crystal_reading's review against another edition
I got this as an ARC from the publisher and reviewed it over at Rich in Color https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/863214717
bheidok15's review against another edition
2.0
So I grabbed this book because the description of it sounded intriguing. And it's not that the story was bad....per-say...it's just that this is one of the slowest books I've ever read. It took the first hundred pages it seemed like to even get the story out. And when it finally came out, it was over as quickly as it had begun. It took me longer to read this than normal because it was so...boring. It took forever to get the story started and it just felt like the two characters who end up in some kind of weird relationship just happened out of nowhere.
So yeah. If you're looking for a book to put you to sleep because it takes forever for the story to really start, this is the one.
So yeah. If you're looking for a book to put you to sleep because it takes forever for the story to really start, this is the one.
cupcakegirly's review against another edition
5.0
What I Loved: The cover is what caught my attention first, but the intense, darkly romantic thrill ride I embarked upon is what kept me reading long into the night, and I loved every minute of it!
The characters are colorful and unique, but what I found most refreshing, was Jessica Martinez's ability to tell Valentina's story in all of it's bloody-dangerous-roadtrippy-violent detail without the use of language or other content one might expect in this setting. But it's not all dark and broody, it's peppered with humor and while romance is not the central focus, this story does have it's fair share of swoons too.
What Left Me Wanting More: Nothing. HOWEVER, I could read an entire book about Marcel. ;)
Final Verdict: Read it.
Favorite Quote(s):
"My authentic self is appalled by the misogynistic crap that's coming out of your mouth."
"You know you're going to be stuck in this car for the next few days, right?"
"Yeah."
"And you'd pee in it just for revenge?"
"Maybe," I say.
"I respect that."
"Thanks. Revenge sometimes requires a little sacrifice..."
The characters are colorful and unique, but what I found most refreshing, was Jessica Martinez's ability to tell Valentina's story in all of it's bloody-dangerous-roadtrippy-violent detail without the use of language or other content one might expect in this setting. But it's not all dark and broody, it's peppered with humor and while romance is not the central focus, this story does have it's fair share of swoons too.
What Left Me Wanting More: Nothing. HOWEVER, I could read an entire book about Marcel. ;)
Final Verdict: Read it.
Favorite Quote(s):
"My authentic self is appalled by the misogynistic crap that's coming out of your mouth."
"You know you're going to be stuck in this car for the next few days, right?"
"Yeah."
"And you'd pee in it just for revenge?"
"Maybe," I say.
"I respect that."
"Thanks. Revenge sometimes requires a little sacrifice..."
storytimed's review against another edition
4.0
Delightfully soapy tale of CARTELS and MURDER and ART and DECEPTION that falls apart quite a bit at the end. Couldn't really bring its plot strings together.
nykare's review against another edition
4.0
I liked it, it could be more emotional, but I know this is just the writer's writing style and I like it. I was just missing something, and I don't know what.
siobhan27's review against another edition
4.0
I went into this book with no expectations. I just loved the cover more than I have loved any cover of a YA novel. Yes I judged the book by its cover but sometime it leads to great things. Kiss Kill Vanish is a great thriller, one that I have never read before in this genre. I have read many a YA book but I have not read one where a young girl is running away from her family because she witnessed a murder. That was new thing for me and i have to say it made for a fast paced novel.
Valentina was not my favorite character in this book, honestly she was very hard to like. But i think that was part of her appeal. She was quite winy in the beginning, especially when she met someone from her past that told her he would help her get away from her family for good. When he came along it was life everything she had learned on her own disappeared, she became this little helpless girl that kept waiting and waiting for someone to save her. And honestly it drove me nuts. I wanted her to be able to fight for herself and take her own life by the horns. And when that finally happened in the end I was so happy for her character. She stood up for herself and made a stand, something i honestly did not think would happen with her track record.
I also found Valentina's relationships to be a bit of a problem. I found them to e very unhealthy on every level and didn't understand why she gravitated towards the people that she did. She obviously knew better but chose to keep going in the direction she was going and ended up hurt and honestly in the end I did not see enough improvement for me to feel for her.
