{ about the book }
Kissing Max Holden by Katy UppermanStandalone Novel
Published August 1, 2017 Swoon Reads
Kissing Max Holden was a terrible idea...
After his father has a life-altering stroke, Max Holden isn't himself. As his long-time friend, Jillian Eldridge only wants to help him, but she doesn't know how. When Max climbs through her window one night, Jill knows that she shouldn't let him kiss her. But she can't resist, and when they're caught in the act by her dad, Jill swears it'll never happen again. Because kissing Max Holden is a terrible idea.
With a new baby sibling on the way, her parents fighting all the time, and her dream of culinary school up in the air, Jill starts spending more and more time with Max. And even though her father disapproves and Max still has a girlfriend, not kissing Max is easier said than done. Will Jill follow her heart and allow their friendship to blossom into something more, or will she listen to her head and stop kissing Max Holden once and for all?
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•
{ my review }
♫ ♫
Groaaaaaaaaan.
Do you know those books where you feel like you shouldn’t read but then the devil on your shoulders goes all, do it, punk or something? Because that was kind of what happened with this book. I knew this was something I shouldn’t pick up—the synopsis basically gave away the reason why! And yet. Here I am, writing my (late) review of the damn book.
Okay, I’ll be straight up: this entire fucking book starts off with cheating. And it does. Not. End. The entire goddamn plot is based off cheating. It doesn’t happen just once. Or twice. Or even three times! I am annoyed.
[screams] It’s one thing if it was pushed on by one side, even though I would never, ever condone it. But the thing is that the main character and the love interest both consented to kissing each other, multiple times. They both consented to it. Even though both of them were aware what they were doing, aware that one of them was in a relationship. I just? I didn’t understand it. I still don’t understand it.
The sad part is that, if it hadn’t been like that, this would have been a good book. Jill was a pretty decent character, though sometimes she did disappoint me with her girl-on-girl hate (which I’ll get to) and the slut-shaming comment she made in passing. She wasn’t perfect by any means, but she had a nice voice, one I liked reading for the most part. It showed that her character had depth.
Okay, what else is there… Ah, yes. Max Holden. The jackass himself.
Look, I hated the guy. He kissed Jill while he had a girlfriend. He continued kissing Jill while he had a girlfriend. He wanted to kiss her again, even though at one point, Jill said they need to stop, and he still had a fucking girlfriend. Things might not have been okay in the relationship, but it’s still a shitty thing to do. There’s no excuse for it. I don’t understand why he didn’t break up with her, or she with him. It was clear that neither of them were all that into each other? I mean, she flirted with other guys; he went around kissing his neighbour. Whatever bullshit reason he provided later on? Nope. I don’t buy it and I sure as hell wouldn’t accept it.
And this brings me to the girlfriend. Ugh. It was as if the author completely wanted Becky to be the Worst, almost like it would make everything that was happening okay. Spoiler: it didn’t. I hated that! I hate girl-on-girl hate, it is so unnecessary! So Becky was completely terrible and there’s like zero reason for it, as far as I know. Just put in a terrible character, why not, y’know?
And it’s not like Jillian wasn’t terrible either. I’m pretty sure she hated Becky just for dating Max instead of hating Max for the exact reason. I’m sorry, this is just extremely ridiculous. I won’t even begin to understand it.
Um. What else… Jill did have good friends, but they were only there when Jill needed to unload, so they weren’t even a real presence in the book, unfortunately. Not that they would’ve done any good, because not a single one said a thing about what she and Max were doing were wrong. OKAY, JAN.
Overall: I hate myself for reading this and I hate myself for liking some parts of it. Look, I just wanted a cute book with kissing, okay? Maybe some angst. And contemporaries have that and this was the first contemporary novel I picked up in a long while. It would have been a cute romance if they hadn’t cheated—I’ll admit, I sort of liked their relationship after the whole girlfriend situation was gone. But the road paved to get there? Good grief, not worth it.
Overall 2: I’m tired. 2 stars. Goodbye.
