Who I Kissed

by Janet Gurtler

• ISBN10: 1283598485
• ISBN13: 9781283598484
• Publish Date: 1 January 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 17 February 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks Fire
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber]

Who I Kissed was not a good book, mainly because the love interest was an absolute piece of crap who should have remained forever alone. That said, it was a quick and easy read and I flew threw it, and it also did a good job of highlighting a topic that I had very little knowledge of previously.


I’m going to talk about the love interest first because I need to get this off my chest. So, Zee. He and Sam, the main character, aren’t together but there’s obviously some mutual attraction there. Fair enough. Zee is best friends with the guy who dies, which messes things up a bit and Zee starts to treat Sam horribly. Look, I know he’s hurt because his friend is dead, but Zee is a complete arsehole towards Sam and it’s pretty much unforgivable. For example, there is one scene in which Sam has enough of his crap and starts to walk away, but Zee grabs Sam’s arm and starts squeezing it so hard that it hurts. He also gets completely obsessive when she talks with other guys, and he’s overbearing and just horrible. He’s basically abusive, and I am disgusted that Janet Gurtler made him a legitimate love interest for her main character.

ANYWAY.

I didn’t really connect with Sam, but I enjoyed reading about her to an extent. She didn’t have much of a personality, which left me feeling very indifferent towards her. But at least I didn’t want to strangle her like I did Zee, right? I felt really sorry for her while she was going through all of that crap at school. I just wish her character had been fleshed out more.

There was also a potential for an epic friendship of awesome, but Gurtler chose not to focus on that aspect. Disappointing. That said, Sam did have a really great friend who I wish was around more instead of the horrible love interest and a certain other character who shan’t be named.

I thought that Who I Kissed did a good job of highlighting awareness about allergies, particularly peanut allergies which is clearly something that the author feels strongly about. Peanuts aren’t banned in schools in my area, so it was an interesting topic to read about since I had very little knowledge about the bans in the US and the debates surrounding them prior to reading this book.

This book is not good, and I wouldn’t recommend it, but I do appreciate what Gurtler was trying to do with the allergy thing, because it’s clearly a serious issue that affects many people, but those who aren’t affect it brush it under the rug. It’s just a shame that the love interest was a complete and utter abusive little git who I would like to shove in front of a train. Ehem.

[Angie]

Who I Kissed was very interesting and dealt with some unique issues, mainly peanut allergies and asthma. Samantha is a top swimmer at her new school, and she's finally starting to fit in, after some rumor from her old school follows her. Then it's all ruined one night, when she kisses Alex and he promptly drops dead. It turns out that the peanut butter sandwich she grabbed before she left the house was the culprit. Now, she's being isolated from her classmates again for being a murderer, even though it was just an accident. Samantha can't help but feel guilty though, since she didn't know Alex well enough to know that he was allergic, so she probably shouldn't have been kissing him either.

I really liked Who I Kissed for the most part. The plot was unique and I think it's an important story to tell, since allergies don't get as much attention as I think they should. I do think the author did a great job of not making all people who are a bit careless with nuts villains, while also clearly getting the message across that we should be more considerate of those who do have allergies. It's a sticky situation, since as someone with many allergies, I don't expect anyone to cater to my allergies. It's my responsibility to be careful, but then again, for something as common as nut and peanut allergies, the general public should be more aware.

Who I Kissed also deals a lot with grief. Of course, Alex's family is upset by this tragedy, and Samantha is completely devastated by what she believes is 100% her fault. But on top of that, it also brings up memories (or lack there of) of her mother, who died when she was young. Her father never talks about it with her, so Sam just doesn't know how to deal. Eventually all of the feelings come out with help from Sam's aunt, and she learns to move on. However, that ending felt like a major cop-out. Sam was finally dealing with the situation when she's essentially let off the hook. I know things like what happened do happen in real life, but it completely changed the direction of the story. I felt like it would have been stronger to have Sam move on from this on her own, with the help of friends, family, and her therapist, rather than the news that she receives.

