The Kissing Booth - Don't just watch the movies!

The Kissing Booth series By Beth Reekles: YA romance.

The Kissing Booth.

Going the Distance.

Beach House.

Road Trip.

OK, so it might seem like I'm very late to this particular party but let me explain myself! I have my reasons! I watched the first Kissing Booth movie on Netflix when it came out a while ago and loved it, so I was gutted when I discovered that it was actually a novel because I would have much preferred to read the book first. I have this thing where I always wait to watch any movie adaptations until after I've read the original work, because over the years I've discovered that reading the novel after I've seen the film ruins the enjoyment of the book for me. 

I think this is because I've already had visions put into my mind of what the characters look like, how the scenes play out, the locations, the outfits etc and I then I struggle to shake them off and imagine my own interpretation like I would do had I never seen the movie. So given that I'd accidentally seen the movie first (damn it) I didn't buy the novel to read. However, a few weeks ago I discovered that there was soon going to be a second movie (so there must be a second book - which there was called Going The Distance) and determined not to get caught out again I swiftly went over to Amazon, found the second book, ordered it and read it before watching the movie on release day. (Not that I was eager for a second fix of Noah Flynn or anything, honest!)

Upon reading the second book and then seeing the second movie (which was freaking amazing and Noah is even hotter!) I realised how different the two were, which made me think that maybe the first book might be a lot different to the movie too and perhaps I was missing out by not reading it - so I threw caution to the wind and ordered the first book and it turned out I was right! The Kissing Booth book was so different to the film that it didn't ruin it for me at all, and to be honest I didn't even mind the fact that I had images of the actors who played Elle, Lee and Noah in my head because dayummm they nailed the characters in casting and Noah is so smoking hot that frankly I had no desire or ability to imagine him any better than the smirking hunk that Jacob Elordi plays so well anyway! Swoon....

With the two books read and two movies watched, I have to admit that despite being 36 years old and this being a young adult series, I fell down a bit of a hole with it and was a bit gutted there was no more, so I decided to look what else the author Beth Reekles had written, thinking that her other work was probably just as enjoyable and engaging. I was made up when I discovered that there were actually two further novellas in the Kissing Booth series called Road Trip and Beach House.  

More Noah Flynn? Yes please! (Like I said I'm not obsessed or anything, honest!) 

I ordered both of them (Road Trip in hard copy and Beach House on Kindle because that is the only format available) and I loved them! Beach House was the better of the two for me, but maybe that's just because of the idyllic setting and the promise of Noah being shirtless a lot? (Seriously, not even slightly obsessed!)

I adore this entire series and cannot recommend it enough, if you're into a good YA romance this will tick all of the boxes for you! The sweetness, the conflict, the coming of age and the giggles are everything!

The books do differ quite considerably to the movie adaptations which means that even if you think you don't need to bother because you've seen the films - you should still read them! 

The story line plays out a little different and the characters do actually differ too. (I'm saying no more now - no spoilers!) The two novella's (Beach House and Road Trip) are set between the first and second movie so if you're a fan, you especially need to read these because the content of these books doesn't happen in the films!

And last week, just when I was in mourning thinking I'd hit the end of the road with the Kissing Booth and Noah (Not obsessed, OK?) Netflix dropped a trailer for a THIRD MOVIE! This opened a massive can of worms because how could this be? Does this mean there's going to be another book? I'm afraid I can't answer that because author Beth Reekles is remaining tight lipped on the whole thing but surely there just has to be? Beth? (*Noah's voice* - PLEASE?!)