A Kiss in the Dark

by Cat Clarke

[Leah]

Waaaaaay back when, I read Cat Clarke’s debut novel Entangled and do you know what I felt when I finished it? I FELT CONFUSED. My GoodReads review read, and I quote: “Enjoyed it but it left me confused. Who was Ethan?”. 7 years later, almost to the day, I still have no idea WTF went on in that book. You’re probably wondering why I’m even bothering telling you this story – and that’s because Cat Clarke has since written five more books, I’ve bought them all, and I’ve just never read them, because if there’s anything I hate, it’s feeling like I missed something, as I did with Entangled. In fact, I’d love to go and re-read it, and see how I feel about it 7 years later… Also, please be aware none of this is actually Cat’s fault, I’m just thick. However, with my library shutting over Christmas, A Kiss In The Dark was one of their books so I picked it up, to get over my fear! I’m SO glad I did, because A Kiss In The Dark was pretty incredible.

I can’t really give much away about the plot of A Kiss In The Dark, other than to say it’s a first love story, but all is not as it seems, with Kate and Alex. Us as the reader learn exactly what the situation is really early on, but I still feel like it’s one of those moments where you don’t really believe what you’ve read, that if you know it going in, it kind of ruins the moment. Really, the novel is two sides of the same story. And I kind of feel like the moral of the story is two wrongs don’t make a right. Also, that Cat Clarke got me with the ending again. However, I have crafted my *OWN* ending this time around, ignoring everything that went on in the novel and, well, I’m happy with it, OKAY? However, if Cat Clarke ever decided to write a sequel I would be there for that, with bells on.

OK, now that we’ve got the vague plot out of the way (sorry!), let’s talk about the characters. Which is actually harder than it sounds, because I loved Kate up until the switch of narrators. The entire second half kind of brought into question Kate’s character, as if we were led on some kind of merry dance and she was actually not what we expected, which was ironic, considering. (THIS IS SO VAGUE OMG.) And the same happens with Alex – you question Alex a lot during the first half, then the narration switches and bam! you change your mind again. What I will say, is that despite everything, I feel like Alex and Kate’s relationship was still something to look up to. It was by no means perfect, but it just felt blissful, like the most perfect first love you can imagine.

This is actually such a hard book to review, because I don’t want to give anything away! Cat Clarke really is a brilliant writer – she taps into the most divisive issues and presents them in a way you can understand and sympathise with. It leaves you wondering how you would act in the same situation and while neither Alex or Kate’s actions is defensible, you can also see the reasoning, you can understand why everything happens. I shall not be waiting this long to read another Cat Clarke book, let me tell you. I really loved A Kiss In The Dark. Yes, it was questionable, especially a lot of the second half of the book, but when you spin it around and wonder how you would act, you can’t really blame anyone for their decisions, I don’t think. I really liked this book, it really made me think and I’m so intrigued to see what else Cat Clarke has written about.