The Last Best Kiss by Claire LaZebnik

The Last Best Kiss Reviews

• 
  Aj the Ravenous Reader

  Reading this book was like eating a big slice of blueberry cheese cake in the most literal sense. It's sweet, it's comforting, it's enjoyable and there is nothing in it not to like. It's a generally pleasant feeling and I mean that for both reading the book and eating the cake. I also finished it in one quick sweep. It's a laid-back YA romance you can put in your to read list when fictional events and characters emotionally burden you too much. ;)
  
• 
  Tiff

  Review originally posted at
  Mostly YA Lit
  
  I love Austen retellings - I've read and reviewed
  a
  few
  Persuasion ones on this blog, and I would say that The Last Best Kiss is the probably the most realistic one that I've read - in both good and bad ways. It's a contemp that really feels like a slice of life - it is incredibly realistic in voice and character, and it occasionally gets a little bit boring, like real life does sometimes.
  
  If you've read Persuasion, you'll recognize the story and its elements in Claire LaZebnik's version. I'm glad to say that those elements are woven quite seamlessly into this version of the story. Anna's father and older sister are very similar to their Austen counterparts (read: yuck!), and the friends that Anne Elliot has in Austen's version are expanded to become Anna's friend group.
  
  Anna and Finn are cute characters, but I confess that I never felt an overwhelming connection to them. Despite the self-discovery that I mention in the bonuses section later, I never really fully latched on to the romance - the characters just felt a little shallow.
  
  Maybe that's because this is a book focuses not just on the love story, but on high school friendship dynamics and the "typical" stuff that a high school senior deals with: college applications, SATs, counselling, prom - it's all here, and done in a very true-to-life way - almost too true to life. I saw myself so much in their obsessing about college, doing everything to get in, trying to get the best possible grades, study techniques for SATs...for me, these moments were equal parts relateable and squirmy. They reminded me just how annoying and tunnel-visioned I was about college...and I'm not sure those are feelings I want to relive.
  
  Still, I must applaud LaZebnik for absolutely nailing the senior high school experience and the friend dynamic. To me, the dialogue between all of the characters was pretty much spot-on for the conversations I had in high school, and the voices were really authentic.
  
  I also applaud her for being able to juggle that many characters while keeping the flow of the story going. The central conflict of Anna and Finn was done realistically, but slowed down a bit in the lead-up to the climax. For me, that slow down was realistic, because it was just the characters living their lives, but it was also kind of hard to take - I kept thinking to myself, "Was I really this BORING and lacking in personality in high school?" It's not that the characters have no personality, it's that they're so focused on their goals that single-mindedness became their personalities.
  
  It's hard for me to separate my own life experiences from how I felt about this book - it felt so true to my own life, but it also made me really, really relieved that I'm not in that place anymore. Whether you like The Last Best Kiss or not will depend on where you are in life, and how much you like being reminded of the good and bad parts of high school.
  
  
  Bonuses: 
  

  
  
  

  
  Articulate Self-Discovery/Hindsight: There are a few moments of quotable brilliance here - moments that really brought home that high school experience and how I thought about and felt things in high school, and I kinda wish that the book wasn't so obvious about them being MOMENTS. In some ways, they almost feel too articulate to be anything but hindsight? Anyway, quotes:
  
  "I love John Green as much as the next gay teen. But the whole manic-pixie-dream-girl thing? It gets a little annoying in real life." 
  -The Last Best Kiss, Claire LaZebnik
  
  "It's hard to be different when you're still trying to figure out who you even are."
  -The Last Best Kiss, Claire LaZebnik
  
  "We both realized we'd been pushing ourselves to do crazier and crazier things because we thought that would make life more intense and interesting. But if you don't let yourself feel what's actually going on at any given moment - if you're always looking for the next rush - you get numb and stop feeling anything."
  -The Last Best Kiss, Claire LaZebnik
  
  

  
  
  

  
  Nerdy Hot Boys: What I really liked about Finn as the hero is that he was a TOTAL nerd - yeah, between the time when he was a freshman and a senior, he got better clothes and filled out a bit, but he was still exactly the same nerdy guy that Anna fell for at the beginning. He never compromised on his wide-eyed enthusiasm for the natural world and trying to share it with everyone, and in the end, it's that that made him a better match for Anna than anything else.
  
  

  
  
  

  
  Art That's Unafraid of Being "Scary": Anna is an artist, and one of the things she battles are assumptions that because her art is a bit creepy and dark, it somehow makes her a dark person or mentally disturbed, and it's definitely not true. This sounds like a pretty simplistic issue, and one that's ridiculous in this day and age, but I have friends who were told similar things in high school about writing, art, music - anything creative - so I'm really glad it was mentioned in the book.
  
  
  The Final Word: 
  
  I was talking this one over with my husband, and I called this the Robert Altman version of a high school Persuasion retelling - Altman was a movie director who was known for slice-of-life films, making movies that told stories in as realistic - and often boring - a way as possible. The Last Best Kiss was that for me - completely realistic in a lot of ways, but also a little cringeworthy. It's a solid Austen retelling and a cute contemporary, but it's probably not one that I'll be picking up again.
• 
  Rachel E. Carter

  "You were either a coward or a hypocrite... I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out which one."

  
  
  A+++. Claire's best Jane Austen retelling (a mon avis). Even though I was not a fan of Persuasion this book beat out Claire's Pride & Prejudice (
  Epic Fail). I loved how the tension carried out throughout the pages from start to finish & Finn was absolutely adorkable from the first page. Anna, while doing something terrible, manages to steal your heart & pity along the way. You really see Anna suffer for what she did, and I think in the wrong hands this retelling could go awry but with Claire it just shined through. I read this book in a couple of hours and it was exactly what I needed to pull me out of my book funk.
  
  The one complaint? Ha, I just wanted a bit more steam. Claire keeps her retellings a bit cleaner (basically only kissing) for YA, but I'm just greedy and want more.
• 
  Nasty Lady MJ

  1.5 if I'm being really generous. To see full review click on one of the below links:
  
  
  My blog
  
  
  Booklikes
  
  Jane Austen did not write harlequin romances. I know that might be a startling fact to some of you. You have probably seen half a dozen YA, NA, and adult Austen retellings where Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (all played by the endearing Colin Firth-because let’s face it half of the authors were fantasizing over him when writing said retelling) have torrid sex at Pemberley.
  
  That didn’t exactly happen in the original. In fact, I wrote a whole paper in college about how Pride and Prejudice really wasn’t a romance and more of a comedy of manners. Try telling that though to the various retelling authors. Especially Claire Lazebnik. Grant it, there’s no hot sex at Pemberley in her novels, but the essential Austen spirit is squashed out one is left with a bland romance that has been retold over and over again. Lazebnik has managed to make a pretty successful series based on this format. Well, I don’t know if you’d consider her books a series since they involve different characters. But they’re all Jane Austen retellings and they all take place in SoCal. And they all have bland characters.
  
  Bland, bland, bland characters. And I mean bland. And unrealistic. Especially in this installment. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought this was her first book. But before I rip this book a new one, I need to at least give you guys some idea what it’s about. It’s basically a retelling of Austen’s novel, Persuasion. Which if you’re not familiar with it, is basically about a poor little rich girl who snubbed her one true love long ago and now tries to get over the fact that he’s rich and everyone wants him and he doesn’t want to give her the time of day. In other words, it’s like your typical Harlequin. But Austen writes the novel in such a way that there’s layers upon layers of subtext and that you actually like the characters. Lazebnik’s retelling lacks this.
  
  The plot is therefore as groan worthy and the characters, as previously mentioned are bland beyond belief. Through in some drama that makes it perfect to insert a PSA then you have a book that you throw against the wall at one o’clock in the morning. To be fair though, The Last Best Kiss (dear lord, that title) isn’t the worst thing I’ve read this year. But considering I’ve read some pretty big stinkers-just in this last week-that’s not saying much. At its best, this book is predictable. It follows the Austen story at its bare bones and nothing that unexpected happens. Okay,here is some diversity in this book that I wasn’t expecting, but considering these characters were mostly used as token characters or used to illustrate some lame plot point it really didn’t work. The fact that most of the cast had the personality of toast didn’t help either.
• 
  Muse-ic ♬

  Wow I really enjoyed that :D
  I absolutely love the personality of our protagonist! Anna wasn't over-the-top in any way. She had the perfect amount of sass, smartness, artist, party girl, and maturity. Actually it's a little unrealistic because, from what I've observed she basically has no flaws, save for the mistake she made in her freshman year of high school. But that's freshman year of high school.
  I loved her anyways. Her POV was wonderful and relaxing. Not too frustrating most of the time, except when she went after Wade to make Finn jealous.
  
  I hate it when characters do that: convince themselves they like/should be with someone else because their number one choice isn't a current option. It's so annoying and usually adds an unnecessary love triangle. In this book, though, it wasn't really a love triangle so I was kind of fine with it.
  
  I absolutely love how Finn is a nerd (granted, a cute and handsome one. That's nicely refreshing). In most books, it's about how the girl is pining over the jock who never looks her way, then one day, something happens that makes her not invisible to him and then he changes or whatever. Let's just accept how unrealistic that it. Nobody changes forever just because they've fallen in love (which let's again be honest and accept how that rarely happens with teenagers, like it seems to constantly occur in chick lits). They may change for a little while, but once the initial buzz fades, they'll mostly, if not completely, go back to being their normal selves.
  
