I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this book was based on true events, and not just fiction. I could easily see that being true. The madness that the world is living in the past 2 years because of this masterpiece of a pandemic that the COVID-19 virus has created, made every little thing possible and every bat-shit-crazy thing seem totally normal and expected.
One week of lockdown, unable to go anywhere, going stir crazy inside your own home, losing all sense of time, and having your locked-down-eternally lunatic side waking from its deep sleep? Ha, who hasn’t been there, done that? There isn’t a more relatable concept on this earth right now – and maybe ever – than being in lockdown due to the pandemic.
One week. 7 days. 168 hours.
Sometimes that’s all it takes for everything to come upside down..
me & the story
I may have made myself really acquainted with THE KISSING BOOTH movies – like the rest of the world also -, especially over the lockdown, but I never got to dive into the books and Beth Reekles’s writing behind them. And that was a huge mistake on my part, especially as a reader & a reviewer. The moment that I stabled upon the book in NetGalley and read the title, I knew that it was one that I had to definitely read. When I realized who the author was, it made me even more intrigued to read it, so request on I went. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Perfect request.
The only thing that I was sure of was that it was a rom-com and that I would laugh and definitely fall in love. And I bloody hell did both of those things with a full captivated-reader mode on. I laughed my ass off, I swooned my full heart away, I got a permanent happy smile & had the time of my life with one of, as it turned out to be, the best romantic comedy stories.
I am just super happy. There is no better way than that to describe my reading of this book. This is the epitome of my review for this one when you need to come down to it. I more than loved every minute I spent curled up with the story & these amazing characters who felt like my neighbors, my friends, my quarantine/pandemic heroes.
Thank you so much dear Beth for writing this beautiful and inspiring book. I would forever treasure Nate, Imogen, Ethan, Charl, Liv, Addison, Kim, Luc, Serena, Zach, and of course Mr. Harris, for the special moments they shared with me.
PS: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE. If Netflix, Passionflix, Universal, or anyone else hears me, I beg you, MAKE THIS BOOK A MOVIE!!! The world needs to fall in love with it just like I did from the very first word.
the couples & the apartments
Five apartments and eleven people whose life changes in ways that none of them could ever imagine.
Apartment #14 – Imogen & Nate.
Or as it is best known. the longest one-night stand in the history of one-night stands.
“The girl I just hookep up with has already moved in with me”
Imogen after her one-night stand with Nate, or aka Honeypots, is trying to escape “the scene of the crime”, along with a very soft Ramones T-shirt which later will become a major trading asset, but the building management has other ideas. So she finds herself back at his door, barging into his life for the foreseeable week…. for now. Nate doesn’t know what hit him, in the best and greatest way possible.
“I am chaotic.” ” You’re a goddamn hurricane.”
The way their relationship develops in just 5 days and they go from total strangers to unable to be without the other is beyond cute. These two show that the concept of time or what society deems appropriate doesn’t apply when it comes to when you find true love and true connection with someone. It doesn’t matter how it starts; what matters is what you do to go after it and make it work and real.
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Apartment #6 – Ethan & Charlotte
During the lockdowns in the real world, a lot of people became viral overnight; but none of that beats Ethan’s way. I mean, *sighhhhhh*
Now THAT’S what I’m calling romance gold & the best proposal that was ever been written in fiction. To say that Reekles nailed the romanticism with this one, would be the understatement of the year.
Ethan is a vlogger/YouTuber who unexpectedly finds himself on lockdown on his own when Charlotte isn’t allowed into the building, after returning from a weekend at her parents. So, now the sweet, dorky Ethan has to navigate seven days without his girl locked inside their own apartment, missing her every day. What could go wrong, except when he finally realizes that he wants to spend the rest of his life with his Charl by his side, by mistake uploads his 1-hour-long attempted-proposal(s) video for the whole world to see?
I wish she were here right now
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Apartment #15 – Isla & Danny
During the honeymoon phase of our every new relationship, we try to look our best and keep the fantasy & desire alive. The parts of ourselves that make us weird, odd, but most importantly true to who we really are, tend to be kept contained for a while until a significant amount of time has passed by… according to society.
But what do you do when you can’t keep those parts hidden anymore and you’re afraid to be who you really are because of some twisted fears & insecurities that our today’s social media world has created in you, making you think that to be loved by someone you need to be someone else, a fake you?
What’s important, I realize, is how much we both want to make this work. That’s what’s making all the difference here.
Isla and Danny are at the start of their relationship and completely gone for each other. They don’t know yet everything about each other’s true self but they are getting there little by little. The lockdown comes as a slap to their face and it forces their relationship to enter an F1 race where you can’t go under 200 Km/s and skip a few beats down the line. Both of them are totally unprepared for it, especially Isla.
Danny, though, is nothing like the men she has known so far, and he turns out to be her true match and what she really needed to start loving herself as she is with all her flaws, imperfection, and quirks.
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Apartment #22 – Olivia & the wedding trio
If that is what looks like when you are in the role of Maid of Honor, I will bow out gracefully thank you!
Olivia has a best friend, Kim. Kim is getting married in six months, which means she has turned TOTAL BRIDEZILLA. Also, Kim has made Liv her Maid of Honor, which kind of means Slave of the Bride. :p
So, Liv organized that fateful wedding-checklist weekend with her, Kim, and her two bridesmaids, Addison & Lucy. But that weekend it was never meant to be finished, and these four women find themselves locked in the same apartment with too much booze, secrets, withheld opinions, and a nervous system minutes before a total breakdown. Which, sooner or later, happens and it’s as much as explosive as it’s revealing.
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Apartment #17 – Serena & Zach
Never pineapple on pizza has created so much trouble.
Serena & Zach have been together for 4 years now and are living together for most of those years. So, when they are forced to stay locked inside their own home for the whole week, none of them thought that it would be any different from their everyday life and the time would probably bring them closer to each other.
A pineapple pizza order, though, puts their whole relationship in question and creates a huge strain between them. They are forced to reevaluate everything and start looking for what has gone wrong in order to repair it.
You could see clear as day the love they had for each other since they never stopped to think about giving up on them, not even once, no matter what was happening. They didn’t let their love all these years go to waste.
At least I’ve got Zach by my side.
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LOVE, LOCKED DOWN: the debut romantic comedy from the writer of Netflix hit The Kissing Booth
Five couples. One week. A love story like no other . . .
When an apartment block is put on lockdown, its residents are in for a whirlwind week. In Flat 14, wild and reckless Imogen is stuck living with a one-night-stand whose name she can’t remember.
Upstairs, Isla and Danny are still in the honeymoon period, but a warts-and-all week together so early in the relationship could make or break their romance. Meanwhile, Zach and Serena’s steady relationship is on tenterhooks, and pineapple on pizza might actually be the last straw.
In Flat 22, Olivia’s Maid of Honour duties are pushing her to the edge as a wedding-planning weekend has turned into an entire (nightmarish) week… And speaking of weddings, this whole thing has made Ethan realize he wants to spend the rest of his life with Charlotte if only he can surprise her with the perfect proposal – and find a way to sneak her into the building . . .
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Collector Of Book Boyfriends 