Review: Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach

Title:  Kiss Me First
Author: Lottie Moggach
Format: Audiobook
Publish Date: July 4, 2013
Source: Library

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "When Leila discovers the Web site Red Pill, she feels she has finally found people who understand her. A sheltered young woman raised by her mother, Leila has often struggled to connect with the girls at school; but on Red Pill, a chat forum for ethical debate, Leila comes into her own, impressing the Web site's founder, a brilliant and elusive man named Adrian. Leila is thrilled when Adrian asks to meet her, flattered when he invites her to be part of "Project Tess." Tess is a woman Leila might never have met in real life. She is beautiful, urbane, witty, and damaged. As they e-mail, chat, and Skype, Leila becomes enveloped in the world of Tess, learning every single thing she can about this other woman—because soon, Leila will have to become her. An ingeniously plotted novel of stolen identity, Kiss Me First is brilliantly frightening about the lies we tell—to ourselves, to others, for good, and for ill."

My Two Cents:

"Kiss Me First" is the debut novel of Lottie Moggach. It is a wholly original story about Leila, an introverted young woman, who finds her voice on the philosophy website, Red Pill. She is soon targeted by the website's owner, the enigmatic Adrian to do something that will change Lottie's life. She is to take over Tess's online life after Tess commits suicide. Leila believes she's doing the right thing but as things unfold, she is suddenly less sure of herself but she may already be in too deep.

I love stories that are totally brand new. I haven't read another book like this one. It was fascinating to see this book unfold. We're not given all the clues at first and I loved being able to figure out things as the book went on. With a debut book like this, I'm hopeful that Ms. Moggach will continue to keep me on my toes with future releases.

Leila was a really fascinating narrator to me. I loved that the book was narrated from her point of view. She really changes throughout this book. She started out very sheltered at the beginning of the book but she begins to really transform through the book. This book brought up a lot of questions about my own beliefs and I love when a book can do that. While I don't necessarily agree with the things that Leila does in the book, I can see where she was coming from. Being able to understand a character's motivation is always very important to me.

I listened to this book as an audiobook and I thought that the narration was good. I thought the audiobook format worked really well for this format.

If you're looking for a controversial book with a wholly original story, this will fit the bill.