3.5 stars
I am all about this fun romance from a guy's perspective! It is a great example of how different people experience and (for some quickly) define relationships. Not only is the main character, Stephen, a male, but he is also neurodivergent since he has Tourettes Syndrome. Stephen's voice is authentic as a teen male and I laughed out loud at several spots in the reading of this story--just because of the accuracy of a teen's perspective of "romance." The pacing is fast and will appeal to a broad YA audience, however, it is a bit forgettable.
And, while the author is also neurodivergent (autistic), I wouldn't necessarily classify this as an OwnVoice novel. At one point in the book when Stephen is asked if his physical tics (shoulder shrugs) are painful, he says that they are not; the repetition of physical tics can be quite exhausting and painful to a body so this statement bothered me.

Stephen, a senior in high school, is convinced by his friend to engage in an experiment: does kissing girls calm his Tourette’s? Stephen means well, but things quickly sour due to his inexperience with girls and dating. Suddenly, Stephen has new girl problems, and his tics are getting worse. Will he be able to get his life back under control? And get the girl of his dreams?

This YA romance is unique in that it is told entirely from the male protagonist’s POV. I worry that the teens at my library won’t read it, then, since my male teens don’t want romance and my female teens who like romance don’t want male protagonists. I wonder why Truett decided to make her protagonist male and not female? I know neurodivergence is more often diagnosed in males, but that doesn’t mean females aren’t neurodivergent.

If you have a teen specifically looking for a book with an MC who has Tourette’s, get it. Otherwise, pass.

Ability diverse:
- Stephen has Tourette’s. It goes into detail on what having a 504 plan means for Stephen.

The narrator did a good job.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read Kiss and Repeat by Heather Truett in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book a cute and easy read. The main character having Tourettes was an interesting addition and I enjoyed more about it.

I was a little nervous going into this when I learned about the religious aspect. I'm not big into religion but this book wasn't preachy at all and overall, it wasn't a huge factor.

✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: Hypothesis— kissing cures tics; Experiment— kiss as many girls as possible.

💭 Overall Thoughts:
SPOILER:
I was glad the above plot kind of gets abandoned about a third of the way in because I found it a bit cringeworthy— a romanticized or stereotypical representation of Tourette’s. However, with that abandoned I appreciated the neurodivergent representation and some of the struggles associated with feeling inadequate, fitting in, and trouble with meds.

I also appreciated the fact that this is a YA romance told from a male perspective as there aren’t many there. It included themes of realizing when you are treating someone poorly by your actions knocking down a bit of toxic masculinity.

The book is about a pastor’s son but is still accessible and enjoyable by someone who is not religious from that aspect.

Overall it is mostly a light, witty, YA coming of age story with a few issues. I liked the enemies to lovers romance piece of it, and the internal struggle of first love.

What I Liked:
👍 Neurodivergent and male perspective representation as mentioned above.
👍 Overall light and witty
👍Puppy love enemies to lovers and love triangle


What I Didn’t Like:
👎 There’s some slut shaming here that is somewhat questioned (?) but dropped in without much exploration or opposition.
👎 Romanticism of Tourette’s as described above.
👎 Most of the characters seemed a bit flat.


⚠️ Content Warnings: Slut shaming, religious discussion, ableism.

🎧 Enjoyed this narrator— he was captivating and his voice was enjoyable to listen to.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for allowing me to listen with request for honest review.

“Kiss and Repeat” by Heather Truett
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: 5/25
Audiobook 🎧

This is a Netgalley audiobook arc! YA genre. I thought this was fun and cute! Even though it’s YA I feel like anyone can enjoy it especially because it’s a fast read!
Stephen Luckie is a high school students with Tourette’s. His whole life everything has been defined by his disorder. He just wants to be noticed for something other than the guy with Tourette’s. When he went to a kissing party and realizes he didn’t have ticks while kissing his friend comes up with the kissing experiment. The goal is to kiss as many girls as he can and see if he ever has ticks. The problem is Stephen has more morals then to kiss anyone and everyone. He also has had a long term crush. Can he get noticed by the girl of his dreams?

Steven is a highschooler that prefers to not attend parties, his Tourette gets worse with the anxiety they give him and he can't drink because of the meds he takes, but when he finally agrees to go to one and there's a game if spin the bottle, he realizes that kissing a girl actuay helps his symptoms calm down, so with his friend they get to the conclusion that he needs to kiss as many girls as he can as an experiment to prove it does in fact work, and that's where all his personal drama begins.

I found it refreshing to have a male main character in a YA contemporary romcom, I also loved the fact that he was both asian and neurodivergent, and how he faced up to his screw ups and grew from it.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC!

Synopsis: Stephen has struggled with tics from Tourette Syndrome his whole life, until one night at a party when he has his first kiss. After telling his friend he didn’t think he had ticks while he was kissing, they decide to set up an “experiment” to have Stephen kiss as many girl as possible, and see if it has the same effect. As Stephen starts to collect data, however, the true purpose of what he’s doing becomes less clear, and his relationships much more complicated. Stephen has to find out what really makes him happy, and how to achieve that without hurting anyone.

