Review Detail

I still remember not long ago reading about a teen who died after what authorities assumed was the result of kissing someone who'd eaten peanut butter. It seemed pretty far fetched at the time. Then I found out my own son has tree nut allergies. One day he touched my salad that had candied walnuts. He fell down and had a serious reaction. Luckily we were able to have have medicine there and stopped the reaction. I've seen first hand how a reaction can happen just by being in contact with the food in question.

In the story WHO I KISSED we follow Samantha who is on the other end of someone having a reaction. She's new in town and doesn't know about Alex's allergy to peanuts. She only wanted to get the attention of the cute guy Zee by kissing Alex. Little did she know what would happen next.

What I loved about this story, besides bringing awareness to a very serious issue, is how we see Samantha's reaction to what happened. She's scorned by her community and called a 'killer'. Some even post very hateful comments on FB. Samantha struggles with what she did. Mostly though, Samantha struggles with forgiving herself. How she goes through this journey is haunting and also very real. Gurtler has a talent for being able to draw out deep emotions of all her characters. She's not afraid to dig down deep. Readers are rewarded with rich characters that we care about.

I also loved the eccentric aunt who comes to help. She balances out Samantha's father who seems to be hiding his own feelings. Samantha even 'decides' to give up one thing she loves: swimming. There's a huge reveal about swimming that deals with her own past and how her father's been sheltering her from it. I didn't see that plot point coming. **Don't worry I won't post a spoiler here!

There's those around her that try to help and those who struggle with their own feelings after Alex's death. Also those who try to take advantage of those who are vulnerable. It's all like a huge puzzle, that little by little come into place.

A huge bonus point for this book has to be how it brings awareness to an issue that also affects me. I can't even tell you the times people didn't believe that just touching a walnut, could have serious consequences for my son. I feel that there needs to be more awareness out there. Knowledge is power. Hopefully nothing as tragic as the premise of this book will happen.

Powerful, gripping tale that shows the consequences of one little act. But mostly this is a story of forgiveness, not only of others but of yourself. Once again Gurtler shows she's the YA Jodi Picoult of this generation.