  Anna loves Finn's normal smart self. She doesn't expect or want him to change. She just realizes that she shouldn't be embarrassed of him because he's a nerd.
  I don't understand the stereotype of nerds. Smart people are so attractive!
  Guys, we're all book nerds and we're hot af ;) In my opinion, it's so attractive when someone is passionate about something other than their physical appearance.
  
  I love Finn. I want a Finn. Where can I get a Finn?
  
  
  
  A moment of silence for Lily's endless stupidity...........
  thanks.
  
  Speaking of Lily, there is also a Lucy in the same friend group. I kept mixing them up and had to read the sentences that contained their names carefully in order to know who was doing what. I wasn't the only one. Claire LaZebnik also mixed them up at one point, and it was actually pretty funny! Authors: don't make life difficult for yourselves.
  
  Oh. My. God. Anna's dad and sister Lizzie. So annoying!!
  And freaking Ginny!! GRRRRRRRR!!!
  
  I loved this book! I would recommend it if you're in the mood for a light read.
• 
  Jess

  Persuasion is probably the Austen that I'm pickiest about with adaptations, mostly because it's my favorite but also because I think it tells the most human story. I was a little apprehensive about the high school setting despite my fondness for the other works, because Persuasion is such an adult story of second chances and I wasn't sure how that would translate.
  
  As it turns out, I shouldn't have worried.
  
  And really, if you're going to retell the story, high school is a GREAT place to do it, because so much of those four years are about learning who you are and how not to let your friends influence you and doing things you wish you could take back later. And beyond that, I just really liked the way that the book is much more explicitly about a circle of friends and how their messed up family lives can effect that.
  
  I liked this a lot. So which book is next?
• 
  ~Tina~

  When you like someone, it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks about him right? That was Anna Elliot's first mistake. She cared to much. Liking Finn Westbrook was easy to Anna. They had an instant connection in 9th grade carpooling to school and eventually they started to date, but Anna wasn't quite ready to share him with her friends yet since he wasn't on the social radar and would be defined as your typical nerd, so Anna kept him her little secret, that is till the dance where she humiliated Finn in front of all her friends. Feeling awful for the way she acted, Anna wanted to make it right between them but never had the chance since Finn’s family moved away that summer, leaving Anna with a heart full of regret and sadness. Fast forward three years later and guess whose back in town? Be gone is the old nerdy Finn with no fashion sense and geeky glasses and is replaced with a taller, brooder, more confident and collected sexy Finn Westbrook and he’s caught the attention of every girl in school, including Anna's best friend. But Finn also hasn't forgotten what Anna did to him, no matter how sorry she was for treating him like an embarrassment. Can Anna prove that she’s grown up since then and can Finn forgive her enough to give her a second chance? Or has the damage already been done?
  
  For the most part, I really enjoyed The Last Best Kiss. The plot was really cute and very realistically portrayed. Everyone at one point in there lives makes mistakes when you’re young and desperate to fit in. Everyone wants to feel accepted and is scared that if you’re dating the loser in school then you won’t be. Everyone has regrets or things they aren't proud of, but it’s what you do to mend those mistakes that really matter. Guilt looked really good on Anna, it’s good for the soul and means there’s hope for her yet. I liked that she owned up to her mistakes and tried to make things right and it was good to see her morals strengthen through her experiences.
  Finn was super cute back in 9th grade. He was thoughtful and funny and smart and I really couldn't blame him for being hurt and for how he treated Anna when he came back to school. This was his little way of getting back at Anna and even though he wasn't exactly mean, he was still pretty cold and somehow that makes it even worse. I’m glad he didn't put up that act to long and managed to be civil long enough to be friends again.
  Anna and Finn are really quite adorable together, they bring out the best in each other and I really enjoyed their moments throughout the entire novel.
  
  So, I liked the storyline, the writing was strong and the pace and flow was smooth. I liked Anna and I liked Finn, but I had a really hard time liking or connecting with everyone else. Family and friends in any story usually compliments the plot or leaves some sort of impression or impact for the leading characters. Or at the very least, they usually provide some kind of entertainment, support or comic-relief, but in this case, Anna’s family was just terrible and quite strange. Besides her one sister Molly, I found her parents and her other sister Lizzie to be a very negative part of her life. I never understood the bond between their dad and Lizzie and I really don’t understand the whole Ginny thing, it was kinda creepy actually. As for her friends, I didn't find any of them to be very likeable either. They all felt fake and into their own drama. It just seemed that Anna didn't really have any stable or solid figure to depend on and yet she was still able to grow and mature enough to own up to her mistakes and change into the person she wants to be.
  
  With that said, this may not be a favorite, but I still thought this was a cute and sweet book. It’s an easy quick read that takes you back to when you were young and acceptance was a pretty scary word. Claire LaZebnik delivers a strong message about peer pressure, self discovery, regrets, forgiveness and second chances with strong voices and a heartwarming plot that a lot of readers will be able to relate to. All in all, a decent read.
  
• 
  Katy

  I've always really like LaZebnik's works, mainly because of her "signature wit and expertly authentic teen voice," and this one is another that I can add to that pile.
  
  At first glimpse, you may think it's another one of those those plots that have been overdone, and in a way, maybe it is. But I liked how LaZebnik didn't try to make it more than what it was.
  
  Anna is a down-to-earth person who just wants to fit in, and as a somewhat nerdy awkward teen, you don't always know where that is. I liked her character because she never tried to be someone she wasn't. She never acted like one of the mean girls or try to pretend to be someone. No, she didn't really stand up for Finn either, but at least she didn't try to fake her way around. It was more of omitting things because of insecurities, and while I'm not condoning, it's very understandable for those years. I hate when authors try to make characters overcompensate, like laughing along with their friends, but that wasn't Anna.
  
  I also really liked Finn. No, he hadn't forgotten that Anna had rejected him, but I also liked the fact that she never threw it back in her face either. Sure, he didn't really help with the Lily situation, but I don't think he ever used Lily either, which made him so much more admirable.
  
  All in all, it was a nice, cute, fun read - one that wasn't over the top and was just a good afternoon read.
• 
  Katie

  So this made for uncomfortable reading at times. I knew what I was getting myself into, but the way the initial relationship fell apart hurt and . . . to still from a different Austen, my good opinion once lost is lost forever. I don't know if I particularly like that about myself, but the relevance here is it can make reunion stories really hard for me. I guess sometimes I have a hard time both forgiving and being forgiven.
  
  So with that particular prejudice in mind, the romantic relationship didn't entirely work for me, even though I liked both characters and understood why both of them did what they did back then.
  
  And these books are just such good friendship books. And I like their portrayal of teen life, even though it's not much like my teen life was. (I wasn't social.)
  
  
• 
  Meredith (Austenesque Reviews)

  Persuaded By Peer Pressure and Fear of Social Suicide
  
  TYPE OF NOVEL: Persuasion Modern Adaptation, Young Adult
  
  SETTING: Los Angeles, Present-Day
  
  SYNOPSIS: When she was a freshman, Anna Eliot was secretly dating her short and nerdy carpool friend, Finn Westbrook. That is until he wanted to dance with her at the semi-formal and she rejected him in front of everyone. Even though her actions filled her with regret, Anna was never able to make it right because Finn’s family soon moved away and he transferred to a different school. Now Finn is back for senior year at Sterling Woods High, and he is taller, broader, and less socially awkward. Finn is easily accepted by Anna’s friends this time around, but now acts completely indifferent towards her…
  
  WHAT I LOVED:
  
  - Clever Character Reincarnations: Bringing Jane Austen’s characters to the twenty-first century and turning them into teenagers isn’t always an easy task (exclusion to this statement: Lydia Bennet) 😉 I greatly enjoyed the thoughtful and clever ways Claire LaZebnik captures the essence of Jane Austen’s characters with her modern reincarnations. Anna (Anne Elliot) comes from a divorced family where the parents and one sibling are self-absorbed and neglectful. Finn (Frederick Wentworth) wears glasses and is obsessed with the natural world. Lily Diamond (Louisa Musgrove) is Anna’s eccentric friend who always strives to challenge the norm and delights in doing the opposite of what is expected.
  
  - Appropriate Parallels: Again, I really appreciate how the author utilizes and updates the various events from Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I found the premise of Anna rejecting him based on her concern for what her friends would think plausible and apropos for our modern society. In addition, I thought the modern updates for the visit to Lyme Regis, Louisa’s fall from the Cobb, and William Elliot’s interested in Anne to be astute and refreshingly original parallels.
  
  - Typical High School/Typical Teens: As with Epic Fail and The Trouble with Flirting, Claire LaZebnik’s portrayal of modern teenagers feels authentic. Granted most of her books feature well-to-do teenagers living privileged lives, but their conversations, issues with friends and ‘fitting in’, concerns over SATs and colleges all felt true to teenagers living during this time. It never felt forced or improbable; I never thought “teens don’t really say or act like this.”
  
  - Persuasion Translated: One central theme and message for this story is “be true to yourself and don’t worry so much about what other people think.” Which I felt was a very applicable and accessible way to translate the central theme from Jane Austen’s Persuasion. In addition, it is such an important message for young teens today. In our world where people mock, cyberbully, shame, and conceal their true selves it was inspiring to see a story that encourages being brave, seizing happiness, being yourself, and thinking independently.
  
  - Side Characters: I appreciate that characters such as Wade Porter(William Elliot), Ginny Clay (Mrs. Clay) and Molly Eliot (Mary Musgrove) were given updated and interesting story-lines. I really liked how these characters had significant differences with their Regency counterparts, yet ended up serving a similar role in the story.
  
