Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Kiss Number 8

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable

18 reviews

goatieboi's review

emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

It had its ups and downs, but over all it was an enjoyable read! I do wish they had a trigger warning for some of the subject matter because it took me out of the book a few times. There is a lot of heaviness to it that I think people should be aware of before they read.

Also, some things could have been condensed because it made the latter half of the book feel a little rushed. I wanted to see more of the main gal thriving and wanted a little less heavy handedness of the message. I say this and I remind myself that this is for teens, not a 30 year old queer.

Again I did enjoy it quite a bit!

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pich's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

While I do wish there were more instances showing Amanda’s unawareness of her being in love with Cat,

I still like the way the story unfolded. I loved the inclusion of the punk scene and the various characters with it, as well as

the moments between Dina and Amanda, along with Amanda’s mother.

I feel as though Amanda

having kissed both Adam and Laura was an interesting plot line, especially considering Pam’s words about ‘being pulled to the other side’ and having those sides be shown with those two characters. With that in mind, too, I hope Laura figured stuff out on her own, as well.

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marslotus's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really really love the theme throughout this novel of misremembering formative events, such a real thing that can happen so often. I also love how imperfect Amanda is, a coming out story doesn't have to be innocent and the complexity of her relationships is so compelling.

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queenkath32's review

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emotional hopeful mysterious tense

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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bobabunnie's review

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

accurate messy queer teen high school drama (source: i also went to catholic school in morristown nj)

my only complaints are that the ending seemed to be concluding for forever, and a couple of jokes in places that didn’t seem fitting— but otherwise, good story!

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rachelditty's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really enjoyed this! I didn't know anything about it before reading; I only knew it was queer. I was surprised when the first half wasn't centered around anything LGBT+, and more focused on something strange happening to Mads' family circumstances. But as things unfolded and Mads' worldviews were dissected, I started liking the story more and more. Religion especially was used in a way I'd never really seen before--the main character interacts with members of the church who are bigoted, but still attends mass because she feels it's a place where she is part of a community and things can really feel safe for her. I thought the story was really well done, and even the more disrespectful aspects of the characters' views were portrayed super well and wrapped up neatly. So glad I read this, it was awesome.

Quotes I liked:

"Was it worse to leave him like that or to tell him he was ust part of a sciece experiment? A baking soda volcano, thrown together last minute, without thought. Without care." (p. 237)

"I could have pushed harder, gotten mom to let me stay home. But maybe I wanted to be judged. Maybe I knew the scale of 1 to 10 didn't even come close to being able to rank what I had done." (p. 244)

"Or I can just be myself, and tell people, 'Hey, I'm Amanda! And I happen to be gay!' Maybe even reverse it. 'Hey, I'm gay! And I happen to be Amanda!'" (p. 262).

"Dad was right. Always choose flying over invisibility." (p. 271).

"We don't get to choose who we love. But sometimes we get lucky and fall for someone wonderful." (p. 280).

"Kinda crazy that I had ever thought I was alone." (p. 291).

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