporary romances, then Kissing Lessons is the summer read you need in your life. A few potential trigger warnings: There is quite a bit of “slut-shaming” and some cheating in the book. If those are things you would rather not read about, then you may want to pass on Kissing Lessons. However; I didn’t find the cheating to be overly offensive, and the characters and story were great and more than made up for anything of a potentially offensive nature. It didn’t bother me.

In Kissing Lessons we meet our main character, Hayden. Hayden has quite the reputation around her school. But what is so great about Hayden is that she really can mute all the rumors surrounding her, which is no small feat for anyone but really for a high school student. I loved that she was self-assured and comfortable with who she is. (and she is also not all the things the rumors paint her to be, btw) Our story starts out at a high school party where we get to meet our main characters. Our story is told in multiple perspective. We have chapters from Hayden, Emmaline, her brother Nolan and his best friend Beau. Emmaline appreciates how confident Hayden is and she wants to hire her to give her lessons in confidence and in getting a boyfriend. Hayden is strapped for money, so after some persuading from Emmaline she finally agrees. And that is where the story starts to get good.

I loved Emmaline’s group of friends, and that they immediately took Hayden in. They all seemed genuine and I liked watching Emmaline and Hayden’s friendship almost as much as I enjoyed Hayden and Nolan’s romance. That being said, Nolan and Hayden’s romance was by far my favorite aspect of the story. I loved how easy they got along, and I loved that they connected on so many different levels. It was hardly only about the physical with them, and that part did not happen right away to boot! There was also a romance for Emmaline, but as much as I loved her, I have to say I wasn’t nearly as invested in her romance for some reason. I think it was because I wanted to get back to Hayden and Nolan’s plotlines. I would love to see another book with them in it as characters because I loved the two of them.

Bottom line- If you like upper young adult or new adult romances told in multiple point of view narration, then Kissing Lessons is going to be a wonderful summer read for you. I loved this fun romance. I am keeping my fingers crossed for another book in this world with these characters.

I'm sad to say this really didn't work for me. At first, I felt very thrown in to very teenage drama, and then I thought, it's OK, it's just really a book for teens without a lot of crossover appeal for adults, and that's perfectly fine. But then as I kept reading, keeping in mind the teens I've worked with, that I wouldn't know who to recommend this to. This book is so conspicuously absent of what I see teens talking about all the time. They are so interested in their identities as they relate to gender, sexuality, relationships, and this book was so cis and so straight and just so normie that I felt like I was in a time warp. Even the conceit of "kissing lessons" seems like it's aiming to be titillating and voyeuristic rather than exploratory? Girls kiss girls in this book and there isn't one mention that any of them might not be straight? I just don't get it.

Apart from that, I had some other big issues with the book. Hayden's relationship with her alcoholic mother didn't ring true for me at all as the child of an alcoholic. Not to say children of alcoholics behave in a monolithic way, just something that made it harder for me to relate personally.

Lastly, this book is ostensibly set in Texas, and is again weirdly conspicuously vague when it comes to race. Texas is a diverse place! I'm white so I think the best thing I can do is just raise questions and not claim to have answers. It gave me pause that Hayden has the last name Vargas, which indicates that she might be Latinx. If there was any mention of that being the truth, I missed it. What is impossible to miss is that she has an addicted, neglectful mother, struggles with poverty and hunger, is abused, has an absent father. Some of these things play into stereotypes, I think, and without clear writing about race, it's just creating questions of why it's written the way it is.

The last last thing I will say is that I really enjoy Sophie Jordan's historical romances, so I reiterate that I'm really surprised and saddened me that this book didn't work for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Hayden is one of my favorite characters I've read in a long time. She was funny and ridiculous but she was so genuine and real. She had a great arc and I didn't feel like anything was missing from her story.

And Nolan? I love him! He was perfect.

This was just such a fun read and I'm so glad I gave this one a try. Near perfection for me.

Hayden is the most notorious girl in school, even when she really hasn't done anything to deserve that distinction. Her home life is crap and her looks are too good, so she has to face each day as if she's taking on the entire world. Boys claim that they've known her. Girls slut shame her. And Hayden just tries to get through to graduation so that she can leave town and never see her mother or their tiny town again.

Unfortunately, leaving town means getting money and with Hayden basically having to pay for everything on her own, saving is hard. When Emmaline approaches her with cash in exchange for lessons on how to be so confident with guys, Hayden can't afford to say no... even when Emmaline's older brother and hot jock, Nolan, tries to push her away.

