Thursday, February 16, 2012

Kiss Date, Love Hate by Luisa Plaja


Lex Murphy and her friends have complicated relationships. If only there was a way to avoid the dating/hating drama...
When Lex fills a cool new computer game with characters based on herself and her classmates, she makes some 'wishful thinking' adjustments to the profiles. Finally, everyone can be perfectly matched and happy, at least on screen. Love, Life, Looks - it's all under Lex's control in a harmless game.
After all, these changes can't come true... can they?


I love Luisa's books! They are really funny and I always really enjoy them. I had been waiting for Kiss Date, Love Hate to be published for ages and had high expectations for it. And did it live up to them? YES!!! I adored it! It was hilarious, surprising, original, well-written and addictive! And while reading it, sometimes I liked to just flick back to the front of the book and admire the gorgeous cover! Isn't it just fantastic? I love the colours and the little people (what characters do you think they are? I can't work it out! I know the girl must be Lex but what about the others?), the way the title is made out of little pixels, and all the symbols in the middle like the exclamation marks and stars and stuff!


The characters, and the different relationships they had with each other, were one of the best parts of this book for me. They were well thought out, believable and had great personalities. I liked the main character Lex, and felt sorry for her because her old best friend had stolen her boyfriend and her other best friend was too obsessed with exams to spend time with her. So Lex is now best friends with George, an awkward, but kind boy who convinces her to attend a film - making course with him over the mid-term. 


Lex was genuine, funny, and relatable, and I really liked her! George was great too, really cute! Lex's ex-boyfriend Matt was - ughh! He was an idiot, to put it politely ;) I couldn't understand why Lex liked him! He was so annoying, and moaning all the time. He was just such a pain, and I was incredibly irritated by him. Well done Luisa, it takes skill to make a reader feel that way about a character! And Lex's ex-friend and and Matt's girlfriend Gemma...I'm not really sure how I felt about her! I didn't *hate* her but I didn't particularly like her either! We didn't get to see a lot of Jess, Lex's other best friend, which was a pity, because when we did 'meet' her, it seemed like she had a lot of character potential!


My favourite character was Drew, who is Jess (one of Lex's friend's) cousins, who Lex finds herself slowly falling in love with. But she keeps telling herself that she wants to be with Matt, not Drew. Drew was much nicer, funnier and all-round better than Matt! He was 'dark' and mysterious, and Lex and him were great together. And when we really found out more about the real him at the end, I liked him even more! Drew was a wonderful character, and he really added to the story!


I have to admit, I wasn't crazy on the film-making-course setting, because I'm not really a film-making sort of person, and it was in the woods, and I just really don't like woods in books. I don't know why, they seem a little...boring! But luckily for me, a lot of the scenes didn't take place on the course. That's my only complaint about the book!


Kiss Date Love Hate, like all of Luisa's books was hilarious! But I think this might have been the funniest yet!  There was just so many times when I was laughing out loud read it. And if  there's one thing that I like, it's a book that makes me laugh!


I couldn't put this book down! I was reading when I should have been sleeping, which led to not being able to get up in the morning...But it was worth it! The writing is engrossing, making you want to read on. And the whole concept of the book is fantastic. I mean, being  able to change all the aspects of your own life and those around you using a video game?! Awesome! I'm sure we'd all love to be able to do that! I know I would! I did think George and Lex accepted it a little too quickly, I mean I would have been shocked and in disbelieve if it happened to me. But I suppose they only had a week to use it, so they had to get used to it quickly! The ending of Kiss Date Love Hate was brilliant, with lots of surprises, some stuff I did see coming and others that came as an absolute shock!


Overall I loved this book. If you are a fan of funny chick-lit with a bit of fantasy thrown in,I know you will love it too!


                                                        Rating 4.5/5


Source: For review
Pages: 288
Age group: 12+
Official Publication Date: 2nd February 2012
Publisher: Corgi Childrens
Author WebsiteChicklish or www.luisaplaja.co.uk

10 comments:

  1. I loved Drew, too, but I didn't mind Matt. I think he and Gemma were cute, but Lex is way better off with Drew!
    Ah, I wished we could have seen more of Jess, as well, she was an awesome character.
    I loved the film setting, but it was good that there were scene changes. I love the idea of that cinema.(:
    Great review!

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  2. Great review Cliona, I just can't wait to read this book myself. Glad you enjoyed this so much,

    Jessica x
    www.bookedupbloggers.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great review, I liked this book too when I read it! I couldn't figure out the characters on the cover either at the start but now I think they are: Matt, Lex, Drew and George :) I agree with some aspects of your review, but I must say, I quite liked the forest setting. I wasn't even suspecting the surprise at the end either!

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  4. Great Review! I found you blog through a friend and love it! Mind checking out mine?

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    Thanks so much!
    ~Caroline

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fantastic review! Luisa Plaja's books are amazing! I agree, waiting for it to be published was unbearable :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can't say I've ever heard of this book or author before but it sounds really good I'll have to check it out on Goodreads, great review, new follower

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