How did your first kiss go?
He leaned forward a little. He had only to move a fraction more, angle his head sideways, and we would be kissing.
Kiss is a Jacqueline Wilson novel about a teenage girl named Sylvie and her lifelong best friend Carl, whom she has a crush on. However, Sylvie's attraction to Carl hits a snag when Carl comes out as gay.
Nothing to do with the band KISS.
Provides Examples Of:
- A-Cup Angst: Sylvie complains about her small chest several times.Sylvie: I'm going to have to shop in bloody Mothercare.
- All Love Is Unrequited: The most cynical interpretation of the book. By the end, you're left with almost all of the characters still struggling with feelings for someone they can't have. Jake has a crush on Sylvie, who is in love with Carl, who is infatuated with Paul, who has a thing for Miranda, who Sylvie wryly notes "doesn't love anyone".
- Almost Kiss: Happens several times between Carl and Sylvie.
- Ambiguously Gay: Paul. He seems to be interested in Miranda and incredibly derogatory about gay guys, but Carl claims that when they kissed, Paul actually kissed him back for a moment and could be treating Carl so badly because he's also struggling with his sexuality in a very anti-gay all-boys high school. Whether this is viable or just Carl being blinded by his feelings is left ambiguous.
- Armoured Closet Gay: One interpretation of Paul's behaviour.
- Amicable Exes: Miranda mentions that she went out with Raj for a bit. They're still good friends.
- Betty and Veronica: Sylvie worries she and Miranda are this for Carl, with her as his loyal childhood friend and Miranda as the glamorous newcomer. Turns out, the Veronica she should have been worrying about was Paul.
- Big Brother Instinct: Carl and his older brother Jake don't usually get along, but towards the end of the novel, Jake offers to beat up the boys who are bullying Carl.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Sylvie acts this way when her mum invites her new boyfriend over.
- Cardiovascular Love: The Heart Symbol on the cover of this story about love.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: Carl and Sylvie made one, which Sylvie desperately hopes will follow through. The ending leaves it ambiguous as to how things will turn out - Carl tells her he'll always love her and they kiss, and Miranda points out they can still be together (even if they don't have sex), but Sylvie seems to be accepting nothing will happen.
- Dark Feminine Light Feminine: Sophisticated, sexy Miranda and small, sweet Sylvie.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Raj broke up with Miranda because his parents didn't approve of their relationship.
- Disappeared Dad: Sylvie's dad, who left her and her mum for another woman.
- Gaydar: Jules and Mike suspected Carl was gay or bi, and Miranda picked up on it pretty quickly. Sylvie spends most of the book worrying about Carl liking Miranda, but admits to herself she isn't surprised when Carl comes out, and was clearly repressing the possibility to keep her own hopes going. For the readers, Carl's crush on Paul is made obvious from the start.
- Gay Guy Seeks Popular Jock: Carl has a crush on Paul, a popular lad on the football team.
- Gayngst: Carl.
- Good Bad Girl: Miranda, who delights in flouting authority, drinking underage and ditching school, but does turn out to be a loyal friend to Sylvie and Carl.
- Good Parents: Mike and Jules, Carl's parents who handle Carl coming out sensitively and are also substitute parents to Sylvie.
- Incompatible Orientation: Sylvie and Carl.
- Goth: Jake dyes his hair black to look like one for his band, but forgets to wear gloves and accidentally dyes his hands black too. Sylvie jokingly suggests he paint his nails black and file them to points for extra effect.
- Jerkass: Paul. Sylvie even wonders how Carl can love someone who treats him so badly.
- Jerk Jock: Paul.
- Literally Loving Thy Neighbour: As well as being childhood friends, Carl and Sylvie live next door to each other and can access each other's houses through their respective back gardens.
- Mistaken for Gay: In one scene, Sylvie and Miranda try on clothes in the same changing room. Miranda tries to console Sylvie when she feels insecure about her body. A shop assistant opens the curtain, sees them hugging and gets uptight, thinking they were making out.
- Most Writers Are Writers: Carl and Sylvie are writing a fantasy story together, The Glassworld Chronicles. Sylvie takes it very seriously and even hopes it will be adapted into a film one day.
- Nerd Hoard: Carl has a large collection of glass ornaments which he keeps in the garden shed (aka The Glass Hut) and does not allow anyone to see without his express permission. Paul and some of the other boys at their school find this weird.
- Nice Guy: Carl and Sylvie respectively.
- Parental Neglect: Miranda's parents are barely around and hardly pay any attention to her, which explains a lot of her more extreme behaviour.
- Platonic Life-Partners or If It's You, It's Okay: The two different interpretations of the ending. The first is generally considered most plausible.
- Second Love: Gerry, Sylvie's mum's new boyfriend is shaping up to be this for her, though it's still early days. The ending opens the possibility of Sylvie moving on from Carl though it's ambiguous. Jules also reassures Carl that he'll love again after Paul.
- Rich Bitch: Miranda is initially presented this way, but she turns out to be more Spoiled Sweet.
- Shout-Out: When Sylvie tells Miranda about the Glassworld book, Miranda responds by inventing Sangria, her own fantasy world. It's explicitly said that these names are a reference to Angria and Glasstown, the imaginary worlds created by the Brontë siblings when they were children.
- Self-Insert Fic: A meta example - "The Glassworld Chronicles", the fantasy story Carl and Sylvie write together, features "King Carlo and Queen Sylviana" as the two leads. In the story, they are married and deeply devoted to one another.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Gentle, artist Carl and boyish footballer Paul.
- Shipper on Deck:
- A few characters support Carl/Sylvie, although most of them realise it's unlikely. Jules views Sylvie as a daughter, knows how much Sylvie loves Carl and admits the two of them getting together would be the simplest and happiest outcome for everyone. However, she's very supportive of Carl when he comes out and tells him she suspected it for a while. Miranda, after realizing how devastated Sylvie is about losing Carl, gives up on her own crush on him and encourages Sylvie that things might still work out.
- At the end of the book Jules, Carl and Miranda all seem hopeful about the possibility of Sylvie/Jake.
- Spin the Bottle: At Miranda's party.
- "Take That!" Kiss: Miranda gives a variation of one to Carl. The Take That! is not aimed at him but with the intention to throw off the classmates who were harassing him for being gay.
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Technology Marches On: The characters frequently text each other using 2000s-style "txt spk", which has largely fallen out of use for a number of reasons. Modern phones now have full keyboards and with the prevalence of messaging apps, SMS messaging has become much cheaper, meaning people no longer need to truncate words for fear of going over the character limit and being charged extra.Sylvie: C U in G H? x - Token Minorities: Miranda's friends Andy and Raj; Andy is black and Raj is Indian.
- Weight Woe: Both Alice and Miranda's mother are implied to have eating disorders. The former refuses to drink beer as it has "too many calories" and Sylvie's narration describes the latter as "extraordinarily thin".
