A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole is a young adult romance book. I have read a couple of Tillie Cole books before, that are more on the darker side. So, I was interested to know how this one would turn out. The story focuses on Poppy and Rune, who are childhood friends, and realize they have something special. Due to circumstances, they are forced to be apart, and the lack of contact from Poppy disturbs Rune.
Rune and his family moved to a small town in Georgia from Norway when he was 7 years old. It is here that he meets Poppy, a little younger than him and lives next door. They become friends and slowly start to realize that what they have is something special, it’s love. These childhood friends turned lovers are separated when Rune’s father has to move back to Oslo for work. With promises to stay in touch, Rune and Poppy separate. After the first few months, Poppy goes silent, and Rune doesn’t understand why.
When he moves back to Georgia, he is surprised to find the reason for Poppy’s ghosting. Rune has changed since he last lived here. Poppy has too, but we get more insight into Rune’s life and how Poppy’s silence affected him. They reconcile when all the secrets are out. Poppy is unwell, and she doesn’t have a lot of time. Rune wants to make the best of their time together. Poppy and Rune’s love story is very cute because they have known each other for a long time. They have this special connection that makes them fit well together.
The book has a lot of cliches; some land well, and some do not, at least for me. Poppy seemed way too positive for someone in her situation, and it was not convincing. Rune acts out because he believes his father is at fault for his being away from Poppy. He can be a bit too dramatic, but he is a teenager, so it’s understandable. This book reminded me of stories similar to his like, A Walk to Remember or The Fault in Our Stars. I loved those books but couldn’t really get into this much. I like cliches and all sorts of tropes when they are done, but in this story, there seemed to be too many clubbed together.
There were things I liked about the book. Poppy and Rune’s dynamics with their family are portrayed quite realistically. As I said before, Poppy and Rune’s relationship is the best part of the book. It happens organically, and you can feel their chemistry. A little lack of depth for characters, but it didn’t bother me much. The story pulls on your heartstrings especially towards the end but almost throughout the book.
A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole is a young adult romance. The story is sweet, romantic, and sad all combined. I had high expectations from this book, and maybe that is why I felt a little underwhelmed by the story. I loved parts of it, but overall I didn’t love it. It keeps a good pace; I was hooked enough to want to know more. I enjoyed it, just not too much.
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