A review by chrysfey
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I loved Sybil. This was my first time reading a story with an autistic character fleshed out in this way and so well. The character development for Sybil was phenomenal. I also thought Michael was developed amazingly well, too. The author said the story was inspired by a gender reversal of Pretty Woman, and I certainly got that, but Michael was much more than an escort. I loved how he treated Sybil.

I also loved that this wasn’t just the sex lessons trope for an inexperienced woman. At first it was about helping a woman who hated French kissing because it reminded her of “a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish” and who also locked down (physically and mentally) whenever a man touched her. Then those lessons turned into teaching Sybil about how to do relationships because she’d never been in one before. I appreciate those differences with the trope. Many women, whether they are autistic or not, will related to Sybil and her struggles with intimacy and relationships.

These characters will stick with me. I can say that with confidence.

I did get triggered once, though, when Michael said that his mom has incurable, inoperable lung cancer. My mom was recently diagnosed with Stage 3-B lung cancer (like Michael’s mom, she’d never smoked and was just unlucky). I wasn’t anticipating a reminder like that when I was using this book to escape during her treatments. That yanked me out of the story and it took me a moment to get back into it, but I still loved every part of this story.

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