_________________________________
Thoughts: This was my first venture into reading ARCs! Well, listening to them, anyway! I thought this book sounded really cute and was definitely expecting to like it, but I was actually surprised by how MUCH I liked it! Stephen is a really lovable MC who has all of the right intentions, but he’s still messy and it feels right. I also ended up loving all of the side characters as well. I thought the best friend was a really interesting character, being that he had good advice on communication for Stephen, but could still be a drunken jerk as well. The book didn’t have a single character who was “perfect” by any means, and it made the story as a whole much more interesting. Super happy to have read this one, and can’t wait to see it hit shelves next week!

I loved listening to this audiobook!
The narrator fit perfectly with Steven and the and story!!

I thought it was very easy to relate to Steven. He is a young boy struggling with anxiety and I could relate to him. He was funny and he made mistakes. He learned from his mistakes which shows us that anyone can learn from their mistakes. Steven is a boy you would want to be friends with.

This story was beautiful, funny, and even a little heart breaking at times.
I truly enjoyed this book and I think everyone should read or listen to it!!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape media for an advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review. I’d give this 3.5 stars.

This is a great summer YA read comprised of the drama of high schoolers (complete with parties, lying to parents, spin the bottle, and RUMORS). The story is about Stephen, a boy with Tourette’s syndrome. He has not had success with girls, which he believes is because of his nervous tics. However, his first kiss reveals that his tics disappear when he’s kissing someone - or at least that’s the theory he sets out to test.

I enjoyed seeing how Stephen gradually understood what people actually saw in him rather than just seeing his Tourette’s syndrome as he seemed to think. Stephen is a complex character, but relatable. The author brings in so many feelings from high school, you’re bound to read a line that will take you back!

Kiss and Repeat by Heather Truett was such a good listen! This one was fast at only a little over five hours. Kiss and Repeat tells the story of Stephen Luckie, a high school boy living in Alabama with a preacher mom and Turrets. He and a friend come up with a plan to see if kissing can reduce his ticks and high school hi-jinx ensue!

I was refreshed to see a YA romcom come from a boy's point of view. This book seemed modern and I enjoyed seeing a different progression than nerd to prom queen. The book was addictive; I really wanted to know how this story would end and it kept me entertained while organizing my closet which is always a win! Add this to your TBR ASAP!

Kiss and Repeat is about Stephen, a teenager with Tourettes syndrome who learns kissing helps ease his muscle twitches. He decides to test this hypothesis by kissing as many girls as possible. Still, his experiment ends up leading him to more questions.

Stephen started out as this sweet and kind of awkward teenager. Still, he got carried away with his kissing experiment and became sort of a jerk along the way. But I think that Stephen's development and personal growth is my favorite part about this book. I love that he's portrayed as such a flawed character despite his disorder. He makes so many mistakes, then owns up and tries to fix them. I also love the Tourettes representation and portrayal of the disorder!

I would definitely recommend this one if you love flawed characters, characters with disabilities, and overall fans of YA Contemporary RomComs!

I listened to this one on audio, and the narrator was excellent! Thank you, Netgalley and DreamScape media, for the audio ARC!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape media for an advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review.

This shorter, fun teen romance tells the story of Stephen, a boy who has never had luck with girls being interested in him, something he believes is because of the tics he has from Tourette syndrome. He receives his first kiss at a party and then realizes that he doesn't have tics when he's kissing someone. This starts an experiment to see if this was a fluke or a real fact that it can stop his tics.

While a little predictable, the story was cute, kept my attention, and had a unique feel. I thought Stephen was a likable main character as were his romantic interests, while still being human with flaws.

As someone who lives with Tourette tics myself, I found the character relatable and fairly authentic, but I know everyone's experience is different, so I'd be interested to see what others with the syndrome think of Stephen's character and experience.

I listened to this on audiobook and thought that it was well narrated.

Kiss and Repeat was a YA novel that had all the young adult things in it like high school, parties, peer pressure and awkward moments.
It was light and fun and would make a great summer read. It maybe could of developed a little more of the last relationship but maybe that’s just me. I really liked Stephen and for the most part this was a clean romance. I recommend this for a YA audience.
This was narrated by Nick Mondelli and I thought he did a great job.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via Netgalley.

I received Kiss and Repeat by Heather Truett and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

This is a quick paced YA romance that explores neurodiversity. Heather Truett portrays a main character that has Tourette’s syndrome. Stephen Lucky is a regular teenager trying to make his way through high school. A game of spin the bottle revealed that when he was kissing a girl his ticks subsided. The story continues to explore this premise. As Stephen meets two love interests (Pilar and Joan) he discovers that maybe it’s not Tourettes syndrome that stands in his way. Stephen figures out that everyone is just trying to find out who they are.

