Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous

about ten years ago when i was starting to get back into reading for fun and not school, i went through this tear of a ton of pulpy sapphic romance novels. many relied on alternating-chapter dual POV nonsense to create “tension,” where each character would be super into the other, but they were so fucking bad at communicating and didn't know or couldn't tell the other person liked them, so the dual POV in this book was refreshing because wil and katie manage to actually talk to each other honestly about their feelings and desires. (maybe too honestly in some parts? i think they like, openly talk about masturbating while in a room full of older adults at a house party? after not talking for thirteen years? no one approaches them all evening, even this world-famous EGOT or almost-EGOT celeb/hometown hero, not even to just say hi?) and i like the setup: childhood friends to lovers, something secret and/or forbidden by circumstance, two people reconnecting after a 10+ year gap. i actually kept thinking of the sex scene(s)—was there more than one? i don't remember—from the otherwise shitty wlw movie called all about E; at the time i watched it, i was very into the dynamic of reunited exes having previously already established familiarity with their bodies but also bringing new things to the table (bed). like a homecoming, ayo. the rest of the movie is pretty trash though. but the book was kinda like that even though they were “just” besties in high school, so i liked that.

for me, everyone i kissed started out real strong because i was like, hey i enjoy these tropes, and the audiobook narration was fun. but once i switched from listening to the story over two 3-4 hour drives and started reading it with my eyeballs, i felt like the dialogue especially became a slog to get through. we'd be in the middle of something interesting and/or sexy, and they'd just stop to alternatingly deliver long ass monologues. it felt unnatural and broke up the flow. there's also a small bit about privilege that felt very shoehorned in, especially since we kept being reminded all book about how blonde/golden these white women are.

the morals of the story that became apparent in the denouement weren't bad at all, but ultimately i felt like it was a clunky way to get there. and we probably didn't need so much stuff in the middle to build up to it, since that mostly dragged.

3.5/5 probably? it entertained me for my long drives, but then it became a chore to finish. even with the steamy stuff.