Review: The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

What could be better than traveling abroad and kissing cute boys? Sharing it with your three best friends, of course!

Piper, Cassidy, Mei, and Izzy have been best friends their whole lives. And they've always agreed on one goal: to get out of tiny Paris, Texas, and see the world. The school's foreign exchange program seems like the perfect escape: Piper will go to the original Paris; Mei will go to China; Cassidy will go to Australia; and Izzy, unable to afford the program, will stay at home. To add spice to their semester away, and to stay connected to their best friends, the girls start The International Kissing Club, a Facebook page where they can anonymously update one another and brag about all the amazing guys they're meeting. After all, these girls are traveling abroad: amazing guys abound at every turn! But sometimes fun, flirty vacation flings turn into more serious romances, and sometimes you don't return from abroad the same person you were. Will the girls' relationships-and their friendships-be able to survive?

Review:

The International Kissing Club by Ivy Adams is one of those perfect feel good kind of books. It's adorable; it's romantic; it's hilarious; and most importantly, the girls presented in it are one hundred percent realistic! Basically it's a win in all ways possible!

The International Kissing Club begins the story of Cassidy, Piper, Mei, and Izzy, three girls who are sick of living in small town Paris, Texas. Nothing every happens in Paris, but when it does, it usually involves massive embarrassment for at least one of the girls. Everything changes, though, when the girls are told of a new foreign exchange program their school has. Piper decides on France, hoping to find a cute boy or two to help ease the pain of the "Pig Incident" as well as her lackluster family. Mei decides on China, hoping to find out a thing or two about her birth country. Cassidy decides on Australia. And while Izzy would like nothing but to go away as well, she's stuck in Paris, Texas for the time being. The girls can't wait to set out on their new adventures, and to stay in touch over the semester, they start The International Kissing Club. What happens next? Will each girl find their perfect guy? And will The International Kissing Club come back to haunt them? Only more time and pages can tell! 

One thing that always makes or breaks a contemporary YA book for me is the characters. I have to love them, or at least like them, or the whole book "fails" in my eyes. Luckily, I plain out adored the girls in this book! Mei was the serious one of the group, the one most likely to succeed in life, and while sometimes I wished the girl would come out of her shell and live a little more, she was an awesome person. Piper was the "wild child" of the group. She's the one who comes up with the whole kissing idea, and while at first, I was somewhat put back by her tell like it is attitude, I really came to love her as the book progressed. Cassidy was probably my favorite. Her story will managed to strike a chord in me (and not just because I ADORED her love interest), because to me, she was one of the most real out of the group, and I really loved that she got her moment to shine in this! Lastly, Izzy...this girl was one confusing person, but I adored her nonetheless. I felt bad for the fact that she was left behind in Texas while the others jetted off, but it ended up doing wonders for her character. What I adored most about these four girls, though, was how realistically Ivy Adams presented them. They had their setbacks and their problems, and while they suddenly didn't become "perfect" overnight, they really managed to grow as the book continued, and I just love seeing that transformation occur.

The premise of this is one of the reasons I originally read the book, and it turned out to be just as great as I imagined and hoped. For one, the kissing club idea was unique as well as lots of fun, and I especially loved how they added a social media aspect to this novel by including the Facebook page of the group as well as the interactions and comments they had through it. I also enjoyed seeing each girl take control of their lives in this book, because while this book does have a lot to do with kissing and boys, it's mainly about coming to age, and learning to live and make your way on your own. Lastly, the settings in this book were amazing as well! I loved seeing Paris, Australia, China, and Paris, Texas through the eyes of the characters, even though it made me yearn to take a trip of my own. 

In all, The International Kissing Club is a fabulous debut from Ivy Adams, and if you love contemp or just a GREAT book, this one is for you! My only compliant? I really want a second book!

Grade: A+

The International Kissing Club (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads) is now available in hardcover, paperback, AND eBook formats.

Source: Publisher via Netgalley- Thanks Bloomsbury/Walker Books!

To find out more about the book and Ivy Adams, check out the official International Kissing Club website!