Who I Kissed

by Janet Gurtler

[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.