Disclaimer: I received a free digital ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.




I really wanted to like this book, but in the end, I found it dull and monotonous and almost DNF.

Lilah Silver is a young rising actress starring in the movie that could help her become an A-lister. Her dreams seem more achievable than ever and after meeting Noa Birnbaum, a talented makeup artist who dreams of becoming a special effect artist in Hollywood, Lilah believes she can have it all in her personal life too. After getting hired as an assistant in the Makeup department in the movie that Lilah is starring in, Noa finds herself falling hard for the beautiful young actress. Noa is scared of her feelings for Lilah and doesn't know if they are reciprocated. Their friendship keeps growing, and both Noa and Lilah develop strong feelings for the other. Everything points out to a great love story between the two young women until someone who has been watching Lilah obsessively gets in the way. Lilah has a stalker and her life is in danger... and now Noa's life and her dreams are in jeopardy too.


This book sounded like such a wonderful LGBTQI friendly read that I couldn't wait to start it. I'd say that this book is a great example of accurate and diverse representation, and I truly enjoyed how the characters are portrayed. I loved that Lilah was bi and proud, while Noa identified herself as a Jewish Lesbian who was out to her accepting family. Crissy, Noa's trans best friend, is in a poly relationship, and there are other examples of secondary characters belonging to a minority. Overall, representation and diversity were great in the story, and their identities were not used as tokens like in other books I've read, so I truly enjoyed the way the writer portrayed these characters.
My issues with the book were mostly related to the plot. The story focuses on two main plots: Noa and Lilah's developing relationship and Lilah's issues with her stalker. My main issue was that there seemed to be a disconnect with both plots. They didn't flow together, and at times, it seemed that the stalker storyline was an afterthought. Towards the end of the book, the plots shift, and the stalking becomes the main point of contention in the story. Unfortunately, I feel that the writer failed to build up the story in a way that this subplot was incorporated into the love story in a complementary way. In addition, the person who turns out to be the stalker was both predictable but also not developed enough to be believable. I wish the revelation would have been handled differently because I knew who it was but was also underwhelmed when it was revealed.


Another thing I didn't like is that I couldn't believe the love story between Noa and Lilah. Lilah was written beautifully. She is likable and sweet, and she is self-aware and willing to stand up for herself. Noa, on the other hand, comes up as a brat, unpleasant, and deeply insecure. She sees Lilah as a beautiful girl, but she also thinks that she is shallow and too focused on her career. She says and does too many things that make me disbelieve her strong feelings for Lilah, and I was uncomfortable about Noa's fixation on Lilah's looks. The story starts with Noa's crush on Lilah but her feelings do not seem to evolve past it while Lilah truly gets to know Noa and falls for her as a complex person and not just based on the initial attraction. They are not compatible with each other so the story wasn't moving for me personally, and I was hoping that Lilah would notice the disconsonant in their relationship.


I ended up finishing the book because it takes more than something like this for me to completely giving up on a story. I did like many things about the book, so I will give the author another chance. The writer does a beautiful job writing diverse characters and seems committed to portraying them in a real light, so I truly liked that about this book.

Yes!

We need more books like this, the kind that warms your heart and soul, charms you and keeps you on your toes.

The characters are loveable and the relationship that forms between the main characters is adorable.

I cannot wait for the future, when more worries like this cover the bookshelf’s, where LGBTQ+ books are as common as the others.

Do yourself a favour and read this book

This story is super fun and sweet and you could easily finish it in one sitting. It’s nice having more sapphic rom coms out there!

I found Noa to be very hard to connect with, it almost took away from enjoying the book, and the story itself was a little underwhelming considering the blurb promised more.

All in all this was an easy weekend read.

This is the kind of book I was looking for! This year I've been in a very big ROMCOM mood and it's really hard to find sapphic romcoms that are easy yet deep. I was really drawn it by the aesthetic and the plot, a new rising actress and a make up artist bump into each other and slowly become friends and help each other discover different parts of each other. I was sold by the cover alone, but I was not dissapointed! If you like girls, romance and a little bit of light hearted comedy, this is for you!

