26 Kisses by Anna Michels

최근 e북으로 가벼운 독서만 해서 정말 오래간만에 북리뷰를 하네.

<26 Kisses>라는 하이틴 로맨스+성장소설.

나는 사실 책이건, 영화건 청소년 로맨스를 매우 좋아하는데 왜냐하면 '처음' 또는 '많지 않은 경험'에서 나오는 그 떨림과 미세한 감정묘사가 너무 좋다♡ 사실 이 책은 로맨스 측면보다는 성장소설의 성격이 더 강한데 그래도 가볍게 읽기 괜찮았다.

비다(Veda)라는 소녀는 여름방학 시작과 동시에 오래 사귀었던 남자친구랑 헤어지면서 알파벳 순서대로 26명의 남자와 키스를 하는 챌린지를 통해 이별의 아픔을 잊으려 한다. 키스 챌린지 이외에도 비다는 부모님의 이혼, 가족과의 갈등, 절친들 사이에서 미묘한 질투심, 전남친과의 추억, 새 친구 사귀기, 동네에서의 평판 등으로 십대가 겪을 수 있는 모든 어려움을 마주하게 된다. 모든 것이 처음이고 서툴러서 때론 일이 맘같지 풀리지 않을 때도 있지만 결국 비다가 여름방학동안 한 뼘 더 성장하는 과정을 그린 소설이다.

그래도 나름 로맨스를 위주로 전개되는 소설이니 선덕선덕한 글귀를 기록해보자.

<소설 속 말, 말, 말> I had forgotten this - the thrill of touching someone new, trying to decipher the meaning of each tiny movement.                                                                                     P 78 The rain is starting to lighten up, and the sky is turning light blue at the edges. The storm is moving east. I hug myself against the cold. Killian hesitates for a second and then drops his arm around my shoulders. I stiffen. "Ah. Okay." He pulls away, "Sorry." "No, it's fine. I mean, it's not really fine. I don't want-" He holds up a hand to stop me, his smile not completely covering the hurt in his eyes. "It's okay, Vee. You don't have to explain." (별 건 아닌데 조심스런 남캐가 너무 내 취향이라ㅋ)                                                                               P 156-157 We were sitting on his front step, sharing a can of lukewarm root beer, and he looked down at his blue Doc Martens and said, "I love you, you know." And I was twelve years old and stupid, and after the laugh slipped out, I clapped my hand over my mouth. I don't remember exactly what happened after. I'm sure he made some excuse and disappeared inside his house. But I kept going over. I couldn't stay away from Seth. Everything about him fascinated me-his broodiness, the way he'd sit in his dark basement and play piano for hours, the way he seemed captivated by me. And he kept telling me he loved me nearly everyday, whispering it into my hair, tracing the words on my back. It became part of my landscape. The grass was green, the sky was blue, and Seth loved me.                                                                                     P 194 "Because I like you, Vee. You're smart and funny and exactly the type of girl I've been hoping to meet but never thought I actually would. Because you let me talk to you about things that don't matter, and you understand it's not what we're talking about that's important, but how we're talking about it, and why. Because you can be sweaty and covered in river mud, and I still think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."                                                                                          P 255