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A review by cindysbooks
A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime by Monica Murphy
3.0
Now you owe me two million kisses
3.5/5
This book reminds me so much of Chuck and Blair's relationship in Gossip Girl, if Chuck wasn't a sexual predator and Blair was a people pleaser. Ok, I know it's actually pretty different and the characters seem nothing alike yet I can't help but think they are so similar. Maybe that's the European in me who never went to New York, knows absolutely nothing about the Upper East Side, and has never been surrounded by "Old Money" or maybe that's just the serial binger in me who finally gets a chance to express itself. However, if you watched GG and liked both the setting and Chuck and Blair's relationship you might enjoy this book.
This romance basically takes place in this prep school in New York owned by the super-rich male MC's family. Crew Lancaster is the king of Lancaster prep, he's handsome, rich, a bit of a bad boy and most importantly he's obsessed with our main girl Wren Beaumont. Wren is a virgin, no sorry, she's THE last virgin standing. She's a good girl, a straight-A student, she's idolized by every single girl in school who follow her like minions wherever she goes (hm hm Blair) and guess what? She proudly wears her purity ring because she promised herself to her father until her eventual marriage (sounds weird and archaic, I know).
This story is all about finally finding someone who understands you and truly sees you in a world corrupted by money and expectations. It's about finally stepping into your light and accepting yourself even when surrounded by people who only see you as the version of you they created in their minds. It's about learning to live for yourself and stepping off the pedestal people created for you. Or at least, that's what I think it's supposed to be about, how I imagine it as a reader.
These themes are very interesting and noble, but were overshadowed by the author's obsession for her main character's virginity. I obviously understand the focus on Wren's virginity since the book seems to send a certain message of sexual liberation. However, I did not need to read over and over for hundreds of pages that Wren was a virgin, that she was a proud virgin, that she was the last virgin in school, that she was the only virgin in fucking New York. TOO MUCH VIRGIN KILLS THE VIRGIN ALRIGHT. (What I just wrote makes absolutely no sense but I hope you get what I'm trying to say.)
This is the kind of story I hate to love: it's very much cliché, very slow in the beginning, some things make absolutely no sense and there seems to be a little bit of internalized misogyny bleeding through the pages. However, it's so addictive, I stayed up until 5 in the morning to get through the first half of the book and was late to class because I couldn't put the damn book down. It's also extremely cute in the weirdest way possible. The male MC is an absolute sweetheart, an amazing guy who had me giggling like a sixth-grader, he was so in love with Wren it made my heart melt. The last chapters of the book are the bliss of my existence. THE LITTLE GIFTS WERE THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER. Crew basically speaks all five love languages, he's the best, I love him.
All in all, this was a pretty good read. Nothing fabulous but it was still great seeing both characters coming together and exploring parts of themselves they didn't know existed until each other. It was a really cute, light and wholesome coming of age romance but there's no real plot, no conflict (which can be a good thing because there's no miscommunication trope in this book, thank the Lord for that) and I must say I would've loved to see a minor fuck up on Crew's part just to read about his grovelling because it would've been epic.
Final thoughts: this book was a little bit too long, some chapters (especially in the beginning) weren't very useful and could've been deleted. Also, the characters are 17 and 18 years old but there's a lot of smut, it doesn't bother me personally but I don't want people going in thinking it's a fun YA romance when it's not, it might take place in school but sex is quite frankly the main plot of the book. So if you can't stand smut and are searching for a traditional young adult romance, do not under any circumstances read this book.
3.5/5
This book reminds me so much of Chuck and Blair's relationship in Gossip Girl, if Chuck wasn't a sexual predator and Blair was a people pleaser. Ok, I know it's actually pretty different and the characters seem nothing alike yet I can't help but think they are so similar. Maybe that's the European in me who never went to New York, knows absolutely nothing about the Upper East Side, and has never been surrounded by "Old Money" or maybe that's just the serial binger in me who finally gets a chance to express itself. However, if you watched GG and liked both the setting and Chuck and Blair's relationship you might enjoy this book.
This romance basically takes place in this prep school in New York owned by the super-rich male MC's family. Crew Lancaster is the king of Lancaster prep, he's handsome, rich, a bit of a bad boy and most importantly he's obsessed with our main girl Wren Beaumont. Wren is a virgin, no sorry, she's THE last virgin standing. She's a good girl, a straight-A student, she's idolized by every single girl in school who follow her like minions wherever she goes (hm hm Blair) and guess what? She proudly wears her purity ring because she promised herself to her father until her eventual marriage (sounds weird and archaic, I know).
This story is all about finally finding someone who understands you and truly sees you in a world corrupted by money and expectations. It's about finally stepping into your light and accepting yourself even when surrounded by people who only see you as the version of you they created in their minds. It's about learning to live for yourself and stepping off the pedestal people created for you. Or at least, that's what I think it's supposed to be about, how I imagine it as a reader.
These themes are very interesting and noble, but were overshadowed by the author's obsession for her main character's virginity. I obviously understand the focus on Wren's virginity since the book seems to send a certain message of sexual liberation. However, I did not need to read over and over for hundreds of pages that Wren was a virgin, that she was a proud virgin, that she was the last virgin in school, that she was the only virgin in fucking New York. TOO MUCH VIRGIN KILLS THE VIRGIN ALRIGHT. (What I just wrote makes absolutely no sense but I hope you get what I'm trying to say.)
This is the kind of story I hate to love: it's very much cliché, very slow in the beginning, some things make absolutely no sense and there seems to be a little bit of internalized misogyny bleeding through the pages. However, it's so addictive, I stayed up until 5 in the morning to get through the first half of the book and was late to class because I couldn't put the damn book down. It's also extremely cute in the weirdest way possible. The male MC is an absolute sweetheart, an amazing guy who had me giggling like a sixth-grader, he was so in love with Wren it made my heart melt. The last chapters of the book are the bliss of my existence. THE LITTLE GIFTS WERE THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER. Crew basically speaks all five love languages, he's the best, I love him.
All in all, this was a pretty good read. Nothing fabulous but it was still great seeing both characters coming together and exploring parts of themselves they didn't know existed until each other. It was a really cute, light and wholesome coming of age romance but there's no real plot, no conflict (which can be a good thing because there's no miscommunication trope in this book, thank the Lord for that) and I must say I would've loved to see a minor fuck up on Crew's part just to read about his grovelling because it would've been epic.
Final thoughts: this book was a little bit too long, some chapters (especially in the beginning) weren't very useful and could've been deleted. Also, the characters are 17 and 18 years old but there's a lot of smut, it doesn't bother me personally but I don't want people going in thinking it's a fun YA romance when it's not, it might take place in school but sex is quite frankly the main plot of the book. So if you can't stand smut and are searching for a traditional young adult romance, do not under any circumstances read this book.