I loved the mob aspect of the story, it made for great mystery and i honestly had no idea what was going to happen chapter after chapters. The author was great at keeping us guessing. The writing was fast paced and allowed for me to want to keep reading after every chapter finished because I needed to know what was going to happen. There were many twist and turns, especially near the end that surprised me and I loved that. Ultimately I found the end to be a bit too perfect for my taste, especially after everything that happened, but I can be a sucker for a HEA :)
Valentina was not my favorite character in this book, honestly she was very hard to like. But i think that was part of her appeal. She was quite winy in the beginning, especially when she met someone from her past that told her he would help her get away from her family for good. When he came along it was life everything she had learned on her own disappeared, she became this little helpless girl that kept waiting and waiting for someone to save her. And honestly it drove me nuts. I wanted her to be able to fight for herself and take her own life by the horns. And when that finally happened in the end I was so happy for her character. She stood up for herself and made a stand, something i honestly did not think would happen with her track record.
I also found Valentina's relationships to be a bit of a problem. I found them to e very unhealthy on every level and didn't understand why she gravitated towards the people that she did. She obviously knew better but chose to keep going in the direction she was going and ended up hurt and honestly in the end I did not see enough improvement for me to feel for her.
I loved the mob aspect of the story, it made for great mystery and i honestly had no idea what was going to happen chapter after chapters. The author was great at keeping us guessing. The writing was fast paced and allowed for me to want to keep reading after every chapter finished because I needed to know what was going to happen. There were many twist and turns, especially near the end that surprised me and I loved that. Ultimately I found the end to be a bit too perfect for my taste, especially after everything that happened, but I can be a sucker for a HEA :)
valeriefm's review against another edition
5.0
I just found my favorite Jessica Martinez book!
Each and every single Jessica Martinez book gets better and better. Not only does Jessica cover a wide range of characters, from violinist prodigy Carmen in Virtuosity to Mo in The Vow, but her stories always read as fresh and new. Each one is so different, I'm always excited to see what plot line or topic she'll cover next. Valentina's story was gripping and suspenseful, all while maintaining a contemporary storyline.
Looking back at Martinez's span of novels, she centers the heart of her stories around teens coming to terms with the decisions their parents make. In Kiss Kill Vanish, Valentina discovers the truth about her father's art trading--as well as why Emilio is working for him. By vanishing to Canada, she lives with the little money in her pocket, the love of a stolen mandolin, and the guilt of what she's seen and who she's left behind.
Kiss Kill Vanish is a lonely novel, one that reminded me of the first few months I lived on my own. But the heaviness of the beginning speeds up into a pulse-racing thriller as Valentina gathers her strength and confronts her demons.
This was definitely a growth novel for Martinez and I can't wait to see what she writes next. Don't miss out on this one when it releases in October.
Each and every single Jessica Martinez book gets better and better. Not only does Jessica cover a wide range of characters, from violinist prodigy Carmen in Virtuosity to Mo in The Vow, but her stories always read as fresh and new. Each one is so different, I'm always excited to see what plot line or topic she'll cover next. Valentina's story was gripping and suspenseful, all while maintaining a contemporary storyline.
Looking back at Martinez's span of novels, she centers the heart of her stories around teens coming to terms with the decisions their parents make. In Kiss Kill Vanish, Valentina discovers the truth about her father's art trading--as well as why Emilio is working for him. By vanishing to Canada, she lives with the little money in her pocket, the love of a stolen mandolin, and the guilt of what she's seen and who she's left behind.
Kiss Kill Vanish is a lonely novel, one that reminded me of the first few months I lived on my own. But the heaviness of the beginning speeds up into a pulse-racing thriller as Valentina gathers her strength and confronts her demons.
This was definitely a growth novel for Martinez and I can't wait to see what she writes next. Don't miss out on this one when it releases in October.
shelbyhannahh's review against another edition
2.0
I read like three more pages and was about to claw my eyes out. We're done here.
softstarrynights's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! Just wow! I can't remember ever reading a book with so many twists and turns! This was amazing!
'Kill Kiss Vanish' is the story of a girl, Valentina, who runs away from home after she sees her father force her boyfriend to kill a man. The book begins with her in Montreal, more or less broke but trying to raise enough money to get her a plane ticket to Spain.
I adore this cover so much! It's stunning and probably a big part of why I wanted to read this book in the first place. The colored chalk on the back background, over a picture of a girl, is just stunning and I can't wait to get home to put it on my bookshelf.
