Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

Title: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
Author: Louise Rennison
Rating: 4.3


Georgia Nicolson is a pretty normal 14-year-old British girl. She hates her parents, her little sister is insane, her cat wants to eat the poodle next-door, she’s questioning her sexuality, and of course she thinks she will never get a boyfriend (or girlfriend for that matter). Through her journal entries we get all the juicy insight into her life. Georgia suspects her mother of having an affair while her father is away in New Zealand. She also thinks her best friend has betrayed her by going for a coffee with Robbie, the boy Georgia is in love with. She also shaves off her eyebrows and accidentally tears a large clump of hair off her head. Finally, she loses her beloved cat/beast, Angus, which leads her to Robbie, who it turns out is in love with her too. But as soon as they finally do some “full-frontal snogging” Georgia finds out she’s leaving for holiday in New Zealand next week. Will her new relationship withstand a summer apart? You’ll have to read the next book in the series to find out.


Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging is written in diary form. You will either love this format or hate it. I found that for this series it works a lot better than a regular novel; if a part is getting boring (which is a problem I had with this book) you can simply move to the next entry. It definitely wasn’t as hilarious as it’s supposed to be, and as I said it got a bit boring in some parts. I suffered from much second-hand embarrassment, even if the characters were fictional. The situations Georgia gets herself into are not at all un-realistic, which made them more cringe-worthy. This is a British book so some of the language Georgia uses may be unfamiliar to American teens. The version I read had a handy glossary with clever definitions for all the British slang. Overall Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging is a prime example of a great YA novel. It is unique, fun, and highly enjoyable.

Privilege by Kate Brian

Title: Privilege
Author: Kate Brian
Rating: 2.9/5

Ariana Osgood used to be the queen of Easton Academy. But then she accidentally killed Thomas Pearson, the love of her life. For the past sixteen months she’s been locked up at the Brenda T. Trumbull Correctional Facility for Women. She has been plotting her escape the entire time, and on the Fourth of July she finally gets her chance. Once Ariana is free she will do anything to get the life she’s always wanted. And I mean everything.

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I will start off by saying I have not read the Private series that this book was based on, nor have I read it’s prequel Last Christmas. I have no intention of reading them either. I wouldn’t say Private is necessarily a bad or even poorly written book. The author is clearly an accomplished YA novel writer, and her books have quite the following. This story just wasn’t my “cup of tea” so to speak. The plot was extremely un-realistic, and the characters were all insane to the point that it slightly frustrated me. The ending was also pretty ridiculous. At the end I was left confused, I didn’t know whether to love or hate Ariana Osgood and her new identity. I was also a little upset that the only seemingly innocent character in the book turned out to be the bad guy. The sequel, Beautiful Disaster, comes out in June, maybe I will have to check it out.

Coming soon

Hello! Here are the upcoming reviews you will see from me this week:

• Privilege
• Hoppergrass
• Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging
• Stolen

I need to figure out some ways to advertise this thing. Maybe I will become affiliates with other book review blogs?

Kisses and Lies review

Title: Kisses and Lies
Author: Lauren Henderson
Rating: 4.8/5

What this book is about:
Scarlett Wakefield is being forced to build a new life at Wakefield Hall. Six months ago, at a party at a posh London penthouse, her longtime crush Dan McAndrew died in her arms at after they shared a hot, steamy kiss. Since then, the London tabloids have deemed her the “Kiss of Death Girl”. But one day she receives a mysterious letter in her school desk that leads her on the path to finding Dan’s real killer. She finds out that someone stole Dan’s Epi-Pen, an emergency syringe that would have saved his life. As if this isn’t shocking enough, she finds the allergen that killed him- peanut oil. Someone poured peanut oil on the crisps that Scarlett ate. Another clue leads her to Dan’s twin brother, Callum. Could he have killed his own brother? Or, was it his greedy girlfriend Lucy? Scarlett takes a holiday to the McAndrew family castle in Scotland, determined to find the killer.

My Thoughts:
Kisses and Lies is a really fun novel. It actually was even better than the first book; Kiss Me Kill Me. Scarlett is still confident, witty, and a little catty, but this time her personality is even more extreme. The pace really picked up in the second half of the book, when Scarlett gets to Scotland. She meets a whole new group of fun characters, and takes her sleuthing to the next level. When the killer was finally identified, I thought it was a bit ridiculous, as was the last action scene. But the ending seemed to work, and though not everything was tied up, it felt complete.

Kiss Me Kill Me

Title: Kiss Me Kill Me
Author: Lauren Henderson
Rating: 4.7/5


What this book is about:

Scarlett Wakefield has two New Year’s wishes. The first is to get boobs. The second is to kiss Dan McAndrew. In a classic case of “be careful what you wish for” she gets both of these things. Her boobs grow a little bit too much, which makes gymnastics a little harder. And when she finally gets her kiss with Dan McAndrew, he dies with his tongue in her mouth. Off the bat, everyone blames Scarlett. Her only friends hate her, and she’s been expelled from her school and forced to move back in with her grandmother who runs the prestigious Wakefield Hall for girls. The police say Dan died of an extreme allergic reaction. But what was he allergic to? And why didn’t he have his Epi-Pen in his pocket- Something he never left home without? Everyone is left wondering until Scarlett receives and anonymous note that leads her on the journey to clearing her own name and finding the true cause of Dan’s death.

What I thought about it:

Kiss Me Kill me is a prime example of the “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” philosophy. At first glance you might think, “Ick! A cheesy romance novel.” But really, this novel contains a very small amount of romance. The book has that very British feel- a little bit catty and very witty- feel similar to Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging, which is something I love. In fact, I wish more American books would have that British feel. There were some bits in between the beginning of the chapters that were in handwriting, and while the handwriting resembled thick black squiggles and was hard to read, it really added to the mystery. Overall I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed Kiss Me Kill Me, and though the year has only just started it is my favorite so far! I can’t wait to read the sequel, Kisses and Lies.