  WHAT I WASN’T TOO FOND OF:
  
  - Anna: Seeing Anna choose to reject Finn because of her own fear of being ostracized by her friends, made me like her a little bit less. Unlike Jane Austen’s Anne Elliot, it was more Anna’s decision/fault than her being persuaded by others. This Anna’s actions felt more hurtful and selfish than Jane Austen’s Anne, and unfortunately, at times, it made her less likable.
  
  NOTE: Jane Austen fans might be pleased to note that this author currently has 4 Austen-Inspired Young Adult Modern Adaptations published at the moment – Epic Fail (P&P), The Trouble With Flirting (Mansfield Park), The Last Best Kiss (Persuasion), and Wrong About the Guy (Emma).
  
  CONCLUSION: This story felt like an entertaining combination of Jane Austen meets Mean Girls! Even though I wasn’t fully in love with our heroine in this tale, I greatly enjoyed this captivating and refreshingly relevant update! An excellent choice for readers who love Persuasion inspired stories!
  
  Austenesque Reviews
• 
  Christina (A Reader of Fictions)

  Actual rating: 2.5 stars
  
  For more reviews, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.
  
  At this point, it’s seeming as though my love of LaZebnik’s The Trouble with Flirting may have been a fluke. The difference between her Mansfield Park retelling and the other two (Pride and Prejudice in Epic Fail and Persuasion in The Last Best Kiss) is that I didn’t care and in fact thought it was awesome that she made alterations to Mansfield Park. That book is a mess and changes only improve it. Not so with P&P or Persuasion. Oh, LaZebnik puts all the things in basically the right places; they’re very clearly retellings. This retelling fails to capture the emotional resonances of the original. If you are able to separate The Last Best Kiss from Persuasion, it’s a fun read, though not a great one. If you can’t, it’s going to be frustrating. I ended up somewhat liking this one only because I’ve apparently forgotten a good deal of the middle of Persuasion.
  
  
  The biggest problem with The Last Best Kiss is how the modernization is done. What The Lizzie Bennet Diaries understood, as Gillian (Writer of Wrongs) has very wisely told me, is that a marriage proposal in the past is very akin to a job offer now. See, marriage back then was essentially a woman’s occupation. There often wasn’t love involved. Agreeing to marry was more of a business deal with wives chosen by what they could bring to their husbands. Getting to marry a man you loved, as Austen’s heroines did, was emotionally pretty similar to getting a job offer for your dream job.
  
  In Persuasion, Anne Elliot accepts an offer of a marriage from Frederick Wentworth, then a poor naval officer. However, Anne then caves to peer pressure from her father, sister, and friend, which leads her to break the engagement. She was persuaded not to marry him. This is not, however, an illogical decision for Anne. She would be taking a step down in station and would have been pretty promptly left alone while he went off to sail the seas in the navy, probably with a kid and without much money. She didn’t make the romantic decision, but she was afraid to take what was legitimately a huge risk.
  
  In The Last Best Kiss, Anna Eliot dates Finn Westbrook secretly when they’re both freshman. Finn’s short and super nerdy, where Anna is popular. Anna fears everyone will judge her for dating a short, weedy boy with glasses, so she keeps their relationship hidden. Everything culminates in her dissing him publicly at the school dance. While I can see how LaZebnik went for this, the emotional impact is so incredibly different. What Anne did to Wentworth was fail to trust him and to give in to an understandable societal fear; what Anna did to Finn was to treat him like shit. The most obvious difference of course is that everyone knew that Anne wanted to marry Wentworth; he wasn’t a shameful secret.
  
  This change in motivations makes Anna an entirely different sort of girl. Anna is hugely judgmental and focused on popularity, something Anne really wasn’t. In fact, Anna doesn’t come across as a cohesive character at all, probably because she’s being shoehorned into a retelling when her personality doesn’t fit, so sometimes she acts one way and other times another.
  
  The other big character change for the retelling was to Louisa Hargrove, Anne’s romantic competition for the returned and wealthy Wentworth. Louisa becomes Lily, a manicpixiedreamgirl. Louisa is a flirt and not especially likable, but she was standard. Lily on the other hand is a total special snowflake. She has a different ridiculous outfit and/or hairstyle every day. She brings a ukelele to class and teachers let her play it whenever she wants to. She does whatever she want, damn the consequences. The shade-throwing at John Green did ultimately make this an interesting choice, but I also feel like LaZebnik had to make Lily completely insufferable in order to make Anna look better in comparison, since Anna is a lot less likable than Anne.
  
  Finn, on the other hand, is a pretty great guy. He’s a genius, he’s handsome (when he returns in senior year), and he’s pretty good at bantering. Wentworth definitely acts like a bastard sometimes, especially given the fact that Anne did have some legitimate concerns. They both took the blame in Persuasion, where Finn really just comes off as forgiving. LaZebnik tries to make a play like the both messed up, because he wore such a horrible outfit to the dance, but that doesn’t work out. Finn is the victim in this situation. I will say that I did end up mildly shipping them, but it’s not the powerful moment from the end of Persuasion where the two overcome their past issues and accept their feelings.
  
  There are, however, some great aspects to The Last Best Kiss. The book’s pretty diverse. I especially love the treatment of the LGBTQ+ aspects. Molly, Anna’s middle sister, is a lesbian. I like Anna best when she’s interacting with Molly, because she’s endlessly supportive. Even Anna’s father and oldest sister, Lizzie, don’t have any issue with Molly’s sexual orientation, though they do, true to form, say some infuriating things about it maybe being a phase. Despite those comments, they really have no issue. Nor does Anna’s mother. Rarely do coming out stories in YA go down so well and I applaud LaZebnik for this casual acceptance.
  
  Anna also makes a number of casual, healthy comments about weight. She, though judgmental in general, has a sense that certain people look better at different weights. She doesn’t hate skinny girls or fat ones for being that weight. She comments on some women looking better while carrying some extra weight. Her mother, for instance, put on weight after the divorce because she not longer had a husband pressuring her to fit his ideal and Anna thinks she looks better. YA novels often put a really subtle pressure on fitting the societal ideal (aka super thin), so this was refreshing.
  
  Once I was able to stop comparing to Persuasion, The Last Best Kiss was pretty enjoyable. If you know the novel well enough to compare and aren’t able to stop thinking of it as a retelling, it’s going to be frustrating.
• 
  Adricrisuruta

  read that this book is a retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion. As I have not read that book I cannot compare it.
  I have to say that the story hooked me although I don't know why. Her development was slow but Anna's personality, despite not being a super girl, attracted me a lot.
  To be a teenager with a rather strange family, she was the most sane.
  He learned from his past mistakes by accepting the changes that came with it without losing hope that in the end he could have his love back.
  Finn, despite how hard it was, I thought he was adorable with his nerdy style, although I never understood that I saw Lily. Luckily that didn't last long.
• 
  Jaime Arkin

  Remember back to the days when all you were worried about was fitting in and not making a fool of yourself and making sure your friends accepted you?
  
  Lezebnik takes you back to those days with The Last Best Kiss. We first meet Anna Eliot as a freshman… not completely sure of herself and worried about doing the wrong thing, the thing that will make her an outcast amongst her friends, and so she tries not to stand out. But she meets Finn Westbrook when her sister offers him a ride to school in the morning. But Finn isn’t even on her friend’s radars. He was one of the nerdy kids who liked science and math and didn’t go to parties and hadn’t had that growth spurt yet.
  
  ”He’s perfect boyfriend material – you could carry him around in your pocket. He could be your pocket boyfriend, and you could take him out whenever you felt like it and then stuff him back in when you got bored.”
  
  Yet, Anna finds herself drawn to him and what starts as an innocent friendship sharing science facts and pictures eventually turns into secret dates and kisses, but when Anna humiliates him in front of everyone at school there is no turning back and she never gets the chance to apologize because that summer his family moves away.
  Fast forward to senior year. Finn Westbrook is back and he’s made his way into her group of friends and suddenly Anna is faced with how horrible she actually was to him and any effort she tries to make to form their friendship again is ignored… in fact, Finn seems to be falling for one of her best friends which makes things a million times worse.
  
  Let’s get the things that I wasn’t fond of out of the way. Anna’s family. I didn’t understand them and I didn’t understand their role in this story. Her mother is non-existent having left them and her father is more concerned with work and spending time with his middle daughter Lizzie for some strange and somewhat odd reason that is never really explained fully. The only family member that had some kind of impact on her was her sister Molly who helped her make sense of the situation she had with Finn. It was all just kind of weird for me and I struggled to figure out their roles in this story.
  
  Second – pretty much every single character in this story. I didn’t care much about any of them, except maybe Finn back in the 9th grade. I mean, all her friendships seem to be incredibly superficial, no one seems to actually care about anyone else, and they just don’t come across as supportive to each other no matter the situation. Oh… when that one thing happens they sort of all come together, but even then it all seemed so superficial to me.
  
  I did like some things about this … the story itself is a cute take on a reimagined version of Persuasion. The writing was wonderfully done and the pacing was good, there was definitely never a lack of things happening.
  
  I really enjoyed the growth of Anna’s character. I found that while she did some really mean things when she was younger to Finn, I liked that she took ownership of those actions and apologized and was really making an effort with Finn. Even though he was still kind of mean to her.
  
