6 Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe is a beautiful young adult novel that follows the lives of Penny and Tate, two girls who have always clashed but whose paths constantly cross because of their mothers' epic friendship. When a long-awaited surgery forces both families to live together, the girls can't ignore their reluctantly shared past… including all those times they've almost kissed.

This book was so refreshing. It's brave, bold, and honest. I loved the characters and the story was heartwarming and touching. Penny and Tate are both very full characters with rich histories and complicated relationships with each other, with their mothers, and with their circumstances. I loved watching them grow closer as they got to know each other better.

The writing was engrossing, the story flowed beautifully, the story was poetic, it's the perfect coming of age story. There were some great funny moments in the book, but it also dealt with some heavy themes in an honest and thought-provoking way. This is a great story on trauma and identity (sexual and otherwise) packaged as a ''simpler story''.

I really wish I could share some quotes on this review because there are a ton of really thought-provoking ones. I could have highlighted the entire book, that's how well it was written.

In case it is not extremely clear with my review, I highly recommend Six Times We Almost Kissed (And One Time We Did) to fans of contemporary young adult fiction.

Dare I call this book perfect? Because it certainly felt like it was for me. Tess Sharpe has such an intricate way of telling stories that could make me fall in love with literally anything, but 6 TIMES WE ALMOST KISSED especially found its way into my heart, and for many reasons!

Penny and Tate's love radiates off these pages. They care so deeply for each other, even if they are reluctant to admit that, and their romance is one of my favorites I've ever read. But besides that, they are also just such three-dimensional, real characters that deserve the world. The rest of the cast was also just incredibly well-developed!

Now, there's a lot of love tucked into these pages, but I would say there's also so much hurt there along with it. I really, really urge everyone to look up content warnings before diving in. The themes were explored with lots of care and hit really close to home for me, which was both confronting and comforting to me, but I wouldn't want anyone to get triggered by the heavy parts of this book.

But I do want to say that, despite those heavy themes, this book was also fun! It had me captivated until the very last word and I laughed so, so much, even if it was through tears sometimes.

6 TIMES WE ALMOST KISSED is a book I could never fully capture in a review, because it simply is so special to me. Tess Sharpe once again proves herself to be a masterful storyteller, and I can't wait to read this one over and over again. Absolutely an all-time favorite!