Thank you so much NetGalley for a chance to read this. The story follows Noa and Lilah a makeup artist and an actress in the beginning it’s was really good and had a lot of Promise it wasn’t bad but probably won’t read again it was just hard to finish it seemed like it dragged a little. Once again thank you NetGalley

I have gone back and forth on whether or not finish this book, and finally I decided to put it down. While the synopsis seemed like something I'd enjoy, what I found inside was not what I was expecting, and was a let down. Our two main characters, Noa and Lilah, supposedly really like each other, but to be honest? I don't understand why. From the very start, they're each offended by almost everything the other one says, and there's simply no spark between them. The only reason these two have interactions is because they're forced to work together. If they weren't, I would never buy that they would outwardly seek each other out. Noa especially kept getting on my nerves. She's so judgmental of Lilah and is so quick to make every little thing a big deal. I was more interested in Lilah's side of the story, but unfortunately, the lack of chemistry between the two, the writing style, and inconsistencies in the characters' personalities put me off of it. I'm so disappointed because I really wanted to like this one, but I just could not bring myself to finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I Kissed A Girl is a fast, enticing read about a Scream Queen and a makeup artist falling for each other on the set of a movie. First, it has such a unique hook with the horror movie in the backdrop. It will delight scary movie fans with so many references to classic movies. I Kissed A Girl totally excels at creating a believable setting and incorporating it into the story. This queer romance features a lot of discussion about identity and finding yourself. I loved that each character explored her dreams and how she could expand her visions of the future to include a new love.

I loved this book so so so much. Lilah and Noa were both great characters. Add this on top of Jennet's wonderful storytelling ability and this is a definite five star read.

Super cute read but I definitely struggled with the pacing. It could be a me problem because that seems to be a big thing for me in books. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review!

I Kissed a Girl follows our main character Noa Birnbaum, an aspiring Hollywood makeup artist. When she gets the opportunity to work as a makeup artist on a horror movie, she jumps at the chance, dropping out of college to focus all of her time on her work. It just so happens, that the lead actress in the movie was none other than Lilah Silver, her longtime celebrity crush. When Noa is assigned to doing Lilah's makeup for the movie, they get to know each other a lot better...

I really liked the idea of this book! I think that it had a lot of potential with them working on a movie, I haven't seen many books like that. I just feel like this book didn't really meet my expectations of what I was hoping it would be. It was pretty slow, and usually that's natural for books in the beginning, but I felt like the book sort of dragged on for no reason. It felt like there was a lot of unnecessary parts to it, that were simply added to make the book longer. I also felt like Noa and Lilah didn't really have that much chemistry. They didn't seem to like each other that much, and at times their relationship just felt kind of rushed.

I did enjoy the setting a lot, I think the fact that it was set to be a romance on a movie set was very cool, and it was a more original idea than what you usually get, which is the two leads falling for each other. I also found it interesting how different Lilah and Noa were, but that they could still appreciate the differences between them.

Overall, this book was okay. I wouldn't say it was bad, but it just didn't really live up to the idea that I had going in. I think it was a good idea, just a poor execution. Thank you NetGalley, Jennet Alexander, and Sourcebooks for this E-ARC.

It was a cutesy fun read. I loved all the horror movie culture stuff. Tom Savini RULES! Good story.

3.5 for me overall! I think, based on character behaviors and interactions, sometimes Noa and Lilah *felt* younger to me than they actually were, but in the same vein, their struggles and fears were also very believable considering their circumstances (at least in regards to Lilah not being fully, publicly out yet and Noa having such a tenuous position in her job, therefore not wanting to do anything that would potentially jeopardize her employment on the set). And Alexander absolutely nailed the crushing, butterflies feeling of romance, that early stage of yearning in a relationship where you're not totally sure if the other person is into you but you want them to be so, SO badly that you're reading into every interaction with so much hope. Overall, this kept me engrossed mostly until the very end, with the resolution of the stalker subplot, and as someone who's both a fan of romance and horror movies, I loved the setting for this book. I'll keep an eye out for Alexander's next one (fingers crossed it's more wlw!).