  If you’re looking for a cute coming of age story one with an authentic teenage voice then definitely check this one out. I’ll definitely be looking for additional stories from Lezebnik.
  
  Thank you to HarperTeen and Edelweiss for the advance copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
  
• 
  Emma

  utterly brilliant 're-imagining of Persuasion. captures the themes perfectly while making them more relatable to teens today. read in 1 sitting :)
  
  Where to start, where to start – firstly this is a read in one sitting book so be warned you won’t want to put it down until that last page is turned. I cannot tell you how much I love this book – Claire LaZebnik manages to capture the themes from the original classic while presenting it in such a refreshing way as to make it more attainable to today’s teens.
  
  Told in first person narrative from Anna’s point of view, her characterization is a stroke of genius on the author’s behalf. Anna provides such wonderful insight into the workings of the teenage mind capturing the need to fit in while struggling to find yourself and your individuality. The insecurity a teen feels at standing out, it takes an emotionally strong person to have the confidence required to go against the norm – even if it is just wearing your hair differently. A large part of growing up is overcoming the fear of not being accepted for who you are; reflected poignantly within the narrative.
  
  At times I wanted to shake Anna for being so cowardly and selfish but I could also empathize with her, the rawness of being an emotional hurricane as a teen still fresh in my mind even at my age :) You can see that Anna’s actions are hurting her just as much as Finn, to use another weather simile, it was like an avalanche building momentum with each action.
  
  Anna’s insecurities are exasperated by her family situation; constantly seeking approval from her family including a shallow, judgmental father and sister. It is the portrayal of emotions within the story that make it exceptional in a relatable/realistic and often heart wrenching manner. Regret is one of the most difficult and poignant of emotions to deal with, second chances happen so rarely they should be snatched up when the opportunity arises. Anna is a wonderful example of this, the reflection on Anna’s behalf adds depth to the plot as well as to the emotions it evokes.
  
  The Last Best Kiss is far more than a swoon-worthy romance showing that the issues in Jane Austen’s time are still prevalent today only instead of social class being divided by just money it also encompasses the many cliques that make up high school today (jocks, geeks, populars, etc).
• 
  Fiona

  The Last Best Kiss is one of those novels that you’ll want to stay up past your bedtime to finish; I certainly stayed up late because I just couldn’t wait to see what happened next! Claire LaZebnik has done an admirable job recreating high school in all of its drama-filled, angsty glory. Teenagers will love Anna and all of her friends; they are sure to see themselves in here somewhere. And even if we all have an idea of what the end of this book will be like, readers will enjoy every page of the journey there; you’ll be rooting for Anna and Finn the whole way.
• 
  Rahmi

  Omg it was so cute, even after finishing this book I'm still smiling
• 
  anuschka.reads

  3.5/5.0
• 
  Trai

  This book. The only word I can really summon is "ugh." I had hope; I really did. I told myself,
  after being so upset by the last quarter of Trouble, to not judge LaZebnik so harshly and to give
  Epic Fail a try, and it was an endearing diversion. When I found out this, a
  Persuasion modernization, would be LaZebnik's next effort, I was hopeful. And then so very, very let down.
  
  I'm going to divide this review into a few sections that illustrate my main problems with it; it's the only way I can even begin to coherently discuss how many flavors of wrong this book was for me. As always, this is my subjective opinion, but I would not want this book to be given to teens, as it perpetuates truly irresponsible (and illegal) behavior, unfortunate sexist thinking, and its anti-peer pressure message is so muddled as to not even be recognizable. So let's start with that, as it's LaZebnik's substitute for the original's "persuasion."
  
  Peer Pressure: To give a basic idea of the plot, Anna (Anne Elliot) and Finn (Frederick Wentworth) meet when Anna's older sister Lizzie (Elizabeth Elliot) needs a fourth for their carpool during Anna's freshman year of high school. Finn is sweet and geeky, and Anna is gradually endeared to him. They begin secretly dating--secretly for Anna, that is, who is afraid of how her friends will react. Finn isn't popular or conventionally attractive and as a result, Anna keeps quiet about their Starbucks dates and kissing sessions.
  
  When the ninth grade semiformal comes around, Anna turns down Finn's invitation, insisting that going with a date while she's with her group of friends would be weird. Finn shows up at the semiformal in a suit that's probably his father's and asks Anna to dance in front of all her friends. Anna's friend Lucy bails her out and drags her away, and the next thing Anna knows, Finn is no longer speaking to her, and moves to Oregon before the start of the next school year. By the time Anna's senior year starts, she still hasn't forgotten about him, and Finn is now back in town.
  
  I had a lot of trouble with this scenario. I recognize that it's extremely difficult to modernize Persuasion's basic plot and have seen discussion on this before--how exactly do you handle breaking up a modern Anne and Wentworth in a way that doesn't make Anne seem heartless, when the social context of just why Lady Russell persuades Anne to turn Wentworth down is gone? And that's exactly it--in the original Persuasion, Anne is, well, persuaded to break off the relationship with Wentworth. There was no direct persuasion here. None at all.
  
  Anna's decision to blow Finn off at the dance is entirely her own. So is her decision to keep the relationship secret. In the original text, the reader can somewhat see the justice of Lady Russell's advice; Wentworth was penniless and socially below the wealthier Anne, and there was every reason to believe Anne was young, inexperienced, and likely to make a better match in the future. Anna? Anna is just young and stupid, and entirely too dependent on her friends, so dependent she assumes she knows what they'll say and doesn't even pose her and Finn's situation as a hypothetical. "We all wanted to fit in so badly. That was the thing. ... We dressed alike... and grew our hair as long as it would go and coveted or bought the same iPhones, the same messenger bags, the same necklaces. It made us a tribe. It made us safe. It made us bonded" (9).
  
  I could have forgiven this absurd reliance on her friends if Anna had displayed one single shred of growth away from them by the time we see her again in her senior year. But she hasn't--she's still hanging out with the same group of friends, and as much influenced by them as ever. Her friends partake in social (underage) drinking and drug use (more on that later) and while Anna is shown to mostly not like that sort of thing, she doesn't stay away from it, either. She just goes along with it to fit in. And even after this is pointed out to her by Finn, in a way, late in the book, she still doesn't display individual thought. LaZebnik poorly illustrates Anna's supposed individuality by an eleventh-hour monologue by Finn about Anna's art, which is a solitary undertaking she doesn't shove in her friend's faces. And that's all the individuality he needs her to display. ... Huh?
  
  Air of Entitlement: To explain the atmosphere that allows for the underage drinking and drug use I mentioned above, I have to mention where this is set, and the general attitudes of the teens. LaZebnik sets her story in Los Angeles, with all the teens going to an exclusive prep school. There's a lot of money involved--parents are lawyers and doctors, and the "Musgrove" twins' father is a music producer (responsible for the Coachella knockoff that in this book takes the place of Lyme Regis). Most of the characters have or had, at one time, housekeepers.
  
  LaZebnik chose not to include the Elliots' financial distress, which saddened me. Maybe it's because this is very, very clearly wish-fulfillment lit for teens, but in a country beset by horrible economic times, I think showing that not everyone, even in privileged areas, is doing well financially would have been sensitive and realistic. Perhaps a modern equivalent to the Elliots' "retrenching" would've been an enlightening and comforting thing for teens to see. But no. LaZebnik stuffs this book to the gills with privileged teens (Hilary and Lily Diamond [Henrietta and Louisa Musgrove] even get to take turns accompanying their dad to the VMAs). And they're not even privileged teens with social consciousness. There is exactly one moment where Anna recognizes their privilege at all, and that's it. I expected, and did not get, some sort of social consciousness from Anna or Finn. Anna grew up with two housekeepers who practically raised her and her sisters. Finn is the only one who is mentioned as having less money than the rest. And yet, when Lily makes a mess all over the floor with a bowl of mini M&Ms and is told she should probably clean it up, her response that the maid will do it later is simply accepted as fact. I was hoping that Anna, having bonded with her housekeeper as a child and who even hugged the Diamonds' housekeeper as she entered, or Finn, who is not as accustomed to the lifestyle of the rich as the rest, would object, but nope. I thought wistfully of that great scene in Clueless where Josh puts Cher gently but firmly in her place with regards to her behavior to the Horowitz's housekeeper. There was nothing of that here.
  
  Anna herself? She's not the quiet, withdrawn, "only Anne" of the original Persuasion. Frankly, I saw her as an entitled brat just as much as the rest of them. Here's one particular segment that grated on me. Ginny Clay (Ms. Clay) is over, attempting to court Mr. Eliot:
  
  

  "Anna, get the wineglasses."
  
  I get out three. [Mr. Eliot] pours two and puts down the bottle. I pick it up and pour a little bit into the third glass. "Cheers," I say, and drink it.
  
  Dad shoots me a look, but he lets it go. (151)

  
  
  Within a few paragraphs she pours herself more wine, and Mr. Eliot finally does verbally reprimand her. I found myself shaking my head in disgust. I could not see Anne Elliot asserting herself this way, and I'm not particularly endeared to an underage teen serving herself wine she clearly isn't offered. That brings me to:
  
  Underage Drinking and Drug Use: Here's the thing: I'm 23. I'm legal to drink myself, but I prefer not to socialize where alcohol is involved and I don't drink much to begin with. That probably does color my opinion of what's presented here. But LaZebnik's previous two books were so tame that it was somewhat shocking to see such an abrupt shift towards showing drinking and drug use here, with mentions of sex and even a sole use of the word "fuck." I felt comfortable recommending The Trouble with Flirting as appropriate for younger Janeites; I don't think this one is, unless a parent reads it beforehand and feels comfortable discussing with their child why the behavior of Anna and her friends in this regard is inappropriate and dangerous.
  
