Author: Ivy Adams
Publisher: Walker & Company
Publication Date: January 3, 2012
Pages: 400
Source: Galley from NetGalley/Publisher
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: I thought this book was really cute for the most part! I mean, first of all, who wouldn't wanna be a foreign exchange student?? That would be so cool! Meeting new people, learning about a new culture, exploring a whole new country! I would love that! Personally, I'd be like Piper and go to Paris because I absolutely love Paris! But Australia sounds pretty cool too! I really liked the whole International Kissing Club Facebook page! Not because of the whole kissing as many guys as you can thing, I thought that was weird. I mean, it thought it was so cool that they each met a guy that they could openly talk about with the entire group but not have to give away names or anything. I thought the whole points system for how many guys you kissed was weird though. I honestly like the girls that only got their three points for the one guy they met and really spent their time with. Having a meaningful friendship/relationship with one guy is way better than kissing a ton of different guys, even if your in a different country.
The girls! They all were pretty cool and unique in their own way but I think out of them all I liked Cassidy the most! She seemed the most level headed most of the time and actually thought things through more than the others. She also seemed to be the most loyal friend out of the four, especially after the big blow up between Piper & Izzy! I really disliked how everyone turned against Izzy when she didn't mean for anything that happened to happen. Piper acted like she did everything on purpose. I've been in that spot where your friends turn against you for something stupid that wasn't even supposed to happen. So I really felt for Izzy, because what Piper did to her was really unfair. I also thought it was really messed up that Piper constantly complained about her problems and always tried to make the conversation about her when she wasn't the only one with problems. She acted like the world revolved around her and it didn't. That was extremely unfair to Izzy! She needed someone to talk to and Piper just blew her off and didn't even care. That's why I liked Cassidy the most because she was actually there for all her friends when they needed her. I was really happy that they worked out their problems but I felt like most of the drama between them wasn't needed. Don't even get me started on Germaine! She was just a manipulative jerk! She didn't need to cause half the drama she did but she did anyways just because she thought she was better than everyone else. I thought this book really described high school really well, populars always picking on the non populars and then manipulating them into turning against each other. It felt really familiar. Overall, I thought this was a good contemporary!
4 Stars!