In the end, I liked Who I Kissed a lot, with the exception of the surprise ending. It definitely stands out from other YA realistic fiction by dealing with a serious issue, but without being dark and gritty. It was just a real situation that could happen to anybody, anywhere.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Rowena]

I was curious to see how I’d like this book, given the premise behind it. I can’t even imagine the kind of guilt and grief a girl would feel after making out with a guy and having him die because you ate a peanut butter sandwich before the party. I found that while reading through this story, Sam’s reaction to everything that happened rang true. It felt real and my heart was broken for her, for Zee and for Alex’s family. There were so many things going on in this story, so much guilt that it was hard not to get emotionally attached to everyone in the story.

There’s Sam’s guilt over kissing a boy she barely knew. There’s Chloe’s guilt over staying with her boyfriend than checking on her brother like she meant to. There’s Zee’s guilt over the crappy way he treated Sam that led to her kissing Alex. So much guilt and so many people drowning in it.

The story goes like this: Sam is the new girl in school and she swims (exceptionally well). Sam likes Zee. Zee seems interested in Sam. Zee and Alex are best friends. They all go to a party. Zee and Sam talk, hit it off. Zee is pretty drunk. Sam is not. Zee’s ex-hook up bulldozes her way into Zee’s lap. Zee does not push her off. Sam is hurt. Alex makes himself known. Alex and Sam talk. Alex makes Sam feel better about Zee’s rejection. Sam tries to teach Zee a lesson. Alex and Sam kiss. Alex dies. And then guilt…all around.

The bulk of this story deals with what happens after Alex dies. It’s told through Sam’s point of view but Gurtler did a great job of inserting the other characters and their emotions in as well. The sub-plot about Sam’s mom’s death is thrown in there which I thought added more depth to Samantha’s character.

I couldn’t put this book down. I started it long after I posted on Goodreads that I was reading it but once I opened it up, I couldn’t put it down. I was too interested in getting to know Sam, in getting to know what happened after that party at Taylor’s house. I was invested in Sam’s story and I thought the author did a great job of sucking this reader right into Sam’s world. She’s the new girl in school and she didn’t know about Alex’s peanut allergy. She was the new girl in school and she was trying to live down a false reputation at her last school that was started by girls who were jealous of Sam’s ability to swim faster than some fish.

Sam was a good person and she didn’t deserve any of the treatment that she got before she came to Tadita and after the party at Taylor’s but what gutted me was that she thought she did. She thought of herself as a murderer and she just took the treatment that the kids at school threw her way. She took the treatment that Zee gave her on the chin because she thought she deserved it and that made my heart hurt for her in a way that it hasn’t hurt for a character in a long time. I was so glad when her Aunt Allie finally came into the picture because even though I knew that her father loved her and wanted to help her, it was more than a little obvious that he didn’t know how to help her. Sam was drowning in a sea of guilt and it wasn’t healthy and I was super glad that she had people in her life that loved her enough to want to get her that help. She was also very fortunate to have a good friend in Taylor. Taylor was the best friend that Sam had and seeing her stand up to the people who stared and murmured behind their hands at Sam made me want to pay for her college tuition or something.

I really liked that even though Sam thrashed out at those around her (the people that didn’t deserve her attitude), she knew that she needed help and she didn’t waste anyone’s time when that help was presented to her. This is one of those stories that could happen in real life. It’s real and it’s something that we could have heard on the news and this book takes us into that what happens next situation and tells the story of a young girl who was a good person that went through some really bad crap. I came to love Sam as if she were my own daughter and was happy that she had a good support system through her family and her friend. Sam learns a lot about herself and about life and I thought Gurtler did a great job with the writing of this book. I really liked it and what I liked most about it is that it made me think about how I’d react if something like this happened to me. Not just to me but what if it happened in my town, when I was in high school. I know that I wouldn’t have been one of the people that treated Sam like she was a killer but what would I have thought? How would I have reacted?

This was a good story and I thoroughly recommend it.

