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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I grabbed this blindly from Audible. I don't know if that was a mistake or not. Hear me out - yes, I finally got the answer to the question that was this book. But OMG how many tissues did I have to go through to complete this?! How many times did I think about stopping because of said tissues?!
I will summarize as briefly as I can so as not to spoil this. Poppy is thrilled when she gets a new neighborhood boy her age to play with. At 5, Norwegian Rune doesn't know anything about Georgia. But he knows Poppy is his best friend. Together, the two fall in love and are always together, always a pair. When something happens that separates them, Rune loses his Poppymin and who he is. When they reunite, will he find himself again or will he lose everything?
I have such mixed feelings about this. Was it cheesy? Yep. But it's kids falling in love, so I get it. Was the Norwegian accent and Southern accent together really strange to hear? Yep, super bizarre. At times, I couldn't take any of it seriously. But then the subject matter got heavy AF and just straight 😭😭😭😭. If you want to sob your eyes out to a YA book (with YA language), this might be for you. I don't know how to rate this because yes it got me emotionally, but it also felt sort of corny. I'm going with 3.5 - rounding down.
⭐⭐⭐
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death
Moderate: Grief
DNF'ed audiobook at 1h (so 8% of the book).
- too many clichés and taken too far ("omg they are both so cool but so misunderstood and mistreated by others"🙄)
- the ML has an accent (which is nice for a change) but it ends up being unrealistic because he moved to the USA when he was 5. Romantization/fetishism of Norwegians.
- tbh the female narrator does a great job. I liked the male narrator at first but when he had to do Poppy's voice it was too exaggerated. He spoke in Norwegian a few times which was nice, but I have no idea if the voice actor did a good job or not (apparently he isn't Norwegian, he's American, so idk...)
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I heard about A Thousand Boy Kisses through TikTok and, like a true victim of marketing, I bought it immediately and started reading. While this isn’t a bad book by any means, it did make me realize that I should probably be a bit more cautious about relying on TikTok for book recommendations—because, wow, were they off in their descriptions of this one.
The story follows Rune Kristiansen, a seventeen-year-old boy who returns from Norway to Blossom Grove, Georgia, the town where he grew up and where he met Poppy Litchfield, his childhood best friend and soulmate. Rune is determined to find out why Poppy, the girl who was supposed to be his forever, cut him off without a word of explanation two years ago. But when Rune uncovers the truth, he learns that the greatest heartache is still ahead of him.
I gave this book 3 stars—though it’s on the lower end of that rating—and here’s why. My biggest issue with the book is the ages of the characters. I’m sorry, but no. These kids were far too young to be experiencing some of the things they were experiencing, let alone making decisions that felt more suited to adults. And don’t even get me started on the jar of “a thousand boy kisses” gifted to Poppy at such a young age. While I get the sentimental value and symbolism, the idea of a child being encouraged to kiss a thousand boys is just... no.
That said, if the characters had been older, I think the story would have worked much better. The romance and the premise of collecting a thousand special moments could have been sweet and heartwarming if the context had felt more age-appropriate.
On the positive side, the plot and the writing were excellent. Tillie Cole knows how to create an emotional, heart-wrenching story that tugs at your heartstrings. The setting, the pacing, and the overall concept are well-executed, and I can see why so many people were moved by this book. However, the characters drove me insane, mostly because of their lack of communication. I know this is somewhat justified by their young age and inexperience, but it still made parts of the story frustrating to read.
In conclusion, A Thousand Boy Kisses is an emotional, bittersweet story that has a lot of potential but suffers from its unrealistic portrayal of young characters. If you’re someone who loves deeply sentimental stories and can overlook some implausible aspects, you might enjoy this book more than I did. For me, it was a mixed experience—I appreciated the concept and the emotional depth, but the execution left me feeling unsatisfied.
The story follows Rune Kristiansen, a seventeen-year-old boy who returns from Norway to Blossom Grove, Georgia, the town where he grew up and where he met Poppy Litchfield, his childhood best friend and soulmate. Rune is determined to find out why Poppy, the girl who was supposed to be his forever, cut him off without a word of explanation two years ago. But when Rune uncovers the truth, he learns that the greatest heartache is still ahead of him.
I gave this book 3 stars—though it’s on the lower end of that rating—and here’s why. My biggest issue with the book is the ages of the characters. I’m sorry, but no. These kids were far too young to be experiencing some of the things they were experiencing, let alone making decisions that felt more suited to adults. And don’t even get me started on the jar of “a thousand boy kisses” gifted to Poppy at such a young age. While I get the sentimental value and symbolism, the idea of a child being encouraged to kiss a thousand boys is just... no.
That said, if the characters had been older, I think the story would have worked much better. The romance and the premise of collecting a thousand special moments could have been sweet and heartwarming if the context had felt more age-appropriate.
On the positive side, the plot and the writing were excellent. Tillie Cole knows how to create an emotional, heart-wrenching story that tugs at your heartstrings. The setting, the pacing, and the overall concept are well-executed, and I can see why so many people were moved by this book. However, the characters drove me insane, mostly because of their lack of communication. I know this is somewhat justified by their young age and inexperience, but it still made parts of the story frustrating to read.
In conclusion, A Thousand Boy Kisses is an emotional, bittersweet story that has a lot of potential but suffers from its unrealistic portrayal of young characters. If you’re someone who loves deeply sentimental stories and can overlook some implausible aspects, you might enjoy this book more than I did. For me, it was a mixed experience—I appreciated the concept and the emotional depth, but the execution left me feeling unsatisfied.
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is one of my favorite books so far. It broke my heart but also made my heart happy throughout the book.