A review by xabbeylongx
Six Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe

hopeful lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Spoilers Ahead: 
This is a sapphic enemies-to-lovers book… need I say more? I was hooked from the blurb. 
We follow Penny and Tate, whose mothers are best friends. A bit of context for our main characters: Tate’s mum is extremely ill, and has been battling different illnesses for a while, and Penny’s mum has been disregarding Penny’s mental health after the accident with her father, in which he sadly passed. She drew away from Penny, and instead went to Tate’s mum, as they’ve always been that close. 
When Penny’s mum drops the bomb that she is going to be giving Tate’s mum part of her liver, Penny is shocked, because she wasn’t involved with the decision, and there was not a lot of time to think it through. Penny and Tate have to be there for each other, which is difficult as they both get on each other’s nerves. Tate’s mum suspects something between them, and Penny goes along with it, because otherwise it would mean one of her secrets getting passed on to her mother, and Penny can’t have that. 
The mums make it through, and they all move in together to save money. Penny is worried, as she hasn’t live with her mum for ages, as she’s quite difficult. As soon as she comes home, Penny finds one of her paintings (that she was going to sell) about their accident. 
She was going to profit off Penny’s grief. 
Penny stood up for herself, though. She had such a good character arc, and she’s a better person than me, because I would’ve snapped longgggg before that. 
Eventually Tate’s mum comes home, but not before Penny and Tate argue because she finds out about Penny not telling Tate’s mum the truth to save herself. She’s very angry. They do make up in the end, and Tate helps her to get through everything that she’s been going through mentally. They help each other, as they always do. 
Like the name suggests, they’ve always been drawn to each other, and there has been plenty of times in which they could have kissed, but they didn’t. This time, however, outside a truck they broke down in, they did. They kiss, and they finally admit their feelings, and they start to take control of their own lives. A very sweet ending, honestly. 
I thought this book was a little dry. I’m biased, as I absolutely adore sapphic novels, and enemies to lovers? Yes please. However, I felt the hatred was half-hearted. Obviously, a lot better than them being toxic (although arguably, they still were) but like where is the spice? Why am I not jumping for joy at the thought of them talking? It just felt a bit meh to me, so it was okay, but not the best. 
I have a personal hatred for Penny’s mum… she has no redeeming qualities. She deserves to never be forgiven, and nothing can make what she did okay. Just all of her actions, not even just her paintings. 
There’s a few things that I thought were a little unnecessary, like their friend’s relationships (where did it come from, and why is it there?) and honestly, it felt like the right pieces to a puzzle but they didn’t fit. I don’t know what was missing. I guess it missed that exciting spark I need to have to really love a book. It was okay, but nothing special - hence why it took me absolutely ages to finish reading it (it was such a relief when I’d finished). 
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