[Kim Deister]

Right from the beginning, Who I Kissed is unexpected and amazing! This book was deeply emotional and moving from just about the first page. Same is the new girl, an swimmer, and your average teen age girl struggling to fit in. Zee is the cute guy on the swim team and the guy she is crushing on. When she goes to a party, just to see Zee, she unexpectedly ends up making out with another guy, with disastrous results.

That moment sets the stage for the entire book and it was a moment that was tragically and emotionally sad. There are so many layers to this book that I have a hard time writing this review because I want to give none of it away. There is not only the struggles of being new, of being a teen girl, but the struggle within herself to cope with what has happened.

This is an amazing story of love, friendship, forgiveness, and choices. The cast of characters, from the main to the supporting, is rich and varied and endlessly fascinating. There were times that I laughed and times that I cried, but it was a beautiful story. There is so much depth, and while this could fall under the category of "contemporary romance," I listed it as "contemporary fiction" as well because there is so much more to the central plot than romance. If anything, the romantic elements just add layers to the true focus of the story... Sam's journey.

Things to love about Who I Kissed...

--Everything. I loved the characters. I loved the plot. I loved the theme. I loved the depth.

My recommendation: An absolutely moving story that needs to be read to be fully appreciated!

[Cocktails and Books]

Talk about a book that makes you think. Who would have thought a seemingly harmless kiss would lead to death, ridicule and a family to finally to speak about the past? This wasn't your typical YA book full of teenage angst about who loves who and why it isn't it.

Samantha is the new girl at school, trying to fit in while finding her place on the swim team that will hopefully get her into a good college. While she doesn't have many friends, she count two of her teammates amongst her friends, secretly wishing for a little more with Zee. It's because of Zee that at a party she kisses his friend Alex and is labeled is killer when an asthma attack results in his death.

Your heart really goes out to Sam. She is devastated to think that the PB&J sandwich she had as a snack before going to the party resulted in Alex's death. She feels she deserves all the labels and names her classmates give her. She may hide herself away in her room, but her father and aunt take steps to help Sam come to grips with what happened and also understand her mother's life, something she had been missing before this.

With peanut allergies becoming more common place in schools, this story brought forth how important it is for everyone to understand exactly what having the peanut allergy means. Prior to reading this story, it was something that I didn't pay much attention to (since my kids don't have it), but this did force me to have a conversation with my kids to understand just what could happen.

A wonderful though provoking read.

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Who I kissed is a deeply heart wrenching book full of emotional drama and wonderful teen angst. Janet Gurtler penned an amazing novel that hooked and reeled me in from the start to the finish. It's one of those books that leaves you feeling incredibly emotionally spent, but in a really good way. Several times I asked myself, "WHAT IS THIS I AM READING?!". It was just that good at holding my interest and was so easy for me to connect emotionally with all of the characters in the book.

There is a beautiful display in the intense burden of struggle for Samantha, that was incredibly palpable and real. It was hard reading this novel sometimes, because of the depressing nature, but Gurtler did such a fantastic job of winning me over with her wonderful character development, intense emotional atmosphere, and wonder story dymanics. It made everything so incredibly realstic and easy to connect with on such a fundamental level of enjoyment and the Samantha's struggle was beautifully displayed and sympathetic. How could she have known that Alex had an allergy to peanuts, when she kissed him in an effort to make Zee jealous? That alone caused a whole new crop of thoughts to pop up and niggle at my brain. The result of what happens after that fatal kiss, is what nearly becomes Samantha's undoing. How in the world does she get to live and enjoy a happy life, when she was the cause of Alex's death? She finds herself in such a horrible emotionally unstable state, that she starts withdrawing from her friends, gives up on swimming, and pretty much life in general.

Who I Kissed is a terribly heart-wrenching and tragic story told. The beauty is in the tragedy and watching Samantha grow and overcome the grief that she didn't mean to cause. The struggle in that alone, will tug at any person's heart and have them sympathizing with her. Janet Gurlter has taken such a difficult topic and spun it into a wonderfully realistic book that anyone would enjoy reading. This is certainly not a book to be missed out on or overlooked.