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a lovely read, I thought the authors representation of bisexuality and internalised homophobia was really interesting and enlightening in a romance novel.
The author clearly researched the movie industry or has previously worked in the industry as this really shone through the book.

Thank You to NetGalley and the publisher who provided me with this ARC copy in exchange foe an honest review.

Jennet Alexander's debut novel, 'I kissed a Girl', is a contemporary coming-of-age romance story between an makeup artist and up and coming actress, which takes place on their movie set.

The book has some great LGBTQ+ representation and it touched on some sensitive subjects such as internalised homophobia, and it was great to see the characters slowly accepting who they are. There were certain scenes in the book, which really resonated with me as they were really touching as I believe it did with many more readers. Specifically, the inner monologues had a lot of truth on them. Further, the positive representation of the Jewish community and culture was really inspiring to see.

The book was easy and fun to read, however, at times the dialogues felt forced. There were some plot points which were fairly predictable, and it became slightly annoying when it took the character so long to catch up and realise what is happening after a while.

The horror/mystery sub-plot with the stalker, was an interesting twist in the story but it could've been explored a bit more. The resolution felt a little bit underwhelming.

Overall, this story was cute, the characters were likable and I was satisfied with it. It was easy to become invested in their story, both in the romantic aspect of it but also as characters.

I sadly could not get into this book and it just wasn’t for me so I had to stop reading it. I just wasn’t ‘vibing’’ with the main character and the lover interest. the idea was really cute but i just couldn’t finish it.

A decent read. I absolutely LOVE that Jennet didn’t over dramatize Lilah’s sexuality journey and I also loved all the side characters! I loved everything about Lilah but I think that Lilah and Noa’s relationship was a little too insta-love for me and Noa was very judgmental and not a very likable character. I didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between the women which took me out of the story. I did think the “mystery” was a little underwhelming and I would’ve liked to see more. Overall, 2/5.

I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To begin, I Kissed A Girl has an amazing premise. I thought the author did wonderful with the LGBTQ+ representation and the Jewish representation. We love to see it. I also felt the author has a great writing style (in general). However, while there were things to absolutely love about this story, ultimately, this book was incredibly underwhelming to me. I just didn't buy the romance. The book dragged. I couldn't find a reason why the main characters were into each other. Although, a horror movie plot within a romance did pique my interest so I pushed through. The book was charming but I'm not quite sure I would have finished it if it weren't for the smaller details that were executed great.

This was such an enjoyable read! I found myself turning the pages to get to know more about Noa and Lilah. The secondary characters were also great and well-drawn, making the world feel really lived in, and the setting was great fun as well as being informative in terms of being on a movie set. I love the way the author developed each character at a steady pace. Overall, this was such a lovely, easy-to-read romcom between likeable, real characters that I was rooting for and I really loved it. Can't wait for more from Jennet Alexander!

Jennet Alexander has either had first hand experience with a movie set or has done a lot of work because that was the strongest part for me! Those background characters really popped! This reminds me a lot of Alexandra Bellefleur where I think the side characters might be stronger than the main characters. I liked reading it, I LOVED the ridiculous horror movie, but I think Noa and Lilah could have fixed everything in 5 seconds and that's always frustrating. Also love love seeing the Jewish representation, both women embracing their faith and living it on the page.

I think this book did what Twice in a blue moon tried to do. I love reading books about movies and actors and basically the behind scenes of making a movie, but Twice in a blue moon was so disappointing. But I loved how queer and lovely this was. I'm past the point of wanting to read coming out stories, so reading something where being queer is just a normal part of these characters lives is refreshing. The audiobook has a great narration style and I really enjoyed this!