Hayden gets in deeper than she ever thought when she starts to fall for Nolan and the possibility that maybe not everyone in the world is out for themselves.

Final thoughts: I liked parts of this book and Hayden started out strong, but like Sandy at the end of Grease, she changes herself in strange ways that don't fit in with how her character behaved throughout the rest of the book. Things feel unfinished and rushed by the end. There are so many areas that were never discussed and others that were just obviously placed for the moment of the plot and then forgotten. I didn't feel the ending was organic to the rest of the story and I definitely didn't feel like things were resolved well.

Rating: 2/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

This is one of those books that I really wanted to enjoy, but I feel like I've aged out of its intended audience. The drama felt over the top and rushed. I was expecting a fun and quick read. What I got was a quick, dramatic, way too much going on for the length of the book read.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Nolan's life had been going smoothly, and largely, drama free. He was doing a good job being the man of the house following his father's death. All was going well with his best friend, girlfriend, and sister, until his sister embarked on a friendship with Hayden. Her presence in their world upset the balance, but it seemed their presence in her world was also turning things upside down, and maybe they were changing each other's lives for the better.

I rather enjoyed this book. I felt like I learned enough about Hayden to understand why she did the things she did. I liked that these people came into her life, and gave her a sense of security she was only able to find with a pad-lock and deadbolt. Overall, this book was entertaining, but there were quite a few loose ends, which left me wanting. The ending was nice, the sunshine and rainbows type stuff I adore, but so abrupt. There was a pretty awful event that occurred right near the end of the book, that seemed to major to leave unresolved. It didn't destroy my overall enjoyment of the book, but it's something that kept me from rating it higher.

That said, I was a fan of the romances and the characters.

Hayden was known as the bad girl, the promiscuous girl, but this reputation seemed to be based on few facts. All the rumors didn't make any difference to Hayden, because she was in the habit of avoiding attachments. Abandoned by her father, and also, more or less by her mother, she had learned to rely on no one other than herself. She was fine with this until Emma, Nolan, and the rest of them invaded her life. They made her rethink her stance on friendships and relationships. They gave her that taste of having someone there, by your side, and she wanted more.

Nolan was just going with the flow. He was staying in unsatisfying relationships, and playing the role of the overprotective brother. He never imagined he would meet someone, who would challenge him to take a hard look at himself, but he liked it, or at least parts of it.

I found myself wanting these two to connect immediately. There was undeniable chemistry, but also something else that simmered below the surface, and made me root for their union. I think it was the movie watching scene, which solidified this ship for me. It was a fun scene, but also showed them engaging in a non-sexual way.

Overall: An enjoyable story about taking the time to look beyond the labels and letting people in.

The characters have nothing beyond their shallow personalities. It didn't make me giggle, it didn't have a character I could cheer for, it was not my favorite.

This book left me wanting more, and not in a good way. I wondered about the main character's dedication to her dream career as a tattoo artist, since she never spent any time drawing in the book. In fact, none of the characters did much in this book; all of their characterization was direct from the author, which left me feeling like I didn't know them.

I wish the climax of the book had been more...well, more of anything. Without revealing the end, the main character just falls to the side in the climax and then never processes the ordeal. She is simply shown in a cliche at the end - the very kind of teenage cliche she would have abhorred in the beginning.

There was potential here, but unfortunately, this attempt fell flat in my opinion.

As a fan of Sophie Jordan's teen/YA novels I was eager to read this.
While the book has multiple POVs, the main characters are Hayden, a girl who is living with her couldn't-care-less mother on the edge of society, and Nolan - a boy who has stepped into his dead father's shoes with the aim of protecting his sisters from the world.
Haydn has built mile-high protective walls around herself, but cannot shield herself from the men her mother keeps inviting into their home and lives.
Nolan's need to protect his sisters is smothering them and stopping them from maturing. One of his sisters, Emmaline, enlists Haydn's help to become more alluring, and so the Kissing Lessons begin.
It was cute, fun, and with just enough angst to stop it being syrupy sweet.

Is my personal policy to not write negative reviews for young adult novels. Therefore I am not going to post this review anywhere but here on NetGalley, because to me this book has so many flaws, I rate it at 2 stars.

For me this short, approximately 50,000-word novel attempts to do far too much in far too few words, with the following plots, each of the which is complex enough that it could potentially constitute, on its own, enough fodder for its own 50,000-word, YA novel:

1. Romance between Hayden and Nolan. This romance begins in a tawdry way, as cheating, when they kiss while he is still in a long-term relationship. Both of them have major psychological issues to work through before they can make anything resembling a healthy relationship with each other. Also, though many romance authors do choose to offer the copout of "insta-love," it really helps the audience to willingly suspend disbelief if there's some realistic basis for it. A few hours one night watching zombie movies with Hayden while she philosophically discusses why she loves them is not enough emotional engagement to form a believable, deep, emotional connection.

