I Kissed Alice
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Rivals-to-lovers, mistaken identity, and slow, slow burn... A loving homage to fandom and queer girls."
—Victoria Lee, author of The Fever King
For fans of Leah on the Offbeat and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, Anna Birch's I Kissed Alice is a romantic comedy about enemies, lovers, and everything in between.
Rhodes and Iliana couldn't be more different, but that's not why they hate each other.
Rhodes, a gifted artist, has always excelled at Alabama’s Conservatory of the Arts (until she’s hit with a secret bout of creator’s block), while Iliana, a transfer student, tries to outshine everyone with her intense, competitive work ethic. Since only one of them can get the coveted Capstone scholarship, the competition between them is fierce.
They both escape the pressure on a fanfic site where they are unknowingly collaborating on a webcomic. And despite being worst enemies in real life, their anonymous online identities I-Kissed-Alice and Curious-in-Cheshire are starting to like each other... a lot. When the truth comes out, will they destroy each other's future?
An Imprint Book
"The swoony queer romcom of my heart... Pitch-perfect."
—Rachel Hawkins, New York Times-bestselling author of Prince Charming and Her Royal Highness
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Through alternating chapters, the first thing readers learn about Iliana Vrionides and Rhodes Ingram is that they hate each other. Seniors at a prestigious Alabama arts high school, they have a history (Iliana blames Rhodes for the loss of Iliana's college scholarship) and they fight over who's closer to Sarah (Iliana's childhood friend and Rhodes's roommate). Both talented, they're competing for the big Capstone Award, though Rhodes is struggling with an artistic block related to her mother's overinvestment in her success. About the only time the two aren't sniping is when they're separately on fan fiction site Slash/Spot. Little do they know that under the cloak of usernames Curious-in-Cheshire and I-Kissed-Alice, they're actually collaborating on a queer Alice in Wonderland comic, Hearts and Spades. As they get closer to the award announcement, things become more strained IRL, while online, Cheshire and Alice agree to meet up. Enemies-turned-lovers is a well-traveled premise, but author Birch keeps the tension high, presenting everything love, hate, class differences, scheming mothers, backstabbing friends at a fever pitch. Though scenes sometimes lean into melodrama, the characters' ability to make things hard for themselves and others on the road to self-discovery makes for roller-coaster reading. Ying's (City of Secrets) paneled illustrations of Iliana and Rhodes's collaboration add a romantic fanfic flair. Ages 14 up.