Review: Extreme Kissing - Luisa Plaja

Genre: YA
Pages: can't find it, and I do not have the book here
Published: 2009

   

Carlota and Bethany are best friends. Bethany is the sensible one with a long-term boyfriend, Carlota is the crazy one with a wild past and rebellious nature. All is fine in their world - apart from Carlota hating her stepdad and longing for a old flame. And apart from Bethany thinking her boyfriend is about to dump her and that her period is late...Carlota comes up with a plan to put all their troubles behind them and go on a girls-only wild day out, with only their favourite magazine to guide them through the day. If they open it on a fashion page they have to get hold of a fabulous new outfit and pretend to be models. If they open it to a page on snogging, they have to find a boy to snog. The magazine will take them everywhere they need to go - but will it help them to reveal the secrets they are keeping from each other?

This is an old review that just never got posted so here it is, since I do wanna post about all books I have read:
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This was a good YA, and there wasn’t anything too teen about. I am talking about drugs, sex and alcohol. Sometimes that just seems to be there because it should. Sure here there was the fear that she might be pregnant but that was it. This was more about the journey and friendship between these two girls.

Bethany doesn’t want to go on any trip and to embarrassing things. She wants to stay home and study for her exams, but at the same time her worries are eating her up and she wants to tell her best friend. Carlota is also keeping a secret and she does not know how to break it to Bethany. Because she doesn’t want her friend to get sad. That is why this whole plan is put into motion. Even best friends keep secrets from each other.

They go to London and do some crazy and fun things. Like dancing and letting other join in, going into posh shops, or buying the most embarrassing thing a store has to offer. They also meet two guys, which will help them see what they truly want in the end.

This is a YA book that I could recommend to a young teen. It was fun, and sweet. They had some nice adventures, and most of all it’s that testament to friendship. Sometimes you just want to make your friend have fun and enjoy life. Sometimes you don’t want to hurt your friend by telling the truth, and sometimes you just want someone to say that everything will be ok. It’s also a book that deals with the stress that are big exams, and these two girls are standing in front of some of the most important.

This is a real book. They deal with normal things, and they want what teenagers want. Plaja manages well with the portrait of these two young girls.