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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
I don't care, I loved this book. the end could be a little better? yes, but the book itself really kept my attention
Leila spends most of her life on the Internet, one day she finds a forum called Red Pill, which discusses philosophical ideas. She feels at home on this site and becomes a regular contributor. One day the creator of the site approaches her with a secret project. Tess is looking for a way to end her life without hurting her friends and family. She asks Leila to continue her online life for her so she can slip away from the world unnoticed.
This will be a hard book to review and I will try not to give away any spoilers that aren’t in the book blurb. Written in the style of an online journal, the reader will slowly explore the motivations behind Tess wanting to kill herself, why Leila decides to help and the aftermath that follows. This was a real page-turner and it made me miss forums, but not online journals (I never was good at that) because I have a book blog and it is pretty much an online journal of my reading life.
I love the concept of this book, in a world where we spend most of the time communicating online, what is to say that we are truly communicating with the intended person. Their identity could have been stolen, it could be someone pretending to be someone they are not or someone has taken over their life after they completed suicide. There is no real way to tell that is really happening in the online world.
The Internet is a tricky thing to portray in a novel, with changing technology and new trends, how do you stay relevant. Also do you write the book in text/IM language and use memes and current trends to tell the story? Kiss Me First is not trying to say the Internet and social networking is bad but just using it as a tool to tell this mystery.
I’m always interested in how the Internet is portrayed in a novel and Kiss Me First has managed to get the balance right. A mixture of nostalgia towards dying sites like the online journal or forums, relevance when talking about social networking, and tongue in cheek when talking about never understanding what text/IM language is all about. For some, the narrative might not be the easiest to read but if you have spent time reading online journals at any point of time, you will pick it up pretty easily.
I really enjoyed this novel, the mystery was pretty ordinary but there were some surprises. I preferred the philosophical questions and the way Lottie Moggach explored the online life with such ease. I was surprised to learn that this was a debut novel; it was executed well and offered some interesting thoughts on social networking. Also credit where credit is due, the approach to the internet was handled well; I think it will stand the test of time for a while and not age as fast as some novels. Kiss Me First has been getting a lot of attention lately and it really was a thrilling novel and is sure to entertain the readers, especially if you spend most of your day online.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/09/16/book-review-kiss-me-first/
This will be a hard book to review and I will try not to give away any spoilers that aren’t in the book blurb. Written in the style of an online journal, the reader will slowly explore the motivations behind Tess wanting to kill herself, why Leila decides to help and the aftermath that follows. This was a real page-turner and it made me miss forums, but not online journals (I never was good at that) because I have a book blog and it is pretty much an online journal of my reading life.
I love the concept of this book, in a world where we spend most of the time communicating online, what is to say that we are truly communicating with the intended person. Their identity could have been stolen, it could be someone pretending to be someone they are not or someone has taken over their life after they completed suicide. There is no real way to tell that is really happening in the online world.
The Internet is a tricky thing to portray in a novel, with changing technology and new trends, how do you stay relevant. Also do you write the book in text/IM language and use memes and current trends to tell the story? Kiss Me First is not trying to say the Internet and social networking is bad but just using it as a tool to tell this mystery.
I’m always interested in how the Internet is portrayed in a novel and Kiss Me First has managed to get the balance right. A mixture of nostalgia towards dying sites like the online journal or forums, relevance when talking about social networking, and tongue in cheek when talking about never understanding what text/IM language is all about. For some, the narrative might not be the easiest to read but if you have spent time reading online journals at any point of time, you will pick it up pretty easily.
I really enjoyed this novel, the mystery was pretty ordinary but there were some surprises. I preferred the philosophical questions and the way Lottie Moggach explored the online life with such ease. I was surprised to learn that this was a debut novel; it was executed well and offered some interesting thoughts on social networking. Also credit where credit is due, the approach to the internet was handled well; I think it will stand the test of time for a while and not age as fast as some novels. Kiss Me First has been getting a lot of attention lately and it really was a thrilling novel and is sure to entertain the readers, especially if you spend most of your day online.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/09/16/book-review-kiss-me-first/
Leila has lived a sheltered life, centred around an unhealthy co-dependent relationship with her mother. After her mother dies, she is left alone, completely unequipped to be in charge of her life. She soon finds comfort in spending as much time online as possible, first in role playing games, and then in forums chatting to like minded people. It is through a forum she is hand-picked and groomed to be the perfect person to take on the virtual identity of Tess, who wants nothing more than to disappear without causing alarm to her family and friends. Naive Leila is only too happy to help, and soon finds herself in way over her head.
I found the premise of this book really interesting so I was very much looking forward to reading it. However, as interesting as the plot seemed, I was left largely dissatisfied on finishing the story. I spent a lot of the story waiting for it to really kick start, and it never really did.
I found Leila as a character very confusing. It’s never explained in the book why she is the way she is- whether he has some kind of autism, a learning disability or whether she is simply a product of her mother’s over protection. Without this information I found it tricky to know how I should be feeling about her, and her actions.
On the other hand, Tess was a character who was described in so much detail one would assume she would appear to the reader larger than life. Unfortunately, I just found her unrealistic, and unbelievable. I know quite a bit about mental health, and depression, and the portrayal of Tess just didn’t support the plot of the story for me.
