Maybe it's because I grew up reading fanfic and had lasting friendships in fandom that I am drawn to stories of fanfic creators and the adorable real life meet-cutes that could exist irl. I Kissed Alice is one such book that plays with this trope perfectly. Enemies in real life, attracted to their online personas? United by fandom? Adorable.

CUTE YA LGBTQ+ romance

Recommend for adding to your collection-- WLW romance, college, realistic fiction

The potential of this premise was so great and unfortunately it didn't deliver as well as i wanted it too.

I tried.

Lord help me, I tried.

I tried reading the ARC and bailed.

I bought the physical book once it was published... and bailed.

I tried listening to the audiobook at 3x speed and though that usually helps, this time it did not. So I bailed again.

You see that cover? The pastel pink, the cute illustrated characters, the hearts above the i’s?

Every single inch of that cover is a lie. If you think you’re in for a cute hate to love story, you’re wrong because this is much darker than it seems. You’ve got toxic friendships, mental health struggles, bribery, and two difficult girls.

Iliana fought her way into the Alabama Conservatory of the arts partially to advance her artistic aspirations and partially to stay with her best friend Sarah. The girl is competitive and territorial in equal measure, which causes more than a few problems, but she’s also passionate about the Alice in Wonderland fancomic she writes with I-Kissed-Alice. Rhodes is Sarah’s roommate and a gifted artist from a rich family. She’s won countless competitions in the past with her drawings, but for months now, she hasn’t been able to draw a single thing.

Well, other than the fancomic she’s working on with Curious-in-Cheshire.

The girls have been lightly flirting for months online, but they’ve got no idea who the other is and Rhodes’ qualification for a Capstone scholarship she solidly failed to meet the requirements for has lit the fuse on their long-brewing issues. Things are about to blow up in both their faces.

If you’re one of those people who requires their main characters be likable, please drop I Kissed Alice now. Iliana and Rhodes are complex girls and the reason they hate one another is actually a pretty good one. Can’t say I’d feel any different if I ended up in either of their situations.

Sarah, the connective tissue that brings the girls into conflict with one another again and again? Whoo boy, there is a lot to say about Sarah and you’ll wonder why either girl ever wanted anything to do with her in the first place. She’s untrustworthy practically from the get-go. The way she plays Iliana and Rhodes against one another and can’t stand up to either of them when they do her wrong certainly doesn’t help. For all the criticisms I have, I love this messed up friendship between the three girls for how familiar it feels.

Iliana and Rhodes’ interactions as Cheshire and Alice lack the kind of camaraderie I’d expect of co-writers who have been working together for a year and mildly flirting the entire time. Even so, once the girls’ identities come out, it’s not an easy road to romance like “oh wow, you’re the girl I’ve been crushing on for ages, never mind how we’ve treated each other before.” It takes time for each of them to reconcile who the other is online versus in real life, which fits with real life and the route the novel takes.

Perhaps with a little more time spent on how the girls came to work together on their comic, I’d feel a little more positive toward I Kissed Alice. Even so, it’s an engrossing queer enemies-to-lovers tale about art, privilege, and mental health. Just throw color theory out the window before looking at the cover in case it tampers with your expectations. Maybe someone should give it a redesign to be a little more honest.

I adored the revialmance of this story and the premise of characters being in love over the internet and enemies/rivals in real life. There is just something so juicy about getting to be the reader and knowing what the characters don’t know. A fun book.

While the details here are a bit unique, the base plot is pretty standard conflict-masking-attraction. I admire that Birch makes space to acknowledge the complicated nature of the relationship. Mutual resentment and old conflicts based on real mistakes add to the drama and serve to drag out the inevitable confrontation.

Sapphic enemies-to-lovers graphic novel? You've Got Mail style romantic hyjinks? Best friend stuck in the middle of it all? I desperately wanted to like this, but I simply did not, and that was because I didn't like the characters very much. It seems like, in a bid to make them well-rounded, Birch accidentally made them rather annoying, too.

Definitely not what I was expecting - and not in the good way.

The book focused too much on the enemies part that I started to feel tired. I think I hated all the characters, This was a three-way toxic friendship, with Sarah being the common factor but not the only one at fault. Rhodes was probably the character I liked the most and even she tested my patience a couple of times through the story.

I prefer when they start falling for each other outside their Internet-personas before they discover who they were, but while the reactions for each character felt real on when each of them discovered the other's identity it still felt like they turned the page. Regardless of what happened on the last pages.

I Kissed Alice is a wonderful read that explores the highs and lows of friendship, navigating high school and art scholarship competitions, the lengths parents will go to give their kids what they (the parents) want, and first love.

This book is well paced and extremely hard to put down. I read it in just a couple reading sessions because I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to the characters next. This is definitely a binge-session worthy book, perfect for summer.

What I enjoyed most about I Kissed Alice where the characters. You have Iliana who is headstrong, and determined, who loves tarot cards. There’s Rhodes who has more than a few secrets to keep–including why she hasn’t been able to draw anything in months. Then there’s Sarah, who’s caught between her two best friends and just trying to get though this scholarship competition. You also have Rhode’s brother, Griffin, a dancer who’s parents force him to switch from the dance track at the art school they all attend, to the tech track.