  

  - A water bottle full of vodka is drunken by a ninth grader prior to the semiformal (24).
  
  - Anna at least has the wisdom to go for an unopened soda at a party (104) and denies the chance to spike it with something stronger thanks to a promise to a friend playing designated driver that she'll stay relatively sober.
  
  - Anna thinks that she'd potentially hook up with Wade (William Elliot) "if she were drunk" (106).
  
  - Wine is consumed at the Diamonds' house without parental supervision; Mr. and Mrs. Diamond are, Hilary says, "cool with that" (142-3).
  
  - The driver getting them to the Coachella knockoff forbids drinking in his van, knowing all are underage (188).
  
  - "Twenty bucks' worth of vodka" is confiscated before the festival (206).
  
  - A teen is hospitalized for alcohol poisoning and must have his stomach pumped (289).

  
  
  Less prevalent is the drug use. It's only weed, but I was still surprised and irritated by the way it's presented. Yet again, Anna succumbs to peer pressure. "Weed isn't [her] thing," we learn, "but [she's] happy to pass one around in a group and have a hit or two" (214). To me, this is a "if everyone else in the group wanted to jump off a bridge, would you?" moment. The weed is being supplied by Connor, Wade's friend, whom Anna and Lucy have met about two minutes before. Lucy quizzes Connor about his source, finds out it's the captain of his school's tennis team, and decides it's safe. Anna and Lucy proceed to smoke the joint with Connor and Wade, which made this exchange between Anna and Lily pages later baffling:
  
  

  "They're passing around a joint. Think they'd share with two cute girls who ask nicely?"
  
  I shake my head [... and] whisper, "I'm not about to take drugs from strangers." Isn't that like Safety 101? (236)

  
  
  One could argue that LaZebnik makes her anti-drug statement by Lily's being stoned off of that weed being the cause of her accident (the equivalent to Louisa Musgrove's fall), but one (admittedly serious) accident does not make up for scene upon scene of irresponsible behavior by underage individuals, especially when none of them reflect in any way on their own partaking in drugs and alcohol after the accident.
  
  Sexism / Stereotyping / Diversity: I'm lumping this all into one category because it was less noticeable than the other things that bothered me about the book, but still there, and still unfortunate in reading material targeted at teens. Finn is the main offender on the sexism front, sadly, as he was the only character in the book I actually liked. In one instance, looking at a Garden of Eden-esque painting of Anna's and asking if the figure reaching for the fruit is male or female, Anna doesn't specify, saying the figures are genderless. "It's Eve," Finn says. "She has to be a female. She knows she shouldn't eat the fruit, but she does it, anyway. Because she shouldn't. Which makes her a total girl, and I'm allowed to say that because I'm a card-carrying feminist" (316). Later, Anna calls him "weird" for cleaning her room, and he asks if she's "questioning [his] masculinity" (332). Still later, [Finn] touches [Anna's] bare shoulder and says, "It's a good thing girls don't dress up like this all the time. Guys would lose the ability to speak coherently" (364). According to Finn, gender roles are rigid, and a woman should cover up her bare shoulders lest she distract a poor, helpless man driven crazy by the sight of them, and all of this thinking is okay because he's "a card-carrying feminist."
  
  Though Finn displayed the most sexist thinking, it was Anna who came out with the worst example: "And I'm miserable because I can't cling to the hope anymore that Finn never hated me. He did. For a long time. And even though maybe he's stopped hating me--maybe--I'm miserable because he has now so completely friend-zoned me that I couldn't claw my way out of there even if I showed up naked on his doorstep" (234). Generally,
  when the sexism of the friend zone is discussed, it's in terms of a man being "friend-zoned" by a woman, and irritated that the woman will not gratify him sexually or enter into a relationship with him when he has been nice to her. This is a gender-flipped example, and a truly unfortunate one, because not only is Anna displaying some truly sexist thinking, she actually hasn't even shown Finn any kindness. Repeatedly, she thinks to herself that because she feels bad about blowing Finn off all those years ago, she deserves to be forgiven, and feels that the breakup is Finn's fault because he never gave her a chance to explain herself. Does she honestly think telling him that she blew him off because her friends would've made fun of her otherwise would have made her come off any better?
  
  I'll cover the stereotyping and diversity fronts somewhat quickly, as this review is lengthy enough as it is. LaZebnik has two gay characters, Molly (Mary Musgrove, nee Elliot) and Oscar, a friend of Anna's. Molly--she was awesome. Molly could get her own book and I'd read it in a heartbeat. Molly's situation is made to loosely parallel Anna's, in that she didn't come out in high school for the same reason Anna didn't come clean about seeing Finn: fear of ridicule. A subplot in which Molly is subject to homophobia by her (not out) girlfriend's family is handled sensitively. Oscar was less well-done. He exists mostly to complain about how he's not getting any, thanks to being the only out guy in the school, and... to be a token gay character, evidenced by lines like these: "Gay guys make the best boyfriends [to straight girls]. I actually like to go clothes shopping" (359). This was better than LaZebnik's previous inclusion of gay characters in The Trouble with Flirting, where the setting made two gay males into theatre-loving stereotypes, but Molly was the only nonstereotypical gay character here and, sadly, not part of the book enough to really matter.
  
  On the diversity front, there is the Diamond family, who are Asian, and... the housekeepers, who are given typically ethnic names. And that's it. The female legs on the cover are white. No one but the Diamonds are given ethnicities, but it's almost entirely safe to assume they're all Caucasian. I recognize that all Austens, except the unfinished Sanditon, are entirely white, but this is 2014, and this is taking place at an urban high school. Diversity shouldn't be a problem.
  
  Clearly, I had a lot of problems with this book. I wish I could say there were a few things I at least liked about it, but sadly, there weren't many. The aforementioned inclusion of Molly was one. That Lily was a (directly stated) criticism of
  the sexist Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope was another. But ultimately, it didn't succeed as a Persuasion modernization for me simply because Anna was not persuaded by anyone out of being with Finn, and because Anna was such a follower of the crowd in every respect, still going along with her friends' stupid antics despite her recognizing she shouldn't have blown off Finn because of what she felt they'd think, I didn't genuinely believe she'd changed from her ninth-grade self, nor did I feel she deserved sweet, smart Finn, whose self-admitted hatred of her felt justified. She treated him cruelly and his telling her she would have to "have an opinion of her own for once" (246) was used by Anna as an excuse to be petulant and not to display any real growth. This conversation late in the book sums it up:
  
  

  "I guess people change."
  
  "Yeah," I say. "They grow up and stop acting like idiots."
  
  "That's half true."
  
  "Are you saying I'm still an idiot?"
  
  "I'm saying we all are." (349)

  
  
  And they really all were, and remained the same people they were at the beginning of the book. Because of the shallow characterizations, irresponsible and illegal behavior by underage characters, and the perpetuation of some truly unfortunate sexist ideas and a lack of diversity where there should be plenty, I cannot in good conscience recommend this to anyone, Janeite or no. For a better, more enjoyable modern take on Persuasion that also happens to deal with the college admission process, a concern of Anna and her friends' in this book, see Paula Marantz Cohen's
  Jane Austen in Scarsdale.
• 
  Kate

  This was really sweet and reminded me why I like Persuasion and the second chance romance trope so much.
  
  Austen can be hard to adapt into a high school setting, especially Persausion as Anne Elliot is a more mature heroine, but LaZebnik’s Anna Elliot really steals the show and adapts the character in a way that feels authentic for a teenager. All my Jane Austen loving friends should give this book a try. 💕
• 
  Claire Ingram

  **0.5
• 
  Andrea

  0 stars
  I suffered thru 106 pages of this atrocity and I wouldn't suffer through any more. I hate I ever came across this book and wish I'd never started reading it. I was so mad I had to slam down a book that wasn't going to count on my reading challenge, but I could not suffer through this anymore. I would have never known this was a Persuasion retelling until I read someone’s review. That’s one of the main reasons I wanted to read it. And after reading that Anna shows no growth as a character or independence and has no mind of her own but continued to follow the crowd and needed to be like everyone else, I refused to waste one more second on this. Hearing about the drug use that Anna indulges in turned me off so badly I felt my blood pressure rising. Any author that condones underage drinking, to the point where people are getting drunk and having all kinds of problems, to where they state that the main character would hook up with a guy--that is her distant cousin--if she was drunk, that smokes weed, in a school where it's normal where kids are in rehab for drug use....no, absolutely, 100% no. I am so fed up with scantily-clad teenagers doing drugs and drinking alcohol. It's such a stereotypical teenager, and though I know it does happen, I don't approve and will not read about a group of stoners and drunkards with no morals and values. Just once I'd like to read about wholesome teenagers that don't drink, do drugs or engage in all manner of sexual activity. They are out there, you know. It's like everyone writes about teenagers like this because they think it's all teenagers do. As someone who doesn't drink and is so against drug use it isn't even funny, I won't read this trash any longer.
  
  I went on to read if there was anything cute between Finn and Anna, because I read a lot of reviews where people loved Finn so I wanted to see if there was anything at all to get out of here.
  