As much as I hate to admit it, 99% of the time I've already decided on a star rating withing the first couple chapter and definitely the first hundred pages. Of course my rating CAN change, but it'd unlikely that it will. Fist impressions are super important to me, and I can usually tell if I'm going to like it by this point. But this book threw this system out of the window. I'm not going to sugar coat it, the first hundred pages were boring. Valentina (whose name is beautiful) was so boring and I didn't really care about her. At this point 'Kiss Kill Vanish' was nearing two stars and I was so disappointing because the premise had sounded so interesting. And then. Thank God! From this point on this book just got better and better and the ending I have never ever in my life been so uncertain of which characters I should trust. It was exhilarating! And despite all my best guessing, second guessing and general distrustfulness of every single charterer I did not see the big twist coming!I was sat in bet at 9AM this morning squealing at everything that was going on, the last time I did this was reading Jace and Clary scenes in 'City of Glass'.
When it comes to the characters, well, talk about morally ambiguous! Though I guess I should've seen it coming given that you can deduce from the synopsis that there's some mafia, Godfather, type stuff going on. The book is from Valentina's POV, and I can't say she was my favorite character I ever read. She didn't make me want to scream at her and throw the book across the room, I could understand all her choices but they just weren't the one that I'd make. She was decent enough but so much better when she was around other people, when she was on here own she could get a bit dull.
Lucian is the first other character you actually meet and honestly I thought that Valentina was being a bit harsh on him. He really didn't seem that bad and I was quite upset and shocked when. I though he might even be end game material but clearly I in no way called that one. I didn't give Marcel a second look until the funeral, I though he was just going to be a minor side character that wasn't important. I loved that he showed his vulnerable side and then when she realized he was trying to distract himself while he detoxed I was hooked. Damn, I just loved Marcel from the funeral onward, even writing this now is making me want to re-read this book just for him! Every scene from the Holiday Inn, to the swimming pool, to the hotel was just indescribable, there was just heaps of chemistry between the two of them <3 I did have my suspicions about Emilio but I did not see that revelation coming, what a twist!
The more I think about this book, the more I'm realizing how fantastic it was and maybe with a re-read those first hundred pages won't seem so dull? I can tell that this theory will probably be put to the test very soon.
'Kill Kiss Vanish' is the story of a girl, Valentina, who runs away from home after she sees her father force her boyfriend to kill a man. The book begins with her in Montreal, more or less broke but trying to raise enough money to get her a plane ticket to Spain.
I adore this cover so much! It's stunning and probably a big part of why I wanted to read this book in the first place. The colored chalk on the back background, over a picture of a girl, is just stunning and I can't wait to get home to put it on my bookshelf.
As much as I hate to admit it, 99% of the time I've already decided on a star rating withing the first couple chapter and definitely the first hundred pages. Of course my rating CAN change, but it'd unlikely that it will. Fist impressions are super important to me, and I can usually tell if I'm going to like it by this point. But this book threw this system out of the window. I'm not going to sugar coat it, the first hundred pages were boring. Valentina (whose name is beautiful) was so boring and I didn't really care about her. At this point 'Kiss Kill Vanish' was nearing two stars and I was so disappointing because the premise had sounded so interesting. And then
Spoiler
Emilio was at the art show and everything just got so much betterSpoiler
was just the cherry on top. I swear I nearly died when she said something along the lines of 'kissing Marcel was like breathing' (I've packed the book away so I can't quote directly but you get the idea)When it comes to the characters, well, talk about morally ambiguous! Though I guess I should've seen it coming given that you can deduce from the synopsis that there's some mafia, Godfather, type stuff going on. The book is from Valentina's POV, and I can't say she was my favorite character I ever read. She didn't make me want to scream at her and throw the book across the room, I could understand all her choices but they just weren't the one that I'd make. She was decent enough but so much better when she was around other people, when she was on here own she could get a bit dull.
Lucian is the first other character you actually meet and honestly I thought that Valentina was being a bit harsh on him. He really didn't seem that bad and I was quite upset and shocked when
Spoiler
she found him deadSpoiler
But, the funeral! When they went to the cinema afterwards and he was crying, I just fell for him.The more I think about this book, the more I'm realizing how fantastic it was and maybe with a re-read those first hundred pages won't seem so dull? I can tell that this theory will probably be put to the test very soon.
awayman's review against another edition
2.0
This book was my first ever ARC!!! I was a joyous mess when I received it.
This story is about a 17 year old girl named Valentina. She ran away from home after witnessing a violent crime that was ordered and committed by the two people she loved most in the world. Valentina goes where no one will know her and takes on the alias, Jane. She creates a new life and tries to come to terms with what she saw and what she should do with the information that was played out before her.