This cast of characters and how they interact with each other is what makes the story so good. There’s at least one character that readers will be able to identify with, and I think most readers will see parts of themselves in each of the characters.

I also enjoyed how the characters acted and felt like teenagers. So much of YA today contains characters that are teens in terms of their age, but written like characters that are older. I don’t mind that at all, but I think there’s something to be said about experiencing teenaged characters in YA that are actually teenagers. I think this helps readers connect with characters and stories in new ways. Ways that may actually be more personal and meaningful.

That being said what I liked least about this book was how off putting Iliana could be. She’s definitely not my cup of tea and I wouldn’t want to be her friend. But I also love that she’s fierce and fights for what she believes in, even if she’s a little misguided. Characters that make you uncomfortable due to their personalities aren’t bad characters–they’re interesting characters. So the thing I like least about this book is also one of the reason I loved it.

Overall this was a great book and I definitely recommend it to readers looking for a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers, YA romance.

4.5 ⭐️

The beginning was a little slow for me to get attached to these characters. Hate to Love is not my fave Trope, but I really rooted for them halfway through. There are not enough Sapphic love stories in YA and this is definitely one that I can see myself rereading someday down the line a la Simon vs. I would love to see a Book 2!

ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

All the characters in this book just did not connect with me. Both of them were just so whinny caught up in teenage angst. I am not sure if it is because I am hitting closer to 30 than 20 or what but I just couldn't connect with either of them. Both got so annoying to me I only got a few chapters in before I had to stop reading. I really wish I was able to finish because this premise is right up my alley.

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

Unfortunately I dnf'd this title 60% into it. I had trouble telling the two characters apart, and found them both to be very unlikeable.

Great story and loved the slight romance. Really enjoyed the characters and how the plot moved and how the characters changed throughout the book. I would read this author again.

This book was okay... I wasn't the biggest fan of it but it also wasn't the worst you know what I mean. Ill try her out again with her next release.

Well, I'm drained.

I Kissed Alice started out very strong, and I was excited to see where it would take me. I've actually read a few similar books before, and I love the real life enemies, online lovers plotline. Plus, queen teens! I had very high hopes.

However, though this book is billed as a romantic comedy, there is nothing, and I mean nothing funny about this story. Mainly, it's about frenemies being pretty terrible to one another.

It's also not really romantic. It's more of a drama with LGBT teens, and I wish it was billed as that. I kept waiting for it to pick up and live up to expectations, but time and time again, it didn't. There are some very interesting issues at play, and both MCs have a lot of personal issues and drama to work through, but it wasn't a good love story.

A toxic relationship and unlikable MCs made even the fairly good writing difficult to get through. This story was not for me,

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

𝚃𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎: I Kissed Alice
𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛: Anna Birch
𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆:
Rhodes and Illiana are mortal enemies. They share a mutual best friend and are competing for the same art scholarship, but they HATE each other. They both escape the pressures of school and one another on a fanfic site where they are unknowingly collaborating on a fanart comic. And, despite being enemies in real life, their online personas are starting to like each other... a lot. When the truth comes out, will they destroy each other's futures?

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
I was not a huge fan of the first 50% of this book. It dragged out quite a bit and established both of our main characters as extremely unlikeable. This is obviously, from the description, an enemies-to-lovers romance, but Rhodes and Illiana took the enemy's thing seriously. They were both completely awful to one another - and honestly, for good reason. I prefer an enemies-to-lovers story based on some kind of misunderstanding or secret pining, not one where they understandably hate one another. I mean, I hated both of them as well, so I couldn't really begrudge them.

But, after the 50% mark, the book did start to pick up. The true conflict begins at that point when one of the girls finally discovers the identity of the other. Then, our characters begin to see some real growth and improvement - they both become stronger, more understanding characters and begin to see one another in a new light. The romance also starts to pick up. So, I'd say the ending of this book really saved it from being a one- or two-star read for me. The only thing I really didn't like about the ending was that Rhodes' and Illiana's mutual friend, Sarah, really got the shaft and turned out to be a pretty despicable character. I really wasn't a fan of how all that went down and concluded.

For me, this book was pretty average. I really liked the representation (fat rep, queer girl rep), but the execution - particularly the character building - wasn't the best.

Wow, I really loved I Kissed Alice more than I ever could have expected. It was truly the epitome of charming. And spoiler, there's actually no character in the book name Alice. Who knew?

Iliana's best friend is Sarah, and Sarah's roommate is Rhodes. All three attend the Alabama's Conservatory of the Arts, and while Sarah finds herself to be friends with both, Rhodes and Iliana are sworn enemies. It makes things awkward when they all try to hang out, and both Rhodes and Iliana are constantly pulling Sarah in opposite directions. Rhodes and Iliana are both talented artists working towards the sought after Capstone scholarship, and both are struggling with their art and more personal conflicts. Little known to either of them, they're both avid users of a fanfic website called Slash/Spot. And while they can't stand each other in real-life, they may be falling in love on the interwebs. Will the truth come to light? And if it does, will it destroy their chances at winning the Capstone?