  I went on to read about Finn being alone in the kitchen with Lily while she made brownies. Another time Oscar made a comment about porn and Finn said he saved porn for special occasions. Ew. I wish he hadn’t made such sleazy comments. It made him not sweet, but just like another horny guy. Oscar—who is the other character that is gay I think—made a comment that manic pixie girls start to get annoying after a while. Then cut the crap with Lily and all her strangeness and move on. I was so mad when Lily asked if anyone had condoms, and then Hilary said I guess she expects to have sex with Finn this weekend. Then someone brought weed to the festival they went to, and stupid ass Anna actually took a hit off of it. She so doesn’t deserve Finn, though he isn’t innocent because he’s with Lily—who is a total annoyance. At least Wentworth didn’t get with that girl; he was shocked at the mere thought of it. Why would Finn want to get with a preppy girl, who didn’t give him the time of day? Anna was the only one who noticed him and cared about him. And though she was ashamed of him at least she kissed him and was attracted to him. They did go out after all, even though she kept it a secret.
  
  And for f’s sake. Lily kisses Finn right there in front of them all and Finn kisses her back. F this. This is why I put it down, so I wouldn’t have to see him hook up with another girl. WENTWORTH DID NOT HOOK UP WITH ANOTHER GIRL. He loved Anne the entire time and was true to what they had. Screw this. And stupid Anna takes a long hit from the joint, then starts kissing Wade. And Finn and Lily were still intertwined. God I should have dropped this piece of shit the first time and kept with it. This deserves this review. I don’t do crappy teenage jealousy. Neither one of them should be with anyone else.
  
  I thought Anna—finally—had a good moment when after Lily stupidly gets stoned and then dives into a shallow pool after Finn told her not to, and he told Finn he was criminally liable for the act and that his negligence put his daughter’s life at risk. Anna actually spoke up and said not to blame anyone, that he should be mad at Lily because it’s her fault. He said that they all let Lily down and Anna said she was the one that let them down, even tho she was afraid of her dad. I thought Lily got what she deserved. Get stoned, take too many drugs and get high, and decide to go swimming in all of your clothes in a hotel pool, that’s what you get.
  
  I’d forgotten that the man in Persuasion turned out to have an ulterior motive and wasn’t really in love with Anne. So Wade’s deception is that he knew her dad had connections to Stanford and he wants her to get him to put in a letter of recommendation for him. It was funny when Anna said she was going to let him keep trying, even though she wasn’t going to get him the letter. She wanted to tease him and drag it out, make him think she was going to do it and drive him crazy trying to figure out how to handle it. “It’s a small, petty revenge, but I’m enjoying it. He should have picked a different alum’s daughter to target.”
  
  Lily conveniently forgot that night and commiserated with a fellow loser in the hospital who had to get his stomach pumped because he had alcohol poisoning. What a fine pair they make. Finn was way too upset about her, pale and nervous and worried about her and texting her all the time, and going to visit her in the hospital, for my liking. Then he confides to Anna that he thought Lily was cool because she did what we wanted to and dated who she wanted to, but he got aggravated and was just tolerating her. And he said their kiss was just because he was in the moment and jealous of Wade kissing her, even though he realized how lucky he was to be with Lily, who is cute and “a babe”—guys don’t say that, that’s old-school and so lame—but he wanted to be the guy kissing Anna. The summary definitely declined to mention that he got with her friend. “Flirting” is not kissing. Flirting with her friends implied that he said empty nothings to them to get back at Anna, not that he legitimately liked, kissed and was kind of dating.
  
  They kiss in the art room at school, Ginny, the art teacher or whoever, walked in on them and was teasing Anna about it, joking that she was busted and wanting to know how it was after Finn left. Anna was so mean to her about it, Ginny was just joking, and there was no call for how she treated her. Yeah, Ginny is mean about her artwork, basically saying it’s weird and she isn’t a good enough artist with enough diversity, but the way she and even Finn talked about her being annoying wasn’t okay. And Finn called James—the new guy in Lily’s life—a douchebag which I didn’t like. He shouldn’t have talked like that because he wasn’t nice in those moments. Anna told Ginny that her dad doesn’t comment on her personal life and she doesn’t comment on his, pointedly looking at Ginny and letting it sink in. That’s so rude. Yeah, who wants their dad dating someone only a little older than them, esp because her sister is friends with Ginny so that is so awkward, but still, Ginny was being nice in that moment.
  
  There were some funny moments but their relationship just wasn’t sweet because I couldn’t get past the fact that he was attracted to Lily so much and was dating her almost the entire time, and didn’t get with Anna until so close to the ending. Then prom took up the rest of the time in which pages and pages were describing everyone’s outfits and dates and hairstyles and the differences between the twins: Lily and Hilary. I skipped right over it all. The last page of the book was Finn showing her a picture on his phone and she told him to let her see it or something. Totally mundane ending. Not a good story in any way, shape or form. If you like reading about a bunch of irresponsible teenagers making poor choice after poor choice, everyone hooking up and doing drugs and drinking too much and cussing and being obsessed with partying, this is all it has to offer. I don’t like any of those things so this book was never going to be good for me. And the author seemed to think that by having her say she wasn’t going to take weed from a stranger that that was a positive message for kids…haha. It’s laughable. Like, as long as you get your weed (that’s going to totally mess up your brain) from a reliable source, it’s all good. Meanwhile she goes on to have everyone stoned, kissing people they don’t want to, thinking about getting with people if they were more stoned, and someone jumps into a pool and almost dies because of drugs. But hey, that was only because she got her weed from a stranger. Everyone else who had their weed from someone they knew was A-okay and came down from the high unscathed. That’s a lesson for all you kids out there: get your drugs from people you know. I do not go for authors whose morals/values don’t align with mine. And if that isn’t the case, then she’s trying too hard to relate to teenagers by making them terrors of society. Either way, I don’t go for this crap and never will.
  
  I assumed Anna would realize what's more important and lose her friends. But nope, she was friends with them until the end, as if they were nice people. She should've dumped Lucy, and Anna never even said anything to her about helping to ruin their relationship. When Anna had told Lucy that Finn asked her, Lucy totally ruined it and gave Anna reason to keep it a secret. Then towards the end Lucy had the gall to say she couldn't believe Anna hadn't danced with him...and Anna didn't say anything at all. That was a time to tell her off and say you made fun of him and so did everyone else, about his suit and the reason she didn't tell anyone was because of the way they treat ppl they think are losers. Lucy even made the comment that a red-headed guy tried to dance with her at the music festival, like he had a chance with her. And this is who Anna is friends with. Anna never once told her how mean that was.
  
  This was my review before I stopped caring.
  
  I wasn't so crazy about Anna and her life. Her parents are divorced, she lives with her absentee, materialistic dad because her mom didn't want to raise her. She has two older sisters, her two nannies were fired. Just not my kind of thing. And I really loathed hearing about how Anna wore what everyone else wore, skinny jeans, leather boots and silky tops over tank tops, trying so hard to be popular. I think it's pathetic to try to be like everyone else and fit in. She sounded desperate and like a total loser saying she was lucky to have her friends and didn't want to lose them. The real loser is the person laughing at things that aren't funny to go along with the crowd and going out and shopping for things your friends are wearing. I did not like that in a main character.
  
  I found her friends to be unrealistic, particularly when Lucy asked who he was when she saw her waving at him and said well he can't take up too much space in the car. Like, I don't think anyone would say that.
  
  I wondered why her sister picked him up and it wasn't even explained. He was just another kid her sister carpooled. No explanation why her sister did that or how she knew him. He would sit in the back and the first day he introduced himself and imm showed her a pic on his phone. That was their thing, looking at pictures and talking about them.
  
  I didn't like his looks, that the bridge of his nose was too big and his nose too thin. He wore ugly round glasses that kept slipping. She wished he would care about his looks a little, and I do understand that. Again, things just weren't that realistic. Her sister Lizzie said King Nerd liked Anna--why is she picking him up if she thinks he's a nerd?--and said he's perfect boyfriend material because he could be carried in her pocket, taken out whenever she wanted and then stuffed back when she got bored. Is the only thing people can say about him is his small size? I don't believe anyone would make fun of someone by saying these things. There are obvious things they could say. I thought Lizzie was going to say something about him being an encyclopedia and telling her anything she wanted to know.
  
  I didn't like when she said his scrawny face lit up whenever he saw her and she knew he liked her. It was sweet though how she would catch him looking at her instead of the phone and when she caught him he would blush and look down.
  
  I didn't believe the conversations. They weren't realistic or believable. Anna asked Finn if it was hard moving around because of his parents' jobs and he said he didn't know because he didn't have anything to compare it too. Um, I think you would know whether something like that was hard without having a comparison. And moving around so much would be hard.
  
  I didn't like that Anna had kissed 3 other guys before Finn and that it was his first kiss and she thought his instincts to go slow were good ones. I would have liked it better had they had their first kiss together.
  
  It was awful that after their kiss where he pulled her into an alley, she let go of his hand before they got to school. She definitely had a lot to make up for. And I felt so bad for him when she said she didn't understand ppl who were all over each other in public-which I agree with-and she liked it better being like this in private, and he didn't say anything. She's an idiot for not seeing that he thought she thought he wasn't good enough.
  
  And strike three for the stupid conversations these teenagers had.
  "Phoebe said something about Carlos Mercado--about how she knew the nerds would one day be all rich and famous and everything, but who cares when they looked the way they did now?
  And Lucy laughed and said, "And what if you start going out with some ninety-eight-pound nerdling now, and then he doesn't get all rich and famous?"
  
