DNF at page 166

TW: transphobia

I’m genuinely baffled why this has such good reviews that call it “light hearted.” I was annoyed basically from the start. Mads is incredibly disrespectful toward her parents, ESPECIALLY her mom, who she repeatedly calls a bitch AND doesn’t tell her friend to NOT talk about her mom. I get not liking your mom, but there’s a line, okay? You don’t let your friends call your mom a bitch. You just don’t!

That wasn’t the worst offense though. There are some seriously transphobic comments made by the MC’s dad. Like, i think it could be really harmful to trans teens, and children of trans parents. Because I quit, I don’t know if he came around but after Mads’ “best friend” outted the trans character I was done.

I think if this book wasn't marketed as like a cute coming of age queer graphic novel, I would maybe have been less frustrated. But the back of this book makes it seem like it's just a girl kind of realizing she might like girls. That is definitely NOT what I took from it.

0/10 do not recommend.

Kiss Number 8 felt like reading someone’s diary. The story is choppy and the storytelling structure overall not my cup of tea.

First off, First Second publishes some of the best comics. They are relevant and engaging and I always buy tons of their titles for my classroom. This title was no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I really appreciated the representation and the fact that the character was struggling (albeit unconsciously at times) with who she was. I like that this took a pretty realistic approach to the idea of adolescent relationships and the complications they came with both 14 years ago and today. Really relevant and well drawn.

Wow.

This is a beautiful graphic novel.

It's got plenty of diversity and some of it is even intersectional.

Mads is pretty much your regular Catholic school student. Smart, motivated, curious, and a titch rebellious. Lucky for her she's got her good conscience (Laura) to rescue her when her bad conscience (Cat) pulls her a little too far toward the dark side. Only that balance starts to get all kinds of out of whack. And then there's that mystery letter and check...

This story felt almost familiar to me as someone who came out in the south and expected everything that could go wrong WOULD go wrong. Luckily for our characters (and me!) the worst case scenario is rarely an outcome we see.

Read this book. I didn't think I needed anymore coming out stories after having been out so long. But I needed this one. I needed this to reinforce how important it is to support queer youth- because they might be more visible now but they're just as scared and uncertain as they've always been.

Rating: 5 out of 5

I really enjoyed this story.  First of all, I loved the framing of the main character Amanda not being sold on kisses due to earlier experiences with them (ranging from silly, innocent kisses when she was a small child to not liking the experiences she had as a teenager) and how this leads to kiss number 8, which changes everything since this kiss is with another girl.  I thought that the book did a great job creating a variety of multifaceted characters and all of the reactions to Amanda grappling with her sexuality felt realistic.  I may also be biased having grown up in a Catholic home and gone to a Catholic school for high school, but the portrayal of those spaces seemed particularly plausible to me, particularly the idea that more often the people, not the faith itself, are bigoted.

I also enjoyed that not everyone in her new crew of friends was portrayed as being the greatest either.  I think that this helped this feel like more of a true story and I also really appreciated the wide array of LGBTQ+ representation throughout the story instead of just isolating it to one piece.

I also really appreciated the mystery about what her father was hiding throughout the story.  It was a nice subplot and the fact that everything tied in nicely made for a really great read.  I think that being able to show that these things are not all new and also that society often has a large impact on how we view them was beautifully done.  I also was just happy to read an LGBTQ+ story that definitely had stakes and drama but did not have to end tragically or lack humor.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up that I loved the illustration style of this graphic novel.  It did a really great job helping to characterize the different characters in the story.  It was stylized but still realistic which I think was perfect for the story being told.

I would definitely recommend students read this book and anyone else to for that matter!  It was great!  Check it out!

For many people, this story is their story. For others, this is a glimpse into the experience many have had in the LGBTQ community. It's important to have reading materials that speak to real experiences.

Kiss Number 8 is a graphic novel set in 2004. It's the story of Amanda, a junior at a Catholic high school. She has two really good friends, Kat and Laura, but her best friend is her dad. Every week, they go to the local minor league baseball game and watch a soap-y teen drama. Her mom, Amanda's not so close to. But that starts to change after Amanda finds a mysterious check for $30,o00 and a picture of a man. Who is the man and why did he give Amanda $30,000. With Laura's Nancy Drew skills, Amanda learns who he is, but everything is going to change, namely that 8th kiss with not-a-boy. How will Amanda deal? How will her family deal? How will her FRIENDS deal?!

