Customer Reviews

Kiss & Blog: A Novel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Winter and Sloane are tired of being passed over and ignored like a bunch of faceless extras. All the while the A-list clique of girls at Ocean High get the choice roles of homecoming princess, cheerleader, and varsity jock bait for the affection of guys like Cash Davis-who would not even notice Winter and Sloane if he ran over one of them in his Hummer. So, these desperately determined freshman rejects form a pact to do whatever it takes to get noticed during their sophomore year at Ocean High in Laguna Beach.

All summer they watch endless makeover shows, practice sure-fire flirt techniques and plan outfits to thrill. The first day of school finds Winter hopeful and feeling as if she and Sloane will finally get it right. Girls like Jaci, Holly, and Claire will pull them close to whisper the cutting-edge gossip in the hallway. Winter and Sloane will hold court at the A-list table, be invited to "the" parties and shopping excursions, and most importantly charm the cutest boys at school.

Wrong. Sloane has been a dedicated friend-until the day that she finally gets included by the A-crowd, and then she promptly dumps her best friend Winter without a second thought. And Winter discovers that shopping is actually "shoplifting," and charming means "going all the way."

She resolves her anger by starting an anonymous blog and becomes "Eleanor Rigby" to the Internet world. If Sloane has dumped her so heartlessly, then Eleanor would have a few choice tidbits to expose about the new "Princess Pink" and her "Pastel Posse." As her anger diminishes she ends up meeting some really cool people who are into music and are putting together a band. Somehow her world changes and she discovers that she really doesn't want to be a Sloane clone anyway.

Ah, but what to do about the blog? The Gospel of Eleanor Rigby has become so popular that the kids at school are guessing and speculating on the mysterious "Eleanor Rigby" and the awful "Princess Pink." Someone even offers her a book contract.

Heartless though Sloane has been,Winter discovers her true character when it really counts. More later...

Armchair Interviews says: Ah, the joys of high school!

Winter and her best friend Sloane who were social rejects the year before make a vow to do whatever it takes to become popular. The popular girls accepted Sloane from the start and hate Winter all along (there is an incident when they are at the mall and one of the popular girls puts down Winter's financial situation by holding clothes up in front of her that she knows she can't afford and saying things like "Too bad this shirt costs more then your whole outfit"). The more popular Sloane becomes the more she starts to forget all about Winter and after deciding not to try out for cheerleading with her and stealing the cheer Winter worked hard on by herself, she abandons their friendship all together. Winter decides to get revenge by creating a blog with all of Sloane's dirty little secrets but she changes Sloane's name calling her Princess Pink and her friends the Pink Posse (You have to wonder how dumb Sloane's new "friends" are since they didn't get that the blog was about Sloane until the end of the book even though Winter does include current facts about their clique unless it was just a plot hole by the author.) The blog is down right embarrassing and reveals things like Sloane going to second base with her cousin, her mom stealing another woman's husband, her dad being in jail, and how she used lip gloss after it fell in the toilet without even wiping it off. (There is a lot more but you have to read to find out) At first Winter feels justified doing it and then she feels bad about it and wonders if it was worth it.
The book which is written by Alyson Noel, (who in my opinion is one of the most underrated young adult authors there is), is a good read although it does have the typical mean girls like clique in it that most teen novels seem to overdo to death. It teaches a lesson about how revenge isn't always as sweet as it sounds. Just like with Ms. Noel's previous books: Laguna Cove and Faking 19, it made me wish she would write a series with the characters. I really wanted to see Winter and Sloane becoming friends again I could see them forgiving each other for everything.
Grade: A+

Winter and her best friend Sloane want to be part of the in-crowd, so they take drastic measures over the summer to ensure their popularity. Predictably, Sloane gets "in," Winter doesn't, Sloane drops Winter, Winter creates a "revenge blog" and meets a boy, Winter gets the boy.

I know Noel intends for us to root for Winter because Sloane is so obviously nasty and disloyal, but Winter is almost Sloane's equal as far as likability. Her blog is increasingly nasty, spilling all of Sloane's secrets to the Internet in general. Winter owes Sloane nothing, but the spitefulness of her blog makes her a fairly unlikable protagonist.

On the vast Internet, what are the odds of everyone in your high school and the neighboring middle school finding and becoming obsessed with YOUR blog, without a hint or link from you? If so many local people have stumbled across it, why doesn't anyone have ANY clue who Winter's talking about, when it's pretty obvious from her online anecdotes? Not that it's unlikely to have online activities discovered by people who know you IRL, but the likelihood of all of your acquaintances squealing, "Have you read this blog? Isn't it the COOLEST? Aren't you DYING to know what she'll spill next?" seems pretty slim.

I loved this book. I had a really hard time putting it down. I felt like I was a part of there lives. The characters took me everywhere, school, New York, the mall, the cafe and lots more. Its very descriptive and something that is very easy to relate to!

I totally recommend this book and every single one of her others!

Alyson Noel's KISS & BLOG will find a spot in many a young adult leisure reader's collection: it tells of a freshman's miserable year and her decision to use her online blog to describe the underlying popularity currents of her classmates - and expose their secrets. When her blog becomes widely read and popular, Winter must decide if it's worth continuing in this fresh, realistic story.

In every high school there is the ruling class comprised of the best-looking and best-dressed girls and boys of the school. At Ocean High it is no different, and mousy sixteen-year-old Winter wants to be a part of the posh social scene. Along with her best-friend, Sloane, they dye their hair, buy a new wardrobe, and completely transform their appearances for the beginning of the new school year.

Soon Sloane captures the attention of and becomes friends with Ocean High's A-listers: Jaci, Claire, and Holly. However, even though she tries as hard as she can, Winter just can't seem to follow them up the social ladder. As Sloane becomes more popular than ever, she completely ignores her former best-friend. But is Winter going to accept being cast out like last year's fashions? Of course not!

Winter becomes fixated on having revenge by blogging about all of Sloane's worst secrets. But when the blog skyrockets to popularity, Winter begins to wonder: is blogging the secrets of your ex-best-friend the right thing to do? Can't she just leave the whole popularity mess alone and enjoy the company of her cute new guy friend? And what happens when this former best-friend finds about this blog?

Fast, entertaining, and filled with mentions of celebrities and designer clothing, KISS & BLOG is a juicy novel perfect for fans of the GOSSIP GIRL series. The captivating plot had me turning pages for hours, and I just couldn't get enough of the social scene of Ocean High. KISS & BLOG is a definite winner!

Reviewed by: Safia Abdul

LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! One of my favorites! If you are in the teen range age you need to read.

Kiss and Blog is an engaging and entertaining read! Alyson Noel breathes humor and life into her characters. Filled with lots of surprises and conflict, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

An awesome teen read!


As freshmen at Ocean High last year, Winter and her best friend Sloane thought they could ditch their nerdy past, launching from invisible to cool. So after another miserable year of standing on the social sidelines they make a pact to do whatever it takes not to go unnoticed in their sophomore year, promising each other that whoever makes it into the cool group first will bring the other along.
But once Sloane gets a taste of life on the A-list, she ditches Winter without so much as a second thought. Suddenly cast out of her former best friend's life, Winter takes revenge the modern way: by announcing all of Sloane's dirty little secrets on an anonymous blog. When the blog becomes more popular than she ever dreamed, Winter is left to decide if her retaliation is really worth the consequences--and if the price for popularity is one she's willing to pay. Once again, Alyson Noël navigates the tricky waters of the high school social scene with the heart and humor her readers have come to love.

Cleverly written, gut wrenchingly honest and hysterically funny, KISS & BLOG tells one awkward misfits emotional story of sophomore year, as she struggles for relevance within the social hierarchy at her So Cal high school. Not at all the juvenile bubble gum piece I expected when I picked this book up in the bargain bin and definitely a read I'm sure that teens and adults alike will find relatable on some level.

With blatant betrayal of long time friendships, public humiliation and secret crushes, Alyson Noel holds nothing back, revealing just how traumatizing and alienating life is for some outcast teens , as well as exposes the "dirty" of just how NOT great popularity often turns out to be.

The reality of it... Girls can just be outright Evil to each other, especially teenage girls.

This book is the perfect read for teens and revenge seekers. Who wouldn't want to get revenge annonymously on people who have hurt or betrayed them? That's exactly what Winter does to Sloane, her ex-best friend and backstabber. The reader will be cheering on Winter and booing Sloane. It will leave the reader with a little lesson on revenge, making this a book that's fun & meaningful. Recommended for teen girls on both sides of popularity.