Katy Upperman is a graduate of Washington State University, a former elementary school teacher, and an insatiable reader. When not writing for young adults, Katy can be found whipping up batches of chocolate chip cookies or exploring the country with her husband and daughter. Kissing Max Holden is her debut novel; her sophomore novel, The Impossibility of Us, will be available summer, 2018.
Do you know those books where you feel like you shouldn’t read but then the devil on your shoulders goes all, do it, punk or something? Because that was kind of what happened with this book. I knew this was something I shouldn’t pick up—the synopsis basically gave away the reason why! And yet. Here I am, writing my (late) review of the damn book.
Okay, I’ll be straight up: this entire fucking book starts off with cheating. And it does. Not. End. The entire goddamn plot is based off cheating. It doesn’t happen just once. Or twice. Or even three times! I am annoyed.
[screams] It’s one thing if it was pushed on by one side, even though I would never, ever condone it. But the thing is that the main character and the love interest both consented to kissing each other, multiple times. They both consented to it. Even though both of them were aware what they were doing, aware that one of them was in a relationship. I just? I didn’t understand it. I still don’t understand it.
The sad part is that, if it hadn’t been like that, this would have been a good book. Jill was a pretty decent character, though sometimes she did disappoint me with her girl-on-girl hate (which I’ll get to) and the slut-shaming comment she made in passing. She wasn’t perfect by any means, but she had a nice voice, one I liked reading for the most part. It showed that her character had depth.
Okay, what else is there… Ah, yes. Max Holden. The jackass himself.
Look, I hated the guy. He kissed Jill while he had a girlfriend. He continued kissing Jill while he had a girlfriend. He wanted to kiss her again, even though at one point, Jill said they need to stop, and he still had a fucking girlfriend. Things might not have been okay in the relationship, but it’s still a shitty thing to do. There’s no excuse for it. I don’t understand why he didn’t break up with her, or she with him. It was clear that neither of them were all that into each other? I mean, she flirted with other guys; he went around kissing his neighbour. Whatever bullshit reason he provided later on? Nope. I don’t buy it and I sure as hell wouldn’t accept it.
And this brings me to the girlfriend. Ugh. It was as if the author completely wanted Becky to be the Worst, almost like it would make everything that was happening okay. Spoiler: it didn’t. I hated that! I hate girl-on-girl hate, it is so unnecessary! So Becky was completely terrible and there’s like zero reason for it, as far as I know. Just put in a terrible character, why not, y’know?
And it’s not like Jillian wasn’t terrible either. I’m pretty sure she hated Becky just for dating Max instead of hating Max for the exact reason. I’m sorry, this is just extremely ridiculous. I won’t even begin to understand it.
Um. What else… Jill did have good friends, but they were only there when Jill needed to unload, so they weren’t even a real presence in the book, unfortunately. Not that they would’ve done any good, because not a single one said a thing about what she and Max were doing were wrong. OKAY, JAN.
Overall: I hate myself for reading this and I hate myself for liking some parts of it. Look, I just wanted a cute book with kissing, okay? Maybe some angst. And contemporaries have that and this was the first contemporary novel I picked up in a long while. It would have been a cute romance if they hadn’t cheated—I’ll admit, I sort of liked their relationship after the whole girlfriend situation was gone. But the road paved to get there? Good grief, not worth it.
Overall 2: I’m tired. 2 stars. Goodbye.
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•
{ buy the book }
~
{ about the author }
Katy Upperman is a graduate of Washington State University, a former elementary school teacher, and an insatiable reader. When not writing for young adults, Katy can be found whipping up batches of chocolate chip cookies or exploring the country with her husband and daughter. Kissing Max Holden is her debut novel; her sophomore novel, The Impossibility of Us, will be available summer, 2018.
2 Comments
I'm so tired of the synopsis giving away the plot in so many books this year...I've come across like 5 of them now! This was on my TBR list but I skipped it for some reason...kind of glad I did now. Sorry to hear that it wasn't a great read for you!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I was disheartened too--I was hoping it would be better!
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