  No one in high school would judge a nerd because of their weight. They would judge them for being a nerd. Weight has nothing to do with it. This was really stupid. Talk to any teenagers lately? The glasses and his nose would have kept them busy enough. No one would be shaming him for weighing less than 100 lbs. As a 24 year old who has never weighed 98 lbs, no one at school ever made fun of me for that. About my size yeah, my height sure. My weight? Never. Let's get real.
  
  I had no patience for this juvenile way of thing and Anna's desperation with having everyone's approval. One day in freshman year Finn came and sat down at her table and she introduced him by saying he was in her carpool, not that they were dating. When he questioned her about it later she still didn't stop it. She went on to treat him like crap. He asked her to the semi-formal and she actually said she had to check with her friends first because it would be weird for her to go with him if her friends didn't have dates. Sometimes you can just tell when an author hasn't been a teenager in a while, because the things they write just aren't true.
  
  Lucy thought they should go in a group with guys they were friendly with, no pairing up, just hanging out. Phoebe a guy asked her but Lucy insisted that was weird because the only couples were real boyfriend and girlfriend, bcuz to go with a guy meant "you're basically publicly committing to him for life." Someone liked the italics button a little too much. Anyone gone to a dance with someone before, and stayed shackled to them until death did you part? No? Didn't think so. Who comes up with this nonsense?
  
  And to make it even more nauseatingly stupid, when Anna told Lucy that Finn asked her to the dance, Lucy insisted that Finn was mean for daring to put her in the awkward position of having to say no. What a dumbass.
  
  This book really seemed old what with carpools and if you have four people in the car you get the best parking spot at school, never heard of that, and looking up people in a directory.
  
  It was incredibly weird that Anna told her sister Molly not to tell their dad and sister Lizzie that she was gay, to see how long it took them to figure it out, like it was a game or something. And Anna thinking it was great and practically bouncing with happiness as she thought of telling her friends. Who does that? Would you call up your friends to tell them that your sister liked guys? No. Because they'd be like good for her, that has nothing to do with me. So why would you want to get on the phone tree and start calling all your friends to say your sister is home from college...the gay one? So dumb.
  
  I couldn't believe the scene where Captain Wentworth picked her up after she fell of the log was changed to Finn grabbing the dog before she was bitten. So lame.
  
  The author seemed to think that any girl that liked bigger guys has a daddy complex. Anna shamed Lucy into thinking she had daddy issues because she liked big guys. Lucy said she liked how it felt to be crushed against a big, strong chest and Anna said "Yeah, that's not how a little girl feels with her dad at all."
  
  Then she said this little gem: "He's a lot more slender than Jackson, and since I don't have Lucy's daddy's-girl issues, I prefer that."
  
  So much in here is just wrong. So, only big guys with strong chests are dads? No skinny or small guys can have daughters? Liking a big, strong guy has nothing to do with wanting a father figure, especially if your father doesn't have that figure.
  
  I didn't care for the joke Anna made. It seemed out of character for her anyway. She met a distant cousin for the first time when he walked into the shop with Jackson-the guy Lucy gets her dad fetish on with-and when Lucy said she was as genetically similar to Wade as she was to her and Anna said "Then why won't you sleep with me?" Who asks their friend that?
  
  I really didn't like that Anna had had a couple hookups at parties since Finn left after freshman year. She should have been true to Finn even though he wasn't there. At least Anne Eliot didn't kiss another guy. I dreaded the after party because Anna wasn't riding with Finn and he would be alone with Lily and other girls, and Anna had to ride with Lucy because Lucy needed a responsible drinker. Lucy said she didn't need to be stone cold sober but just not wasted and I waited for Anna to say she would never get wasted, or that she didn't drink. No such luck. What an abomination to the Anne Eliot character.
  
  It took me a while to realize the connection between Wade and Anne Eliot's cousin in Persuasion, but when I figured it out at the party when Anna said it's not creepy but it seemed like maybe it could be creepy I was revolted. The reason Jane Austen wrote that, author, is because back in the 1700s it was acceptable to marry your cousin because they didn't know enough back then to know the serious perversion as well as the birth deformities associated with that. So, having two cousins willing to hook up with each other in the 21st is not only wrong, it is so far beyond creepy it isn't even funny. Why would she change so much about the original but then keep the cousins part? Disgusting. I also loathed the comment that Finn made that he was just here to to study the effects of very short skirts on the male brain, and said he would watch Lily dance. He did, though, decline the dance which I was glad about, saying that he had a bad experience at a dance once and looked at Anna. She deserved that shame, though she must not have felt bad enough because she went off on the dance floor with Wade, her cousin, and intended to enjoy herself. Didn't like Anna, that's for sure.
  
  At the party Anna is dressed like a trashy cheerleader-because the themes are always sexist-and
  I finally put this piece of trash down before it could get any worse and I'd have to read about Finn kissing Lily. What a ruination of Jane Austen's work and this sullies the good name of Persuasion. This shouldn't even be within a 100 miles of that work.
• 
  Lauren

  This book will be reviewed on my blog
  Love is not a triangle closer to the release date.
  
  I'm a big fan of modern takes on classic stories, especially those inspired by the works of Jane Austen. But inevitably, I always feel like they miss their mark in some way. There's just no way to perfectly recreate the magic from the original story. Persuasion is one of my favorite books, though I haven't read a lot of adaptations of it. I was really excited to discover that Clare LaZebnik was going to tackle it in The Last Best Kiss. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with this retelling.
  
  First, this story works very well in a high school setting. Not only does it actually seem like high school today - the fashion, phones and culture - but the story set up was believable. A girl just entering ninth grade likes a geeky boy, and he likes her, but she is ashamed to tell her popular friends about him. This rejection costs her his affection, and soon after the boy leaves the area with his parents. He comes back three years later right before their senior year, only to have grown up and not be quite so dorky anymore. The girl feels bad about how she treated him in the past and wants desperately to reconnect with him, but he doesn't want anything to do with her. It get's harder when he becomes part of her group of friends and seems to be interested in one of them.
  
  This girl's name is Anna and I felt all of her raw emotions in this book. Her shame and embarrassment at how she'd treated Finn in the past, as well as her desire to fix what she'd destroyed, oozed off the page. Although Anna's initial rejection of Finn is so hard to watch, it felt honest, and I could sympathize with her. She is a young high school girl who feels left out at home and is desperately trying to fit in with her friends. Finn's anger and hurt at Anna is equally understandable. I loved the tension between them throughout this book, and the fact that he isn't perfect either.
  
  Although the beginning of this book worked very well as an adaptation - I could feel Anna's emotions intensely - where this book faltered a bit for me was the author's attempts to stick to the some of the side plots from the original story. As I've read more adaptations of classics and fairy tales, I've discovered that my favorites are ones that take the spirit of the original tale and adapt it to a new story, as opposed to trying to stick to all of the original elements. Updated in this contemporary high school setting, some of the details from Persuasion didn't work as well for me. They didn't make sense except that they came from the first story. Especially the inclusion of Ginny and the drama surrounding her relationship with Anna's father. However, I really like what the author did with Anna's sister Molly's storyline and the parallels it provided to Anna's experiences.
  
  One of my favorite moments in Persuasion is the explosive end where Anne gets the letter from Captain Wentworth that proves his love. Of course, I was hoping for something equally climactic at the end of The Last Best Kiss. What we actually get isn't that profound (looking back, I'm glad the author didn't try to compete with the original in this part), but the end is sweet. However, I did feel like the story extended past when it needed to, in order to wrap up some of the side plots.
  
  Overall I really enjoyed The Last Best Kiss and I want to read the rest of LaZebnik's Austen adaptations.
  
  Love Triangle Factor: Mild
  Cliffhanger Scale: Standalone
• 
  Jan (lost pages)

  Meinung:
  Ich weiß gar nicht genau, woran es gelegen hat, aber als ich das erste Mal von "Damals dieser Kuss" gehört habe, wollte ich es unbedingt haben und lesen. Vielleicht lag es an meinem inneren Radar für tolle Bücher, denn diese locker, leichte Geschichte hat mir sehr gut gefallen!
  
  Was mir an Claire LaZebniks Werk besonders überzeugen konnte, waren die beiden Hauptfiguren Finn und Anna. Anna ist super witzig in ihrer Art gewesen, dass ich sie sofort ins Herz geschlossen habe. Sie hat sich anfänglich zwar nicht immer vernünftig verhalten, aber sie war schließlich noch jung und da ist man ja bekanntlich manchmal dumm. Nichtsdestotrotz habe ich ihre Geschichte gerne verfolgt. Finn war einfach nett und das meine ich nicht als langweilige Eigenschaft. Finn war als Nerd nett und er ist auch noch, als er sich ein wenig vom Aussehen gewandelt hat. Mir hat es sehr gut gefallen, dass ihm die Autorin keine Bad Boy Allüren verpasst, weil er plötzlich ein Mädchenschwarm geworden ist. Das hätte auch überhaupt nicht zum Buch gepasst. LaZebnik legt in ihrer Geschichte Wert auf andere Dinge, die mehr meinen Geschmack getroffen haben.
  
  Freundschaft wird zum Beispiel ganz groß geschrieben und ist neben der Geschichte zwischen Finn und Anna der große Anker der Handlung. Ich habe über die Clique ehrlich gesagt genauso gerne gelesen, wie die Momente zwischen Anna und Finn und hatte einfach das Gefühl, dass die Autorin da einen tollen Haufen von Freunden kreiert hat. Die Truppe hat viel Spaß, es tauchen aber auch immer Konflikte auf, die jeder von uns selbst aus dem eigenen Freundeskreis kennt. Die Geschichte verliert sie aber nicht in einer Ernsthaftigkeit, sondern bleibt den Großteil der Geschichte locker, humorvoll und einfach super schön zu lesen.
  