2. Romance between Beau and Emmaline. This is the cliché plot of the "manwhore and the virgin." The author obviously hoped to make it a little less cliché by portraying Emmaline, utterly unbelievably for her character, instead of bravely initiating with Beau her very first kiss, stripping almost completely naked and seducing him in her bedroom.

3. Slut shaming. Hayden's tarnished reputation as the "school slut," as she describes herself, is sometimes presented in this novel as unfair and unearned, and other times presented as being a self-created social status due to her purposely initiating degrading and unfulfilling sexual encounters with random boys, making her a sort of Mini Me of her promiscuous mother who endlessly brings home horrible men. However it is frustratingly unclear which of the two motivations the author wishes to convey to her audience about Hayden. Her sexual activities are described in her thoughts rather than shown on the page for the first 80% of the book, and I was never clear if, by chance, she might be someone who has never actually done more than “make out” with boys. Up until that point, the author has given the impression that the most Hayden has previously done is some heavy petting in semi-public locations, like stairwells at her high school, with various boys she cares nothing about and who care nothing about her. But at 80% she offers Nolan, out of the blue, after only exchanging a few kisses with him, to give him a blowjob. The very first time a girl offers oral sex to a boy is not going to be done with the confidence of a high-class courtesan, as it is presented in this scene with Hayden. Setting aside how inappropriate this scene is in a book marketed to teenagers, artistically it is jarringly out of sync with what has gone before. There has not been any indication whatsoever that she has been in the habit of demeaning herself by acting the part of an unpaid prostitute giving blowjobs to every boy that she "hooks up" with. (By the way, this is a slang term so irritatingly amorphous that is virtually impossible for readers to ever know what YA authors specifically mean when they use it.) If, in fact, the author means to convey that being the school fellacio queen is what she has been doing up until now, Hayden has deep-rooted psychological problems that go far beyond anything a book this short and this simplistic could ever believably deal with.

4. Hayden's dysfunctional relationship with her addict mother. Hayden’s mother is portrayed as never working at a job, as constantly intoxicated, engaging in gambling, hanging out with a string of fellow addicts, and yet, inexplicably, for someone with no visible source of income or credit to draw on to pay for her addictions, she is not homeless. Hayden is portrayed as working 40 hours a week, but paying only for her own food, clothing and transportation and making no contribution to the cost of rent or utilities or financing her mother's addictions, and she has also managed to save up thousands of dollars in cash. As a result, the financial situation of Hayden's home life does not compute whatsoever. Also, given the fact that Hayden is 18 and of legal age, it also makes zero sense as to why she doesn't just move out since she despises her mother, a woman who has never offered anything but danger and tragedy to Hayden's life. It is not explained either why someone as savvy as Hayden would put her life savings in a shoebox in her room rather than in a bank.

5. The sexist double standard. Beau's well earned reputation as a "manwhore," who has suffered zero negative social repercussions because of it due to being a male, is seemingly purposely juxtaposed throughout most of the novel to Hayden's being the object of social derision and sometimes outright bullying as the designated “school slut.” Unfortunately, not nearly enough meaningful prose is dedicated to this significant social-drama plot about the deplorable double standard for males and females still existing in 2020.

6. Nolan's relationship with his long time cheerleader girlfriend. Granted, many boys and/or men don't dump the girlfriend or wife that they're getting bored with until someone more exciting shows up for them to move on to. But making this cliché jerk move is not something that presents Nolan in anything but an insufferable light. We are told over and over again what a dedicated young man he is and how loyal and devoted and saintly he is, but what we actually see on the page is that he's a cheater and a coward.

Aside from the overload of too many plots, there are several other big issues that I found painful to endure in this novel:

All you need is love, love, love. This novel sends a simultaneously banal and dangerous message to teenage girls that the most atrocious of familial and social problems will dry up and blow away if the afflicted teenage girl can only find herself a good-looking guy who treats her halfway decent. This is utter hogwash. Hayden is an excruciatingly vulnerable teenage girl from an extremely impoverished background with an addicted parent. These issues are depressingly displayed on the page with horrendous event after horrendous event piling on top each other all the way to 97% of the book. And they absolutely are not believably resolved simply because she suddenly turns on a dime from deep-rooted trust to complete trust and decides to allow herself to commit to a romantic relationship with Nolan within this book's fluffily ridiculous HEA.

