I Kissed a Girl

There has been quite a bit of discussion as of late over whether a book with a cute cartoon couple on its front and marketed as a “Rom-Com,” can be guaranteed to live up to the promise of the packaging. I Kissed a Girl, Jennet Alexander’s debut featuring the romantic coupling of two Jewish heroines, delivers not just as a fabulous “Rom-Com,” but in a whole bunch of other ways this reader didn’t know she wanted or needed.

Now, fully disclosure. I know Jennet—not super well, but we’re in a writer group-chat together. We have definitely talked and I’ve always found her fun and nice. But, let’s be real, I wouldn’t be obsessively typing out my every thought on this book (which I read in a single sitting) if I didn’t actually adore it. And I completely adored it.

Anyway, let’s talk about the book. Our leads are Lilah and Noa. Lilah is an up-and-coming horror movie actress and Noa is a scrapy make-up artist itching for her union card. They meet on the set of a movie, Noa’s first big job which will hopefully lead to a real career and Lilah’s big leading role which will hopefully help her leap to bigger budget features. Noa has a crush on Lilah but tries to keep it professional, especially after her boss warns her not to date “the talent.”

Also, besides not wanting to come off like an obsessed fan, Noa isn’t even sure Lilah would be interested in her, as while Lilah is bi, she isn’t exactly out due to her own unsureness about life in general. Lilah and Noa are both pretty young. However, Lilah is fairly inexperienced—not only with dating but with making decisions based on what she wants, not just what would be best for the career she’s been working towards since she was a child.

The two, however, are adorably awkward together in a way that is fresh and real and fun. I laughed out loud enough that I scared my dog more than once. Their relationship is slow burn but very sweet and you just want good things for them. Their mistakes and natural and understandable and just very real.

The book is simply a fun read with some really great discussions of genre—horror and romance, and the reasons why they and the emotions they evoke and promises they deliver resonate and create devoted fans. There is also plenty of excitement with on-set drama due to delays, budget cuts, a secret dog, and a stalker. We also get some wonderful action sequences worthy of any great horror flick, which brought a smile to my face, not to mention all the great movie references the premise demands.

But, obviously, we can’t forget the Jewishness. As I mentioned above, both Noa and Lilah are Jewish and the representation is beautiful. Now it’s important to recognized that there is no right way for us to do our own representation, as well as the fact that there are tons of different Jewish experiences which all deserve to be reflect on the page. However, for me, this felt so familiar that it took my breath away and I didn’t realize until reading it how much I personally needed to see characters like this and their Jewish experience in a wonderful book like this.

In I kissed a Girl, Jewish identity and Judaism wasn’t a conflict. It wasn’t problematized or criticized or analyzed. Both Lilah and Noa were just Jewish in a very American way that was merely presented as an important part of the lives and way they saw the world and it just filled me with joy.

Their cultural references were natural and easy and adorable. And while the existence of antisemitism was acknowledged (something that is very important to do, especially in these times) in their hesitation at disclosing being Jewish to strangers in a way that was not belabored but familiar and real. They each were insecure and neurotic and over analytical about a thousand things but this wasn’t one of them and it rang so true for me that I feel lucky to have been able to read it.

Anyway, I adored this book so much and I feel equally lucky that I got asked to guest review it. It’s super special and just a warm, fuzzy, lovely, fun read that gives you exactly what you want from a fun, charming, slow-burn rom-com. I recommend it a million times over and am super willing to excitedly gush about it to anyone who will listen to me.  

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Felicia Grossman is an author of historical romance, usually featuring Jewish protagonists and lots of food references. A Delaware native, she now lives in the Rustbelt with her family and Scottish Terrier. When not writing romance, she enjoys eclairs, cannolis, and Sondheim musicals. She is represented by Rebecca Podos of Rees Literary. Follow her on Twitter, instagram, facebook or her Website.