Saturday 21 March 2009

Book review - Extreme Kissing by Luisa Plaja


Extreme Kissing is out on April 2nd here in the UK.
Bets and Carlota have been best friends since Carlota moved to England. They tell each other everything (almost). But both have problems, so Carlota decides they need a relaxing day out. The solution – they will spend a day ‘Extreme Travelling’ – they will go wherever magazines tell them to go and complete challenges based on whatever page they open on. As they complete their challenges, they begin to surprise themselves – and each other. As the day progresses, they realise that they don’t know each other as well as they thought. Both have secrets. And on this crazy day, the secrets are going to spill.

Extreme Kissing has such a wonderful plot idea – it takes place on one crazy, challenging, action-filled day. But it’s not just the Extreme Travelling that makes this book so clever. Both the girls have secrets and the day serves to draw out confessions from each of them. It’s about friends and boys and family, all set in the unique backdrop of getting-lost-in-London. Bet is the quiet, studious one. Carlota is the wild guy-magnet. But there is more to them than this. Extreme Kissing explores just how well you can know your friends, how alike you can really be, despite the differences. As for the other characters, there’s some great guys involved and interesting parent dynamics.

I found Carlota at times quite annoying, but that’s just because as a person she would irritate me quite a lot. Her overuse of the ‘mwah-ha-ha’ is a perfect example. I personally had a few minor issues with the book – the issue of cheating on girlfriends/boyfriends is dealt with, but some instances of this seem to be more seen as more acceptable than others, which I don’t necessarily agree with. I’m also not really comfortable with the tarot card reading.

Overall though, Extreme Kissing was a great read. Once again, Luisa Plaja has taken a chicklit book, and made it so much more than that. Not that chicklit can’t be deep, but Extreme Kissing has so many facets. It’s a great book for any teen, addressing identity, friendship, family, and how deceptive appearances can be. The idea is cool, the pace is fast and the book is fun.

Oh, and can I just say I love the idea of Extreme Travelling so much!! Any takers? We can meet up somewhere, I’ll bring the magazines =) Of course, access to Carlota’s mum’s credit card was useful for the girls.

6 comments:

  1. Great review, I'm glad you enjoyed it! So, which mag shall we use?! :P

    Oh, and out of interest, what didn't you like about the tarot reading?

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  2. We should get lots of different mags. That way, if we opened up one and there was only adverts for perfume or something, we could cheat and use a different one instead =)

    About the tarot reading, I dunno I guess as a christian, I'm just cautious of that kind of stuff.

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  3. I think I'll be reading/reviewing this soon for Teens Read Too. I'm quite excited now. It sounds fun, and I love the idea of extreme traveling. Such fun. I might have to try that here or something. hahaa

    -Lauren

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  4. kind of reminds me of abcs of kissing boys...sorta.
    awesome review! btw, i'll take you up on your offer, i know my moms credit card # by heart lol:) she's probably not comfortable knowing that, because i'm known to splurge on books...

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  5. I've read this book, it's fun.

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