Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I Kissed a Girl was such a fun read! I loved Lilah and Noa's awkward relationship. The awkward, hard moments weren't glossed over which made their love all the more relatable. It was uplifting and funny and I felt their share frustration through certain events. Looking forward to more from Jennet Alexander!

I kissed a girl review 3/5 stars
Thanks to @sourcebookscasa for providing a netgalley copy for review.
TW: Stalking  

Non-spoilery review: 
Overall, I think this book was cute read. I loved Lilah and enjoyed the behind the scenes horror movie film setting. The beginning of the book was a little slow and I found the miscommunication between Lilah and Noa a little repetitive. The end of the book definitely picked up, and I found myself more invested in their relationship. I also liked the writing style, sometimes with contemporary romances l find it’s hit or miss for me. 

Spoilery parts:
I think the ending with the snakes was supposed to be a parallel to the reptile based horror movie they are filming, Scarodactyl, but it kind of fell flat for me. Mainly, I think the stalking plot line just bothered me because Lilah’s boss tells her it’s not a big deal and he’ll “handle it” but as far as I can tell he did nothing and just said that to get Lilah to shut up, but stalking is ALWAYS a big deal and should ALWAYS be taken seriously!!!

This cute f/f romance follows two Jewish women working in the film industry. B-list scream queen Lilah wants to move on from creature features while this is special effects makeup artist Noa's chance to break into the industry. Now they just have to decide whether their burgeoning feelings are worth risking their roles on set. Some of the conflict felt overwrought, but still a fun read. And I really loved the Hollywood backdrop.

I guess I’m in the minority here but I really enjoyed this book. It was very much new adult - high drama, lots of insecurities, and very little spice but I think that was offset by the fun horror movie setting. I thought the characters were likable in spite of their flaws which really weren’t all that unusual or unforgivable imo. Both had walls up and coped in different ways; most of my friends (and myself) have resembled one or both of these characters at some point. There aren’t a lot of original ideas in romcoms so even if their love story wasn’t the most unique, the setting and hint of mystery made it fun. I also really liked the Jewish rep! 4 stars, would recommend.

Such a fun read! This is especially good for those who are into movies and SFX, but of course anyone who’s looking for some fun wlw romance should enjoy this one. I enjoyed the back and forth of the romance as well as the bit of mystery in there.

I struggled to be immersed in this one when I first tried reading it. However, recently I saw the audiobook available, so I decided to give it another try.

Overall, it's a sweet sapphic romance with good Jewish representation and a fun movie making setting that definitely had all the qualities of a great contemporary romance but just seemed a little too long overall and a little too slow in parts to really keep my complete attention from start to finish.

I really wanted to like this book and was hoping I would, despite the overall low rating and negative reviews on Goodreads. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I liked the concept and appreciated the rep - one bisexual main character and one lesbian main character, both of whom were Jewish - but that was about it. The characters were bland and one-dimensional, and Noa was such a jerk to Lilah. She had such a huge crush on her and yet she judged everything she did and liked, and constantly made her feel like crap...and yet somehow that didn't stop her from falling for her, which made absolutely no sense. They were so mismatched and had no chemistry.

I feel really torn about this book. On the one hand I thought it was very funny, though I am not sure it was supposed to be that way. There were a lot of tropes coming up in the weirdest moments that just felt amusing to me. Sadly, I didn't really connect with the characters and I feel like they didn't really connect with each other either. The romance just felt a tad off. Nevertheless, I had fun reading this book!

this was cute but overall kinda forgettable.. one bed trope though!! and i love sapphic fiction especially set in hollywood!!! there wasnt much smut though i would have liked so much

I really thought I would love this book and I really wanted to love this book, but it wound up being just okay for me. Starting with what I did enjoy: the premise was solid, the chemistry between Noa and Lilah was pretty good, and I really liked the homage to Hollywood vibes. The premise follows a makeup and special effects artist getting her first movie gig falling for the Final Girl of the B-list horror movie they're working on. I'll admit that horror is not my cup of tea, but I liked reading about how excited Noa was about her job, her makeup skills, and seeing behind the scenes of the movie. Noa and Lilah's chemistry was pretty good once they discovered more about what they had in common. I did not read sparks between them at first, but they grew on me by the end. And of course, being set on a film set and clearly written by a movie buff, the book was a fun peek into Hollywood horror movie magic. Now onto what I did not enjoy: I am all for romance tropes, including miscommunication, but the miscommunication between Lilah and Noa about their feelings for each other felt messy in a way that really frustrated me. Lilah is clearly working through past relationship trauma, but at no point did she tell Noa that she did not like something Noa said and here's why, and she let her past trauma contribute to some toxicity in the current relationship. That said, I still personally liked Lilah a lot more than Noa. Noa felt emotionally immature to me, and I did not understand why no one really called her on it for the longest time. She's pretentious and condescending toward Lilah for like half the book, and that's her love interest! Finally, I was not personally a fan of the Lilah internet problem subplot that involved creepy comments and stalking behavior. This is definitely a personal preference, but I do not like creepy, predator-like behavior, even as a subplot, in romance books. I get that it can up the drama factor, but I come to romance for an escape (like Lilah mentions early in the book about her own reading habits), and I would have appreciated a heads-up that this was coming. Overall, I did like the book, but it's not joining my list of favorites.