SPOILERS BELOW:
It turns out that the man is actually Amanda's biological grandmother. He transitioned after Amanda's grandfather kicked him out for being trans. With that revelation and some conversations with some of Kat's friends, Amanda comes to terms with the fact that's she's a lesbian. She is horrendously bullied at school to such an extent that her mom has her transferred to the public school. Things turn out better there because she forms a friendship with Nate and Darren, who are pan and trans respectively. With their friendship supporting her, Amanda continues to explore her sexuality-- she's probably pan or bi, if a label were attributed. But the best part is that her (Catholic) faith never wavers. She doesn't feel ostracized at mass or by the church, but by people-- namely Kat, Laura, and Adam. As such, the church isn't the "bad guy," which Venable defines as being her goal in the afterword/Q&A.

This was a refreshing new angle on coming of age while exploring gender and sexuality. The way it addresses historical bigotry and danger, family turmoil, and all the micro aggressions teens face when it comes to sexuality is spot on. The most unique element was the way the heroine’s faith was involved in the story. A welcome addition to lgtb graphic novels.

Unfortunately the e-copy I received of this book had several pages with blurry words and images. This made it difficult to decipher portions of the story. Still, from what I could read and see, this is an interesting story of a confused young girl. Amanda is trying to learn who she is, uncover mysteries of her family, and understand love & sexuality all at the same time. The beginning of this book is completely relatable and laugh out loud funny. And I mean I did actually laugh out loud. I have already ordered this for my library.
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book is fantastic. Very rarely do we get to see a queer character continue to explore her sexuality after she comes out. Well done! This book is one of the more realistic books centered around queer identity. My one issue is the quality of the scan. Some pages were unreadable and I feel parts of the story were lost on me due to that.

Amanda and her best friend Cat like to have fun and get in trouble. Cat is wild and boy crazy. Amanda is laid-back, but goes along with Cat's adventures.

In their junior year, everything starts to change for Amanda when she overhears her dad on the phone with someone named Dina. At first, she thinks he is having an affair, but it turns out to be something completely different.

I don't want to give anything away, but Kiss Number 8 is a beautifully illustrated story about finding your identity, sexuality, and real friends. Amanda's story is one many teens will relate to and you cheer for her the entire time.

A great LGBTQ+ graphic novel.

**I received an eARC from Netgalley**

Mads is living a pretty typical, pretty great life. She gets along with both of her parents (though mostly her dad), hangs out with her best friend, Cat, and goes to church on Sundays followed by minor league baseball games with her dad. Mads realizes, however, that her dad is hiding a secret, which put space and tension between them. She also starts to realize that the person she wants to kiss is not Adam, one of the boys from church, but Cat.

Mads goes through a lot of typical small-town teen turmoil Crenshaw's illustration brings Venable's story to life impeccably. For queer readers especially, the brief epilogue alone makes this book worth the purchase. Fantastic purchase that will be adored.

Kiss Number 8 certainly didn't go where I expected it to, but thankfully that was a good thing, as the ending was better than I anticipated. The fact that Amanda comes out as gay, but then continues to explore her sexuality is probably the most real showing of a queer character I've seen in ages. Certainly, many people just know they're gay or straight or bi, but just as many teens are likely to have no idea what they really are and to see themselves represented here is awesome!

Kiss Number 8 is a melancholic and beautiful comic about being different and finding you're not alone with it. At its center we have Amanda, who tries to fit in with her friends and kisses enough times to learn that she's more into girls than boys. Being a teenager at a Catholic school doesn't make it easy though and rumors spread and people are hurt, even when it's really not about them. I felt so much for Amanda and the whole grandmother thing was something made with so much care and understanding. How being different can go through generations and how you're still so alone before you find what you are looking for. It all depends how you accept yourself and be who you are - then perhaps others see and appreciate it too. I was slightly let down with the ending though, since Kiss Number 8 surely deserved a grand final. Now it kind of fell flat and felt rushed, but otherwise I have nothing to complain about. Venable surely catches the beauty of it all in this one.

The art looks great and works well with the theme. The font isn't the greatest though, but is still OK. Somehow I would've loved to see this in color, since the blueish cover style would look perfect inside the pages too. The flow is great! The comic looks good and lively, but is still round and soft at the edges, which takes away the saddest vibe and it surely works. Kiss Number 8 is a wonderful LGBTQ comic and it's touching, there's so much emotion in it that you cry with the characters and feel joy when they do. That's surely something.

Mads is a Catholic school teen who whose dad is her best friend. They go to minor league baseball games together, watch TV shows together, and generally just hang out together. It rocks her world when she discovers that her dad is hiding a secret, and it couldn't have come at a harder time: Mads is also discovering that she may be attracted to her friend, Cat.

Kiss Number 8 looks at a sexual awakening within a close Catholic family. Mads tries out different kisses with different guys, trying to feel something, because her wilder friend, Cat - the archetypal Catholic school bad girl - encourages it, and it's because what Mads feels like she's supposed to do. While she torments herself over what she thinks her father's hiding, she and Cat fall out, and the rumor mill goes wild, leading Mads to admit to her feelings and attractions to herself, and to Cat. Once Mads accepts herself, she has to deal with her father's secret, his reaction to her emerging identity, and his overall mindset; luckily, she has support from a place she never dreamed of.

I really enjoyed Kiss Number 8. The characters are real, and Mads' struggle with her own identity and sexuality works seamlessly with the family secret, revealed in all of its emotional pain. Mads has to come to realizations about herself, her relationships, and her own father, in order to move forward, but she's a smart heroine that navigates these challenges to come out on top. Kiss Number is an exploration of teen sexuality, families, and relationships. A necessary book for your collections.

Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw's websites both offer some sneak peeks at Kiss Number 8 and their additional work.

The only complaint I have about this book was that I didn't have a physical copy; I was blessed with a digital ARC and while I loved reading this so early I am really sad that I didn't have the actual book in my hands to appreciate the gorgeous art!! (First world problems I know, I will not complain anymore!)
That being said, I fell in love with Amanda's voice; she was honest, tough, vulnerable but most of all she stayed true to herself. Thus far in life Amanda has been unimpressed with all the hubbub that surrounds kissing; what's the big deal...spit, tongue, dry lips...you name it not much to be excited about. Then kiss number 8 happens and life as Amanda knows it will be forever changed; in the best way possible but that doesn't mean the ride to get there is going to easy or perfect.
Venable has written a wonderful, touching coming of age story that will resonate with readers of all ages...can't wait to see what else this author has out there!
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for the ARC!

I loved this story of self-discovery that will surely help any teen that reads it that finds themselves questioning.

I did however have an issue with the quality of the ARC, as there were MANY times that I could barely read the page.

This is a great book for teens and young adults struggling with their sexual identity. Would recommend for middle and high schools.

I really liked this one! Amanda's journey was a little bit heartbreaking and a little bit heartwarming. The character development is excellent, the relationships are realistic, and the ending isn't as neat and perfect as you might like, but I would say that that's a good thing. Would recommend.

I had issues viewing the downloaded eBook in my reader. Normally, the downloads are fine, but this was a struggle and I definitely missed some of the text. Quality control should be double checked.

Amanda is in high school and her dad is her best friend, until she realizes he is keeping a big secret from her and she doesn’t like being lied to by her family. Amanda’s best friend, Cat, is surrounded by drama going out to clubs, drinking, and dating older guys. Cat can be a problem because they all go to catholic school and church on a regular basis, but she’s Amanda’s best friend so she is constantly being pulled back in by Cat’s allure. Amanda has kissed 8 people but none of them have been anything fantastic, maybe she’s just picky. This realistic graphic novel covers dating, friendship, high school drama, religion, and family.

It took awhile to get into the flow of the story, but eventually it caught me and brought me in. The approach to LGBTQ seemed realistic given the religious family members and the chauvinist grandpa. Acceptance from others isn’t always easy and sometimes never comes. I liked how the immediate family story worked out in Amanda’s life, but if you want neat and tidy endings for all the characters (like in the Prince and the Dressmaker), that’s not going to be the case in this story. The art is nice and the characters well sketched out. Recommended for teens.