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A review by antigoniselena
Someone to Kiss by Jamie Anderson
2.0
This was really hard to read if i am being quite honest, and if this hadn’t been a novel i was gifted on NetGalley, I would have 130% stopped reading this book 20% in. There were a lot of aspects of this novel that I didn’t enjoy, and not enough that i did.
Firstly, Kate, Julia and Ben are all in their 40s and seem to just be surrounded by single people and are looking to settle down (well our protagonist Kate is). I am 27 years old and i am already feeling the pressure of needing to find someone and settled down since so many of my friends are married and having kids and I am just debating if now is the time to move out of my parents house with a looming recession… How is this 43 year old not surrounded by these things? Other than the wedding mentioned at the beginning of the novel, there are no people around who she interacts with who aren’t single. Everyone is single and that really feels like someone’s early 20s rather than their early 40s. Where is the outside pressure? Your mom or auntie asking you when you’re going to “settle down” and “find someone” and “start a family” … It also feels so unrealistic and just… meh.
Secondly, the novel is set in Saskatchewan which I thought would be dope to see, as someone who is from Montreal, Quebec, I was excited to maybe get a peak of what life is there, since you rarely see novels set in that part of Canada. But honestly it really felt like this could have been set anywhere, I wish that we got more of a glimpse of what living in Saskatchewan was like and maybe mentioning specific places that one may even see when visiting.
Another issue i had, was while the characters were in their 40s, they all acted and spoke like they were in their late 20s and early 30s… it was just out of place to me. Like Kate has a mini crush on her barista, Jesse, and she makes comments about how he’s too young for her, because he’s 13 years younger than her… That would mean she’s 43 and he’s 30! You mean the biggest issue for you is his age, rather than the fact that he is a barista and doesn’t seem to be working towards anything of substance at that age? Like seriously I would understand if she was 33, and he was 20… but the novel doesn’t make sense this way… It really feels like this novel was originally made with 33 in mind and someone pushed the author to make it 43. I think the whole book would have been more tolerable if those were the ages. Especially because the novel was well written.
***SPOILER ALERT***
I also dislike that we have Ben’s perspective included at all in the novel. WE KNOW HE LIKES KATE even just from her perspective even though she is obviously oblivious… But i have to say… it is already frustrating that Kate is already so oblivious but like by 50% into the novel and we haven’t had even like a smidge of sexual tension or like “almost” moments between Ben and Kate… its just… this was such a let down.
I am giving this novel a 2/5 solely because if the novel had been written with a different age in mind I would have rated it higher. (Probably a 3/5). If you read this, please comment and tell me what you think? Perhaps I am too harsh, maybe you can open my eyes to a different perspective.
Firstly, Kate, Julia and Ben are all in their 40s and seem to just be surrounded by single people and are looking to settle down (well our protagonist Kate is). I am 27 years old and i am already feeling the pressure of needing to find someone and settled down since so many of my friends are married and having kids and I am just debating if now is the time to move out of my parents house with a looming recession… How is this 43 year old not surrounded by these things? Other than the wedding mentioned at the beginning of the novel, there are no people around who she interacts with who aren’t single. Everyone is single and that really feels like someone’s early 20s rather than their early 40s. Where is the outside pressure? Your mom or auntie asking you when you’re going to “settle down” and “find someone” and “start a family” … It also feels so unrealistic and just… meh.
Secondly, the novel is set in Saskatchewan which I thought would be dope to see, as someone who is from Montreal, Quebec, I was excited to maybe get a peak of what life is there, since you rarely see novels set in that part of Canada. But honestly it really felt like this could have been set anywhere, I wish that we got more of a glimpse of what living in Saskatchewan was like and maybe mentioning specific places that one may even see when visiting.
Another issue i had, was while the characters were in their 40s, they all acted and spoke like they were in their late 20s and early 30s… it was just out of place to me. Like Kate has a mini crush on her barista, Jesse, and she makes comments about how he’s too young for her, because he’s 13 years younger than her… That would mean she’s 43 and he’s 30! You mean the biggest issue for you is his age, rather than the fact that he is a barista and doesn’t seem to be working towards anything of substance at that age? Like seriously I would understand if she was 33, and he was 20… but the novel doesn’t make sense this way… It really feels like this novel was originally made with 33 in mind and someone pushed the author to make it 43. I think the whole book would have been more tolerable if those were the ages. Especially because the novel was well written.
***SPOILER ALERT***
I also dislike that we have Ben’s perspective included at all in the novel. WE KNOW HE LIKES KATE even just from her perspective even though she is obviously oblivious… But i have to say… it is already frustrating that Kate is already so oblivious but like by 50% into the novel and we haven’t had even like a smidge of sexual tension or like “almost” moments between Ben and Kate… its just… this was such a let down.
I am giving this novel a 2/5 solely because if the novel had been written with a different age in mind I would have rated it higher. (Probably a 3/5). If you read this, please comment and tell me what you think? Perhaps I am too harsh, maybe you can open my eyes to a different perspective.