A review by nmcannon
I Kissed a Girl by Jennet Alexander

emotional funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I first found Jennet Alexander’s I Kissed a Girl through LGBTQ Reads. My sapphic book club ran out of sapphic books we could name off the top of our heads, if you can believe it! Our members were sent to search the wilds; to report back on possible reading material. Clicking through LGBTQ Reads’ filters, I searched for Jewish lesbian romance novels. I Kissed a Girl popped up! 

Our members latched onto the find, and one month later we happily discussed Lilah and Noa’s journey into romcom-horror solidarity. A talented actress trapped in a horror movie typecast, Lilah dreams of more challenging roles, earning enough money to support her family, and meeting a real life queer woman. Meanwhile, Noa is running on caffeine fumes and the adrenaline high of staking her career on Scarodactyl. To join the union, she has to come away from three projects with glowing recommendation letters. She can’t let insane work hours, strange co-workers, and Lilah’s gorgeous face distract her.

My only real critique of the book is the writing style tripped me up, and that’s 100% on me. I write interactive fiction, and the genre demands I don’t control the main character—the player does. Any reaction I want to narrate has to be rooted in the body. I can’t write “You panic,” and instead write, “Your adrenal gland pumps its handy poison.” I Kissed a Girl’s writing style is very cerebral and oriented to the character’s inner thoughts. Sometimes I wouldn’t realize a character was panicking until they’d do something drastic. I’d then re-interpret the last couple pages, creating this odd delayed reaction effect. I felt like I was playing catch up on the characters’ emotional states.

Besides the Jewish lesbian romance, a real draw of the book is seeing how a movie gets made, especially a horror movie with tons of ooey-gooey practical effects. Through Noa, Alexander delves into the history of the genre. The author marked pages that contain horror movie references with a cute pterodactyl symbol in the paperback edition. The back matter explains the references for the newbies like me. The descriptions of a movie set’s inner workings are very fun—and reminded me that they’re best lived through vicariously. Alexander doesn’t gloss over the truly insane 12 hour work days, the exploitation of non-union workers, and how a single head honcho’s whimsy can derail people’s lives. All that suffering for very little pay to boot! Yikes. Though Lilah and Noa are passionate about their work, passion doesn’t pay the bills. Or protect them from very creepy fans. While I Kissed a Girl isn’t a “dead dove, don’t eat” dark romance, my stomach tightened, and my spine tingled with unease in some sections. The content warning for stalking isn’t joking around.

The romance end of things is much more hopeful and happy. In addition to the horror movie references, the back matter contains an interview with Alexander. She explains that she wanted to take two women media often pits against each other and have them fall in love. Lilah is a pink-loving girly girl. Noa is that one horror movie buff who will absolutely destroy Halloween Trivia Night. It was refreshing to read a New Adult version of the goth girl-popular girl high school romance. Not to say they lack nuance. Lilah and Noa are both POV characters, so Alexander digs deep into their psyches. Both women are adults doing their best, and conflict is born of miscommunication common to any new relationship.

If you like movies and girl kissing; if you think playing around in fake blood is fun (it is!), pick up I Kissed a Girl. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings