The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles

Title: The Kissing Booth
Author: Beth Reekles
Publisher: Random House Children's
Released: December 13th 2012
Pages: 448 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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Meet Rochelle Evans: pretty, popular--and never been kissed. Meet Noah Flynn: badass, volatile--and a total player. And also Elle's best friend's older brother... 

When Elle decides to run a kissing booth for the school's Spring Carnival, she locks lips with Noah and her life is turned upside down. Her head says to keep away, but her heart wants to draw closer--this romance seems far from fairy tale and headed for heartbreak. 

But will Elle get her happily ever after?

I don't like cheesy books and I don't like cheesy couples yet I liked The Kissing Booth.  Please go and figure. Something about this read appealed to me, so despite it's vast amount of teen angst, I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you're looking for a light, easy-going read, I'd definitely recommend this.

Rochelle has had a crush on her best friend's older brother since she can remember. So when he steps up to the kissing booth at her school's carnival and gives her her first kiss, it's practically a dream come true. However, Noah has his own set of problems and a reputation to upload; would he be willing to risk it all, even his brother's love, for this one girl? And would she him?

I class YA books into two categories: the teen books and the almost-adult books. I like the almost-adult lot - yes, the characters are still teenagers, but you can relate to them no matter your age. The Kissing Booth was what I would call a teen book, and despite my being the same age as the characters, I felt like it was happening to a bunch of whining 13 year olds. It was just so full of teen angst and pathetic problems that if it hadn't been for want of knowing the ending, I would have DNFed it.

I was looking through Goodreads and saw this book got on the list for Most Pathetic Heroine Ever. It's unfortunate to say that I actually agree! Rochelle was really awful as a protagonist; she was like a mindless clone of a dozen other girls! I wanted her to be fresh, quirky and unique, yet she was just another face in a sea of YA characters. The one thing that stood out about her that I liked was the fact that she wasn't in love with her best friend and vice versa. I don't know how many times I set this book down and pondered how likely it would be that Lee would get so annoyed at her kissing Noah because he secretly wanted to - I mean, isn't that one of the biggest clichés going? Thank goodness that didn't happen!

I think what saved this book for me was the realistic aspect of Noah and Rochelle's relationship. Although it had it's painfully cheesy moments, a lot of what happened and how it happened is how it would occur in real life. I hate these false happy endings, so it was nice to see that the cheese didn't completely infiltrate every part of the story (Though I will admit, the cheesyness did get to me and I did cry at one point!)

For a debut novel with a teenage author, The Kissing Booth is fantastic. Although I've complained a lot, a part of me really did enjoy it. It has a carefree, easy-going nature about it which makes it enjoyable despite its flaws, and I'm really glad I read it. I don't think I'll read any more in this series, but I do have an ARC of Rolling Dice - I hope I enjoy it just as much, if not more.
Rating: 3/5