Review: Kissing in America by Margo Rabb

In the two years since her father died, sixteen-year-old Eva has found comfort in reading romance novels—118 of them, to be exact—to dull the pain of her loss that’s still so present. Her romantic fantasies become a reality when she meets Will, who seems to truly understand Eva’s grief. Unfortunately, after Eva falls head-over-heels for him, he picks up and moves to California without any warning. Not wanting to lose the only person who has been able to pull her out of sadness—and, perhaps, her shot at real love—Eva and her best friend, Annie, concoct a plan to travel to the west coast to see Will again. As they road trip across America, Eva and Annie confront the complex truth about love. 

Review: I was really looking forward tot his book, I loved the premise behind it- I mean everyone loves a road trip book right? But I was left a little bit cold after finishing this books. This wasn't a book that I wouldn't have finished but I just felt it could have been so much more or had even more zing about it. I really identified with the character of Eva in the beginning. I liked who she was a what she was about. I even liked the way she handled her grief, it was nice to see grief being dealt with in this different way, but by the end of the book, I found myself liking her a little less and having less sympathy for her. 

I liked the relationship that Eva and Annie had, they were close friends and they reminded me a lot of the relationship Rory has with her best friend in Gilmore Girls, I pictured the two of them similarly, but I found that their relationship changed over time, and not necessarily for the better. I wasn't sure about the commitment they had to one another and that didn't sit well with me, the more I thought about it after finishing the book. 

The road trip aspect of the book, was thankfully, just as good as I thought it was going to be. I really like the fact that the girls picked up lots of new information and had lots of adventures along the course of their road trip and i like the fact that they stayed with friends and relatives along their way. The other thing in the book that i really liked was Eva's relationship with her mother. This grew and changed over the course of the novel and I loved the transformation that took place. There are a lot of bumps in the road that the two of them have to deal with by I really liked the place that this got to by the end of the novel. 

One aspect of the book that personal struck a cord with me was the different places that the girls went to, and the place that they came from. I am just beginning to discover America and so it was interesting for me to read about places I have been to, as well as places I am soon to discover and it was great being able to picture where in the country these characters were and what it was likely to be like. 

Overall, this was enjoyable and a fairly quick read, but i really wanted more from this novel and was left a little disappointed.