A review by kristyndcruz
A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked this book. But I also didn’t like this book. It was definitely too cheesy and sweet for me, and I think it appeals more to teenagers or tweens than YA, but it was a good read. It did get overly cringy sometimes, and I did think it was too sweet and slightly childish at times, but it wasn’t bad. It was also very sad. I did cry at the end of the book, and teared up a lot throughout it. When reading the plot, I expected drama and an interesting storyline, but when the plot twist came, I couldn’t help but think it was predictable and overused. There was nothing special about the plot that hasn’t been done hundreds of times before. The only thing that made this book different than others were the ‘boy kisses’, which I didn’t even really think was that cute. It was predictable and I was disappointed with the plot, but it wasn’t majorly annoying. I did not like the ending though. I started to read the last chapter and the epilogue, and thought  I would love it, but I truly believe Rune did not have to die. I think it would have been so much more beautiful if he were to live his life in the way Poppy wanted him to and find love again. I didn’t like him dying. It was also annoying that we didn’t find out why or how he died, he just did in his sleep. I also did not like Rune, nor his relationship with Poppy. I thought it was too obsessive and possessive. From a young age they were in love, but I hated how he was too in love with her to never kiss anyone else or want anyone else. It seemed like a teenage love, epic nonetheless, but not much depth or maturity to it. There were too involved in each other than they had no space for their independence or to discover who they were, because they were constantly talking about themselves like one person, in terms of “two halves of one heart.” That was too teenagery for me. It was also understandable that he was annoyed with his father for moving back to Norway, but he was so incredibly rude to him that I couldn’t help but not like him anymore. He isn’t a boyfriend I would necessarily want for myself, which is what I like in the love interest. I also hated his ‘bad boy’ stage. It wasn’t mysterious and intriguing it was just fucking annoying. He smoked too much, and that is also a major turn off for me. He also treated Poppy like shit during the time, where he would call her a bitch, yell at her, grab her. I stopped liking him when he came back. I did like all the other characters though, they were sweet and a family that I would want to be in. I did also think this book was very inspiring and beautiful, focusing on living life to the fullest and appreciating the beauty in the moments. I’m not a very ‘live laugh love’ kinda girl, but I appreciate the meaning, it was just too much it overpowered the book. The book was only focused on the tragedy, with no real plot. I also thought the writing and the dialogue was very unrealistic, and no teenager would talk like that. It made the book annoying having to read their conversations. There were also repeated things throughout the book, like her big white bow and her infinity earrings that was cute at the start but got overused way too much that I died just a little bit every time it was mentioned. It was pretty much just a cheesy teen wattpad book that got published. It just wasn’t for me or my age group, but I would recommend for younger readers who want cute teen romance that will make you cry.
“Why does it take a life ending to learn how to cherish every day?”
“You may lose half of your heart when I go, but that doesn’t give you permission to live half a life”
“When you know that something is finite, it makes it that much more meaningful”
“Live hard, love harder”
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