Sex. This novel would probably be what is categorized as "sex positive," a euphemism among mainstream, YA editors for gritty, teen novels featuring sexually active teenagers, because this novel includes scenes where teenagers frankly discuss sex, two lesbians make out, and semi-graphic sexual activity occurs between Emmaline/Beau and Hayden/Nolan. But I personally find nothing remotely positive or healthy about the way sex is presented in this book other than between the two lesbians.

Setting. This novel is set in an amorphous town in Anywhere, USA. The high school could be any high school. The poor part of town could be any poor part of town. It is a huge mistake, and an extremely boring one, to write a YA novel with hackneyed settings straight out of a John Hughes 1980s movie. It gets really, really old.

Overall, I enjoyed this title. All the elements of a good Teen/YA novel are present: the romantic tension between the brother's best friend and little sister, the beautiful girl from the "wrong" side of town, and the all-star guy who potentially has a crush on a girl he shouldn't. The teen angst is on point as is the chemistry among the relevant couples. The ending was abrupt and left quite a few unanswered questions, but I'm hoping that's because a sequel is coming.

I seriously enjoyed this YA romance. It had everything I wanted from multiple POVs, even from the side characters, which I loved to a wrong side of the tracks troupe, a personal fave of mine. Hayden was so tough yet so vulnerable at the same time and needed to shake up Nolan’s boring life big time. My only complaint would be that I thought it wrapped things up a bit too quickly at the end. I kept thinking there’s no way there’s going to be an ending this quick when I was at the climax at 94% done. Even will that I loved this Austin-based (like me!) book and will recommend to students! Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I laughed a lot during this. It was such a joyful cute read that I adored and completely recommend. I will definitely be buying a physical copy in the future!

This was a fun YA romance! I enjoyed the sex-positivity and solid message it delivered. I wish the romantic relationship had a bit more of a satisfying ending but overall found this an enjoyable read!

I really liked this one. Such a fun and easy read, I will definitely recommend this book to some of my friends.

Aspiring tattoo artist Hayden Vargas, Travis High School's resident "bad girl," is hired by Emmaline Martin for lessons on how to attract boys and later starts to crush on Emmaline's popular older brother, Nolan.

This was actually a really fun read and has "Netflix adaptation" written all over it. Hayden is tough--she knows what people are saying behind her back and carries on despite all of that. She works a part-time job to save up money to leave home at the end of high school and has installed locks on her bedroom door to protect her belongings from her mother's shady boyfriends, In place of her mother having an active (but neglectful) presence throughout the book, Hayden explains how her mother's promiscuous reputation has contributed to her own. At times I did wish that the adults in the book were more engaging--particularly Ms. Mendez, the art teacher whom Hayden can confide in.

Nolan was the just-right balance of perfect and imperfect--he also can't ignore the rumors about Hayden, but acknowledges when he is unfairly making assumptions about her. Sophie Jordan handles the intricacies of teenage relationships well--from cheating to breaking up to condemning girls for being comfortable with their sexuality. But the ending is totally rushed. Jordan wrapped everything up a little too happily and too conveniently.

Definitely on the sexier side of contemporary YA, but YA readers deserve some of that too!

#KissingLessons #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the opportunity to read and review an E-Arc copy of Kissing Lessons by Sophie Jordan. I really enjoy Sophie Jordan's writing, but this novel just didn't resonate with me. It was a little slower than her other books and I just couldn't connect with the main character. I will definitely recommend to several of my young adult readers though I have several that will enjoy this one.
#Edelweiss
#YoungAdult2020

"Pick up the pizzas, or there'll be hell to pay", this is the kind of dialogue that takes me out of a story. A mother demanding her kid get pizza for a drunk night in with random people already illustrates to me how bad she must be. I don't need the awkward dialogue to tell me.

This book was stilted and unreal to me. I didn't particularly understand Beau. I don't understand why teens are paying to learn seduction. I don't understand what the point of the story is - to be dark and dramatic or happy and funny?

Not for me.

While we should not slut shame, I'm also not sure the book answers the question of why a young woman would act as Hayden does. Hayden's had it rough. No dad, deadbeat addict of a hard-partying mom, so she's got to take care of herself. Enter the Martin family. Protective older brother, sister a year younger, and big bro feels he needs to keep everything in place since their perfect middle class family lost their father. With a best friend who is crushing on the little sis, things start to get complicated because little sis is itching to be asked out, dated, adored. So the alternating POVs of the characters is strong, but underdeveloped.