I've been jumping into some new YA titles lately and finding myself disappointed by the conflicting ideals and values. Many books I've picked up recently will claim a specific opinion but then my perception will be totally different (see: The Mall). I was worried I would find I Kissed Alice to be one of the same. And while there is definitely a girl-versus-girl theme, it's actually a queer enemies-to-lovers trope, and I. love. it.

I truly appreciated that, as a reader, I got to know both Iliana and Rhodes separately so I could root for both of them, though I did find myself strictly rooting for Iliana at first. I think that may just be because the first chapter was her's, so I knew her longer. Haha.

I truly felt like this charming and sweet YA novel really did a fantastic job making a point that you never truly know what folks are going through, and how some people may be privileged in one way they may be lacking somewhere else, and vice versa.

There was a heavy presence of Alice in Wonderland and while I'm familiar (seen the cartoons and live action movies), I'm not super into Alice, but that didn't impact my love for the book. So if that was a fear going into this story, I'd recommend not letting it deter you.

"Women are continuously victims of sexual violence in Western culture, so much so that it has permeated our patterns of speaking and even the way we curse." - I Kissed Alice, Anna Birch

Seriously, this book was so precious. I enjoyed both listening and reading it concurrently. I think doing both really helped me connect with the characters much more because I could really hear their emotions and how they were handling things. I love rooting for love, and if you do too, this book's for you.

Have you ever read an enemies to lovers romance in which you’re not completely sure whether the characters hate each other or are just completely obsessed with one another? Before I read I Kissed Alice by Anna Birch and illustrated by Victoria Ying, which felt like this from page one, I think the only other book I’ve read that easily fits into this characterization is The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.

However, unlike The Hating Game, I Kissed Alice is a contemporary YA rom com with two lead LGBTQIA+ heroines. It has illustrated web comic panels interspersed throughout the prose. It’s a book rife with fan fiction writing and references to geek culture, a focus on art, Alice in Wonderland, and female relationships of all sorts—platonic and romantic.

Granted, some of the female friendships are on the toxic side, and Anna Birch’s novel doesn’t shy away form this issue because she doesn’t shy away from depicting the flaws of her characters. And yes, her characters have many flaws, but personally, I thought that this made them all the more real. Birch gives each of the characters room to set the record straight and apologize for all the things they’ve done. Whether or not the characters choose to make an apology or those who were wronged choose to accept it is anybody’s guess. I do, however, understand the decisions that the characters made and was able to get past those that were a little less than honourable because of this understanding.

The cute, illustrated cover and the promise of LGBTQIA+ characters first drew me to I Kissed Alice, and Birch didn’t let me down on either account. Beyond the cover, readers get an inside look at the new web comic instalments on which Rhodes and Iliana are unknowingly collaborating via Slash/Spot, an online community for fan fiction with an LGBTQIA+ focus. Imagine if Alice in Wonderland was set in space and the MC was in love with the Red Queen, and you’ll get an idea about what their collab is like. Keep in mind that there aren’t as many new entries into the web comic as I expected, and in fact, there are approximately 49 instalments from before the novel begins that are alluded to, but never presented to readers, so if you’re here specifically for them, you may be disappointed. However, the author does give both Rhodes and Iliana enough Lewis Carroll knowledge to make their secret fascination with this world believable.

Beyond the romance and friendships, I Kissed Alice does a great job of exploring what it means for artists to both struggle with and grow in their craft. It details the competitive nature that a school like the prestigious conservatory that Iliana, Rhodes, Sarah, Kiersten, and Griffin all attend, and how even small set backs can dampen the progress one can have, or may even cause artists, dancers, etc to regress to a stat where they regularly make mistakes from several years before. It also gives readers an insight into how artists see themselves against their strongest competitor, for better or worse, as well as how opportunities are easier to get for those who can afford them or who have their parents’ money to fall back on, whether they realize it or not.

I particularly loved the integration of DMs from Slash/Spot, comments on Alice and Cheshire’s comic, the text messages and updates on how long it has been since they’ve either logged into Slash/Spot or until the deadlines for the award competition. In particular, there is a popcorn emoji reference that had me recognizing just how perfectly well Birch understands the medium she’s using to convey her story. Not everyone does.

If I had to detail any cons, then it would be the disappointment I had in a couple references. While there are a lot of geek culture references from different fandoms—some of which I knew and some of which I didn’t—I was totally on board with most of their inclusions. I was, however, greatly disappointed in the few Harry Potter references that made it onto the page since I read it since J.K. Rowling decided to double and triple down on transphobic statements. Since it’s common for transgender people to experience transphobia from within, as well as without, the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole. Keep in mind that there are only a couple references in the whole book, but I would be remiss to ignore them here because of the harm that I know JKR has caused many people.

If I Kissed Alice sounds intriguing, then check it out! It’s available in stores and online, wherever you buy books, this week.