‘The Kiss Quotient’: 3 AM BOOK REVIEW

It’s true, I did finish The Kiss Quotient at 3 am a few days ago. Here are my thoughts on it.

Patreon Shout-Outs

Thank you for supporting my Patreon Page: John Reid, Francesca Burke

The full, unedited version of this post is available on my Patreon if you want to see that too. Visit https://www.patreon.com/poetrybooksya for more exclusive, creative writing and poetry content!

Also visit my introductory post on Patreon here.

In case you missed it, here are some posts I wrote in the past month:

My Writing Journey // How I Got Started

7 Favorite Childhood Books Found at the Library

Q&A with Francesca Burke: ‘The Princess and the Dragon and Other Stories About Unlikely Heroes’

My Therapy Journey // What I learned from my first three months of counseling

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Published by Penguin on June 5, 2018
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Multicultural & Interracial, Women
Pages: 336
Goodreads

From the author of The Bride Test comes a romance novel hailed as one of The Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of Fiction in 2018 and one of Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2018!
"This is such a fun read and it's also quite original and sexy and sensitive."--Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author
"Hoang's writing bursts from the page."--Buzzfeed
A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.
Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.
It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan--from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...
Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...

How can I explain my love for this book without spoiling? How can I talk about how perfect I’d thought Stella and Michael were, both together and apart? Stella reminded me so much of myself and my aversion to sex. I’m not autistic, so I can’t speak to the representation and if it was accurate or not. But I can speak about the anxious moments she has and not letting your disorder define you. She brilliantly applies her love for science and math as a way to hide from the world. She thinks it doesn’t understand her.

To be quite personal, I also have an aversion to sex, relationships and dating. I’m a virgin and I plan to be for as long as I want to; I’ve never had a boyfriend, but plenty of unrequited crushes on guys who didn’t know I existed. I’ve for a while wondered how I would be as a girlfriend; it’s fun to daydream about! Now, I’ve been disappointed by a few people coming in and out of my life. The whole prospect of dating isn’t on my radar right now. I’m more open to trying to talk to people. I’d rather stay by myself and let the universe do the work for me.

Wow, this review got more personal than usual. I must really like you guys here!

Anyway, back to the review…

Stella’s social anxiety and awkwardness was also something I admired. She’s just so blunt and doesn’t catch sarcasm or other social construct right away. She doesn’t know how to act afterward. That’s kinda like me because I can be very socially awkward, goofy, and weird, almost childlike. Especially when I get comfortable with someone for a long time.

Michael was also an interesting character to read. Not only about his job as an escort, but his day job as a designer for his mother’s wedding shop. He has his inner conflict between the love for his family and hatred for his father. He’s also fearful of not wanting to be like his dad tore at my heartstrings. His family (outside of his father) was so sweet, funny, stuck together like glue. His five sisters and cousins were adorable. I also liked reading about the Vietnamese culture, hearing about the food, and cultural customs between the men on how they viewed loyalty and family.

Stella and Michael’s Romance

Stella and Michael’s connection in The Kiss Quotient was obviously really special. They tried so hard not to fall for each other. But since this is a romance novel, I saw it coming from the first chapters. Their sex scenes were pretty steamy and made me harder to read in public! They weren’t graphic or explicit, but the energy kept me on guard. I found myself kinda skimming through until I could catch my breath… 😉

It was a bit frustrating for me to read how everyone could see their attraction to each other. They didn’t see it for themselves. Like it took almost halfway through the book for them to slowly “date” for real, because they were so blind! I understand that’s a popular trope in romance books, but still it’s kind of annoying. There were so many quotes from Michael’s mom that I highlighted in my notes about Michael and Stella’s density.

Writing Style

The writing was especially easy to read through. Helen Hoang has a way of making her characters relatable to you. Even if you don’t have Asperger’s Syndrome or are Vietnamese/Swedish or dealing with family issues. I think everyone has family issues at some point in their lives. Seeing Stella and Michael’s made mine seem so small. I was surprised at how much I dove into the story due to Hoang’s writing style. It usually takes me a lot longer to finish books now. I finished this at 3 am 2 days ago, which never happens. That’s how you know I was kind of obsessed with this book!

The sequel, The Bride Test, came out May 7, 2019. I’m excited to read more about Michael’s younger cousin Khai, who also has autism and relationship issues. I thought his introduction in The Kiss Quotient was intriguing, and I want to know more. Especially since there isn’t much autism representation in romance.

Comment below! Have you read The Kiss Quotient? Did you like it?

Thanks for reading!