The characters in this book felt really young to the point where it kind of reminded me of a YA book. It was probably technically a NA book but I really prefer to read about characters who are a bit older than these ones were. 

This was cute, but I didn’t love it.

The premise of the story was really good, and I tried super hard to like it but I just couldn't connect with it. 
Usually, even if the plot of a book is a little meh, I like the characters enough to make it through the end without any difficulties, but this book was just eternal, I couldn't finish it! I read one page, got tired, promised myself I finished the next day, repeat. BUT I know many people will like it, the characters weren't annoying or anything so I think it was just for me.

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

CW/TW: Stalking, snakes, being trapped in the dark
Rep: Jewish lesbian MC, Jewish bisexual MC, transgender polyamorous side character, nonbinary polyamorous side character

I went into this book knowing about the mediocre reviews it got. "Surely it can't be that 'meh,' can it?" I asked myself.

Turns out, it can be. 

There are aspects that are straight (ha) up bad - Noa's personality, for one. As soon as Noa assumed Lilah was straight and judged her for enjoying romance novels and romcoms, I couldn't find it in myself to like her. Even after she had a change of heart.

Lilah is the #1 redeeming quality of this book. Along with Chrissy and her polycule. 

Honestly, I thought I'd say more, but I just don't care enough.

This book was just so good! I am recommending this book in an upcoming Queer Romance episode on the podcast.

I love books set on movie or TV sets so this appealed to me greatly. Wanted to be more invested in the romance itself though but overall not mad I read it.

I wasn't a huge fan... I didn't get very far so it could be my fault but I just found the beginning to be the same as every other  romance I've read but they just had different jobs. Though I'm sure many people will love it, it wasn't for me.

I downloaded this book on accident- it was a “gift” for participating in a survey and I was logged into the wrong account.

There’s no easy to way to say this: I didn’t enjoy I Kissed a Girl. I finished it but I think I had some sort of hope that maybe, just maybe, it would get better. Alas, I just wasn’t a fan of Jennet Alexander’s debut novel.

Here’s the book’s description:
Lilah Silver’s a young actress who dreams of climbing out of B-list stardom. She’s been cast as the lead in what could be her breakout performance…but if she wants to prove herself to everyone who ever doubted her, she’s going to need major help along the way.
Noa Birnbaum may be a brilliant makeup artist and special effects whiz-kid, but cracking into the union is more difficult than she imagined. Keeping everyone happy is a full-time job, and she’s already run ragged. And yet when the beautiful star she’s been secretly crushing on admits to fears of her own, Noa vows to do everything in her power to help Lilah shine like never before.
Long hours? Exhausting work? No problem. Together they can take the world by storm…but can the connection forged over long hours in the makeup chair ever hope to survive the glare of the spotlight?
Over the last couple of years I have gotten way better at not finishing books I’m not enjoying. Life’s too short and there are far too many books out there to keep reading books that you don't like. I had received an egalley of this one but I ended up listening to it and that’s probably the only reason I kept reading – I didn’t have another audiobook lined up. Plus, nothing was really, completely, totally wrong with the book. It just wasn’t…great.

The romance was super insta-love and I really couldn’t see what the women saw in each other. Well, that’s not strictly true. On their own, both Lilah and Noa were pretty OK. They just so completely did not suit each other, in my opinion (you know, from the peanut gallery). Even though Noa had a celebrity crush on Lilah, she was really judgemental of everything Lilah liked and did. How is that ok? And I never felt like we got a decent enough apology for how much of a dick Noa had been. There are other women out there, Lilah. Your first bisexual relationship doesn’t have to be with someone super attractive who’s treated you like you’re from Legally Blonde.

And the whole stalker thing? Which, by the way, was not mentioned at all in that description but was a massive plot point. It was…cringey. Lilah was being gaslit. The people (cough men cough) in charge were pretty dismissive of her worries. Jokes on them, the guy who was stalking her was completely unhinged and it was Noa who had to swoop in and save the day (sort of…I had really stopped caring by this point so the nuances of how Lilah was saved might have been a bit lost). Just not an enjoyable plot point for me.

This novel did have a lot of diverse rep which is always nice to see. Noa’s gay, Lilah’s bi (a massive part of the story was her coming to terms with that and her pretending to be someone she wasn’t because that’s what she thought gay girls needed to be like) and they’re both Jewish.

I’d suggest giving I Kissed a Girl a miss but some people might enjoy Jennet Alexander’s novel. I might check out what she writes next – we’ll have to see if the description catches my interest!
*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*