  Zum Ende des Buches wird die Handlung dann aber doch ein bisschen ernster, aber auch das hat ins Gesamtbild gepasst und wirkte nicht fehl am Platz. Es gab ein paar Momente, die ich ein wenig zu "komisch" fand und bei solchen Geschichten muss man wirklich kein Hellseher sein, um zu wissen, wie es am Ende ausgeht - aber darüber konnte ich gerne hinwegsehen, weil das beim Lesen kaum gestört oder aufgehalten hat. Hinzu kommt, dass die Autorin einen sehr angenehmen Stil besitzt, der sich hervorragend lesen lässt.
  
  Fazit:
  "Damals dieser Kuss" von Claire LaZebnik gehört zu den Sommerlektüren, die ich sehr gerne weiterempfehlen werde! Die Geschichte zwischen Anna und Finn ist einfach schön und ich konnte kaum von den Seiten aufblicken, so wohlgefühlt habe ich mich in der Geschichte. Für Fans von sommerlich, leichten Contemporary-Geschichten, mit einem kleinen Schuss Ernsthaftigkeit am Ende, ein absolutes Buch für die Wunschliste!
• 
  Ornella

  3.5 Stars
  
  I'm going to be honest here and say I have never read Persuasion or any book by Jane Austen. Shocker I know, but well I have just never gotten around to it. So I can't say if this LaZebnik's latest retelling stayed true to the original. What I can say is I enjoyed it. It fit the cute and fluffy mood I was in.
  
  Even though this was a cute book overall, there was quite a lot of it that was plain heartbreaking. First I felt so bad for Finn. His affection was genuine and he was 100% true to himself and watching how Anna kept reacting with her friends was just sad then. But the thing is, she really did like Finn back and she wasn't doing it to be mean, she just had no real backbone to stand with at the time. I just hated the whole sad situation.
  
  Then Anna finally takes it too far and realizes what she has been doing, but it's too late Finn is gone now and Anna is heartbroken and dammit I felt for her! Even though I was beyond pissed with her for how she was treating Finn and not realizing it, once he left I was sad for Anna.
  
  But then Finn comes back! And Anna just can't help be drawn to him again, but Finn isn't having any of it. Good for him! This is where I have even more mixed feelings. I didn't like her group of friends. Most of them still felt like they were trying too hard and only really shone through every now and then. Lucy was, surprisingly, the one I could stand the most, but asides from her, I just didn't like any of them, specially the twins.
  
  I liked how Anna isn't actively trying to get Finn back, she knows what she did was wrong and doesn't deserve him, so instead she is just trying to figure out how to apologize after all this time and at least get back to being friends. Finn gets sucked back in anyway and they are just too cute and adorable together!
  
  I didn't like Anna's family except for Molly, of course, and her relationship problems sucked as well. Her sister and dad were incredibly annoying not to mention Ginny (I think that was her name). She took the cake. I wanted to strangle her every time she made an appearance.
  
  All in all The Last Best Kiss delivered exactly what I had been expecting with some good points and others not so good, but I ultimately enjoyed the ride.
  
• 
  Schokigirl

  Update: reread März 2020 - Immer noch gut, aber nicht 5 Sterne würdig. Jetzt hats 4 Sterne bekommen.
  
  German Review:
  
  In "Damals dieser Kuss" von Claire LaZebnik geht es um Anna, die vor 3 Jahren Finn das Herz gebrochen hat. Obwohl sie den nerdigen & sehr klugen Jungen mochte, konnte Anna nie zu ihm stehen, da sie sich vor der Reaktion ihrer Freundinnen fürchtete. Finn wollte daraufhin nichts mehr mit ihr zu tun haben & zog bald darauf weg. Doch nun, 3 Jahre später, ist er zurück & sieht nun unheimlich attraktiv aus. Alle ihre Freundinnen fliegen auf ihn. Doch Anna scheint er immer noch zu ignorieren. Anna versucht es wieder gut zu machen & sich zu entschuldigen, aber dies erscheint sehr schwierig. Kann Anna ihren Fehler wieder gut machen oder hat sie Finn für immer verloren?
  
  Dieses Buch hat mich von der ersten Seite an gefesselt. Der Schreibstil ist super & hat instant in mir die passenden Gefühle hervorherufen.
  Die Charaktere sind interessant & allesamt sehr sympathisch. Auch wenn sie natürlich Fehler machen & ihre Probleme haben, kann man ihnen trotzdem schnell verzeihen, weil sie so realistisch wirken.
  Der Plot hat sich zu meinem bedauern etwas weniger um die Liebesgeschichte gedreht, als ich es erwartet habe. Das fand ich jedoch nicht sonderlich schlimm, da ich die Handlung trotzdem mochte. Es geht viel um Annas Clique, ihre Freundschaft & ihre unterscheidlichen Charaktere. Das fand ich sehr interessant dargestellt. Die Liebesgeschichte die drin war, fand ich aber sehr süß.
  Nur der Umgang mit Alkohol & Drogen hat mir nicht so gefallen, weil es als normal erschiehn. Aber da am Ende des Buches die Message rüber kam, dass man es damit nicht übertreiben darf, weil dann Schlimmes passieren kann, konnte ich mich damit doch anfreunden.
  
  Fazit: Ich empfehle dieses Buch allen, die gerne Liebes- & Freundschaftgeschichten lesen. 5 Sterne Buchtipp!
• 
  Giselle

  An Electronic Advanced Reader Copy was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss for review. Quotes have been pulled from an ARC and may be subject to change.
  
  I didn't realize this was a Persuasion retelling until I saw the first line from Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit's review. I've been meaning to read that for so long and I can tell this would be a modern retelling.
  
  I don't even know how to explain what I read. Other than the fact that we know what will happen because it's very predictable. Boy and girl like each other. Girl humiliates boy. Boy comes back all hot and popular and ignores girl. And we try to guess if there's a happily ever after??
  
  The format isn't anything new, and what would be a very interesting movie (maybe?) made for a very boring and dragging book to read. There was also SO MUCH dialogue. I honestly wanted to just DNF it but I'd been doing that lately and wanted to give this a chance. Other than annoying characters, a music festival and prom, literally nothing happens. It's all about pining for someone you can't have and I just can't deal with contemporaries like this. I really couldn't bother, and I pretty much skimmed right after the incident that happened at the hotel. As for characters? I found them pretty much all super annoying. Especially Lily. She had this air of being so careless and having everyone not care what she thinks didn't really mean much. The only one that I really liked was Finn..who so happens to be cute and nerdy.
  
  I think this would have been better if there was a story because it did have potential. Otherwise I saw skip it, you wouldn't be missing much.
• 
  Mlpmom (Book Reviewer)

  Even though I own a couple of her books this is my very first official LaZebnick novel and I have to admit, I really enjoyed it. So much so that all those others just sitting there in my TBR pile are certainly going to get a dusting off and finally have their spins cracked open.
  
  This was such a cute story. It has Jane Austen written all over it, woven into the very pages and storyline itself without have to be labeled a retelling or remake. It is very much it's own story.
  
  Even though I am very familiar with where the storyline was going to go with having read Persuasion numerous times in the past, I still really enjoyed this. Even if Anna isn't Anne, she did a great job putting a modern spin on her character. In fact, she did so well that I wasn't even sure I liked her in the beginning. She was self centered and selfish and all be it a little cruel to Finn and I didn't like her for it. I wanted to not like her. But as in all cases like this one, she grew on me and even redeemed herself over time in my eyes.
  
  I loved Finn and while he was no Mr Wentworth, he was a worthy opponent. It was pretty hard to resist his nerdy side and even harder his more “grown” up side.
  
  This was a fun retelling with a very modern twist that I am glad I took time out to read and enjoy.
  
• 
  Abby Obis

  My second book from Claire LaZebnik! ;)
  
  This book is amaaaaaaziiiing. Very realistic in a way that it depicts the life of a lot of kids nowadays. We all so want to "fit in" that we end up hurting and leaving people. We'll end up facing the consequence of trying to fit in─and that is being unhappy.
  
  I also had a realization that we don't like people judging us for what we want to do yet we do it to others too. I guess it's human nature to be judgmental pricks? Lol.
  
  This book was well written, for me anyways. The characters moved me in such a way that I was like watching a telenovela that it makes me react towards what the character is saying or doing.
  
  There was a point where I felt sorry for Anne and a point where I thought she deserved how Finn treated her after what she did. Finn. Finn is cooool. I like him omg I really like nerd guys ugh!! ♥
  
  This book is really just great and I'll probably read this all over again c:
• 
  Perks Of Being A Fangirl

  Finn was the weird scrawny kid that everybody dismissed. However he had a special place is Anna's heart but he moved away..
  
  
  And now he's back. Looking as hot as ever.
  
  
  I first read Epic Fail a while ago and clearly remember I didn't like it, I didn't know why but it was one those unexplainable things however I wanted to give the author another chance so I picked up 'The trouble with flirting' and I really liked it. So I really hoped that this book wasn't like Epic Fail and I was proved right. I loved this book.
  
  I was laughing and grinning throughout the whole book and I would definitely recommend it.