ARC REVIEW: Kiss Collector by Wendy Higgins (Dec 2018)

Male, female, and all the other ways we categorize each other – we’re all just people – individual personalities, making mistakes and trying to get by.

Synopsis: When seventeen-year-old Zae Monroe gets cheated on by the only guy she’s ever loved, then watches her parents’ marriage crumble, she decides to forget about relationships and turn the tables on the boys of the world. It’s time to take what she wants, and what she wants are kisses. Athletes, musicians, poets, and bad boys—their lips are all on her agenda, and it’s time to collect. Zae proposes a contest with her friends to see who can kiss the most boys during spring break.

To be published on December 18, 2018 by HarperTeen

e-ARC provided by the publisher through Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review

Genre: YA Contemporary, YA Romance

Themes: squad, friendships, foreign travel, foreign languages, dating, emotions, feelings, divorce, family, siblings, high school, classes, poetry, prom

Amazon* / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository

*As an Amazon Associate, I get a mini % of sales price every time you purchase an item through my link, thank you!

I’m taking back my life, one kiss at a time.

I have to say, I was a little bit underwhelmed – I was expecting it to be more lighthearted than it turned out to be. There was a little bit too much drama than I cared for and Zae wasn’t really that likeable.

I’ve never read a book by Wendy Higgins before, but Kiss Collector didn’t quite make me keen to pick any of them up.

All that said, the only reason I didn’t DNF this and kept going are those poems (Wendy sure knows how to write those poems…) and the little mystery about the poet (I mean, I figured it out right away, but I still wanted the confirmation 😅)

Ode to the straw that fits in the pouch that rests in your hand.

The straw that meets your lips, pink as blossoms.

The proud, cylindrical piece of plastic that stands up to greet you with its chest out, ready to be used by you, to quench you.

Oh, to be that straw, partially submerged in 66 percent fruit juice,

And partially submerged in your mouth. Enjoy, little straw, enjoy.

Thankfully, it did have a very sweet ending, that made me just a little bit less regretful for reading it… but then I did find another book boyfriend so maybe it was worth it after all. Now, if only I actually get to finishing those #SwoonySaturdate drafts I have in mind…

Have you read any of Wendy Higgin’s works before?

Do you like poems embedded within novels?