Books I've Read: I Kissed Alice

 

I picked this one up at the library because it sounded like it might be a fun read and I needed something light this weekend.  It was light, but not that much fun, I'm afraid.

Set in a special arts school, the book deals with friendship, fandom and the razor-thin line between love and hate.

Iliana and Sarah have been best friends since childhood, but since Sarah moved into the dorms on campus at the arts school where she won a scholarship, she's become besties with her roommate, Rhodes.  Iliana can't stand Rhodes and the feeling is mutual.

The hatred between these two grows more intense when the two girls find themselves competing against each other for the coveted Capstone prize.  Rhodes is struggling to create anything n the face of intense pressure from her overbearing mother and living up to her family's expectations of her.

Iliana has no problem with creating and is determined to work her ass off to win the prize after losing a much-needed college scholarship as a result of a disciplinary matter partially the fault of Rhodes.

To escape the growing pressures facing them at school, both Rhodes and Iliana turn to an online fan site where they unknowingly pair up to create an Alice in Wonderland comic set in space.  While Rhodes and Iliana hate each other in real life, their online alter-egos, I-Kissed-Alice and Curious-in-Cheshire grow closer and closer.

With the competition date rapidly closing in, and the truth about their secret identities uncovered,  it's only a matter of time before these two enemies destroy each others' futures.

The main problem I had with this book was how unlikable all the characters were.  The only person I felt even a small amount of sympathy for was Rhodes' brother, Griffin.  And he didn't play a huge role int he story.  All the main characters were awful.  Sarah, the friend Rhodes and Iliana fought over, was the worst kind of passive yet manipulative character and allowed herself to be railroaded by both the other girls over and over.  I almost cheered for her when she finally got some backbone and dumped both of them.

Rhode is a spoiled princess, so used to getting everything she wants without working for it she crumbles at the first sign of pressure.  But what do you expect from someone brought up by a mother whose solution to any problem is to throw money at it?

And Iliana is so self-centered she doesn't even notice that she's walking all over the people who supposedly care about her.  She's so ambitious she doesn't care who she hurts on the way to getting to her goal.

So I didn't enjoy this one as much as I'd hoped I would.  But if you like reading about bitchy girls treating each other badly, this might be for you.

But don't just listen to me.  Her's the blurb:

For fans of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and Fangirl, I Kissed Alice is a romantic comedy about enemies, lovers, and everything in between.

Rhodes and Iliana couldn't be more different, but that's not why they hate each other.

Hyper-gifted artist Rhodes has always excelled at Alabama’s Conservatory of the Arts despite a secret bout of creator's block, while transfer student Iliana tries to outshine everyone with her intense, competitive work ethic. Since only one of them can get the coveted Capstone scholarship, the competition between them is fierce.

They both escape the pressure on a fanfic site where they are unknowingly collaborating on a graphic novel. And despite being worst enemies in real life, their anonymous online identities I-Kissed-Alice and Curious-in-Cheshire are starting to like each other...a lot. When the truth comes out, will they destroy each other's future?