I had no problem finishing the story, it moved along at a good pace and I was interested to know what happened, however I think if I’d have read this book in separate sittings rather than all in one go I might have struggled to maintain my interest. I was also waiting for there to be a twist at the end, but the story played itself out as the reader would expect. There were no great surprises, for me at least, and the ambiguity of parts of the story which never got finally addressed along with the superfluous nature of some of the characters we are introduced to left me a tad disappointed.
Kiss Me First is a fine story, but if you’re looking for a thrilling psychological suspense novel this will probably not be your best choice.
This review was first published on Nudge-books.com on 4th March 2014.
I found the premise of this book really interesting so I was very much looking forward to reading it. However, as interesting as the plot seemed, I was left largely dissatisfied on finishing the story. I spent a lot of the story waiting for it to really kick start, and it never really did.
I found Leila as a character very confusing. It’s never explained in the book why she is the way she is- whether he has some kind of autism, a learning disability or whether she is simply a product of her mother’s over protection. Without this information I found it tricky to know how I should be feeling about her, and her actions.
On the other hand, Tess was a character who was described in so much detail one would assume she would appear to the reader larger than life. Unfortunately, I just found her unrealistic, and unbelievable. I know quite a bit about mental health, and depression, and the portrayal of Tess just didn’t support the plot of the story for me.
I had no problem finishing the story, it moved along at a good pace and I was interested to know what happened, however I think if I’d have read this book in separate sittings rather than all in one go I might have struggled to maintain my interest. I was also waiting for there to be a twist at the end, but the story played itself out as the reader would expect. There were no great surprises, for me at least, and the ambiguity of parts of the story which never got finally addressed along with the superfluous nature of some of the characters we are introduced to left me a tad disappointed.
Kiss Me First is a fine story, but if you’re looking for a thrilling psychological suspense novel this will probably not be your best choice.
This review was first published on Nudge-books.com on 4th March 2014.
DNF - just wasn't that interested and didn't want to force myself to keep reading; didn't seem like a bad book or anything, just not the book for me
3.5 stars, really, but I can't bring myself to round up.
This book was pleasant enough for an afternoon's read, but I felt myself let down after I'd finished it. I really feel like this book could have been a lot darker and more dangerous, and while Moggach often skirted along the idea of worse things happening, nothing ever came to fruition. It's a shame, because Lelia is such a dark character -- antisocial, brainwashed, no capacity for regret or empathy, obsessive, andshe's an "angel of mercy", due to murdering her mother (who was suffering from MS), so that also makes her a hypocrite, after all of those times she says people should have agency over their own bodies .
Lelia's character had the opportunity to go to some really dark places -- as did the character of Tess and their combined story -- but it just sort of fizzled out in the end.
This book was pleasant enough for an afternoon's read, but I felt myself let down after I'd finished it. I really feel like this book could have been a lot darker and more dangerous, and while Moggach often skirted along the idea of worse things happening, nothing ever came to fruition. It's a shame, because Lelia is such a dark character -- antisocial, brainwashed, no capacity for regret or empathy, obsessive, and
Lelia's character had the opportunity to go to some really dark places -- as did the character of Tess and their combined story -- but it just sort of fizzled out in the end.
Giving up on this. Hated the characters, hated the tone, am in no mood to be objective & analytical about it.
When I bought this book I wasn't 100% sure what it was about. The synopsis on Amazon isn't very informative but for 99p I couldn't not buy it.
It turns out that the book is about Leila, an introvert who has always avoided people other than her mother, who, after the death of her mother, becomes engrossed in website named Red Pill where she meets a man called Adrian who asks her to help a woman named Tess as she wishes to commit suicide but doesn't want her friends and family to be upset. Leila is to learn every small detail about Tess's life so she can carry on her Facebook page and send emails to friends and family so they think that she is still alive.
I found it difficult to get into this book and, at first, reading it seemed like a bit of a drag, however as I got closer the end the book came to life and I found it difficult to put down. The biggest problem with the book is the long chapters, some about 50 pages, and (although I'd probably read that much in one sitting anyway) it really put me off sitting down and reading. I didn't find the story very believable and I questioned both Leila's and Tess's intentions and actions through out the book.
Overall I am giving this book 3 stars as it was a good, well-written book and I would recommend you read it.
It turns out that the book is about Leila, an introvert who has always avoided people other than her mother, who, after the death of her mother, becomes engrossed in website named Red Pill where she meets a man called Adrian who asks her to help a woman named Tess as she wishes to commit suicide but doesn't want her friends and family to be upset. Leila is to learn every small detail about Tess's life so she can carry on her Facebook page and send emails to friends and family so they think that she is still alive.
I found it difficult to get into this book and, at first, reading it seemed like a bit of a drag, however as I got closer the end the book came to life and I found it difficult to put down. The biggest problem with the book is the long chapters, some about 50 pages, and (although I'd probably read that much in one sitting anyway) it really put me off sitting down and reading. I didn't find the story very believable and I questioned both Leila's and Tess's intentions and actions through out the book.
Overall I am giving this book 3 stars as it was a good, well-written book and I would recommend you read it.
If you're looking for an intense mystery focusing in part on the issues of talking to people you don't know online, then this is the book for you!