Review: Split by a Kiss by Luisa Plaja

Last word first: A fun concept, well written. I had a great time reading it.

Would Joe like this book? Absolutely not. Way too girly for him.

Description: When Jo's mom gets a new job in the US, she and Jo packed up and got ready to start over for a year in a new place. And it's going well. Her new classmates think her accent is amazing, she's been accepted into the cool-girl squad, and Jake, the hottest boy in school, is flirting with her. But when Jake chooses geeky Jo to play Seven Minutes in Heaven (do people still do that?) something strange happens. Turns out Jake is a bit of a jerk. Jo is torn, she doesn't know what to do. Should she play along and stay in with the cool kids, or blow him off and doom herself back to nerd-dom? And that's it- Jo is split by a kiss. Her cool side stays with the hot boy, her geek side has to face school completely humiliated. Will she ever get herself back together again?

My thoughts: I found this book a little disorienting at first, to be honest. When Jo splits, she literally splits. Two mutually exclusive storylines begin, one narrated by Josie the Cool Girl, one narrated by Jo the Geek. It's a cool concept, but it took me a few pages to figure out what was going on. Now you're prepared, and you won't find it as jarring as I did.

Once I got into the story, I loved it. Who hasn't wondered what might have been if only you did one little thing different? I thought it was funny the way both versions of Jo questioned whether they made the "right" decision. That's just so true, right? No matter what you do, you always wonder. (At least, *I* always wonder. Maybe you are blessed with a sense of extreme confidence, in which case, I salute you! )

In the bio on Luisa Plaja's website, she says she can't tell jokes. Strange, because she sure writes funny stories. This book had me laughing out loud often enough that my husband just stopped asking what was going on. Jo's reflections on her expectations of life in the US versus the reality were particularly amusing to me. Overall, Jo was a completely loveable character, both as a Mean Girl wannabe and a potential mathalete. One of the things I love about young adult fiction is the tension between who you want to be and who you are, and watching the way characters resolve that. I think Split by a Kiss expresses it well.

While this story deals with a few interesting issues, it is fun, lighthearted reading all the way. Therefore, you literature elitists who look down on high school fiction and chick lit are going to want to steer clear of this one. As for the rest of you, check it out!

About Luisa Plaja: From sixteen onwards I started doing Proper Real Life jobs (as well as intermittent studying). Most disastrous: world's worst supermarket cashier, and the terrifying time I worked behind the bar at a nightclub. Best: library assistant, especially when I got to pack up an old library and help myself to absolutely any book I wanted. (NotNessie says: I am so jealous right now.)