I like that the book has diverse characters, and the message is very relevant. However the plot is a little one dimensional, and you don’t feel particularly pulled to Stephen’s character. You hear about his fear and struggles but all were in the past. Overall a solid effort but does not stand out in my opinion.

More bookish things from me can be found at https://instagram.com/dana.books.it?igshid=1p1199coa86a3

Very cool to see Tourette’s syndrome represented in a book, especially a YA. The plot of this book is very teenager, perfect for the target group plus it was pretty short so also a bonus for teens/tweens. I listened to the audiobook and loved the narrator. A solid YA book, not too heavy, not too light.

Stephen has Tourette's syndrome and his tics result in a lack of confidence with girls. He takes note from his father's scientific method and embarks on a mission to kiss all the girls to overcome his insecurities and finally get the girl.
I loved the disability representation. I enjoy reading about characters who have an innate barrier. They always seem to be easier to root for. That being said, I was turned off by the negativity in regards to religion. We live in a culture constantly promoting inclusion so it didn't sit right with me that Stephen criticized his parent's beliefs without a whole lot of substance behind it. It made me think that the author was pushing an agenda rather than using it as background for how Stephen's character develops.
The narrator, Nick Mondelli, did not add nor take away from the story. I would be willing to listen to him again without issue.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the alc. All thoughts in this review are my own.

This one didn't work for me.

When Stephen discovers that his tics are quieted when he's kissing a girl, his best friend concocts an experiment to discover if kissing girls can be a treatment for his Tourette's Syndrome.

I can't speak to the representation of Tourette's in this specific novel, but I'm really excited about the increase of representation of neurodiversity in romance/YA (especially from an #actuallyautistic author)! I was also happy to discover that the book doesn't end up being about "fixing" or "curing" Stephen's disability, which I was afraid of. Instead, he spends a lot of the book struggling with his symptoms and his different medications in a way that felt very real to me, and eventually does come to a place where he can embrace himself and manage the way his disability impacts his life and vice versa. The story is told through Stephen's POV, which is relatively rare, and this places the full force of the story (including the romance) on Stephen.

However, the aspect of the book that I really didn't jive with was the uninterrogated slut-shaming that's rampant throughout the text. Teenage sexuality and sexual variety are normal! And I felt like this book was consistently going out of its way to shame those who were expressing their sexuality and defending "good girls" as "not too experienced."

I also think the book really suffers from "telling not showing" in a way that makes it challenging to connect with the characters and the action throughout. Because of the harmful messages around sex and sexuality. I would not recommend this book to any young person. However, the narration was strong and consistent throughout.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC..

This was a cute book about a high school boy, Stephen, who has Tourette's. I don't think I've ever read a book about someone with Tourette's so it was great to see it in this book. You could really tell you much this effected Stephen and how self conscious it made him, even though he could do nothing about it. I think that part of it was very well written.
Since Stephen kisses his first girl due to a spin the bottle game, it's so obvious how much he wants kissing to stop his tics. I really liked Stephen. He was very timid and polite, but he also had a bad temper because of his Tourette's and his character felt very real. I disliked Joan at first, but we really got to know her story and I liked her by the end. I didn't like Stephen's best friend Ballard, he was just a very bad friend. I also thought I was going to like one of the girls Stephen met, Pilar, but she ended up being way too clingy.
This book started out as an experiment of getting Stephen to kiss as many girls as he could to see if it helped his tics and I thought that was going to be a large part of the book, but it really wasn't. It was more about Stephen learning that people can accept him despite his Tourette's and I really liked that.
Definitely give this book a try if you're looking for a cute contemporary!

Throughly enjoyed this fast pace ya romance. I appreciate the mental health aspect and while I don’t know a lot about Tourette’s I felt the author gave enough about it with out making the whole book just about it. It was a light fun story of the constant challenges of dating in high school. I also was trying to figure out if Steven would end up with someone and who it could be.

Narrator was pretty good. Kept me engaged enough to stay for the end.

Stephen Luckie has Tourette Syndrome and believes that its the reason he can't seem to get girls to like him. He attends a party where they play Spin the Bottle and discovers that his tics seem to go away when he is kissing someone. He decides to begin a kissing experiment to see if his hypothesis is true. As the experiment continues and two girls become interested in him, he begins to think that his tics haven't been the problem after all.

I haven't seen Tourette's Syndrome represented in books often, so I was excited to check this out.
This was a pretty average read in my opinion, and I didn't think it was anything revolutionary. I was a bit disappointed with the plot, as the experiment that was a major point in the synopsis was abandoned pretty on in the book for Stephen to begin pursuing a real relationship instead. I wasn't the biggest fan of either love interests either, but if I had to choose between the two I'd definitely choose Jan over the other one. I think this would be a good book for younger YA readers, who are just diving into the genre.

Overall, it was super quick, I read it in one sitting and it flowed very nicely, but I don't think it was anything spectacular. I listened to this on audio, and I do think that the author did a good job narrating these characters, very easy to listen to!