I enjoyed this book enough to finish it in a week, which is surprising for a 2 star book for me.
In reality, Valentina did annoy me most of the time. She was raised by her father who is a very wealthy art collector. He favored Valentina above her sisters and she always had everything she wanted. It never occurred to Valentina to question the business her father ran; Victor Cruz was well respected by those he employed and adored by his daughters. Due to being raised in such a privileged manner, Valentina never had to fend for herself. I tried to remember that fact several times throughout the story to reassure myself that some of her actions were even plausible. She boarded an international flight with nothing to live off of; no money, clothes, or means of communication. She ran away to leave the lies and illegal actions of her father and Emilio, yet she gets involved in working for Lucien who she knew nothing about (turns out he was involved in some bad juju too). Emilio shows up in her life again, and she welcomes him back (????!!!!!???? I hated his character. He was the embodiment of a manipulative slime ball). I cannot fathom why she would want to be with someone she witnessed commit murder. She suddenly wasn't really all that phased by the past. The two of them make plans to run away from the bad world together. The rest of the story is about her waiting on Emilio and trying to do whatever it takes to be with him. She ends up spending a lot of time with a guy she starts working for named Lucien and Lucien's brother, Marcel. Marcel is a rude playboy who she becomes friends with over a short period of time (I actually liked Marcel's sarcasm. He was an obnoxious sexist pig at points too though). Cue love triangle. The story continues with some plot "twists", bad decisions by Valentina, and poorly thought out plans by all characters. I think if Valentina's actions had been slightly more realistic for a person with brain cells (she was supposed to be very smart in school after all), this book could have been 3 stars. The unlikely choices and weirdly rushed ending brought it down on top of how dumb the MC was. *side note*NO girl wears stilettos after having bloody cuts and blisters on their feet. Fashion can take the back burner when walking is near impossible. Just saying.
Overall, I did read this book pretty quickly, and I did want to finish it, which is good. Be warned that this is a very immature YA fiction, so some ideas are rather silly with how unrealistic they are. If you can get past that, this was almost fun to read.
This story is about a 17 year old girl named Valentina. She ran away from home after witnessing a violent crime that was ordered and committed by the two people she loved most in the world. Valentina goes where no one will know her and takes on the alias, Jane. She creates a new life and tries to come to terms with what she saw and what she should do with the information that was played out before her.
I enjoyed this book enough to finish it in a week, which is surprising for a 2 star book for me.
In reality, Valentina did annoy me most of the time. She was raised by her father who is a very wealthy art collector. He favored Valentina above her sisters and she always had everything she wanted. It never occurred to Valentina to question the business her father ran; Victor Cruz was well respected by those he employed and adored by his daughters. Due to being raised in such a privileged manner, Valentina never had to fend for herself. I tried to remember that fact several times throughout the story to reassure myself that some of her actions were even plausible. She boarded an international flight with nothing to live off of; no money, clothes, or means of communication. She ran away to leave the lies and illegal actions of her father and Emilio, yet she gets involved in working for Lucien who she knew nothing about (turns out he was involved in some bad juju too). Emilio shows up in her life again, and she welcomes him back (????!!!!!???? I hated his character. He was the embodiment of a manipulative slime ball). I cannot fathom why she would want to be with someone she witnessed commit murder. She suddenly wasn't really all that phased by the past. The two of them make plans to run away from the bad world together. The rest of the story is about her waiting on Emilio and trying to do whatever it takes to be with him. She ends up spending a lot of time with a guy she starts working for named Lucien and Lucien's brother, Marcel. Marcel is a rude playboy who she becomes friends with over a short period of time (I actually liked Marcel's sarcasm. He was an obnoxious sexist pig at points too though). Cue love triangle. The story continues with some plot "twists", bad decisions by Valentina, and poorly thought out plans by all characters. I think if Valentina's actions had been slightly more realistic for a person with brain cells (she was supposed to be very smart in school after all), this book could have been 3 stars. The unlikely choices and weirdly rushed ending brought it down on top of how dumb the MC was. *side note*NO girl wears stilettos after having bloody cuts and blisters on their feet. Fashion can take the back burner when walking is near impossible. Just saying.
Overall, I did read this book pretty quickly, and I did want to finish it, which is good. Be warned that this is a very immature YA fiction, so some ideas are rather silly with how unrealistic they are. If you can get past that, this was almost fun to read.